On one occasion one of Anns sons let his real name slip at school and they had to move almost at once, says. We still think the same of him as we always have. And now The Bulger Killers: Was Justice Done? Mrs Thompson claimed she had been the victim of revenge attacks after her identity became known. They looked, moved, fidgeted, scratched, cried - even sucked their thumbs - just like any 11-year-olds. everyone blamed Thompson and. 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. By now the Venables were reunited as a result of the court case. INSIDE the court sat the two boys, dwarfed by the weight and majesty of the place. He did like to be liked, and loved to have friends, and he has got involved with the wrong person.". The statement said: "The man formerly known as Jon Venables has been charged with offences relating to indecent images of children and will appear in the Crown Court. Reporters from around the world ended up in the drab streets of Walton, cadging interviews off any 10-year-old boys hanging around in the streets. This would have been at about 5.30pm - just the time the boys were about to begin killing Jamie. 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. When they finally came to a disused railway track near the police station, the murderous duo tortured James, throwing stones and bricks at the baby, and kicking and stamping on him before finally dropping a heavy iron bar on to the defenceless tot. Jon continued to attend Broad Square, where children of the neighborhood openly mocked and poked fun at his siblings, calling them backward. Jon was also an easy target due to a squint in his eye. susan and neil venables The reaction prompted James' mum Denise Fergus to let supporters know she had nothing to do with the programme. S. Susan venables. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. 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. James' mother Denise believes they should have remained in jail for life and has tirelessly campaigned against their rights to anonymity. Without anyone in the family to turn to for support, he had to look outside for people whose swaggering aggression he could emulate. For his parents, the fact they were children was actually a cause for hope at that point. Both of them struggled at school and had been lumped into the year below their age. 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. The primary concern among the faculty was Roberts growing amount of absences. Susan Venables's bent body shrank deeper into itself. King Charles III shakes hands with Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky as he welcomes at Buckingham Palace, in London, ahead of an audience during his first visit to the UK since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Robert was number five of seven. 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. On many occasions, Susan was observed physically and verbally assaulting Jon. Jon Venables said the class teacher tried to entice Robert by offering him a prize for a week's continual attendance - he did, but the prize never came. Child killer Mary Bell and Maxine Carr, the former girlfriend of Soham murderer Ian Huntley, are the others. 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?". The experience gave Jon renewed confidence, and the second time they sagged off together he suggested it. Jon spent Sunday to Thursday with his mum and the rest of every week with his dad. His parents, Susan and Neil, accompanied him during the interview process. Im bringing them up on my own, but if I went round and screwed every warehouse, my kids would have everything, too. Even so, while Roberts community was rough, his home life was perhaps worse, and could hardly be considered a refuge for the boy. 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. Left to his own devices Jon liked to spend his playtime in fairly sedentary ways. Forensic and pathology evidence was a huge challenge for everyone, not least the jury who were shown pictures of James' injuries. I know how I feel as a mother. Superintendent Albert Kirby, who headed the investigation, doesn't believe in the under-belly of Liverpool nonsense or stuff about the disintegration of modern society, the collapse of the nineties cities. 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. CCTV images revealed how James had been lured away by Thompson and Venables, who was also aged 10. Look at mine. We still dont know why. Ian was clever enough to know that to survive he had to get out. It should certainly be moved up to 12; in some European countries it is 14," she said. James Bulger's killers: Where are Robert Thompson and Jon Venables? He's a good reader if he's interested in it. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging. She remained very frightened and felt that she and her son were the most hated people in the country. ", 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.". 'I didn't know it would be like this,' Mr Venables said with hindsight. Absence of a male role model is increasingly being explored - by both left and right - as one of the main reasons why today's boys and young men are going wrong; why 90 per cent of indictable offences are committed by men. The Americans fed 1 1/2 minutes of the Jamie Bulger story into a 22-minute bulletin of national and international news. 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. Get the biggest TV headlines, recaps and insider knowledge straight to your inbox. Superintendent Kirby is a religious man. Thompson got better opportunities there than if hed been walking the streets in Walton, says the author. Robert is not believed to have reoffended - Venables has been convicted twice since being set free. his mother was told that it was important that she stayed in his life and stood by him. The Liverpool Echo boasted that their man had one of 'just 34 seats' allocated to the international press. I didnt, did I? she said to Neil during their interview with Gitta Sereny. Susan Venables, mother of Jon - referred to throughout the trial as Boy B - blamed her son's 'weakness' for the murder of James Bulger, . Then there were the separated parents, the poverty, the truanting, the videos. Celestial. She was a woman as large in personality and physique as the burdens she carried. IN their interviews with the two boys, psychiatrists could find no clues to why the boys acted so violently. More press conferences, terrible details beginning to emerge about the state James was found in, and the chilling prospect, soon confirmed, that indeed it was children who had done this. Pictures; Inside the Guardian; Guardian Weekly . The best instincts led hundreds, including me, to lay flowers a few days later at the site of James horrific end. An Egret looking for his dinner! - Aswan, Egypt | Bird pictures, Aswan Members of the Up Helly Aa 'Jarl Squad' parade through the streets in Lerwick, Shetland Islands, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon using a camera during her visit to BBC Studioworks in Glasgow, Passersby chat with the police as they arrive to see King Charles III and the Princess Royal attend a church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, People at a vigil at Lurgan Park in Lurgan, Co Armagh in memory of murder victim Natalie McNally and opposing violence against women, Firefighters use hoses to dampen down at the scene of a fire at St Marks Church in Hamilton Terrace, St Johns Wood, London, which has been destroyed