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. I wish we could turn the clocks back," Mrs Venablessaid. As their sweet voices rang around the courtroom, Venables hid his face in his oversized blazer and cried. She found it hard bringing the kids up in the neighbourhood. Mr Venables said that the two boys had played truant together four times before, adding that he caught them twice. 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. The shocking murder that shook the nation, Both Venables and Robert Thompson were 10 years-old when they tortured and killed 2 year-old James Bulger, Thompson and Venables were tried as adults, James Bulger, aged 2 years old, being led away in a shopping centre in Liverpool, Denise Fergus denied having anything to do with the Channel 4 documentary about her son, James Bulger's murder case could now be investigated, The petition is on nearly 15,000 signatures, James Bulger was just two when he was brutally murdered, He had been out shopping with his mum Denise, James was made to walk two miles before being left for dead on a disused rail line, Denise tirelessly campaigned to have their sentence increased, Denise once admitted she's lived 'in fear' since the trial. Susan and neil venables. "My heart really goes out to them. When she turned around moments later, her son was gone. There is hatred and envy directed at the baby - a wish to see it suffer in the way they have suffered. She spent much of her time at the pub after that, and rarely stayed in for a meal. Occasionally, when the children would be left sitting on the red wall outside the house too long, one of the neighbours would call the police to go and get her out of the Top House. Haunting CCTV footage shows the pair leading the tiny, trusting boy . 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. She said that Jon was always "loving, caring, thoughtful and considerate . Birds. Wiping away tears, he went on: 'I feel for that family. Half way through the 1992-1993 school year, Robert had already racked up nearly 50 unauthorized absences, and was falling significantly behind in his schoolwork. Truanting, or 'sagging off', had become a way of life for Robert. I came back and then (Mrs Venables) went out. If I wanted to kill a baby, Id kill Id kill me own, wouldnt I?. THE first time the boys set eyes on each other after they were arrested was in Preston crown court 3 1/2 weeks ago. 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. As a grim portrait of abuse, drunkenness and neglect emerged, the hatred and loathing for Robert Thompson and Jon Venables was also turned on their parents. Venables received a 40-month prison sentence after appearing via video link at the Old Bailey. Jon breaks into hysteria whenever the subject is mentioned. James smith (16 March 1990 [2] - 12 February 1993) was a two-year-old boy from Kirkby, Merseyside, England, who was abducted, tortured, and murdered by two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson (born 23 August 1982) and Jon Venables (born 13 August 1982), on 12 February 1993. For weeks, she stayed in bed, not bothering to tend to the children, and when she finally did reemerge, she readily admitted she drank from morning to night, but had stopped taking the pills. For a start, there were only three children, of whom Jon was the middle. Mr Venables said: "He wouldn't watch horror. Ann was a heavy drinker, separated from her husband, also called Robert, who had deserted the family several years earlier and did not attend court. I know how I feel as a mother. Superintendent Kirby is a religious man. In quest of companionship, he occasionally bullied his younger brother into truanting with him, and, in an effort to impress his peers, frequently boasted of his late-night exploits on the railway line, but failed to attract much attention. After a while he tried to commit suicide to get back in. On one occasion, he said, Robert ran off down the street laughing, "You can't catch me". Neil had been laid off in the months prior, so the couple sold their home, and Neil moved back in with his father, before finally relocating to an apartment in Kirkdale. In all, they played truant four times. As a result of the incident, Jon's mother decided to move him to another school. "He fell over," was the response. ', They sagged off in the afternoon and walked around the shops in County Road, near Walton. Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman . .". Ian was clever enough to know that to survive he had to get out. Real bottom of the gut stuff, like an animal. Regrettably, yet perhaps not entirely unforeseen, the cycle of abuse continued. Then, one Friday in February, they discovered a new rule to break: they murdered a two-year-old. However, given that the tension in the household was persistent throughout the most crucial of Jons formative years, the belief that he had moved through the ordeal entirely unaffected is questionable. Susan seemed happy with the arrangement, although, for the children, this type of relationship would have been just one more confusing anomaly to cope with in the wake of an already confusing time in their young lives. A newspaper man from Detroit said it was because 'Liverpool is the Beatles and love, love, love. So, when he first began his association with classmate Jon Venables, in September 1992, Robert was happy to have finally befriended a boy like Jon, who could almost always be persuaded to follow in his lead. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. . When a police officer asked him why he didn't rescue James bleeding on the railway lines he replied: ' 'Cos blood stains, doesn't it, and then me mother would have to pay more money. 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. On Sundays he used to watch Thunderbirds. He has had Christmas presents. We will never be able to do the fun things any more . The bleached houses were peppered with burglar alarms, the shabby ones did not look worth the trouble. He has had his holidays like everyone else. It is about a Good Guy doll invaded by the spirit of a mass murderer who kills people in gruesome ways. The two had an aberrant relationship with one another, in the sense that it was almost as though they had never divorced. The case is doomed to be picked over by every faction within the caring professionals and politics. Only two people can answer the question, and even their ability is doubtful. 