James Bulger’s killer Jon Venables is seeking freedom at a parole hearing next month where James’ mum, Denise Fergus, will hear her son’s killer’s voice for the first time in years

Jon Venables(Image: PA)

Jon Venables’ life has been mapped following the news he could soon be released in what would be the latest blow for the family of James Bulger. Venables was just 10 years old when, on February 12, 1993, he and his accomplice, Robert Thompson, also 10, took two-year-old James at the Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle.

James’s mum, Denise Fergus, had briefly looked away from the toddler as she paid for her shopping at A.R. Tym’s butcher’s shop but when she turned back, her son was gone. What happened next is one of the most devastating cases in British history. Haunting CCTV footage showed Venables and Thompson lead the toddler by his hand out of the shopping centre and to a railway embankment.

It was here they murdered James and left his body on the tracks to be struck by a train.

When the truth came to light of what happened that day, many in the nation struggled to believe children could inflict such evil. As adults, Venables and Thompson were released back into the community under new identities. But it wasn’t long before Venables began to commit more sickening crimes which saw his brief freedom come to an end.

Here is a timeline of how Venables’ life unfolded from the moment he appeared in court as a child to his fresh bid for freedom at a parole hearing next month, the Mirror reports.

Tears in court

During their now infamous trial at Preston Crown Court, Venables and Thompson were seen to exchange furtive glances and, as taped descriptions of their time bunking off school together were played for the jury, they even shared a smile.

Handing down sentencing, judge, Mr Justice Morland, told the boys, the youngest convicted murderers in British history, that they’d committed a crime of “unparalleled evil and barbarity… in my judgment, your conduct was both cunning and very wicked.”

Those watching the trial unfold at the time felt there were differences between the pair, with Thompson regarded as the leader, and Venables the impressionable follower. And their very different emotional responses were noted by those present at that most harrowing of trials. While Thompson became known as “the one that did not cry”, Venables wept every single day of the three-week trial, The Irish Times reports.

Breaking down as the damning verdict was passed, Venables said as he was led away: “The little boy, will you tell his mum I’m sorry.” Psychological reports published in 1995 asserted that Venables had moved through the successive mental states of denial, grief, and confession, before reaching a remorse “that would remain forever”.

Teenage years at secure unit

Following their convictions, the baby-faced killers were sent to separate secure units. Thompson to Barton Moss outside Manchester, and Venables to Vardy House, in Red Bank. It was here he received regular visits from his parents and began to flourish academically, having previously performed poorly at school. Passing GCSEs and A-Levels, keen reader Venables showed a flair for writing and even expressed hopes of attending university, as previously reported by The Guardian.

Outside of the classroom, Venables’ liking for football was encouraged, and it’s reported he attended at least 10 matches during his time at Red Bank, accompanied by social workers. A fan of Manchester United, having previously supported Liverpool and Blackburn, Venables is said to have been particularly fond of David Beckham in his youth, apparently empathising with the backlash the player received after the 1998 World Cup.

James Bulger being led away by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson(Image: PA)

While at Red Bank, under the advice of staff, Venables kept his true crimes to himself, telling fellow residents he was in for stealing cars. During these years, the youngster reportedly lived in a state of panic over the prospect of being recognised.

At the age of 17, not long before his release, Venables was reported to have allegedly had sex with a female employee. As detailed in The Sunday Times as well as in a BBC documentary, these allegations were investigated, and the accused staff member was suspended.

Release and ‘low risk’

In a psychiatric report prepared in the year 2000, it was determined that Venables posed a “trivial” risk to the public and was unlikely to reoffend. The chances of him being successfully rehabilitated were also described as “very high” Following prolonged arguments over whether Venables should be transferred to an adult secure institution, the Parole Board released the then 18-year-old on a life licence, effective from June 22, 2001.

By this time, Thompson and Venables no longer had their distinctive Scouse accents, and measures were taken to ensure the then-teenagers stepped out into the world with completely new identities, compared in some reports to a witness protection programme.

