Ironically, Jon was the child who caused his parents least anxiety. His grip was so strong that it took two people to pry Jon off of the boy. The old wood panelled courtroom is small. rk ye. Given the Venables family history, it was later suggested that Jon could arguably have been affected by an undiagnosed disorder at the time, and was clearly emotionally underdeveloped. Jobs were few and far between. Grey seal pups on the beach at Horsey in Norfolk, as the pupping season draws to a close at one the UK's most important sites for the mammals. A day later she would face much worse. A sudden pause in the tapes and one of the officers appeared in person to describe how he asked Neil and Susan Venables to leave the room because he thought Jon wanted to tell him something. In the business world, too many people think it's all about being hard, tough, ambitious, or having grit. What a horror it all was. Although not officially entered into a witness protection programme they were given help by the authorities in finding new homes and taking on new identities. "It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. He is broken- hearted over it. Then there were the separated parents, the poverty, the truanting, the videos. Susan Venables, mother of Jon - referred to throughout the trial as Boy B - blamed her son's 'weakness' for the murder of James Bulger, . One of the new works by Banksy, appears to show a 1950s housewife, wearing a classic blue pinny and yellow washing up gloves, with a swollen eye and a missing tooth seemingly shoving her male partner into a chest freezer, the piece is set on a white wall backdrop in Kent. I didnt, did I? she said to Neil during their interview with Gitta Sereny. Both had parents who had separated. 'I think about little James and what he must have gone through, how they must feel. 'We have never really been apart,' Mrs Venables said. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? She was paranoid about being discovered. The Liverpool Echo boasted that their man had one of 'just 34 seats' allocated to the international press. That was in September 1991, 17 months before they killed James Bulger. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. Jon, who had the most trouble sleeping, appeared fearful of Susan, and was terrified, above all, of her condemnation. So, when he first began his association with classmate Jon Venables, in September 1992, Robert was happy to have finally befriended a boy like Jon, who could almost always be persuaded to follow in his lead. What doing well means is anybodys guess. Sorry, we are unable to accept comments about this article at the moment. Ann, desperate to escape the physical and emotional torment of living with her drunken father, was married to Robert, Sr. in December 1971, on the day of her eighteenth birthday. ", Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Twenty-five years on, Im still prone to hot tears at the memory of it all and I do question the trial. Englands Ollie Chessum dives in to score his sides second try during the Guinness Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium, London, Sam Smith arrives for the Brit Awards ceremony, A robin redbreast takes flight in Dublins botanic gardens. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. I remember watching her then on TV, her sobbing plea for information and thinking how much guts it must have taken to get up that day and face a roomful of journalists and photographers. I do believe that she feels guilty deep down for her own part in what happened., Despite the risks of discovery, the relationship is said to have contin- ued to thrive following Thompsons. It was high- lighted by the trial judge Mr Justice Morland who said they must take moral responsibility for the terrible actions of the young killers. His mind was too restless to take up other hobbies for long. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? 'If, in their own lives, they have had it extremely tough and been bullied and neglected and abused then they end up rapidly having to prove themselves to be extremely tough and invulnerable - a bit like Arnold Shwarzenegger in The Terminator. His mother, Susan, attributed this behavior with peer pressure and hyperactivity, and put him on a special diet, though it did nothing to quell his frequent emotional outbursts. He would steal objects that he neither needed nor wanted, then chuck them away in the street. My young body must have been tense with the deep anxiety that permeated every inch of that courtroom. Anne Thompson could hold her drink and no one ever saw her staggering home. 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?'. Ultimately, however, the couples indifferences led to separation, and they were eventually divorced in 1986. 'I can't read hard words,' he said. . The documentary last night featured interviews with those involved in the 1993 trial, including James dad Ralph Bulger, Jon Venables solicitor Laurence Lee and detective sergeant Phil Roberts, who interviewed Robert Thompson. When the fisticuffs ended, impressed by each other's performance, they made friends. I would say he was provoked. 