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. . In 2010, Meggie Atkinson, then children's commissioner for England, called for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised to 12 in light of the trial. 'Just mad. The taunts upset Jons already volatile temper, and he began coming home in increasingly low spirits and crying. Who were their parents? In the last few years she stopped drinking in the Top House and tried to keep things together. 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'.". In the first press conference she gave the day after her son was taken, this 25-year-old woman struck me as a girl, a desperate, grief stricken girl whose tired swollen eyes told their own story. Constantly fighting and battering one another, and possibly, too, being hit by their emotionally drained mother, the Thompson brothers often looked scruffy, and, on more than one occasion, were seen bearing bruises and bite marks. Everyone called him Chubby, because of his round, cherub's face. Denise, James Bugler's mother, went with her brother's girlfriend Nicola to the Bootle Strand Shopping Centre and took James with her. He started with Liverpool, but by the time of the murder he had switched to Blackburn Rovers. It was the kind of family neighbours compare themselves against and then feel better. 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. "Contrary to what the papers will tell you, he is not a little urchin boy. They said their son met Robert Thompson in September 1991, when Jon was transferred from another school. He disliked Thunderbirds because of the puppets' 'stringy thingies'. His mates called him a girl because whenever there was something on his mind he sucked his thumb. Three years ago, after his mother walloped him, he went to social services and asked them to put him in care. Both of them struggled at school and had been lumped into the year below their age. That seems the very least they could face for what they did. cl gz. The only sign he was discomforted by hearing it was a near constant pulling of his tongue in his hands. The couple, who also have a 13- year-old son, who has learning difficulties, and a 9-year-old daughter, denied that Jon was bullied by his brother or that he watched violent horror films at home. Heck, we don't even have murderers that young in New York.'. To do that he put on the witness stand all those people who had seen the three boys on the route from the shopping centre to the railway line. The Swedes, French, Germans, Canadian and Americans had all come to gaze at Liverpool's child killers. Liked by susan venables. Their age was hard to gauge from the CCTV images, so just when you imagined you couldnt be more shocked by this story, it emerged the two accused were just 10-years-old. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Like Ann Thompson, however, both parents of Jon Venables rallied round their son and in preparationfor his release Mr Venables accom-panied him on trips to football matches. fun to be with" and always had plenty of friends. Her family were dignified throughout, but on that day one of theBulgerfamily supporters allowed themselvesa loud 'YES' as the verdicts came in. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Robert was number five of seven. Gillespie, McNeilly, and Powell were sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 25 years. They and Ann Thompson, who has six other. The first time he asked Jon to play truant with him was last September, only weeks after they had become friends. At the time Ann Thompson pleaded for her son to be left alone and revealed that she and her other children had been forced to move house nine times in eight years. They passed 36 people, with one recalling how they urged the boys to take their 'little brother' home because he was 'crying for his mummy'. 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. 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. Recently, I dug out my old notebooks of the trial and my handwriting during the verdicts says it all. 'It was good. You know, we just try and help him as best we can to try to come to terms with things. Ms Truss has written a 4,000-word essay in todays Sunday Telegraph in which she stood by her plans to boost economic growth during her short tenure in No 10, Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker fails to stop team-mate Joel Matip (not pictured) from scoring an own goal during the Premier League match at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, A member of the public lines the road into St Michaels on Wyre, Lancashire, with missing posters of Nicola Bulley, 45, as police continue their search for the missing woman who was last seen on the morning of Friday January 27, when she was spotted walking her dog on a footpath by the nearby River Wyre, Not your usual prisoner! "On the other hand, you are looking at him and you are saying 'Well, I know why - because he is so weak'. Sorry, we are unable to accept comments about this article at the moment. He gets upset. He was too scared to be naughty on his own. Neil explained to him that the school they attended was special, and that Jon wouldnt be accepted. I couldnt make any sense of it, Robert later recalled, desolately, when asked about his fathers unexpected departure. A day later, when James still hadnt been found, it was clear from CCTV footage that he had been taken by children. The petition, that now has 14,682 signatures, reads: "We want a Public Inquiry into the James Bulger murder case. The other boy, Robert Thompson, we are told is now abiding by the conditions of his life license since he was released 17 years ago, and is doing well. wo. Resentful of her husbands lack of involvement with the children, Susan conceded that the couple fought constantly, especially throughout 1983, but maintained that