Michael Fergus was born eight months after James Bulger lost his life (Picture: PA/Facebook/Michael Fergus)

James Bulger’s Brother Says He Will Never Forgive Killers — 32 Years On

 The brother of murdered toddler James Bulger has spoken out on the 32nd anniversary of the tragedy, saying he will never forgive his sibling’s killers and calling for one of them to remain permanently behind bars.

Michael Fergus, who was born eight months after James lost his life, has lived with the shadow of the crime all his life. Now aged 31, the landscape gardener from north-west England told the Sunday Express that the impact of his brother’s killing still defines his family’s pain decades later.

“My brother’s killers will never be forgiven,” Fergus said. “They took away my older brother who I never got to meet. I would have loved to have looked up to him, asked him questions, talked to him about exams, cars, going to bars — normal stuff.

But because of those two I never got the chance. They robbed me of my childhood, in a nutshell.”

Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were just ten years old when they murdered James Bulger (Picture: PA)

James Bulger was abducted from a shopping centre in the Bootle area of Liverpool (Picture: PA)

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A Crime That Shocked Britain

On February 12, 1993, James Bulger, just two years old, was abducted from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside. His abductors, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, both aged 10 at the time, tortured and killed him in a case that horrified the nation and made headlines worldwide.

The crime sparked outrage not only for its brutality but also because of the killers’ ages. It raised difficult questions about justice, rehabilitation, and whether children who commit such crimes should ever be released back into society.

“Justice for James”

For Michael Fergus, true justice means ensuring Venables, who has reoffended as an adult, never walks free again.

“Justice for James means keeping Venables behind bars, for peace of mind for our family, especially my mum,” Fergus explained.

While both killers were sentenced to life imprisonment, they were released on licence with new identities in 2001. Since then, Robert Thompson has stayed out of public trouble. Venables, however, has been repeatedly returned to prison — in 2010 and again in 2017 — after being caught with child abuse images.

Political Response

The case continues to shape the way Britain handles high-risk offenders. The Ministry of Justice reaffirmed its stance, with a spokesperson saying:

“The Deputy Prime Minister will do everything in his power to keep dangerous offenders behind bars and has set out plans to overhaul the parole process and put victims at the heart of the process.”

At the time, Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab had pledged stricter parole rules to ensure public safety.

A Family Still Hurting

Although he never met James, Michael Fergus grew up under the shadow of grief. His comments echo the ongoing anguish of his mother, Denise Fergus, who has long campaigned for justice for her son and pushed back against Venables’ repeated bids for parole.

For the Bulger family, the pain has not eased with time. The memory of James — a smiling two-year-old whose life was stolen — remains ever-present.

“They took James away from me before I ever had the chance to know him,” Michael said. “That’s something you can’t forgive. Not after 32 years. Not ever.”

32 years on, the scars of the tragedy remain deep. For the Bulger family, the fight for justice continues, and the words of James’ brother make one thing painfully clear: time may have moved forward, but forgiveness has never been possible.