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. There was a pattern of bullying, with the older boys picking on their younger brothers down the line. . When social workers came round, they did so to see his sister and his brother, who had learning difficulties and was receiving special education. Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. Who were their parents? 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. They did. They were sent home to their mother at one point, but after attempting suicide with overdoses, were placed back into care. 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. Denise, James Bugler's mother, went with her brother's girlfriend Nicola to the Bootle Strand Shopping Centre and took James with her. 'Just mad. ", 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.". How can people defend their actions .#TheBulgerKillers.". They and Ann Thompson, who has six other. "Throughout the conduct of the case there have been a number of issues that have been swept under the carpet. . And there were rewards for breaking rules. Robert's feelings towards his half-brother also appear to have been ambivalent - he told police he would not have murdered James Bulger because 'if I wanted to kill a baby, I'd kill my own, wouldn't I?'. IN A letter to her son written soon after he was sentenced, Ann Thompson wrote: no matter what you did or didnt do, Im your mother and I will stay with you no matter what happens.. In Jon's case, 'hyperactivity' went beyond mere fidgeting into outbursts of sudden anger and violence. To be absolutely accurate, she had only one illusion. 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'. On many occasions, Susan was observed physically and verbally assaulting Jon. Mr Venables said: "He wouldn't watch horror. 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'The attitude when you live where we live is that you have to be tough or else you don't survive,' she said. Once Robert shared with him a tin of Roses chocolates which he had poured surreptitiously into his coat pocket. The Royal Mint of a 50p coin featuring Professor Albus Dumbledore as part of a Harry Potter-themed collection. 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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. View the profiles of people named Susan Venables. In the last few years she stopped drinking in the Top House and tried to keep things together. The boys lived off chips. 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. Big Bobby, like Anns father, was a violent alcoholic, who was easily crossed. 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. 'His mum was more strict. When the fisticuffs ended, impressed by each other's performance, they made friends. Their. Some people thought they were as old as 12 or 13, but when they met they were both only 10 years old. We still dont know why. Both of them struggled at school and had been lumped into the year below their age. He's quite bright and clever. The pair was tried for the abduction and murder of James as adults owing to the fact they were over 10, which is legally deemed to be the age of criminal responsibility. The experience gave Jon renewed confidence, and the second time they sagged off together he suggested it. Both parents hope was that he would make something of his life and eventually find some peace. Money was always a struggle, and she got through the first years drinking in Higson's Top House off St Mary's Lane. "In order that justice can be done, no further details are being released at this stage and the proceedings are subject to reporting restrictions.". Self pity? Could they have planned to do it in advance? 'I sat away from him - he caused trouble,' Jon said. Once they went into a home decoration shop and hid under a pile of carpets. It is claimed that taxpayers could have to fork out another 250,000 to provide a new life when he is eventually released. She couldn't. The fathers of both Robert and Jon were without work. He also liked to scare old ladies by jumping out in front of their noses. After a while he tried to commit suicide to get back in. I'm bringing up on my own but if I went round and screwed every warehouse my children would have everything too.'. It was so stressful trying to contain him. His body was found two days later on a railway line. MOST of the boys were bright. 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. He has had his holidays like everyone else. Not for long though. Murder of James Bulger. Only two people can answer the question, and even their ability is doubtful. The couples first child, a son, had been born with a cleft pallet, and when Jon was born, much of the Venables focus was on getting their eldest son into speech therapy. It was their sons picked up by detectives. One woman asked how James had injured his forehead. On November 24, 1993, the two boys, by then aged 11, became the youngest defendants to be sentenced for murder in a British court. Jon's parents, who sat in court for most of the trial, said they grieved for the Bulgers. 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. It is not known whether the boy watched any of his father's adult movies. sp. Robert was number five of seven. She was prone to hysteria and hailed from a 'strict and disciplined' background. Extraordinarily, she even shouted up to the railway tracks at Walton where she knew Robert had a den. 'If, in their own lives, they have had it extremely tough and been bullied and neglected and abused then they end up rapidly having to prove themselves to be extremely tough and invulnerable - a bit like Arnold Shwarzenegger in The Terminator. 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. One day they stayed out until 10.30pm and Jon received a severe reprimand from his mother. A heartstopping moment came when the playing of the tapes in court was paused. But talking in 1993, his mother tried to explain how her child turned into a murderer. wo. 