'I thought he was all right,' said Boy B, as he was known in court - Jon Venables. Southern. Without anyone in the family to turn to for support, he had to look outside for people whose swaggering aggression he could emulate. The Radio Merseyside newsroom, where I was working at the time, was full and everyone was on this story one way or another. But after a year they let Ian out again. DAVID James Smith, who visited Mrs Thompson at one of her secret homes, reveals that it was a sad existence. Child killer Mary Bell and Maxine Carr, the former girlfriend of Soham murderer Ian Huntley, are the others. The boys lived off chips. The boys, by now lacking any sense of guidance within the home, took to the streets, robbing, truanting, and some of them experimenting with drugs. You know, we just try and help him as best we can to try to come to terms with things. They rejected suggestions that he could have watched Child's Play Three, a film that his father had rented three weeks before James's death, which, it has been claimed, included scenes similar to those of the attack on the two-year-old. Mrs Venables described how she searched for Jon. He frequented local cinemas and regularly hired videos for the night. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging in the air as he sat in the custody office. But he is not a murderer. Read about our approach to external linking. Tweet. Once the jury retired, so did the journalists - but we didnt go far. she said. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt heartbreak for James and his parents and shame for her son. Birds. Jon's parents, who sat in court for most of the trial, said they grieved for the Bulgers. Susan opted to remove him from the school then, and some months later, she reenrolled him in St. Marys in Walton. Asked later if he could recall a time when his brother had exhibited any unusually aggressive tendencies, Roberts brother said no: Hes frightened of his own shadow. Nonetheless, in hindsight, its safe to assume that by 1993, ten-year-old Robert was swiftly approaching crisis point., Alarmingly, some of the neighboring children later claimed to have seen Robert behave cruelly towards animals, and pull the heads off of baby pigeons, although this was never unequivocally confirmed. Then between 1990 and 1991, Jons teachers recognized a dramatic change in the boys behavior, which was alarming enough for one of his teachers to begin keeping a daily log. When shop keepers asked what they were doing they would pretend they were waiting for their mum. The two bumped into each other - literally - in the school playground in the middle of a fight. Jon lived in terror of losing his mother's love, yet he was also terrified of her. his killers were just 10 years old and attention focused on their upbringing and dysfunctional home life. Ann denied the physical abuse, but later admitted to being cruel to the boys at times. Another added: "An awful mistake??!! Ultimately, wanting to escape the havoc, most of the boys opted to leave home, and some were placed into voluntary care at Dysons Hall, a childrens home just outside of Liverpool. Wiping away tears, he went on: 'I feel for that family. 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. Both had a need to attract attention, which they achieved through a host of petty rebellions. I cant believe people find excuses for these murderers. Both parents hope was that he would make something of his life and eventually find some peace. - a grey heron in Asawn, Southern Egypt. his mother was told that it was important that she stayed in his life and stood by him. She spent much of her time at the pub after that, and rarely stayed in for a meal. A newsroom reporter who was not working on the case fended off transatlantic interview demands, saying that it was not enough that he had a Liverpool accent. IN A letter to her son written soon after he was sentenced, Ann Thompson wrote: no matter what you did or didnt do, Im your mother and I will stay with you no matter what happens.. He was fearful, he was weak and he was provoked," she said. Yet, even while Susan admitted to being under huge emotional strain on a daily basis, the couple later denied that her constant hysterics would have encroached on Jon in any way, considering he was still in infancy at the time. She was living in secrecy but always felt that she was walking around with a huge sign: mother of Bulger killer, above her head. I don't think so. Security launched a search for James inside the centre and James' family searched for their son overnight. 'It was good. Her warnings arent being heeded, but 25 years on, I think she is probably right. And there were rewards for breaking rules. That means he is currently 35-years-old. 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.'. Jon Venables is demonstrably no such thing. 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. He had that odd combination of obsession with and disdain for possessions that is characteristic of children who have never enjoyed any of their own. "It is hard to take in really. Nature. Mrs Thompson claimed she had been the victim of revenge attacks after her identity became known. Nicola had to exchange some clothes at TJ Hughes, Denise waited nearby, watching the children. this weekend for breaching the terms of his early release, the parents of both the Bulger killers continue to stand by them. All information on this page is true to my knowledge, and is not intended to diminish or justify either boys actions in any way whatsoever. Instead, she was involved in an ITV documentary with Sir Trevor McDonald that will air on Thursday. One of the focal points of the local community was QD Videos at the bottom of Robert's street, where the kids would browse through the horror stacks, discussing their favourites knowledgeably. One day they stayed out until 10.30pm and Jon received a severe reprimand from his mother. "In order that justice can be done, no further details are being released at this stage and the proceedings are subject to reporting restrictions.". He was also given 'respite care' - six weekly weekend breaks to relieve the family of the burden of looking after him. ', 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. His response couldn't have been more different as he sank into the oversized blazer he was wearing. 