James Bulger's killer Jon Venables will stay in prison - as Parole Board finds he's still a risk to children

Child killer Jon Venables will stay behind bars after the Parole Board found he still poses a risk to children.

Venables and Robert Thompson, both aged 10, were jailed for torturing and killing two-year-old James Bulger after snatching him from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, on 12 February 1993.

The Parole Board considered whether Venables, now 44, should be released at a three-day hearing last month, which was held in private despite calls from James' parents that it should be in public.

He "articulated his protracted and extreme remorse for his crime" and "accepted the need to undertake further offending work in custody and so was not seeking release," according to documents published on Monday.

A summary of the decision that he should kept in prison said Venables had admitted "he had a long-term
sexual interest in children/indecent images of children" and "has completed a considerable amount of work in prison to address this area of risk".

"However, the panel was concerned by continuing issues of sexual preoccupation in this case," it said.

"The panel considered that there were future risks of Mr Venables again viewing indecent images of children/child sexual abuse images, and also of Mr Venables progressing to offences where he might have contact with children, and both of these present a risk of causing serious harm to others."

James's body was found on a railway line after he had been beaten to death with bricks and a metal bar.

Venables and Thompson were given life sentences for his murder but were released on licence with new identities in 2001.

Venables was recalled to prison in February 2010 after indecent images of children were found on his computer.

He was again freed in August 2013 and then called back in November 2017 for the same offence and has been in prison ever since after parole judges again considered his case in September 2020.

Venables pleaded guilty to offences of making indecent images and possession of a paedophile manual in February 2018 and was handed a 40-month prison sentence.

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In 2023, the Parole Board rejected an earlier release bid and found Venables still posed a danger to children and could offend again.

Parole hearings are usually held in private, but they can be made public "in the interests of justice".

James's mother Denise Fergus said a public hearing would have made her "finally feel listened to".

But the Parole Board said it would be "very difficult for Jon Venables to give evidence" because he could be "being listened to by people who are seeking to get information so that they can kill him".

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