Mother wants more information on Venables case

Malaysia News.Net
Saturday 6th March, 2010

The mother of James Bulger, the boy who was murdered in London in 1993 by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, has asked for Jon Venables' anonymity to be taken away.

After a report that Venables had committed a serious sexual offence, Denise Fergus said he should face any charges under the full glare of the media and not be protected by a court order that conceals his identity.

Jon Venables was reportedly sent back to jail last week on suspected child pornography offences.

British newspaper the Sunday Mirror has claimed that Venables parole licence was revoked once the allegations were made.

Venables and his accomplice Robert Thompson were just 10 when they tortured and battered James to death in Liverpool, northern England, 17 years ago.

Venables was released in 2001 and given a new identity after serving eight years for the murder of James Bulger.

Mrs Fergus said a serious offence could have been avoided had Venables not been anonymous in the community.

Last Wednesday, the Home Secretary Alan Johnson said he believed the public "had a right to know" about the Venables case, but he was overuled by Justice Secretary Jack Straw, who insisted that secrecy was in the public interest.

Mr Straw was later backed by the prime minister.

Jack Straw is due to meet Mrs Fergus this week.

After James's Bulger’s battered body was found on a freight railway line in February 1993, Thompson and Venables, who were ten at the time, were given life sentences, but released in 2001 with new identities.

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