'I think it has something to do with a hatred of vulnerability and babyness in themselves which they projected on to this toddler.'. The week after he walked out the family's home burned down in an accidental fire. Not that he had any need to borrow his dad's. We still think the same of him as we always have. That's the thing that upsets me because obviously, where I was standing poor little James must have been not far . IN their interviews with the two boys, psychiatrists could find no clues to why the boys acted so violently. He gets upset. 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. They had to report him missing at the security office before he was found, and Jon's mother was very angry. Guilty of abducting and murdering James PatrickBulger. JON Venables's family was far from affluent, but it was not as close to the breadline as Robert's. I'm warning yer,' she would say. But curiosity drew him towards Robert in equal measure. The four who drove Suzanne to Romiley - Jean Powell (now Jean Gillespie), Bernadette McNeilly, Glyn Powell, and Anthony Dudson - were all found guilty of murder. ", 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.". Pictures; Inside the Guardian; Guardian Weekly . Robert passed this down the line bullying his eight-year-old brother into playing truant. I used to get them for myself at night time. Susan opted to remove him from the school then, and some months later, she reenrolled him in St. Marys in Walton. UK news in pictures 15 February 2023. As their sweet voices rang around the courtroom, Venables hid his face in his oversized blazer and cried. Jobs were few and far between. Their faces affected me deeply. . I said no. Celestial. He wanted a Rovers strip for his birthday present. He has been educated. One neighbour said she always let him into her home whenever his mother was out. Then, one Friday in February, they discovered a new rule to break: they murdered a two-year-old. It was on his way back to the interview room when Venables finally admitted it: "We did it. ql zo. portrayed him as the leader and evil one, says James Smith. According to a legal source we spoke to this week, Jon Venables parents have sought to be a support for their son, despite the enormity of his crime. At school Jon was considered bright enough, though he had trouble keeping up with lessons. The Crown Prosecution Service released a statement in January confirming Venables had been charged. Denise was in court that day. When she turned around moments later, her son was gone. Please review our, You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. The two bumped into each other - literally - in the school playground in the middle of a fight. Grainy CCTV footage shows them walking James away from the Strand . The questioning was calm, steady, even playful at the beginning to try to get a sense the two boys really did know the difference between right and wrong. The family was already exhaustingly overextended, and Robert, being the fifth edition, was quick to pick up on the coping mechanisms needed to survive in a life of unremitting chaos and enmity. She was paranoid about being discovered. They did. On the days he was at school he had a knack for stirring things up. wo. She found it hard bringing the kids up in the neighbourhood. 'In my opinion he was victimised. There was a pattern of bullying, with the older boys picking on their younger brothers down the line. "An awful mistake for 10 year olds is shoplifting not murdering a 2 year old FFS," another angry viewer tweeted. They and Ann Thompson, who has six other. The Liverpool Echo boasted that their man had one of 'just 34 seats' allocated to the international press. His mother was not so keen on the idea - they cost pounds 35 each. Robert was number five of seven. Hyperactive children can't sit still all day,' Mrs Venables said. 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. Shed never been back but she clearly missed Liverpool and had tried to recreate the city in her new home, he recalls. Thompson and Venables, now both 27 years old, are among only four individuals in the UK whose crimes are so notorious that they have been given lifelong anonymity. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. WALTON, where they both lived, is, in the jargon of planning, an inner-city urban priority area; neither the best nor the worst the city has to offer. It worked. 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. His response couldn't have been more different as he sank into the oversized blazer he was wearing. I didnt connect the dots until much later on. The government will be required to respond within 14 days if as the petition achieves more than 100,000 signatures. The couple was financially strained from the start, but Ann did what she could to make it work. Egypt. In contrast he has had no contact with his father despite an approach soon after sentencing. Haunting CCTV footage shows the pair leading the tiny, trusting boy . Were they to blame? Get the biggest TV headlines, recaps and insider knowledge straight to your inbox. MOST of the boys were bright. NEIL Venables was warned by friends not to let his son play with the other boy. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Another added: "An awful mistake??!! Channel 5 is set to air a new two-part documentary that tells the definitive story of . ", Her husband, Neil, said: "If you had a league table of children, you would put him at the bottom of the list for anything like this.". '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. Financially, the couple appeared to be functioning, but meanwhile, Susan was at the end of her rope with her eldest son, who, having become increasingly frustrated at his inability to communicate, had grown terribly unhappy and was having temper tantrums regularly. He denied having had any films that were not mainstream, or that were pornographic, in the house. By now the Venables were reunited as a result of the court case. Forensic and pathology evidence was a huge challenge for everyone, not least the jury who were shown pictures of James' injuries. Sandra Gotheridge. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt. On the walls hung oil paintings of local judges and magistrates, their surfaces crinkled with age. Ann denied the physical abuse, but later admitted to being cruel to the boys at times. By now, Robert had also stepped comfortably into the role of the aggressor, and, following in the footsteps of his elder brothers, began tormenting his eight-year-old brother on a daily basis. 