Neil had never been aggressive towards her, nor had she hit him. The trial though didnt, and was never designed to, shed light on how two such young children could be guilty of such sustained barbarity. Words with the drawing, full of spelling mistakes and grammatical. The officer who questioned Venables took the stand and explained how he had asked Susan Venables to absent herself from the next session as her presence was now inhibiting her son from telling the truth. Security launched a search for James inside the centre and James' family searched for their son overnight. INSIDE the court sat the two boys, dwarfed by the weight and majesty of the place. What a horror it all was. He would steal objects that he neither needed nor wanted, then chuck them away in the street. Thompson admitted nothing. Just four years earlier, we had all covered the Hillsborough disaster and come together in grief. God knows how they must be feeling now.. For me, though, it is Susan and Neil Venables who stay most in my memory of that day. Nicola had to exchange some clothes at TJ Hughes, Denise waited nearby, watching the children. Our feelings haven't changed towards him. He was always getting prizes for maths at school. The Rt Reverend Glyn Webster lights a candle in front of the newly restored Lady Chapel East Window at All Saints North Street in York, one of thirteen stained glass windows from the church undergoing conservation work at Barley Studio, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary Pat Cullen on the picket line outside Great Ormond Street Hospital in London during a strike by nurses and ambulance staff, Britains former prime minister Liz Truss leaves her home on February 5, 2023 in London, England. Put bluntly, Jon Venables still gets a kick out of seeing small children suffer. When shop keepers asked what they were doing they would pretend they were waiting for their mum. Robert Thompson was born to Robert Sr. and Ann Thompson on the 23rd day of August 1982, in Liverpool, England. 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. We still dont know why. By now the Venables were reunited as a result of the court case. The end of the court case was not the end of course. MOST of the boys were bright. Last week the author Angela Phillips spoke of how the gentle son of the female friend of hers turned into a fascist skinhead: 'The boy his mother wanted him to become was not man enough for the world he was forced to inhabit. I do believe that she feels guilty deep down for her own part in what happened., Despite the risks of discovery, the relationship is said to have contin- ued to thrive following Thompsons. as he was known in court - Jon Venables. "He is easily led. His mother cared about him. He was also given 'respite care' - six weekly weekend breaks to relieve the family of the burden of looking after him. Now we waited. It's high time they were investigated. The guilty verdicts came quickly - within five hours. fun to be with". 'They were just your average scruff - like the rest of us.'. When Robert was asked what his hobby was he did not say trolls but 'skipping school'. Then between 1990 and 1991, Jons teachers recognized a dramatic change in the boys behavior, which was alarming enough for one of his teachers to begin keeping a daily log. But viewers were shocked when experts "defended" the 10-year-old murderers saying they made "an awful mistake". Dudson was given a minimum term of 18 years. He would go to bed. Get the biggest TV headlines, recaps and insider knowledge straight to your inbox. "The report of the Prison Service into an incident at Red Bank secure unit has not been published. In Jon's case, 'hyperactivity' went beyond mere fidgeting into outbursts of sudden anger and violence. 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. Susan Venables agreed but on condition that she saw her son first. Susan Venables, mother of Jon - referred to throughout the trial as Boy B - blamed her son's 'weakness' for the murder of James Bulger, and said he was going through torment. David Sharrock, Maggie O'Kane, and Edward Pilkington look at the lives of the rebels who turned to killing, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. Ann Thompson and Susan and Neil Venables didn't need to imagine. Given the Venables family history, it was later suggested that Jon could arguably have been affected by an undiagnosed disorder at the time, and was clearly emotionally underdeveloped. In a 1993 interview, published in the Guardian newspaper just one day after Robert was convicted of the murder of James Bulger, Ann Thompson was quick to place fault on the neighborhood and the surrounding authorities, who she felt had failed both her and her sons. Susan Venables, now 53, suffered from severe depres-sion and struggled with her two other children, an older son and younger daughter, who suffered learning difficulties. Online Marketing For Your Business At 2:30 they went to the two-story shopping centre. Unemployment levels were more than twice the national average in Walton. When Jon's parents gave a recent press interview, it was Mrs Venables who did most of the talking; the father just sat and cried. Hes your son., Unhappily, it was during this critical time that Ann became pregnant with her seventh child, the product of another failed relationship. 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. It is claimed that taxpayers could have to fork out another 250,000 to provide a new life when he is eventually released. For his parents, the fact they were children was actually a cause for hope at that point. Left to his own devices Jon liked to spend his playtime in fairly sedentary ways. Maybe it was that incident that put the idea into Jon or Robbie's head to 'get a little boy lost'. James Bulger was weeks away from his third birthday, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson behaved very differently in court, Mother who killed her five children euthanised, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, Alex Murdaugh jailed for life for double murder, US sues Exxon over nooses found at Louisiana plant, Zoom boss Greg Tomb fired without cause. Hope. I'm bringing up on my own but if I went round and screwed every warehouse my children would have everything too.'