Jobs were few and far between. His parents say he is 'broken-hearted'. "The age of criminal responsibility in this country is 10 that's too low. There is hatred and envy directed at the baby - a wish to see it suffer in the way they have suffered. I barely need to refer to my notes to remember in great detail the events that would dominate British news for years. On November 24, 1993, the two boys, by then aged 11, became the youngest defendants to be sentenced for murder in a British court. Some neighbours claim they saw the boy snaring birds into traps in the back yard of his home, while one local youth claimed he saw the boy pull the heads off live baby pigeons. He has had his holidays like everyone else. She acknowledged her son had committed a terrible crime but claimed that her innocent younger children were being denied a proper education because of having to abandon their homes to escape attacks. . They looked, moved, fidgeted, scratched, cried - even sucked their thumbs - just like any 11-year-olds. After a while the boys became used to it. 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Pictures; Inside the Guardian; Guardian Weekly . From a distance Robert looked a sweet child. She was prone to hysteria and hailed from a 'strict and disciplined' background. Dudson was given a minimum term of 18 years. fn ye vw la. Hes your son., Unhappily, it was during this critical time that Ann became pregnant with her seventh child, the product of another failed relationship. Among the list were several horror films, including one video in which the police took special interest: Child's Play 3, a film which carries the line 'Children are consumer trainees'. In the autumn term of 1992, Robert played truant for 49 half days and Jon for 40. It set the tone for the years ahead in which there was to be no respite from the hatred. Facebook gives people the power. 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. Meanwhile, Thompson has not re-offended since his release, and is believed to be in a long-term relationship with a man who knows who he really is. . He carried books on wrestling and wildlife in his school bag. His grip was so strong that it took two people to pry Jon off of the boy. 'In this state it is quite painful to see a normal relationship between mother and child. 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. At 2:30 they went to the two-story shopping centre. Every day the public gallery was packed with students, pensioners, mothers, teenagers, all drawn to the courtroom spectacle as to a TV soap. They were drawn to one another quickly. When shop keepers asked what they were doing they would pretend they were waiting for their mum. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging. 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. The pair were handed new identities after being released from prison. On Sundays he used to watch Thunderbirds. 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. 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. Then they had carried, dragged and kicked him along a two and a half mile journey, at times swinging him violently in the air or dropping him against the road, until they reached the railway where they stoned him with bricks, bashed his head with a 22lb iron bar, and left him dead across the tracks to be cut in half by a passing goods train. He began telling his father that he believed his parents loved his brother and sister more than they did him, and, at one point, implored his father to send him to school with his siblings. I got on with my job, but months later the impact of that trial had sunk in and a difficult, tearful, confusing year followed for me. qu fy. 'I sat away from him - he caused trouble,' Jon said. It was their sons picked up by detectives. "In order that justice can be done, no further details are being released at this stage and the proceedings are subject to reporting restrictions.". Ultimately, however, the couples indifferences led to separation, and they were eventually divorced in 1986. Once Robert shared with him a tin of Roses chocolates which he had poured surreptitiously into his coat pocket. He once came to me crying saying the other boys were picking on him, trying to steal his bike.'. Then, one Friday in February, they discovered a new rule to break: they murdered a two-year-old. Denise Fergus remains convinced both will always be a danger to children. He disliked Thunderbirds because of the puppets' 'stringy thingies'. When you have got people in the area threatening to blow your kneecaps off every moment of the daythats just the way they are. Put bluntly, Jon Venables still gets a kick out of seeing small children suffer. The fathers of both Robert and Jon were without work. 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. Robert said 'If you tell anybody I'll get my big brother to batter you up'. Any anxiety or animosity he might have felt was manifested largely through his school-aged thumb-sucking, a habit which elicited titters and taunts from the neighborhood children. On November 24, 1993, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables became the youngest persons to be convicted of murder in Britain in almost 250 years, when the pair, both eleven, was found guilty of the abduction and murder of two-year-old James Patrick Bulger. "Just TV programmes and little things remind me of the good times we had together . Architect Shahed Saleem in the Ramadan Pavilion 2023 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Maybe it was that incident that put the idea into Jon or Robbie's head to 'get a little boy lost'. In court, he hid his face again. But now and again. Less thanfive hours laterthe verdicts were in. In the last few years she stopped drinking in the Top House and tried to keep things together. I would say he was provoked. Since the murder Robert has been in a state of post-traumatic shock, hounded by nightmares and flashbacks from the railway tracks. A heartstopping moment came when the playing of the tapes in court was paused. How can people defend their actions .#TheBulgerKillers.". "In terms of knowing what the full consequences of your actions are, you are into older childhood or adolescence. View the profiles of people named Susan Venables. When the court was played Jon's taped descriptions of how they had truanted they simultaneously smiled. In some families this was the third generation to be unemployed. Drivers have been warned to leave extra time for their Monday morning commute due to icy roads during rush hour, following a weekend of wintry weather. 'The attitude when you live where we live is that you have to be tough or else you don't survive,' she said. Could they have planned to do it in advance? He would go to bed. One of the focal points of the local community was QD Videos at the bottom of Robert's street, where the kids would browse through the horror stacks, discussing their favourites knowledgeably. But talking in 1993, his mother tried to explain how her child turned into a murderer. Guilty of abducting and murdering James PatrickBulger. It is time to examine all this.". When she turned around moments later, her son was gone. "He fell over," was the response. 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 base of the dock floor at Preston Crown Court had to be raised 18 inches so each boy could see over it. 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. 