EXCLUSIVE: James Bulger’s brothers Michael, Thomas and Leon on how mother Denise still talks about the murdered toddler ‘as if he is there’ and was extra protective of them growing up

(left to right) Leon, Michael and Thomas have spoken about their brother’s murder for the first time(Image: Denise Bulger /ITN Productions)

The brothers of murdered toddler James Bulger have spoken for the first time about growing up without their sibling – and how the family has made sure he is never forgotten.

James’ brother Michael, 27, and half-brothers Thomas, 22 and Leon, 21, revealed how their mother Denise always leaves an empty chair for James at the Christmas table, and still talks about him “as if he is there”.

And they told how their mum was extra protective over them as they grew up, never allowing them our of her sight – even on school trips – and making sure she always walked behind them when they went out together.

The new documentary, Lost Boy: The Killing of James Bulger, recounts the abduction and murder of two-year-old James in February 1993, a crime that horrified the nation.

Michael, born nine months after James’ disappearance, said: “Being James’ brother is not a weird thing.

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James Bulger’s murder horrified Britain(Image: PA)

“We have always grown up knowing he was there, what he was like, his character, In the household, we talk about James a lot.

“We don’t pretend he is there, but we talk about him as if he is there.

“My mum will give us little stories and insights about what he was like.

“He has always been a character we wanted to know more about, wishing he was here, rather than someone who was in the background all this time.

“He’s never not been part of the family.

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Denise Fergus, the mother of murdered toddler James Bulger, doesn’t think she will closure ‘any time soon’(Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

“We have a spare chair around the Christmas table, it’s always been empty.

“My mum likes to see James as not sitting there but being there present with us while we’re having Christmas dinner.”

He added: “Going through school I wasn’t allowed on school trips or to go to the shops with my mates.

“The only place I was allowed was either in the front garden or literally outside the gate with my mates, but I would have to be in view of the window, so if I went out of sight, Mum would be straight out. ‘Where are you? What are you doing? Don’t go down there’.”

And Leon added: “If we were walking around a shop she would always make sure she was behind us so she could watch us in front of her.

“She wanted to know where we were at all times.”

The new show also includes details of the hunt to find James from police officers involved in the case, and never-before-heard tapes of police interviews with his killers, ten-year-olds Jon Venables and Robert Thompson.

James’ body was found two days after the two boys, who were playing truant from school, led him away from Denise at a Liverpool shopping centre.

CCTV caught James Bulger, aged 2 years old, being led away by the killers in the ‘New Strand’ shopping centre in the Bootle area of Liverpool(Image: PA)

The toddler died on a railway embankment after suffering 42 injuries.

In one of the chilling recordings, Thompson impersonates James saying: “I want me mum.”

In another, Thompson, who had a baby brother who looked like James, says: “Why would I wanna kill him when I’ve got a baby of my own?… If I wanted to kill a baby I’d kill me own wouldn’t I?”

James’s mum Denise, who split from husband Ralph in 1993 shortly after having Michael, and went on to marry second husband Stuart Fergus, with whom she shares Thomas and Leon, says that although 28 years have passed the pain is still unbearable.

She said: “I was holding his hand and within seconds of me reaching for my purse to pay for some chops at the butcher’s he’d gone.

“I shouldn’t have let go of his hand.

“It’s hard for me to say, but it’s the truth.

“If there’s such a thing as closure, I don’t think I’ll get it any time soon. At this moment in time, I don’t see closure.

“He’ll never be forgotten by us. Every single day, even after all these years, I miss him. Every single day without James, he’s missed.”

Lost Boy: The Killing of James Bulger will air at 9pm on Channel 5, next Wednesday and Thursday.