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. Words with the drawing, full of spelling mistakes and grammatical. It was when Jon turned seven that Susan and the children had relocated to Norris Green, one of Liverpools larger, more reputable areas. When she turned around moments later, her son was gone. His father, Neil, an unemployed panel-beater, was separated from his mother but they lived only a mile apart, saw each other every other day, and took equal care of the children. Most of the fun revolved around shoplifting - sweets, trolls, pepperami, tins of modelling paint, drinks, candles; anything, really. Those who knew him well said he was a very emotional child, prone to mood swings. He took a jar of paracetamol. Forlorn hope, though. Some of the red brick houses were well-kept, others had torn net curtains and grubby windows. Everton was his team. 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. Mr Venables said it had never crossed their minds that the video pictures from the security cameras in the shopping centre from which James went missing showed their own son. . Thompson and Venables, now both 27 years old, are among only four individuals in the UK whose crimes are so notorious that they have been given lifelong anonymity. 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. At Preston Crown Court Thompsons mother Ann and Venables parents Neil and Sue sat side by side. His parents, Susan and Neil, accompanied him during the interview process. 'It was good. 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. Hope. Both had parents who had separated. xf fy. INSIDE the court sat the two boys, dwarfed by the weight and majesty of the place. . "My heart really goes out to them. Born 10 days apart in August 1982 in Liverpool. He has never really been what you would call a sagger off school (a truant). The atmosphere in the courtroom was oppressive as the tension of a month was about to break. It is about a Good Guy doll invaded by the spirit of a mass murderer who kills people in gruesome ways. everyone blamed Thompson and. Depressed, Ann began drinking heavily and was taking narcotics which caused her to hallucinate. Just four years earlier, we had all covered the Hillsborough disaster and come together in grief. Sometimes Robert would sag off on his own, but it was more fun with a friend. And in Lower Lane police station when he was being questioned about the murder she had to be told that her harsh words were inhibiting him from confessing. ', They sagged off in the afternoon and walked around the shops in County Road, near Walton. Although he appeared to have the more stable upbringing of the two boys, there was a history of family problems. He carried books on wrestling and wildlife in his school bag. . The documentary last night featured interviews with those involved in the 1993 trial, including James dad Ralph Bulger, Jon Venables solicitor Laurence Lee and detective sergeant Phil Roberts, who interviewed Robert Thompson. They probably weren't out to kill someone, but they were probably out to ruin someone else's happiness. 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. We still think the same of him as we always have. Scores more watched proceedings from a neighbouring office block which, for the duration of the trial, came under court jurisdiction. By now the two boys from Walton were part of an international freak show. Maybe it was that incident that put the idea into Jon or Robbie's head to 'get a little boy lost'. Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. 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. He disliked Thunderbirds because of the puppets' 'stringy thingies'. "The age of criminal responsibility in this country is 10 that's too low. 'They were just your average scruff - like the rest of us.'. 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. I made notes of the pathologists evidence. Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. For she added: 'But he's not a murderer.'. Haunting CCTV footage shows the pair leading the tiny, trusting boy . Grey Heron. Susan Venabless bent body shrank deeper into itself. Not surprisingly, Ann had also attempted suicide in the same manner, some months before. Between January and the day of the murder Robert had absconded 37 half days out of a possible 60 . Not their punishmentand exclusion from society for the rest of their childhood. 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. But after a year they let Ian out again. The old wood panelled courtroom is small. He didn't want to hurt James. Jon, who had the most trouble sleeping, appeared fearful of Susan, and was terrified, above all, of her condemnation. 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. But apart from his brother, Robert struggled to build friendships. On the days he was at school he had a knack for stirring things up. Venables and Thompson were seen on CCTV calmly leading the toddler out of the shopping centre by his hand. Weeping, she said: 'I wasn't actually on the railway track because there is a fence, but I went up the side. He would go to bed. I wish we could turn the clocks back," Mrs Venablessaid. It was during this time that Susan, having suffered from clinical depression for many years, had experienced what were later described as two traumatic incidences, both of which Jon would have witnessed. Neil explained to him that the school they attended was special, and that Jon wouldnt be accepted. Robert is not believed to have reoffended - Venables has been convicted twice since being set free. 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Jon lived in terror of losing his mother's love, yet he was also terrified of her. 'Sometimes I told Robbie to do things so he does,' he told a police officer, with pride in his voice. 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. But he is not a murderer. It was a sign of such restlessness that he was unable to hang on to a football team for long - he kept shifting his allegiance like a floating voter. They sat just feet from me, perched on the edge of their wooden seat, smartly dressed and hunched in shame just below their son, Jon. Ann tried to discourage this by hiding his shoes, or by taking him down to the Walton Lane police station and having the officer on duty frighten him into compliance, but to no avail. He has been educated. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? ", Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. The boys, by now lacking any sense of guidance within the home, took to the streets, robbing, truanting, and some of them experimenting with drugs. "I think about little James and what he must have gone through, how they must feel. Whatever problems she had in her own life, she was always there. Aged 10, he was barely literate. This would have been at about 5.30pm - just the time the boys were about to begin killing Jamie. 'I couldn't hear anything,' she said. Venables, who was said to have been subjected to regular beatings by his mother Susan, titled the drawing 'My Dads house'. 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. The case of James, a two-year-old who was snatched from a shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool, in 1993, before being tortured and left to die, shocked the nation. He frequented local cinemas and regularly hired videos for the night. and things like that is that he was frightened. 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. His mother called him hyperactive since, even more than his friend, he was scarcely able to sit still. 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. 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. When Robert was asked what his hobby was he did not say trolls but 'skipping school'. Express. Ann denied the physical abuse, but later admitted to being cruel to the boys at times. A newspaper man from Detroit said it was because 'Liverpool is the Beatles and love, love, love. His mother, Susan, attributed this behavior with peer pressure and hyperactivity, and put him on a special diet, though it did nothing to quell his frequent emotional outbursts. Keep them apart or he'll get into trouble, they said. his killers were just 10 years old and attention focused on their upbringing and dysfunctional home life. qu fy. He liked to spend the weekend on the streets. Venables was caught with 1,170 indecent photos of children on his laptop, the Old Bailey was told. From a distance Robert looked a sweet child. "My heart really goes out to them. . As their sweet voices rang around the courtroom, Venables hid his face in his oversized blazer and cried. I would say he was provoked. He was given a new name, a job and a flat on his release to try to ensure his security . Spidery and messy. Anne Thompson could hold her drink and no one ever saw her staggering home. Verdict day came. How could two small boys savage and leave a toddler for dead? Grainy CCTV footage shows them walking James away from the Strand . Bird Pictures. Still, despite being clearly intimidated by him, Roberts brother appeared to share a strangely intimate bond with him. Not really?. They played a double act towards the children: his mother, Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman with a hawkish look, was the hard one. Mrs Thompson claimed she had been the victim of revenge attacks after her identity became known. "Contrary to what the papers will tell you, he is not a little urchin boy. Denise Fergus is the same age as me, a fact I only registered when I met her for the first time two weeks ago. The mayor of Preston accused them of being sick ghouls, but still they came, queuing up for tickets two hours before proceedings began. 'I can't read hard words,' he said. James' mother Denise believes they should have remained in jail for life and has tirelessly campaigned against their rights to anonymity. 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. S. Susan venables. Susan was known as the town " whore". "We are committed to driving sustainability in the leather industry, through the commitment of. Southern. 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. Although not officially entered into a witness protection programme they were given help by the authorities in finding new homes and taking on new identities. Shortly after the breakup, an accidental fire destroyed the Thompsons home, leaving Ann homeless, jobless, and with little money to support her kids. James Bulgers mother Denise claims that she managed to track down Thompson six years ago, planning to confront him but instead stared at him from the opposite side of the street, full of rage but unable to act. If it suited his moodwhich it frequently didBobby would beat the boys, curse at them, and threaten to send them to a home for children who misbehaved. At 2:30 they went to the two-story shopping centre. He was in great distress' And what about the little, innocent boy he killed??! They fled the city, never to return. Look at mine. The taunts upset Jons already volatile temper, and he began coming home in increasingly low spirits and crying. But I still kept him in if he was naughty or anything like that.'. Three years ago, after his mother walloped him, he went to social services and asked them to put him in care. 'I walked round for a couple of hours trying to find them. He was fearful, he was weak and he was provoked," she said. I said no. I cant believe people find excuses for these murderers. Teachers later reported that whereas the boys were manageable when separated, together their behavior worsened dramatically. Hyperactive children can't sit still all day,' Mrs Venables said. 'America is the land of shopping malls. Jon's first year after he was moved was relatively successful. 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. During the Bulger investigation, police checked the details of 50 videos Mr Venables had hired in recent months. 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. They hid his body under bricks so that the first train to come along cut his body in two, but he was already dead before this happened. Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. The only sign he was discomforted by hearing it was a near constant pulling of his tongue in his hands. 'You'd better tell the truth. 'I couldn't be arsed talking about them,' said one. Now we waited. Ann Thompson and Susan and Neil Venables didn't need to imagine. A newsroom reporter who was not working on the case fended off transatlantic interview demands, saying that it was not enough that he had a Liverpool accent. 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