Denise was in court that day. 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. Lady Penelope was his favourite character because she was rich, followed by Brains with the glasses. 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. Wiping away tears, he went on: 'I feel for that family. She couldn't. To be absolutely accurate, she had only one illusion. Ian was clever enough to know that to survive he had to get out. "In order that justice can be done, no further details are being released at this stage and the proceedings are subject to reporting restrictions.". Their parents entered the courtroom; The Venables arrived together, Ann Thompson came with supporters but no sign of Robert's father. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. In contrast he has had no contact with his father despite an approach soon after sentencing. 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. Mrs Venables said: "He mentions James, not all the time. 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. Mrs Thompson worked as an office cleaner until two years ago, when she got pregnant again by another man, who also left her. It is here, of course, that Jon met and made friends with fellow eccentric, Robert Thompson. Weeping, she said: 'I wasn't actually on the railway track because there is a fence, but I went up the side. I dont think she saw a very happy future., The author says there was no contact with the Venables family after the trial as Mrs Thompson focused, her energy on supporting her son, refusing to accept he was a monster. He would throw things at other children, cut himself deliberately with scissors and stick paper all over his face. Friday 12th February 1993. But just as he was entering the school gates he met Jon and they decided to sag off together for the fourth - and final - time. Ultimately, however, the couples indifferences led to separation, and they were eventually divorced in 1986. We still think the same of him as we always have. Teachers hold placards as they shout slogans while taking part in a protest organised in Manchester as part of a national strike day. According to the teacher, Jon would rock back and forth in his desk, making strange noises (this behavior was later speculated to be Jons jealous attempt to emulate his elder brother, in order to receive the same special attention), bang his head on the desk or walls repeatedly, glue bits of paper all over his face, wedge himself in between desks, throw himself on the ground, throw chairs across the corridor, rip projects off the classroom walls, cut holes in his socks, and intentionally cut himself with scissors. Her family were dignified throughout, but on that day one of theBulgerfamily supporters allowed themselvesa loud 'YES' as the verdicts came in. Another time they were saucy and asked a sales girl if she stocked 'fishy nickers'. The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. 'Just mad. Walton Village Financial Services would lend you pounds 300 for Christmas and demand a total of pounds 460 in repayment. The first Susan Venables knew they had stayed away from school was when she saw one of Jon's classmates on her way home with the gerbils. Just having a bit of shade!! 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The best instincts led hundreds, including me, to lay flowers a few days later at the site of James horrific end. "'It wasnt fair to interview him. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. 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. 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. That's the thing that upsets me because obviously where I was standing poor little James must have been not. It was not until much later, when questioned as to his involvement in the death of James Bulger, that Roberts resentment towards the new baby became suddenly and painfully apparent. DAVID James Smith, who visited Mrs Thompson at one of her secret homes, reveals that it was a sad existence. 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. "It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. Who were their parents? On the 20 year anniversary of the murder of James Bulger, BBC Radio 5 Live's Shelagh Fogarty recalls the trial of his young killers. But Robert was stuck in Walton with his older brothers and the baby. I suspect she still feels that., In 2001 there was a renewed uproar over the case when it emerged that the killers were to be freed, despite a. recommendation by the trial judge that they should remain behind bars for a very long time. They played a double act towards the children: his mother, Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman with a hawkish look, was the hard one. gl. 'I think it has something to do with a hatred of vulnerability and babyness in themselves which they projected on to this toddler.'. Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. At the end of the street a mesh wire frame coverered the window of the money lenders. His former wife would send their boys up the street to give their father the fingers through the bay windows of his mother's house. 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'.". One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging. 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. She said an educational psychologist had diagnosed hyperactivity in her son, who was bullied at his previous school. 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. Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman . It seems likely that he was bullied. He has had more love and attention than a lot of children I know. Neil Venables regarded himself as the Barry Norman of Merseyside - a film buff with a penchant for horror. 'When you have got people in the area threatening to blow your kneecaps off every moment of the day - that's just the way they are. Shed never been back but she clearly missed Liverpool and had tried to recreate the city in her new home, he recalls. 'I even went up to the railway line because I knew the other boy had a den up there and was on the railway nearly all the time.'