Susan Venables has blamed weakness for her sons role in the killing of James Bulger, claiming that he got involved with the wrong person. Although he appeared to have the more stable upbringing of the two boys, there was a history of family problems. 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. At school Jon was considered bright enough, though he had trouble keeping up with lessons. 'In my opinion he was victimised. I wish we could turn the clocks back,' Mrs Venables, 36, said. 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. Another added: "An awful mistake??!! I feel so sorry for them. the street. his killers were just 10 years old and attention focused on their upbringing and dysfunctional home life. I wish we could turn the clocks back," Mrs Venablessaid. At the trialnine months laterI would learn that Robert Thompson had been among those people. Susan was known as the town " whore". The left will make play of social deprivation, unemployment, bad housing and general inner-city rot. A smell of bleach lingered on some of the tiled steps that led up to the front doors. 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. It is time to examine all this.". They had to report him missing at the security office before he was found, and Jon's mother was very angry. 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. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? In March 2010, Venables was recalled to prison for downloading and distributing more than 100 images of child abuse. Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. This would have been at about 5.30pm - just the time the boys were about to begin killing Jamie. It was so stressful trying to contain him. Her family were dignified throughout, but on that day one of theBulgerfamily supporters allowed themselvesa loud 'YES' as the verdicts came in. and things like that is that he was frightened. Their. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging. The pair were handed new identities after being released from prison. I remember watching her then on TV, her sobbing plea for information and thinking how much guts it must have taken to get up that day and face a roomful of journalists and photographers. "We are committed to driving sustainability in the leather industry, through the commitment of. 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". The two had an aberrant relationship with one another, in the sense that it was almost as though they had never divorced. Facebook gives people the power. "He is easily led. Still, despite being clearly intimidated by him, Roberts brother appeared to share a strangely intimate bond with him. Susan Venables agreed but on condition that she saw her son first. They had much in common. Two boys who forged a friendship out of breaking the rules. He was a loyal fan, though he did not go often to Goodison Park. The shock in the city was plain to see, but it wasn't just in Liverpool that people stared at the CCTV pictures of the boy holding James' hand, while another led the way to the exit of the shopping centre where a frantic Denise Bulger would have been desperately looking for her child. The Venables decided to place her with their eldest son, in a school for children with special needs. Please review our, You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. 'It's always our family that gets the blame,' Robert said to police after he was arrested for James's murder. 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. Teachers hold placards as they shout slogans while taking part in a protest organised in Manchester as part of a national strike day. Mrs Venables walked around the area for hours, searching for him. "The age of criminal responsibility in this country is 10 that's too low. DAVID James Smith, who visited Mrs Thompson at one of her secret homes, reveals that it was a sad existence. 'His mum was more strict. His grip was so strong that it took two people to pry Jon off of the boy. 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. They fled the city, never to return. Jon's parents said they talked to their son about James after he was arrested, but had to stop. His mates called him a girl because whenever there was something on his mind he sucked his thumb. They played a double act towards the children: his mother, Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman with a hawkish look, was the hard one. One neighbour said she always let him into her home whenever his mother was out. The petition, that now has 14,682 signatures, reads: "We want a Public Inquiry into the James Bulger murder case. . 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. 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. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. The Hand that Rocks the Cradle | Killers Without Conscience He was repulsed because he found Robert's disdain for authority scary. They pair was ordered to be detained at her majesty's pleasure - meaning indefinitely - but in 2001, a six-month review by the parole board found they were no longer a threat to public safety and they were released on life licence after serving just eight years. James' mother Denise believes they should have remained in jail for life and has tirelessly campaigned against their rights to anonymity. It emerged that the Venables family had suffered the same fate in another area. 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. Venables parents were divorced but still lived within a stones throw of one another and were both involved in their sons upbringing. 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. But apart from his brother, Robert struggled to build friendships. 