'I even went up to the railway line because I knew the other boy had a den up there and was on the railway nearly all the time.'. Last week the author Angela Phillips spoke of how the gentle son of the female friend of hers turned into a fascist skinhead: 'The boy his mother wanted him to become was not man enough for the world he was forced to inhabit. We are proud to endorse the COP27 Leather Manifesto. James smith (16 March 1990 [2] - 12 February 1993) was a two-year-old boy from Kirkby, Merseyside, England, who was abducted, tortured, and murdered by two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson (born 23 August 1982) and Jon Venables (born 13 August 1982), on 12 February 1993. On one occasion one of Anns sons let his real name slip at school and they had to move almost at once, says. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. "He fell over," was the response. 'They were just your average scruff - like the rest of us.'. Its beyond me," one viewer tweeted. The week after he walked out the family's home burned down in an accidental fire. They played a double act towards the children: his mother, Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman with a hawkish look, was the hard one. A pathologist later said that there were so many injuries - 42 in total - that not one could be isolated as causing the little boy's fatal wound. 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. They looked, moved, fidgeted, scratched, cried - even sucked their thumbs - just like any 11-year-olds. He had a Game Boy console and hankered after a Sega machine, and when they played truant he would head straight for the computer game corner of Tandy's or Dixons. For she added: 'But he's not a murderer.'. For a start, there were only three children, of whom Jon was the middle. His mother, Susan, attributed this behavior with peer pressure and hyperactivity, and put him on a special diet, though it did nothing to quell his frequent emotional outbursts. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. The judge, in sentencing the boys yesterday, voiced his strong suspicion that exposure to violent videos had played a strong part in corrupting them. Will you tell his mum I'm sorry?". Fiction Writing. How can people defend their actions .#TheBulgerKillers.". School had no hold on him - there was no corporal punishment or other form of penalty that touched him. Two boys who forged a friendship out of breaking the rules. The distress of one woman who had come agonisingly close to taking James by the hand herself to a police station, only to be hoodwinked by Thompson and Venables that they were doing just that. Yes, these things are important, but trust. But I still kept him in if he was naughty or anything like that.'. They occasionally exchanged furtive glances. Shed never been back but she clearly missed Liverpool and had tried to recreate the city in her new home, he recalls. Other parents came in to complain about attention seeking. In 2010, Meggie Atkinson, then children's commissioner for England, called for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised to 12 in light of the trial. You know, we just try and help him as best we can to try to come to terms with things. "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. Neil Venables, 40, said he felt "just devastated, thinking of that little boy'. This time, curiosity took the upper hand: 'I wanted to see what it was like,' he said. 'They would say 'take your son home'. They saw it with their eyes. 'I sat away from him - he caused trouble,' Jon said. Or they would mess around in shops, playing on computer games if Robert had his way, sliding on the polished floors if Jon had his. Venables on the other hand was becoming increasingly agitated in the police interviews. ', They sagged off in the afternoon and walked around the shops in County Road, near Walton. Not really?. In 1999, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the pair did not receive a fair trial and awarded costs and expenses of 29,000 to Jon Venables and 15,000 to Robert Thompson. Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. Left to his own devices Jon liked to spend his playtime in fairly sedentary ways. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt. He has had his holidays like everyone else. The couple, who also have a 13- year-old son, who has learning difficulties, and a 9-year-old daughter, denied that Jon was bullied by his brother or that he watched violent horror films at home. The hardliners in the police have a simpler explanation. I wonder how many parents looked at their sons of a similar age that week, sure in the knowledge their own children could never be so wicked, but asked themselves anyway "what would I do if?". 'In my opinion he was victimised. Neil explained to him that the school they attended was special, and that Jon wouldnt be accepted. Who were their parents? Susan Venables Facebook: susan.venables.9 Lives in Mellor, Blackburn With Darwen, . Denise, James Bugler's mother, went with her brother's girlfriend Nicola to the Bootle Strand Shopping Centre and took James with her. Not that he had any need to borrow his dad's. Celestial. 'In this state it is quite painful to see a normal relationship between mother and child. His parents, Susan and Neil, accompanied him during the interview process. Once he stole decorating borders from a DIY shop which he discarded at regular intervals to mark his way home. They played truant, they pinched sweets, they terrorised old ladies. 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. He was too scared to be naughty on his own.