Nine months later, I was one of 30 or so journalists inside Preston Crown Court when the trial began. At Radio City in Liverpool the calls were coming through from Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Robert had asked once before but Jon, who had rarely truanted in his previous school, was scared and said no. Who are Jon Venables and Robert Thompsons parents and what have they said about James Bulgers murder? Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? What Did Jon Venables Get Charged With? - vimbuzz.com But just as he was entering the school gates he met Jon and they decided to sag off together for the fourth - and final - time. Denise Fergus remains convinced both will always be a danger to children. 'When you have got people in the area threatening to blow your kneecaps off every moment of the day - that's just the way they are. Now we waited. First picture of driver killed in horror crash in Perth and Kinross. Read about our approach to external linking. Trauma? They were intent on killing. Denise was in court that day. Her family were dignified throughout, but on that day one of theBulgerfamily supporters allowed themselvesa loud 'YES' as the verdicts came in. Many of us had dined together most nights throughout the trial, mulling it all over but distracting ourselves, too. I know how I feel as a mother. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Forlorn hope, though. The reaction prompted James' mum Denise Fergus to let supporters know she had nothing to do with the programme. Lets make sure there are no more victims.. Thompson has avoided difficulty, but Venables has committed four more offences and has been incarcerated twice more After being discovered in possession of a cache of child sex photographs on his computer for the second time in 2018, he was sentenced to 40 months in prison. "The report of the Prison Service into an incident at Red Bank secure unit has not been published. He had an elder brother, aged 13, and a nine-year-old sister. Susan Venables is on Facebook. Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Company. We will never be able to do the fun things any more football, snooker, things like that.". Susan Venables LinkedIn: David Hancock becomes an associate of We still think the same of him as we always have. We know what hes capable of. View the profiles of people named Susan Venable. His mates called him a girl because whenever there was something on his mind he sucked his thumb. Venables and Thompson were seen on CCTV calmly leading the toddler out of the shopping centre by his hand. Its an insult to the family.. James Bulger was weeks away from his third birthday, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson behaved very differently in court, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. His father, thin and balding, had a much gentler edge. Mrs Thompson claimed she had been the victim of revenge attacks after her identity became known. I just burst into tears because you just knew what that meanther heart was broken. At 6.31pm she text-messaged him to ask him not . It is not known whether the boy watched any of his father's adult movies. Superintendent Kirby is a religious man. I feel so sorry for them. Most people would regard such sentiments as having come rather late in the day and certainly too late to save poor James. 1967. Shame? Susan Venables (@Susan_Venables) | Twitter 2023 BBC. They played truant, they pinched sweets, they terrorised old ladies. After killing the tot Robert and Jon left his body near the tracks where it was discovered two days later. There was almost total silence there apart from the sound of shoes on the ground. One could draw some parallels between the film's plot and James Bulger's death. After a while the boys became used to it. She was living in secrecy but always felt that she was walking around with a huge sign: mother of Bulger killer, above her head. Occasionally, when the children would be left sitting on the red wall outside the house too long, one of the neighbours would call the police to go and get her out of the Top House. Neil Venables: Who Is Jon Venables' Father? - vimbuzz.com Jon spent Sunday to Thursday with his mum and the rest of every week with his dad. Barry Robson gets Aberdeen manager job for keeps as he signs two-year deal to delight Dons fans. How can people defend their actions .#TheBulgerKillers.". Will you tell his mum I'm sorry?". A day later, when James still hadnt been found, it was clear from CCTV footage that he had been taken by children. Look at mine. He took a jar of paracetamol. She said: "He did like to be liked, and loved to have friends, and he has got involved with the wrong person. Read about our approach to external linking. The boys lived off chips. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. School had no hold on him - there was no corporal punishment or other form of penalty that touched him. Susan Venables, now 53, suffered from severe depres-sion and struggled with her two other children, an older son and younger daughter, who suffered learning difficulties. Once Robert shared with him a tin of Roses chocolates which he had poured surreptitiously into his coat pocket. Venables was sent to prison in 2010 for breaching the terms of his licence, was released on parole again in 2013, and in November 2017 was again sent to prison for possessing child sexual abuse images on his computer. Venables has been convicted twice since being set free - Robert is not believed to have reoffended. In March 2010, Venables was recalled to prison for downloading and distributing more than 100 images of child abuse. Ken VENABLES VENABLES - KEN, August 7, 2007. Jon's parents, who sat in court for most of the trial, said they grieved for the Bulgers. At the time Ann Thompson pleaded for her son to be left alone and revealed that she and her other children had been forced to move house nine times in eight years. The Secret Life of a Killer. - Press Awards When the court was played Jon's taped descriptions of how they had truanted they simultaneously smiled. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. The team look Her warnings arent being heeded, but 25 years on, I think she is probably right. Great-granny Helen, who was a nurse for 40 years, does not know how long she has left after waiting on cancer treatment for five months. Jon had to be pulled off the boy, who had gone red in the face, by a teacher who described the incident as the worst case of school violence she had witnessed. Another added: "An awful mistake??!! The first time he asked Jon to play truant with him was last September, only weeks after they had become friends. The Maxine question | Soham murders | The Guardian 'We have never really been apart,' Mrs Venables said. Both of them struggled at school and had been lumped into the year below their age. Andrew Fisher, who murdered his wife in 1990, died on Friday following a battle with dementia. ", Children accused of a crime are usually granted anonymity, but at the end of the trial the judge allowed both to be named, "because the public interest overrode the interest of the defendants.". Then they had carried, dragged and kicked him along a two and a half mile journey, at times swinging him violently in the air or dropping him against the road, until they reached the railway where they stoned him with bricks, bashed his head with a 22lb iron bar, and left him dead across the tracks to be cut in half by a passing goods train. The suspect was waiting outside Scotmid on Tullichewan Drive, Alexandria, when staff opened the doors at 7am. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. They deal with drugs, they deal with everything. Striking train drivers earning 60,000 accused of 'cultural vandalism' by 'targeting' Eurovision and FA Cup, One man dead and seven men and women injured as knifeman goes on bloody rampage near nightclub in Bodmin, Girl, 4, 'assaulted by drunk man' in Tesco as cops appeal to find hero who stepped in to help, Explosion rocks London street as flat above chicken shop blows up in suspected gas blast leaving three injured, Keir Starmer faces awkward questions in Commons over secret talks to poach Sue Gray, ISIS terror leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi killed by Turkish 'intelligence operation' in Syria, Erdogan says, WHSmith shoppers stunned at eye-watering 15 price tag for a bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs - three weeks after Easter, has admittedhaving a sick paedophile manual which told him how to "have sex with little girls", child abuse images sentence as an insult, Venables is to keep his anonymity after a judge ruled it would protect him from "serious violence", Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Claire Ainsley moved into her new home in Park Place earlier this year after waiting several years for a new home for her family. JON Venables's family was far from affluent, but it was not as close to the breadline as Robert's. . I wish we could turn the clocks back," Mrs Venables said. Jon was afraid of her. 'You'd better tell the truth. The prosecution, led by Richard Henriques QC, made its case quite simply really, using the journey they took James on to tell the story. "It is hard to take in really. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. These are the words of an officer who was in the police station when DCI Geoff MacDonald of Merseyside Police broke the news to Denise that James was dead. Click here to upload yours. I don't think so. Susan Venables no LinkedIn: David Hancock becomes an associate of Best of all, they would spend time on the Walton railway line where Robert had built a den close to the bridge. Forensic and pathology evidence was a huge challenge for everyone, not least the jury who were shown pictures of James injuries. The hardliners in the police have a simpler explanation. "My decision is in no way a reflection on the applicants themselves, for whom there is a profoundest sympathy," he said. On Monday night's documentary, Robert Thompson's solicitor Dominic Lloyd said: "Many years after the trial a juror said 'we found them guilty of murder but we didn't have the option to find them guilty of being two very bewildered and frightened little boys who made an awful mistake and need a lot of help'.". Like Ann Thompson, however, both parents of Jon Venables rallied round their son and in preparationfor his release Mr Venables accom-panied him on trips to football matches. Then they would hide their school satchels under a subway and set off on their adventure. They knew what they were doing," another wrote. The toddler's mum Denise Bulger was at the counter of a butchers in the Strand shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool, on February 12, 1993, when she briefly let go of her son's hand to get some change from her purse. The phone-in programme, as ever, was a place to turn to try to find reasons - evil, poverty, neglect, possessed anything to explain what felt inexplicable. Robert had eaten too many and felt sick. He was always getting prizes for maths at school. The Duchess' ex pal, Lizzie Cundy is urging Meghan to mend her relationship with her sick father who has pleaded to reconcile with his daughter before it's too late. 