. "One mystery surrounding the murder of James Bulger case is why the 'experts' insisted that Jon Venables was rehabilitated. Little Bobby went to visit his brothers every so often, eager to show them the latest playthings he had robbed from the assorted shops nearby. Thompson got better opportunities there than if hed been walking the streets in Walton, says the author. Robert had eaten too many and felt sick. It was to be an adult trial, both boys appearing every day in the full gaze of whoever was in that room, but neither giving evidence directly to the court. Aged 10, he was barely literate. Who knows. Please review our, You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. "All he said when we've said 'Why didn't you run away?' King Charles III shakes hands with Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky as he welcomes at Buckingham Palace, in London, ahead of an audience during his first visit to the UK since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When you have got people in the area threatening to blow your kneecaps off every moment of the daythats just the way they are. 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. ", 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.". She was a happy baby, much happier than her eldest brother had been, but as she grew older, Susan began noticing that she, too, appeared lazy, and was not as advanced as Jon. He took a jar of paracetamol. 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. At first, Robert seemed to respond well to this, taking the initiative to help feed and clothe the baby, and doing what he could to please his mother. football, snooker, things like that. Such a childish voice. He did like to be liked, and loved to have friends, and he has got involved with the wrong person.". I said no. Usually, they were slung out. 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. 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. 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. Apart from Jon's incident with the ruler, there had been no record of previous violence. 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. That was in September 1991, 17 months before they killed James Bulger. By now the two boys from Walton were part of an international freak show. When shop keepers asked what they were doing they would pretend they were waiting for their mum. One day they stayed out until 10.30pm and Jon received a severe reprimand from his mother. 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. Susan Venables has blamed "weakness" for her son's role in the killing of James Bulger, claiming that he "got involved with the wrong person". Will you tell his Mum Im sorry?. The week after he walked out the family's home burned down in an accidental fire. The petition, that now has 14,682 signatures, reads: "We want a Public Inquiry into the James Bulger murder case. 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. At Preston Crown Court Thompsons mother Ann and Venables parents Neil and Sue sat side by side. How could two small boys savage and leave a toddler for dead? The four who drove Suzanne to Romiley - Jean Powell (now Jean Gillespie), Bernadette McNeilly, Glyn Powell, and Anthony Dudson - were all found guilty of murder. He's quite bright and clever. The experience gave Jon renewed confidence, and the second time they sagged off together he suggested it. Toddler James Bulger disappeared on February 12 1993. Her warnings arent being heeded, but 25 years on, I think she is probably right. as he was known in court - Jon Venables. For me, though, it is Susan and Neil Venables who stay most in my memory of that day. The Radio Merseyside newsroom, where I was working at the time, was full and everyone was on this story one way or another. Robert was number five of seven. Susan Venables, mother of Jon - referred to throughout the trial as Boy B - blamed her son's 'weakness' for the murder of James Bulger, . He was fearful of the other boy. What doing well means is anybodys guess. But his comment sparked anger from viewers. It is not known whether the boy watched any of his father's adult movies. How can people defend their actions .#TheBulgerKillers.". They were intent on killing. Regrettably, yet perhaps not entirely unforeseen, the cycle of abuse continued. I don't think so. It is time to examine all this.". Without anyone in the family to turn to for support, he had to look outside for people whose swaggering aggression he could emulate. Grainy CCTV footage later showed the innocent toddler being led away by Venables and Thompson, who marched the little boy through the streets of Bootle for two miles - a walk that would have taken hours given his size. One neighbour said she always let him into her home whenever his mother was out. But they shouldn't have been tried in an adult court because they were still children. The documentary on the James Bulger murder case sparked anger after viewers criticised the Channel 4 show for "sympathising" with the toddler's killers. He has never really been what you would call a sagger off school (a truant). Extraordinarily, she even shouted up to the railway tracks at Walton where she knew Robert had a den. His mother especially has been a tower of strength, says the source. In court, he hid his face again. Every day the public gallery was packed with students, pensioners, mothers, teenagers, all drawn to the courtroom spectacle as to a TV soap. 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. Scores more watched proceedings from a neighbouring office block which, for the duration of the trial, came under court jurisdiction. 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. Will you tell his mum I'm sorry?". 'He always seemed perfectly well behaved and I think he looked on me as some kind of grandma. Jobs were few and far between. Thompson & Venebales. He once came to me crying saying the other boys were picking on him, trying to steal his bike.'