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. When Jon left home on the morning of Friday, February 12 he was happy because it was the last day of school before a week's holiday and he was going to take some pet gerbils home. The Radio Merseyside newsroom, where I was working at the time, was full and everyone was on this story one way or another. Jon, who had the most trouble sleeping, appeared fearful of Susan, and was terrified, above all, of her condemnation. As his killers began their sentences, such was the revulsion that it was already clear their families could not. . DAVID James Smith, who visited Mrs Thompson at one of her secret homes, reveals that it was a sad existence. Many of us had dined together most nights throughout the trial, mulling it all over but distracting ourselves, too. Another time they were saucy and asked a sales girl if she stocked 'fishy nickers'. I feel so sorry for them. Not for long though. 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. I would say he was provoked. She remained very frightened and felt that she and her son were the most hated people in the country. Robert said 'If you tell anybody I'll get my big brother to batter you up'. qu fy. Wiping away tears, he went on: 'I feel for that family. What happened to James Bulger? He did like to be liked, and loved to have friends, and he has got involved with the wrong person.". 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"What he's done is wrong so he needs to be punished. 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.'. Once they went into a home decoration shop and hid under a pile of carpets. When shop keepers asked what they were doing they would pretend they were waiting for their mum. The primary concern among the faculty was Roberts growing amount of absences. 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. One time they sagged off with Robert's younger brother, which went disastrously wrong. Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both 10, murdered him in cold blood. The fathers of both Robert and Jon were without work. Most of the fun revolved around shoplifting - sweets, trolls, pepperami, tins of modelling paint, drinks, candles; anything, really. By then, Robert and Jon had abducted James Bulger from the Strand and attempted to drown him in the nearby canal. Scores more watched proceedings from a neighbouring office block which, for the duration of the trial, came under court jurisdiction. 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. Some of the red brick houses were well-kept, others had torn net curtains and grubby windows. Susan Venables, mother of Jon - referred to throughout the trial as Boy B - blamed her son's 'weakness' for the murder of James Bulger, . Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter', Why half of India's urban women stay at home. For his parents, the fact they were children was actually a cause for hope at that point. Neither gave evidence to the court, but were found guilty after an officer told how Venables admitted the murder, saying, "We did it. Lock him in it.'. 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. She was prone to hysteria and hailed from a 'strict and disciplined' background. A torrent of questions erupted from the moment the grim news came out that James Bulger's body had been found on a railway line in Liverpool and the last people seen with him were two ten-year-olds, captured on grainy CCTV footage. Money was always a struggle, and she got through the first years drinking in Higson's Top House off St Mary's Lane. Jon spent Sunday to Thursday with his mum and the rest of every week with his dad. At first, Robert seemed to respond well to this, taking the initiative to help feed and clothe the baby, and doing what he could to please his mother. Their kids have got everything, she added, bitterly. xf fy. Extraordinarily, she even shouted up to the railway tracks at Walton where she knew Robert had a den. Susan and the children moved in with her mother for a short time, and then settled in a small cluster of derelict apartments in Old Swan, where Jon attended the nearby Broad Green Preschool. . Facebook gives people the power. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. We still dont know why. Ann Thompson and Susan and Neil Venables didn't need to imagine. 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. The haunting words of Jon Venables' parents only interview have resurfaced, twenty five years after he killed tot Jamie Bulger. More often, he would pinch them from local shops. They played truant, they pinched sweets, they terrorised old ladies. Jon breaks into hysteria whenever the subject is mentioned. Facebook gives people the power. The final scene takes place among the tracks of a fun-fair ghost train where the doll, which resembles an infant with spiky hair has his face slashed before he is cut to pieces by a ventilator fan. But he is not a murderer. He took a jar of paracetamol. It was their sons picked up by detectives. Jon's first year after he was moved was relatively successful. So much happened whilst I was there involving Jon. The abduction and brutal murder of this two-year-old by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who were just 10 at the time, prompted a conversation in Britain that we are still having today. Both had a need to attract attention, which they achieved through a host of petty rebellions. I would say he was provoked. Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman . The appearance in court this week of Venables, now a 35-year-old man, on charges of possessing indecent images of children, was a jarring reminder that, still a quarter of a century on, his rehabilitation is more an ambition than a reality. 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I thought he was all right, Jon said of Robert during his police interviews. re bz. This time, curiosity took the upper hand: 'I wanted to see what it was like,' he said. 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. They saw it with their eyes. This story has no borders,' NBC correspondent Denis Murphy said. He caused me such anxiety, the teacher later recalled of Jon in a statement given to the Merseyside police. Both boys had been held back a year, and they were put in the same class. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Parents of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson talk about their sons, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. 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. Some people thought they were as old as 12 or 13, but when they met they were both only 10 years old. 'I didn't know it would be like this,' Mr Venables said with hindsight. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? 'I thought he was all right,' said Boy B, as he was known in court - Jon Venables. He has had Christmas presents. At Radio City in Liverpool the calls were coming through from Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It was this empowering chemistry between them that some argued set into motion the life-altering events that would devastate a family, challenge a community, and rock a nations core in the disquieting months that followed. gl. Since his 14-year-old brother, Phillip , had already tried to stab him, the social services agreed. In any case, the couple drifted together, and in 1983, just fifteen months succeeding Jons birth, Susan gave birth to their third child, a daughter. In the last few years she stopped drinking in the Top House and tried to keep things together. 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. Neighbors later reported that it wasnt uncommon for Robert to be seen wandering the streets of Walton after midnight, since he was always running off at night. But now and again. "All he said when we've said 'Why didn't you run away?' 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'.". 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. It is just heartbreaking.". He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. Get out and get into Dyson Hall children's centre, the only residential care school in the country just outside Liverpool. 'They were just your average scruff - like the rest of us.'. Robert always wanted to stay out late and encouraged Jon to join him. But. 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. Keep them apart or he'll get into trouble, they said. The bird was taken to the vets where they are nursing it back to health. and things like that is that he was frightened. He was always getting prizes for maths at school. Just four years earlier, we had all covered the Hillsborough disaster and come together in grief. The pair were handed new identities after being released from prison. A video still of James Bulger, aged 2 years old, being led away in the 'New Strand' shopping centre. She was living in secrecy but always felt that she was walking around with a huge sign: mother of Bulger killer, above her head. For she added: 'But he's not a murderer.'. 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. Recently, I dug out my old notebooks of the trial and my handwriting during the verdicts says it all. 'I couldn't be arsed talking about them,' said one. Take him home, the officer would say to her. We are proud to endorse the COP27 Leather Manifesto. It was during this time that Susan, having suffered from clinical depression for many years, had experienced what were later described as two traumatic incidences, both of which Jon would have witnessed. The case of James, a two-year-old who was snatched from a shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool, in 1993, before being tortured and left to die, shocked the nation. He frequented local cinemas and regularly hired videos for the night. Maybe it was that incident that put the idea into Jon or Robbie's head to 'get a little boy lost'. On one occasion, he said, Robert ran off down the street laughing, "You can't catch me". That seems the very least they could face for what they did. "We are committed to driving sustainability in the leather industry, through the commitment of. "I think my son's concentration wasn't the way it should have been, but he wasn't slow. Witness after witness who had seen them, or stopped and asked them what was going on, took the stand. 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. gk. ', 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. I just think of James and his Dad and about all that fun with his little boy, like I had with Jon.". One investigating police officer said: 'You could look into the eyes of Robert and knew you were looking at evil.' 2023 BBC. Her family were dignified throughout, but on that day one of theBulgerfamily supporters allowed themselvesa loud 'YES' as the verdicts came in. They occasionally exchanged furtive glances. Without anyone in the family to turn to for support, he had to look outside for people whose swaggering aggression he could emulate. - a grey heron in Asawn, Southern Egypt. "I don't think we went wrong as parents at all. Venables, who was released on licence in 2001 after serving eight years for the murder of two-year-old James, was returned to prison last November after he was caught with the pictures. Grey Heron. The other shops in the area were also armoured with mesh, including the Red Garden chipper where Robert used to pop in with his brothers most nights for a 25p bag of chips. 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. Big Bobby, like Anns father, was a violent alcoholic, who was easily crossed. The two had an aberrant relationship with one another, in the sense that it was almost as though they had never divorced. Whatever problems she had in her own life, she was always there. Jon was slim in build and taller than Robert, just over five feet. I am providing this page for those who are interested in learning more about the lives of these boys prior to their offense. Both of them struggled at school and had been lumped into the year below their age. This happened, more often than not, at night, when they refused to go to bed when told. 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, Sarah Ferguson exclusive: Meghan has made Harry very happy, 32 best gifts for her: top present ideas to buy for mother's day in 2023, Midlife women are being told to sit down and shut up and not just by men, Imogen Stubbs: Its become less and less acceptable to age, Cost of HRT set to be slashed in new prescription scheme, Magic Mike and the naked truth about male strippers, Inside the James Bulger files 25 years on. After they became friends he initiated Jon into the delights of climbing into people's back gardens and the consequent thrill of being chased out by the owners.