by the blaze which began in the early hours of the morning, Huskies pull their musher during a training run before this weekends annual Aviemore Sled Dog Rally, in Feshiebridge, A knitted topper celebrating Burns Night placed on a post box in Alloway, Ayrshire, Deer graze during sunrise at Ashton Court Estate, Bristol, where clear misty skies and a cold morning brings frost across parts of the south west UK, Ambulance workers on the picket line outside the Donnington Ambulance Hub, at Donnington, near Telford, Shropshire. He stayed away from school so often the local police called him a professional truant. It was not until much later, when questioned as to his involvement in the death of James Bulger, that Roberts resentment towards the new baby became suddenly and painfully apparent. What a horror it all was. She claimed, however, that she was completely unaware of Jons erratic behaviors at school, had never seen any evidence to support them (such as cuts on his arms or holes in his socks), and dismissed the possibility that many of the occurrences cited by the teacher had ever taken place. A day later, when James still hadnt been found, it was clear from CCTV footage that he had been taken by children. He had left her to bring up six children alone. It is claimed that taxpayers could have to fork out another 250,000 to provide a new life when he is eventually released. "In terms of knowing what the full consequences of your actions are, you are into older childhood or adolescence. Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. This happened, more often than not, at night, when they refused to go to bed when told. That was in September 1991, 17 months before they killed James Bulger. Thousands of members of Unison, Unite and the GMB unions are set to walk out across England and Wales on Monday as part of continued industrial action in the health service, Performers taking part in a parade involving costumes, lion dances and floats, during Chinese New Year celebrations in London, Everton fans hold up banners protesting against the board of directors during their Premier League match against West Ham at the London Stadium, A pair of swans fly over a frozen pond in Bushy Park in London, People take part in a demonstration in support of trans rights outside the UK Government Office in Edinburgh, A member of the Royal College of Nursing holds their dog whilst on the picket line outside Kings College Hospital in London, as nurses take industrial action over pay, The scene on the A39 Quantock Road in Bridgwater after a double-decker bus overturned in a crash involving a motorcycle, A man walks dogs in snowy conditions in a park in Hexham. After a while he tried to commit suicide to get back in. A police officer remembered Venables being so small that his legs didn't touch the floor as he sat in the custody office after his arrest. Its beyond me," one viewer tweeted. 'America is the land of shopping malls. TWO BOYS. Will you tell his mum I'm sorry?". 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. So much happened whilst I was there involving Jon. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. . I wish we could turn the clocks back," Mrs Venablessaid. After a while the boys became used to it. They did. Whatever problems she had in her own life, she was always there. Friday 12th February 1993. 'I sat away from him - he caused trouble,' Jon said. He appears to be a normal human, but inside the soft flesh there is indestructable metal. I am not sure if in fact he was seen by the school psychologist, but I did complete a form for him.. School had no hold on him - there was no corporal punishment or other form of penalty that touched him. "In order that justice can be done, no further details are being released at this stage and the proceedings are subject to reporting restrictions.". As the paedophile killer pleaded guilty on Wednesday to possessing more than 1,000 indecent images of children and a "paedo manual" - his parents words on their son's involvement make disturbing reading. He had been stripped from the waist down,. This time we came together in shock and disbelief. rk ye. In the mean time, Susan, finding her new living conditions insufferable, soon decided to move back in with Neil until she could find another place of her own. He disliked Thunderbirds because of the puppets' 'stringy thingies'. Unemployment levels were more than twice the national average in Walton. But they shouldn't have been tried in an adult court because they were still children. 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. She found it hard bringing the kids up in the neighbourhood. ", 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.". The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Teachers later reported that whereas the boys were manageable when separated, together their behavior worsened dramatically. But just as he was entering the school gates he met Jon and they decided to sag off together for the fourth - and final - time. In court, he hid his face again. Most of the fun revolved around shoplifting - sweets, trolls, pepperami, tins of modelling paint, drinks, candles; anything, really. 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. Mrs Venables walked around the area for hours, searching for him. "What he's done is wrong so he needs to be punished. Nine months later, I was one of 30 or so journalists inside Preston Crown Court when the trial began. But he is not a murderer. Grey Heron. Heck, we don't even have murderers that young in New York.'. She couldn't. Such a childish voice. The press were gobbling it up. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. A heartstopping moment came when the playing of the tapes in court was paused. 'They were just your average scruff - like the rest of us.'. Not that he had any need to borrow his dad's. Will you tell his mum I'm sorry?". I'm bringing up on my own but if I went round and screwed every warehouse my children would have everything too.'. Bird Pictures. During that time, Susan felt as if she was trapped and overburdened, often taking her frustrations out on her husband, who believed it was her responsibility to take care of the children, and offered her little support in the way of childrearing. By now the two boys from Walton were part of an international freak show. Not surprisingly, Ann had also attempted suicide in the same manner, some months before. She was a happy baby, much happier than her eldest brother had been, but as she grew older, Susan began noticing that she, too, appeared lazy, and was not as advanced as Jon. 'When the fisticuffs ended, they made friends.' He used to be bullied by other children for being so behind, and would return home at night visibly upset. Susan Venables Profiles | Facebook "I think about little James and what he must have gone through, how they must feel. '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.'. Aged 10, he was barely literate. He was always getting prizes for maths at school. Mrs Venables said: 'I think it was because the class group was too big for them to go in . The details of Jamess death were sickening. "Just TV programmes and little things remind me of the good times we had together . Will you tell his Mum Im sorry?. He was fearful of the other boy. 'I couldn't hear anything,' she said. His mother was not so keen on the idea - they cost pounds 35 each. Venables was caught with 1,170 indecent photos of children on his laptop, the Old Bailey was told.