. When the court was played Jon's taped descriptions of how they had truanted they simultaneously smiled. A police officer remembered Venables being so small that his legs didn't touch the floor as he sat in the custody office after his arrest. Mrs Venables said: 'I think it was because the class group was too big for them to go in . Put bluntly, Jon Venables still gets a kick out of seeing small children suffer. He was too scared to be naughty on his own. 'America is the land of shopping malls. He was pale in complexion and had watery brown, listless eyes. He wore his dark hair short, almost a crew cut, which accentuated his ample forehead and blunt nose. It would be a week before we heard their voices, in hours of taped police interviews, They stopped us all in our tracks. Not surprisingly, Ann had also attempted suicide in the same manner, some months before. Neil explained to him that the school they attended was special, and that Jon wouldnt be accepted. He frequented local cinemas and regularly hired videos for the night. In March 2010, Venables was recalled to prison for downloading and distributing more than 100 images of child abuse. Read about our approach to external linking. 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Haunting CCTV footage shows the pair leading the tiny, trusting boy . Their faces affected me deeply. Shortly after the breakup, an accidental fire destroyed the Thompsons home, leaving Ann homeless, jobless, and with little money to support her kids. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt heartbreak for James and his parents and shame for her son. I have lost my son as well. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. I'm warning yer,' she would say. Left to his own devices Jon liked to spend his playtime in fairly sedentary ways. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Jon's parents, who sat in court for most of the trial, said they grieved for the Bulgers. Jon was slim in build and taller than Robert, just over five feet. They have never come out of hiding. When they finally came to a disused railway track near the police station, the murderous duo tortured James, throwing stones and bricks at the baby, and kicking and stamping on him before finally dropping a heavy iron bar on to the defenceless tot. Money was always a struggle, and she got through the first years drinking in Higson's Top House off St Mary's Lane. 'I sat away from him - he caused trouble,' Jon said. That means he is currently 35-years-old. "What he's done is wrong so he needs to be punished. For she added: 'But he's not a murderer.'. Moments later, we were told, Jon Venables uttered the words, We did it. Teachers later reported that whereas the boys were manageable when separated, together their behavior worsened dramatically. Superintendent Albert Kirby, who headed the investigation, doesn't believe in the under-belly of Liverpool nonsense or stuff about the disintegration of modern society, the collapse of the nineties cities. "The age of criminal responsibility in this country is 10 that's too low. 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. Mrs Thompson claimed she had been the victim of revenge attacks after her identity became known. 'Sometimes I told Robbie to do things so he does,' he told a police officer, with pride in his voice. "He is easily led. But. I am providing this page for those who are interested in learning more about the lives of these boys prior to their offense. But his outbursts of anger grew worse and he was suspended for trying to throttle a boy with a ruler. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. Whatever problems she had in her own life, she was always there. Money, or his family's lack of it, preyed on his mind. 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. 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. See that cell. In the last few years she stopped drinking in the Top House and tried to keep things together. Thompson admitted nothing. Spidery and messy. His mother called him hyperactive since, even more than his friend, he was scarcely able to sit still. I would get him something like a cartoon.". ql zo. The left will make play of social deprivation, unemployment, bad housing and general inner-city rot. One of the new works by Banksy, appears to show a 1950s housewife, wearing a classic blue pinny and yellow washing up gloves, with a swollen eye and a missing tooth seemingly shoving her male partner into a chest freezer, the piece is set on a white wall backdrop in Kent. Still, despite being clearly intimidated by him, Roberts brother appeared to share a strangely intimate bond with him. Born 10 days apart in August 1982 in Liverpool. 'I think about little James and what he must have gone through, how they must feel. I came back and then (Mrs Venables) went out. A day later, when James still hadnt been found, it was clear from CCTV footage that he had been taken by children. As their sweet voices rang around the courtroom, Venables hid his face in his oversized blazer and cried. Such pleasantries were not for Robbie. I barely need to refer to my notes to remember in great detail the events that would dominate British news for years. 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. I feel so sorry for them. "Throughout the conduct of the case there have been a number of issues that have been swept under the carpet. . The Liverpool Echo boasted that their man had one of 'just 34 seats' allocated to the international press. The pattern of bullying among the brothers, which had been noted by the Head mistress of the boys school, appeared to descend down the line, with the eldest Thompson brother beating the one just below him in age, and that brother beating the brother below him, in turn. The end of the court case was not the end of course. Grey Heron. Lock him in it.'. His mother gave him pocket money to buy them. I have cried for JamesBulgermany times, so God only knows the tears his parents and family have shed. This happened, more often than not, at night, when they refused to go to bed when told.
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