Moved to secret locations, Liverpool’s most notorious child killers were reportedly given fabricated passports, national insurance numbers, qualification certificates, and even medical records. But with this newfound relative freedom came strict terms – they were forbidden from contacting each other, or the Bulger family, and were prohibited from returning to Merseyside.

As would later be detailed in the Omand review, there was a “feeling of optimism” among probation officers after Venables appeared to do “better than expected” on the outside, even pursuing interests in cycling and badminton. But this wasn’t the full picture.

An ECHO front page as Venables is granted parole(Image: )

Despite being on the cusp of adulthood, Venables was ill-equipped for the outside world, having never ridden a bus by himself before, shopped for clothes, or carried out any number of mundane tasks that make up an ordinary day. In March 2002, Venables began living independently, but it soon became clear that he wasn’t adjusting as well to adult life as had been hoped.

His squalid living conditions, too, did not reflect those of a fully grown man. In January 2008, a new offender manager visited the by then 25-year-old’s flat, which they likened to the bedroom of a teenager, complete “with clothing, food cartons etc all over the floor”. In their report, the offender manager remarked: “He spends a great deal of leisure time on the PlayStation and on the internet playing games… not sure of the significance of this as yet… I’m not certain what games he is playing.”

While a lifelong injunction protecting the killers’ new identities from being disclosed in the media had been imposed by high-court judge Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, there was, of course, that same old fear of being found out that Venables had known at Red Bank.

Sky News reports Venables was even trained in counter-surveillance by police officers, advised he would have to “live and hold a lie” for the remainder of his life, for his own safety.

Woeful job prospects

As an infamous killer disguised behind fabricated paperwork, finding gainful employment was no easy task for Venables, whose true identity would have been exposed by any firm that carried out a CRB check. Encouraged to avoid positions where such checks were required, Venables was limited in what he could apply for, sticking to unskilled, low-paid roles.

By spring 2004, it was clear he was having difficulties with his finances, and it’s believed he’d left the secure unit with little understanding of how to manage money. One year later, having dropped out of college, debt-ridden Venables had been forced to leave his flat and was still struggling to find employment.

Concerning behaviours

From the age of 10 years old, Venables had been treated by clinical psychiatrist Dr Susan Bailey, who claimed it had taken him a year to get over his trial, which haunted him at night for years to come. Everything changed in August 2003, however, when Venables marked his 21st birthday.

Signing Venables off, Dr Bailey recommended the young man needed an adult psychiatrist, while highlighting her client’s ongoing fears of being discovered by those wanting revenge. She also emphasised the need to be aware of Venables’ abnormal “psychosexual development”. While the MAPPP committee was able to find an adult psychiatrist, it was ultimately deemed unnecessary for them to either meet or work directly with Venables, on account of him being assessed as ‘low risk’.

The funeral of James Bulger, Sacred Heart Church, Kirkby(Image: Mirrorpix)

In the years that followed his release, however, Venables’ behaviour got him into trouble on multiple occasions. By 2007, Venables had begun to drink heavily and take drugs, including cocaine and mephedrone. The following September, he was arrested on suspicion of affray following a fight with a man who alleged Venables had assaulted his girlfriend.

Both were charged with a public order offence, which was later dropped as prosecutors were unable to prove he wasn’t acting in self-defence. Handed a formal warning for having broken a “good behaviour” clause in his licence, Venables then received a caution that December for the possession of cocaine, after officers spotted him handling a container of white powder.

Following this incident, probation workers added a requirement to Venables’ licence, which ordered him to address his issues with alcohol and drugs, and he was also issued a curfew.

Worrying relationships

In 2004, it “belatedly” came to light that Venables had struck up a relationship with the young mum of a five-year-old child, who Venables claimed he had not met.

In 2005, at the age of 23, Venables’ probation officer became aware of the killer dating a 17-year-old girl. It was later suggested Venables’ string of “younger girlfriends” meant he was having a delayed adolescence.