'I can't read hard words,' he said. The 40-year-old, who abducted and brutally murdered James Bulger in . Few had the patience to be friends with him, only his younger brother and a couple of lads who lived nearby. At Preston Crown Court a few months later, I was one of a handful of journalists given full access to the small courtroom for the trial of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, both now 11-years-old. Kids fantasise about such things. Maybe it was that incident that put the idea into Jon or Robbie's head to 'get a little boy lost'. Some of the red brick houses were well-kept, others had torn net curtains and grubby windows. The shock in the city was plain to see, but it wasn't just in Liverpool that people stared at the CCTV pictures of the boy holding James' hand, while another led the way to the exit of the shopping centre where a frantic Denise Bulger would have been desperately looking for her child. A global audience was watching to see Ange Postecoglou's side follow his most iconic demand in the national stadium. Not their punishmentand exclusion from society for the rest of their childhood. Venables was 18 when he was freed from Red Bank secure unit in St Helens, Merseyside, in 2001, and 27 when he was recalled to prison early last year after being caught with child pornography on his computer. ', The closest either boy came to offering an explanation was when Jon was asked by police why he had taken James's shoe off by the railway tracks. Two boys who forged a friendship out of breaking the rules. Robert's feelings towards his half-brother also appear to have been ambivalent - he told police he would not have murdered James Bulger because 'if I wanted to kill a baby, I'd kill my own, wouldn't I?'. But the President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane rejected the bid, saying it was in place to protect Venables from being "put to death". The left will make play of social deprivation, unemployment, bad housing and general inner-city rot. I cant believe people find excuses for these murderers. New calls to scrap Council Tax bills for people on State Pension rejected by UK Government. The Liverpool Echo boasted that their man had one of 'just 34 seats' allocated to the international press. Mr Venables ran out of the car and grabbed him, while Robert ran off down the street laughing and shouting: 'You can't catch me.'. There was a pattern of bullying, with the older boys picking on their younger brothers down the line. The first Susan Venables knew they had stayed away from school was when she saw one of Jon's classmates on her way home with the gerbils. Venables has now been caged for 40 months. The detective explained how, before she left, she soothed him, told him his parents would love him whatever he told the police, reminding him that Denise neededto know what had happened to her baby. Explore genealogy for Susan Venables born 1909 Devon, England, United Kingdom including ancestors + more in the free family tree community. This would have been at about 5.30pm - just the time the boys were about to begin killing Jamie. Instead, she was involved in an ITV documentary with Sir Trevor McDonald that will air on Thursday. el diablo food truck fort collins. Born 10 days apart in August 1982 in Liverpool. He would call people names and get them to chase him. For she added: 'But he's not a murderer.'. And now The Bulger Killers: Was Justice Done? Truanting, or 'sagging off', had become a way of life for Robert. His body, defiled and broken in two by a train, two miles from where hed been taken, was foundtwo days later. The killers walked James for two and half miles and were spotted by 38 people some of whom challenged the pair. It should certainly be moved up to 12; in some European countries it is 14," she said. There, he is terrorising a girl. Thompson was inscrutable in the dock as we heard his voice for the first time. From the moment Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were convicted of the murder of James Bulger, their, families have been condemned to lives spent looking over their shoulders. ', A psychoanalyst and child psychotherapist comes up with yet another possible explanation. For me, though, it is Susan and Neil Venables who stay most in my memory of that day. The street in which Robert lived was not untypical: a row of terraced bay windowed houses that stretched from the railway line back towards the city. On November 24, 1993, the two boys, by then aged 11, became the youngest defendants to be sentenced for murder in a British court. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. 'They were just your average scruff - like the rest of us.'. As their sweet voices rang around the courtroom, Venables hid his face in his oversized blazer and cried. The best instincts led hundreds, including me, to lay flowers a few days later at the site of James horrific end. Without anyone in the family to turn to for support, he had to look outside for people whose swaggering aggression he could emulate. My young body must have been tense with the deep anxiety that permeated every inch of that courtroom. She was paranoid about being discovered. It was on his way back to the interview room when Venables finally admitted it: "We did it. Susan Venables, born 1959 - Ancestry Money was always a struggle, and she got through the first years drinking in Higson's Top House off St Mary's Lane. Their faces affected me deeply. They did. 