The Murder Of James Bulger Thirty Years On

Look at this photograph of a ten year old boy. Cute, isn’t he? Most men wouldn’t mind having a son like that. Ditto most women. It’s difficult to believe this cute kid grew up to be a monster, and even more difficult to believe he was one when this photograph was taken. If you live in these islands and are of a certain age or if you are a true crime buff, you will probably recognise him; he is Jon Venables.

On February 12, 1993, a young mother was shopping in a Merseyside shopping centre with a friend. Denise Bulger had her two year old son with her when she walked into a butcher’s shop. She turned her back on James then when she turned around, the boy was gone. Although she panicked, her first thought was that he had wandered off somewhere and would soon be reunited with her. The security staff couldn’t find him, so the police were called in, and here is what they found.

Thirty years ago, CCTV was nowhere near as ubiquitous as it is today, and the quality was terrible. Even so, it doesn’t take 20/20 vision to see a young boy holding someone’s hand. There are in fact two kidnappers in this still; the second one is walking ahead, just past the woman with the shopping bag. At first they were believed to be teenagers, which was just conceivable, but when the truth came out, the world was shocked. They were both only ten years.

The body of James Bulger was found two days later beside a railway line. It is best not to describe in detail what he suffered before he was murdered.  As often happens in complex investigations, there were false leads. The first suspect was a twelve year old boy who was arrested followed by two other boys.  A crowd was said to have gathered outside one house, and two people were arrested for public order offences. All three boys were subsequently cleared, but the anger of the locals intensified, and when the two suspects appeared in court, they would have been lynched but for a strong police presence.

Robert Thompson and Jon Venables would stand trial at Preston Crown Court later in the year. When they murdered James, they were just above the age of criminal responsibility, but fortunately there was never a real prospect of the doctrine of doli incapax being applied. The boys knew what they were doing and knew they shouldn’t have done it. Not only were they conscious of their guilt but they blamed each other.  By the time of the trial, they were both eleven years old.

Neither boy testified, and in due course they were convicted. Normally, they would have been granted anonymity, but there was no secret about their identities and in a case of this magnitude it was only right they be identified. They were sentenced to be detained during Her Majesty’s Pleasure – the only sentence permitted by  law – but given a tariff of a mere eight years by Mr Justice Morland, who if he wasn’t senile then certainly was 11 years later, but that’s another story.

He did though remove their anonymity so they could be named publicly without fear of legal consequences. This would become an issue sooner than most people thought. It is worth noting that the imbeciles who control the so-called European Court Of Human Rights decided their rights had been violated because they had been tried by an adult court, completely missing the point that murder is an adult crime.

In June 2001, the Parole Board ruled they could be released, and they were, with renewed anonymity, lifelong, protected by a worldwide injunction. This was only right because they are natural targets for vigilantes, and it would be terrible to see someone, perhaps a mother who has lost a child to violence, exacting summary justice on one of them and paying the price. They were of course provided with new (ie fake) identification documents, everything from medical records to National Insurance Numbers.

Two months before the Parole Board ruling it was revealed that Venables had been allowed out of the special unit where he was detained to watch soccer matches and indeed to play in them.

In the United States, they do things differently. The same year Thompson and Venables murdered a two year old, Eric Smith murdered a four year old in similar horrific fashion. Smith was thirteen at the time but could pass for ten. He was convicted only of second degree murder but spent 28 years behind bars.

Robert Thompson has disappeared into the ether and hopefully will never be heard from again; the only thing known about him is that he is homosexual. Venables is a different kettle of fish though. In September 2008, he was involved in some sort of altercation and was arrested for affray. No charges were brought or were brought and dropped, but he was given a police caution for possessing cocaine.

In March 2010, he was given a two year sentence for possessing and distributing images of child abuse. It is unclear what kinds of images these were, but with the caveat of searching for “dead Palestinian children” images of extreme child abuse cannot be found on the regular Internet. Those resources  portraying images or videos of child sexual abuse are well hidden and are traded by secret networks of men who well understand the consequences of being caught with them.

While he was still in prison, Venables was given another new identity. He was released in 2013. In November 2017, he was recalled to prison after an inspection of his computer found indecent images of minors. Far more worrying than this was something else that was found on his computer, what has been called a paedophile’s manual. Unlike in the United States, the legal authorities do not release huge tranches of material, especially in cases like this, but according to a February 2018 report by The Sun newspaper, Venables has been banned from using the Internet and had also received  a police caution for doing so in 2015, although apparently for no nefarious purpose.

The aforementioned Sun article was reporting on his latest prison sentence, one of forty months. In 2020, Venables was refused parole.

The parents of James Bulger have been high profile campaigners to keep this monster behind bars. In the United States, their voices would have been heard. Eric Smith was denied parole several time, the parents of his victim opposing it every time. It is though quite likely Venables will spend the rest of his life in prison. You can expect to see a TV special or two or at least a number of interviews about this case on February 12.