UK
Venables ‘feels he is the one that has been wronged’ – but ‘should never be released’, says James Bulger’s mother
The mother of James Bulger has said Jon Venables “feels like he is a celebrity” as she vowed to “still be fighting” to deny him parole in two years.
Denise Fergus said she is “still in shock” after hearing one of her son’s killers yesterday had his bid rejected by a parole board panel following a two-day hearing held behind closed doors.
Venables, now 41, was jailed alongside Robert Thompson in 1993 for the brutal murder of two-year-old James, when they were both aged 10.
The pair were given life sentences but were released on licence with new identities in 2001 when they were 18.
Venables was sent back to jail in 2010 after indecent images of children were found on his computer and served another three years before being recalled again in 2017 for the same offence.
James Bulger was killed when he was two years old
On Wednesday, the panel concluded that it “was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public”.
Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge, Ms Fergus said she felt like James’s killers “were never punished for the crime” because they served eight years in a young offenders prison and were then released.
And despite the decision this week, she said she will “still be fighting in two years time”, when Venables will be eligible for another parole review.
“In my eyes, he [Venables] feels like he has done right, he feels like he is the celebrity in all of this, he feels like he is the one that has been wronged, but he hasn’t,” she said.
“I don’t think he should ever be released.”
James (L) being lead away in a shopping mall on 12 February 1993 before he was murdered
Describing her son as a “joy to be around”, Ms Fergus said she has never given up giving James a voice.
“I feel like I have to speak on his behalf,” she said.
“It has taken me a long time to get over James’ death anyway, but to continue the fight the way I have done it has just been a rollercoaster ride.”
‘I have actually been listened to’
Ms Fergus said she has always thought that if the pair were released they would reoffend, because they had not been punished properly for her son’s death.
“It is the very first time I have felt in 30 years that I have actually been listened to,” she said.
“All that I have said and done in the past, it has now come to light that what I have said is the truth.”
She added: “I did say at the time because they weren’t properly punished because they weren’t in a proper prison that either one or both of them are going to go on and reoffend.
“And that is exactly what’s happened.”
Denise Fergus told Sopy Ridge she had ‘finally been listened to’
Ms Fergus and James’s other relatives were barred from attending the parole hearing, but a lawyer representing them was able to listen to the proceedings.
Because of this, Venables refused to give evidence during the latest hearing, claiming he was “not comfortable discussing some aspects of the case with the family representative listening” and instead asked the panel to consider his review based solely on written evidence, according to parole papers.
“That just shows you how much of a coward he is,” Ms Fergus said, in reaction.
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“He is the one that has caused 30 years of pain in my life and he took James’s life away from him. He destroyed one life but has completely destroyed my family.”
Kym Morris, chair of The James Bulger Memorial Trust, said they are now calling on Justice Secretary Alex Chalk to discuss changes to parole hearings.
“Victim families should have full access to all of the transcripts, evidence, everything,” Ms Morris said.
“If you went to a trial, you would have access to all of this, so what difference does a parole hearing have?
“That’s what we should do going forward.”