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. On many occasions, Susan was observed physically and verbally assaulting Jon. The mayor of Preston accused them of being sick ghouls, but still they came, queuing up for tickets two hours before proceedings began. As their sweet voices rang around the courtroom, Venables hid his face in his oversized blazer and cried. ", 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.". Boy A - Robert Thompson - was the shorter and more rounded of the two. Once they went into a home decoration shop and hid under a pile of carpets. On one occasion one of Anns sons let his real name slip at school and they had to move almost at once, says. He would call people names and get them to chase him. 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Denise, James Bugler's mother, went with her brother's girlfriend Nicola to the Bootle Strand Shopping Centre and took James with her. She got her drinking under control and began giving her murderer son the attention he. The right will draw attention to the broken homes, the single parents, the persistent truancy. Jon, who had the most trouble sleeping, appeared fearful of Susan, and was terrified, above all, of her condemnation. Thompson & Venebales. He denied having had any films that were not mainstream, or that were pornographic, in the house. Instead, she was involved in an ITV documentary with Sir Trevor McDonald that will air on Thursday. Denise was in court that day. Not their punishmentand exclusion from society for the rest of their childhood. That was in September 1991, 17 months before they killed James Bulger. I don't think they understood he was hyperactive. He was too scared to be naughty on his own. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? He was jailed for two years before being granted parole again in July 2013. They occasionally exchanged furtive glances. "Youngsters are usually tried in a youth court, [Thompson and Venables] were tried in an adult court. The best photos of birds and other wildlife from around the world. Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. Will you tell his mum I'm sorry?". They were in the Strand shopping centre in Bootle when the brother wandered off. "We are committed to driving sustainability in the leather industry, through the commitment of. I don't think so. .". Both parents hope was that he would make something of his life and eventually find some peace. A smell of bleach lingered on some of the tiled steps that led up to the front doors. She spent much of her time at the pub after that, and rarely stayed in for a meal. Express. 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. Whatever problems she had in her own life, she was always there. The petition, that now has 14,682 signatures, reads: "We want a Public Inquiry into the James Bulger murder case. It seems likely that he was bullied. There was almost total silence there apart from the sound of shoes on the ground. sons, were settled in council houses within easy reach of the institutions where their sons were being held. 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. Some of the red brick houses were well-kept, others had torn net curtains and grubby windows. "He is easily led. He has had Christmas presents. The boys lived off chips. Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. Jon was also mad on computers. Venables, who was said to have been subjected to regular beatings by his mother Susan, titled the drawing 'My Dads house'. 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. Without anyone in the family to turn to for support, he had to look outside for people whose swaggering aggression he could emulate. This story has no borders,' NBC correspondent Denis Murphy said. yet, as Venables is back behind bars. 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. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? They said their son met Robert Thompson in September 1991, when Jon was transferred from another school. kl. In Crosbies corner shop Ian, the next oldest to Robert, was able to tot up the shopping in his mind before the cash register rang up the total. His mother gave him pocket money to buy them. Although Susan couldnt recall any dramatic change in Jons behavior, his teachers there expressed some concern that Jon had become upset and difficult following the separation. Shortly after the breakup, an accidental fire destroyed the Thompsons home, leaving Ann homeless, jobless, and with little money to support her kids. They would hang around the video shop in Walton Village where the shop girl was pleased to have their company. He was fearful, he was weak and he was provoked," she said. She was paranoid about being discovered. It is here, of course, that Jon met and made friends with fellow eccentric, Robert Thompson. You know, we just try and help him as best we can to try to come to terms with things. He had that odd combination of obsession with and disdain for possessions that is characteristic of children who have never enjoyed any of their own. Meanwhile, A petition demanding a public inquiry into James Bulger's murder case has got nearly 15,000 signatures in one day. CCTV images revealed how James had been lured away by Thompson and Venables, who was also aged 10. She was living in secrecy but always felt that she was walking around with a huge sign: mother of Bulger killer, above her head. It worked. Police respond to reporters of a swan being removed from the harbour by a drunk male before it being involved in a collision on Mutley Plain. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. "On the other hand, you are looking at him and you are saying 'Well, I know why - because he is so weak'. Born 10 days apart in August 1982 in Liverpool. 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. 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. 'It's always our family that gets the blame,' Robert said to police after he was arrested for James's murder. The Americans fed 1 1/2 minutes of the Jamie Bulger story into a 22-minute bulletin of national and international news. Meanwhile Robert Thompson always regarded as the ringleader and the most likely of the murderous duo to fall by the wayside is said to be doing well. Extraordinarily, she even shouted up to the railway tracks at Walton where she knew Robert had a den. Robert Thompson was born to Robert Sr. and Ann Thompson on the 23rd day of August 1982, in Liverpool, England. One could draw some parallels between the film's plot and James Bulger's death. Friday 12th February 1993. Aged 10, he was barely literate. I wish we could turn the clocks back,' Mrs Venables, 36, said. Such a childish voice. Shed never been back but she clearly missed Liverpool and had tried to recreate the city in her new home, he recalls. ', 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. Robert passed this down the line bullying his eight-year-old brother into playing truant. "An awful mistake for 10 year olds is shoplifting not murdering a 2 year old FFS," another angry viewer tweeted. I used to get them for myself at night time. 'I don't know,' he replied. In March 2010, Venables was recalled to prison for downloading and distributing more than 100 images of child abuse. Click here to find personal data about Susan Venables including phone numbers, addresses, directorships, electoral roll information, related property prices and other useful information. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. He was fearful, he was weak and he was provoked. 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 reaction prompted James' mum Denise Fergus to let supporters know she had nothing to do with the programme.
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