Sick paedophilia find

In the early months of 2010, Venables, then 27, was recalled to prison after vile child pornography was found on his computer. In 2011, The Times reported this discovery was made after Venables’ new identity was compromised at his workplace. As officers rushed to his home to take the killer into protective custody, he was found attempting to destroy his PC hard drive.

An examination of this hard drive led to the discovery of several dozen sickening images of child abuse that Venables had downloaded and even redistributed in some cases. Sentenced to two years for child pornography offences, Venables was released in 2013, but it wasn’t long before he was in trouble with the law again.

Child abuse ‘manual’

Following another arrest in 2017, in February 2018, Venables admitted to possessing videos containing sexual abuse as well as a “paedophile manual”. Sentencing, Mr Justice Edis told the Old Bailey that the manual suggested that Venables was “at least contemplating the possibility of moving on to actual sexual crime against children”.

Describing the images as “vile” and “heartbreaking”, the sentencing judge stated that 392 of these images were category A – the most serious class. Venables was jailed for 40 months, of which he had to serve a minimum of 20 months.

‘Danger to children’

Venables’ last bid for freedom came in December 2023, when he missed a two-day parole hearing, held behind closed doors as he felt seeing James’ family “would harm his mental health”. Despite this wish being granted, Venables never showed up for this private hearing, where all evidence was read to the parole board. Two weeks’ worth of deliberation followed, after which a panel ruled Venables was “still a danger to children” and “could not be trusted”.

According to a three-page summary of the Parole Board’s decision: “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and on licence, and the evidence presented in the dossier, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public. It noted the risks as set out above, doubted Mr Venables’ ability to be open and honest with professionals, and concluded that there remained a need for him to address outstanding levels of risk, and to develop his relationship with his probation officer.”

In this summary, it was noted that, while Venables had completed a “considerable amount of work” behind bars to address his offending, the panel remained “concerned by continuing issues of sexual preoccupation”. Given 21 days to submit an appeal, this deadline came and went, and Venables has remained behind bars ever since. However, he will soon get another opportunity to potentially walk free.

Parole showdown

Next month, James’ mum, Denise, is set to endure yet more agony in a parole showdown where she will hear the voice of her son’s killer for the first time in more than 30 years. This decision, which parole chiefs shared with James’ family this week, has filled Denise with “uncertainty and distress”, while the prospect of being pitched against Venables has sadly reopened what has been described as an “unimaginable trauma”.

Denise’s spokesperson, Kym Morris, previously told the Mirror: “Today we have been informed that a parole hearing has been granted in relation to Jon Venables. Once again, Denise Fergus has been forced to confront a process that reopens unimaginable trauma. Denise was hoping for a redirection, with no hearing granted by the MAC, allowing her a measure of peace and protection from further distress. That hope has now been taken away.

Denise Fergus(Image: CHRIS NEILL)

“Denise has been informed that her application to observe the hearing has been granted. While this provides her with access to the process, it does not lessen the emotional burden she is being asked to carry, nor does it offer the reassurance or closure she so desperately deserves. Instead, Denise now faces yet another prolonged period of uncertainty and distress, with limited clarity around how decisions are being reached or how ongoing risks are being assessed.”

Meanwhile, Denise, 57, has said she will warn the board considering his release that Venables is “bigger and stronger” than he was when he tortured and killed James. Speaking to the Mirror, Denise said: “It is distressing and frankly makes me angry that I’ve now been told that James’ killer will be afforded a parole hearing and a chance of release. Surely this person has proved he can not be given yet another chance, yet he’s been given one.

“The parole board must remember, he’s not a 10-year-old anymore. He’s bigger, he’s stronger, he’s got more wits about him. He’s been educated to lie to his back teeth. My worry is that if he’s released, he’ll lose that protection, he’ll be looking over his shoulder the whole time, he’ll have a target on his back. “He’s not going to like it in the real world. What is he going to do to get back inside?”