. Jon's parents said they talked to their son about James after he was arrested, but had to stop. The Royal Mint of a 50p coin featuring Professor Albus Dumbledore as part of a Harry Potter-themed collection. They would sneak out during the morning break, hiding behind a wall before the coast was clear. Ann denied the physical abuse, but later admitted to being cruel to the boys at times. The teacher had a different perspective, saying that Susan was in fact aware of the issue, and had expressed deep concern. Those who knew him well said he was a very emotional child, prone to mood swings. IN their interviews with the two boys, psychiatrists could find no clues to why the boys acted so violently. Not for long though. It was their sons picked up by detectives. Shame? While both boys may have felt helpless and inferior in their own settings, together they were fearless, a portrait of machismo, each playing on the others strong points. He also liked to scare old ladies by jumping out in front of their noses. Take him home, the officer would say to her. Constantly restless, his workbooks were empty, and he would often be denied recess because he was so far behind. Thompson got better opportunities there than if hed been walking the streets in Walton, says the author. Jon was afraid of her. Mrs Venables described how she searched for Jon. 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. One neighbour said she always let him into her home whenever his mother was out. They were drawn to one another quickly. Express. He is far from it. Friday 12th February 1993. 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.'. View the profiles of people named Susan Venables. His body, defiled and broken in two by a train, two miles from where hed been taken, was foundtwo days later. See that cell. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. I just burst into tears because you just knew what that meanther heart was broken. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. When social workers came round, they did so to see his sister and his brother, who had learning difficulties and was receiving special education. Yes, these things are important, but trust. I made notes of the pathologists evidence. Both boys had been held back a year, and they were put in the same class. Another added: "An awful mistake??!! Jon, who had the most trouble sleeping, appeared fearful of Susan, and was terrified, above all, of her condemnation. "All he said when we've said 'Why didn't you run away?' qu fy. Nature. Susan Venables's bent body shrank deeper into itself. 'I sat away from him - he caused trouble,' Jon said. At the end of the street a mesh wire frame coverered the window of the money lenders. 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. portrayed him as the leader and evil one, says James Smith. Will you tell his mum I'm sorry?". The details of Jamess death were sickening. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? "One mystery surrounding the murder of James Bulger case is why the 'experts' insisted that Jon Venables was rehabilitated. He said that on the day James was killed, when he went to the school in the afternoon to collect Jon he was told his son was missing. At his first primary school the headmistress referred him to a psychologist, noting how he used to bang his head against the classroom wall to gain attention. It was when Jon turned seven that Susan and the children had relocated to Norris Green, one of Liverpools larger, more reputable areas. Sometimes Robert would sag off on his own, but it was more fun with a friend. 'I didn't know it would be like this,' Mr Venables said with hindsight. Venables on the other hand was becoming increasingly agitated in the police interviews. The detective explained how, before she left, she soothed him, told him his parents would love him whatever he told the police, reminding him that Denise neededto know what had happened to her baby. 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. Such pleasantries were not for Robbie. We have found 88 people in the UK with the name Susan Venables. Lock him in it.'. She got her drinking under control and began giving her murderer son the attention he. By now the two boys from Walton were part of an international freak show. His grip was so strong that it took two people to pry Jon off of the boy. "It is hard to take in really. A maudlin ballad about Liverpool was playing in the back- ground and she was cooking the dish known as Scouse. Will you tell his Mum Im sorry?. Apart from Jon's incident with the ruler, there had been no record of previous violence. They played a double act towards the children: his mother, Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman with a hawkish look, was the hard one. The right will draw attention to the broken homes, the single parents, the persistent truancy. Neil Venables regarded himself as the Barry Norman of Merseyside - a film buff with a penchant for horror. But his progress took a nose dive in September 1991 when he was transferred into another class. On one occasion one of Anns sons let his real name slip at school and they had to move almost at once, says. CCTV images revealed how James had been lured away by Thompson and Venables, who was also aged 10. But they shouldn't have been tried in an adult court because they were still children. JON Venables's family was far from affluent, but it was not as close to the breadline as Robert's. While Robert was described as a wily child, known to tell lies, most of the St. Marys school staff agreed that the boy posed little trouble, and, if and when he attended, was generally well-mannered during class. Susan opted to remove him from the school then, and some months later, she reenrolled him in St. Marys in Walton. He says 'I know, Mum'. Sitting in the new class was a chubby boy with a cherub's face - Robert Thompson. One woman asked how James had injured his forehead.
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