'They would say 'take your son home'. But his comment sparked anger from viewers. At the end of the street a mesh wire frame coverered the window of the money lenders. his mother was told that it was important that she stayed in his life and stood by him. Their age was hard to gauge from the CCTV images, so just when you imagined you couldnt be more shocked by this story, it emerged the two accused were just 10-years-old. Both Venables and Robert Thompson were 10 years-old when they tortured and killed 2 year-old James Bulger, Thompson and Venables were tried as adults, James Bulger, aged 2 years old, being led away in a shopping centre in Liverpool, James Bulger's murder case could now be investigated, The petition is on nearly 15,000 signatures, James Bulger was just two when he was brutally murdered, He had been out shopping with his mum Denise, James was made to walk two miles before being left for dead on a disused rail line, Denise tirelessly campaigned to have their sentence increased. In court, he hid his face again. Just days later he would break down and manically attack his distraught father as detectives asked about damage to James's genitals. He frequented local cinemas and regularly hired videos for the night. 'When the fisticuffs ended, they made friends.' A parole board ruled that Thompson and Venables were no longer a threat. Our feelings haven't changed towards him. Once the jury retired, so did the journalists - but we didnt go far. The pair was tried for the abduction and murder of James as adults owing to the fact they were over 10, which is legally deemed to be the age of criminal responsibility. Cops found the vile collection on a laptop hidden behind the headboard of his bed. It has already been reported that Jon Venables real identity has been exposed in prison, where he is said to be receiving 24-hour protection. In the last few years she stopped drinking in the Top House and tried to keep things together. He believes these were evil boys. James Bulger murder: Shelagh Fogarty remembers the trial 'In my opinion he was victimised. Venables, who was released on licence in 2001 after serving eight years for the murder of. Sometimes Robert would sag off on his own, but it was more fun with a friend. Susan Jane . 'The attitude when you live where we live is that you have to be tough or else you don't survive,' she said. fun to be with" and always had plenty of friends. He was released in 2013 after he was deemed to no longer be a risk to children, but told police in 2017 he "needed help to understand why he did this and ensure he didn't do it again". Christopher Ireland, who was found dead in his flat in Dundee, "unlawfully" withheld 4,890 from an employee in the months before his death. After a while the 10-year-olds began to charge - a tenner an interview. We still dont know why. oley motorcycle swap meet 2022; target peach comforter. By chance, the rest of Jon's family was driving past and spotted them. The other boy, Robert Thompson, we are told is now abiding by the conditions of his life license since he was released 17 years ago, and is doing well. He would often have to stay in class at break times to catch up. The bleached houses were peppered with burglar alarms, the shabby ones did not look worth the trouble. His mother cared about him. A heartstopping moment came when the playing of the tapes in court was paused. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Denise Fergus is the same age as me, a fact I only registered when I met her for the first time two weeks ago. In search of an explanation, award-winning journalist David James Smith looks behind the misinformation, misunderstanding and sensational reporting to an exact . '25 years after the James Bulger trial, I still shed hot tears at the . Jon Venables is demonstrably no such thing. When he played truant he was scared she would come and find him. Whatever problems she had in her own life, she was always there. He wore his dark hair short, almost a crew cut, which accentuated his ample forehead and blunt nose. Susan Lee: We should be told what Jon Venables did - Liverpool Echo The citys worst instincts produced the wrongful hounding of a family whose sons people decided were responsible. They didnt kill him in an accident it was premeditated and they tortured that poor baby. From the start, Jon was drawn and repulsed by Robbie like opposite and equal poles of a magnet. View the profiles of people named Susan Venables. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt heartbreak for James and his parents and shame for her son. She couldn't. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. Many commentators regarded Venables's parents, Neil and Susan, a working-class couple from Liverpool, respectable compared with the Thompsons. Susan cried silently in the interview room as Jon was charged with the toddler's murder, and was eventually forced to leave Liverpool with a new identity after an avalanche of death threats. His mother called him hyperactive since, even more than his friend, he was scarcely able to sit still. Find out more, The latest offers and discount codes from popular brands on Telegraph Voucher Codes, As James Bulger killer Jon Venables is sent back to prison, Shelagh Fogarty writes about her experiences as a young reporter on the case at the time, James Bulger, aged 2 years old, being led away in the New Strand shopping centre in the Bootle area of Liverpool, Denise Bulger arrives at Preston Crown Couty on November 24 1993, Shelagh Fogarty was a young reporter at the time of the murder, The police van carrying Venables and Thompson arrives at Preston Crown Court, Want to have children and a big career? At his first primary school the headmistress referred him to a psychologist, noting how he used to bang his head against the classroom wall to gain attention. "Just to let you know that even though footage was used of me on the CH4 programme, I had no part in it," she tweeted. Reporters from around the world ended up in the drab streets of Walton, cadging interviews off any 10-year-old boys hanging around in the streets. They would sneak out during the morning break, hiding behind a wall before the coast was clear. The footballers were on separate night outs at Chinawhite Manchester in early April when Rashford rescued Lehmann upon her arrival at the venue. Peacefully, aged 85. Chris Davies worked alongside Rodgers at Parkhead before following him to Leicester City. When she turned around moments later, her son was gone. ', Mrs Thompson had no illusions about her son: 'He's a little liar, he's devious, he's a scally, he robs, he plays truant.' Main Menu It emerged that the Venables family had suffered the same fate in another area. But his outbursts of anger grew worse and he was suspended for trying to throttle a boy with a ruler. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. But however hollow a gesture it might have seemed, those who are in touch with the Thompson and Venables families insist that they have sought to make some sort of amends with their sons after the horrific events of 17 years ago that will rightly stay with them for the rest of their lives. She would arrive at the secure unit with food parcels and is said to be proud of his achievements since the crime. The real question about Meghans new look: did Harry actually notice? We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. Little James was led away by the depraved duo while his mother was in a butcher's shop at the busy shopping centre. He also liked to scare old ladies by jumping out in front of their noses. Meanwhile, Thompson has not re-offended since his release, and is believed to be in a long-term relationship with a man who knows who he really is. Directly in front of the bench was the raised dock in which Thompson, Venables, and two social workers would sit for the next four weeks. "He is easily led. Who knows. It was the kind of family neighbours compare themselves against and then feel better. He added: "As Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss held, (Venables) is 'uniquely notorious' and there is a strong possibility, if not a probability, that if his identity were known he would be pursued resulting in grave and possibly fatal consequences. 'Provided you have no court orders for debts already,' the man on the phone would add helpfully. He will soon have a parole hearing, according to The Mirror. That's the thing that upsets me because obviously where I was standing poor little James must have been not. Behind them eyes bore into them - from everyone on all sides, journalists, their parents, members of the public, and of course, theBulgerfamily. World media reacts as Rangers served up crushing Celtic truth from Croatia to Malaysia amid madcap new moniker. They hid his body under bricks so that the first train to come along cut his body in two, but he was already dead before this happened. Speaking in February 2018, he said: 40 months is a joke. Harrowing interview transcripts revealed how Susan wept with anger when Jon admitted being in the shopping centre the day Bulger was arrested. By then, Robert and Jon had abducted James Bulger from the Strand and attempted to drown him in the nearby canal. He didn't want to hurt James. 01:00, 5 MAR 2010; Updated 01:37, . however, as the incident in the playground shows, the ever-present threat of discovery cast a constant shadow over anyone related to the two murderers. One investigating police officer said: 'You could look into the eyes of Robert and knew you were looking at evil.' It is about a Good Guy doll invaded by the spirit of a mass murderer who kills people in gruesome ways. St Mirren post-split fixtures in focus as Buddies aim to clinch historic European spot. I have lost my son as well. Pp. The obituary notice of Ken VENABLES Liverpool, Published in: Liverpool Echo. Get the latest Scottish crime and courts news sent straight to your inbox with our daily Criminal Record newsletter. Please review our, You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. TWO BOYS. It set the tone for the years ahead in which there was to be no respite from the hatred. Heartbroken Wirral couple who lost baby at 41 weeks to hold special day in his memory, All the bank holidays this month and when the next one is after May, Dr Michael Mosley says to eat these 'anti-ageing' foods daily, Hairdresser makes the jump from St Mary's Market into decades-old barber shop, Update as work on controversial West Kirby flood defence wall continues, Important advice for patients as nurses strike at Whiston and St Helens Hospitals, Russia launches pre-dawn missile attack on Ukraine, Chaos at port as thousands rush to leave Sudan. 'I think it has something to do with a hatred of vulnerability and babyness in themselves which they projected on to this toddler.'. Since the murder Robert has been in a state of post-traumatic shock, hounded by nightmares and flashbacks from the railway tracks. Jon was slim in build and taller than Robert, just over five feet. A picture taken from CCTV footage shows the tot being taken by the hand in what would become one of the defining images of the shocking case. Boy A - Robert Thompson - was the shorter and more rounded of the two. "This is, therefore, a wholly exceptional case and the evidence in 2019 is more than sufficient to sustain the conclusion that there continues to be a real risk of very substantial harm to (Venables).". Thompson, who gained five GCSEs and A-levels in design and technology, is said to have developed an interest in theatre. Every day the public gallery was packed with students, pensioners, mothers, teenagers, all drawn to the courtroom spectacle as to a TV soap.