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'. WALTON, where they both lived, is, in the jargon of planning, an inner-city urban priority area; neither the best nor the worst the city has to offer. If I wanted to kill a baby, Id kill Id kill me own, wouldnt I?. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt. I have lost my son as well. Once the jury retired, so did the journalists - but we didnt go far. Wiping away tears, he went on: 'I feel for that family. yet, as Venables is back behind bars. Guilty of abducting and murdering James PatrickBulger. susan and neil venables 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. Meanwhile, A petition demanding a public inquiry into James Bulger's murder case has got nearly 15,000 signatures in one day. They probably weren't out to kill someone, but they were probably out to ruin someone else's happiness. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Susan Venable - we found 141 people search records: 55 CVs and social profiles with photos, 50 addresses & phone numbers, 1 real estate objects, 6 Susan Venable's cars, 2 companies. The best instincts led hundreds, including me, to lay flowers a few days later at the site of James horrific end. But viewers were shocked when experts "defended" the 10-year-old murderers saying they made "an awful mistake". There was almost total silence there apart from the sound of shoes on the ground. The documentary on the James Bulger murder case sparked anger after viewers criticised the Channel 4 show for "sympathising" with the toddler's killers. A maudlin ballad about Liverpool was playing in the back- ground and she was cooking the dish known as Scouse. Not that he had any need to borrow his dad's. Trauma? The mayor of Preston accused them of being sick ghouls, but still they came, queuing up for tickets two hours before proceedings began. Seeing at first hand the pain of a family who have lost a toddler to an act of brutal violence is almost unbearably moving. Hyperactive children can't sit still all day,' Mrs Venables said. On Sundays he used to watch Thunderbirds. Robert always wanted to stay out late and encouraged Jon to join him. Robert Thompson was born to Robert Sr. and Ann Thompson on the 23rd day of August 1982, in Liverpool, England. re bz. 'It was good. Ironically, Jon was the child who caused his parents least anxiety. Spidery and messy. I cant believe people find excuses for these murderers. What doing well means is anybodys guess. The reaction prompted James' mum Denise Fergus to let supporters know she had nothing to do with the programme. "It is hard to take in really. 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'.". I used to get them for myself at night time. . Robert had eaten too many and felt sick. 'I think it has something to do with a hatred of vulnerability and babyness in themselves which they projected on to this toddler.'. 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. The sunrises through the sea mist over the sculpture The Couple by Sean Henry at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea on the Northumberland coast. Their faces affected me deeply. Haunting words of killer Jon Venables' parents resurface on 25th Neither gave evidence to the court, but were found guilty after an officer told how Venables admitted the murder, saying, "We did it. Other parents came in to complain about attention seeking. There, he is terrorising a girl. They saw it with their eyes. The details of Jamess death were sickening. 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. 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. To widespread dismay and condemnation from the Bulger family, the killers were given new identities, courtesy of the taxpayer. Finally, in 1988, while on a family vacation, the breaking point came, when Big Bobby, then thirty-four, began an adulterous relationship with a friend and neighbor in her fifties. his mother was told that it was important that she stayed in his life and stood by him. ROBERT had a reputation in the neighbourhood for being a troublemaker. Heck, we don't even have murderers that young in New York.'. Then they would hide their school satchels under a subway and set off on their adventure. Both of them struggled at school and had been lumped into the year below their age. Security launched a search for James inside the centre and James' family searched for their son overnight. Maybe it was that incident that put the idea into Jon or Robbie's head to 'get a little boy lost'. Scores more watched proceedings from a neighbouring office block which, for the duration of the trial, came under court jurisdiction. The haunting words of Jon Venables' parents only interview have resurfaced, twenty five years after he killed tot Jamie Bulger. Sorry, we are unable to accept comments about this article at the moment. Robert was number five of seven. Robert had asked once before but Jon, who had rarely truanted in his previous school, was scared and said no. Few will ever forget the chilling footage of two 10-year-old boys holding a toddler's hand as they led him to his death. He disliked Thunderbirds because of the puppets' 'stringy thingies'. 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. Mrs Thompson worked as an office cleaner until two years ago, when she got pregnant again by another man, who also left her. Or they would mess around in shops, playing on computer games if Robert had his way, sliding on the polished floors if Jon had his. Money, or his family's lack of it, preyed on his mind. He is far from it. In the years between Venabless first return to prison and this latest conviction he was deemed to be living successfully in the community, when in fact he was working out ways to dodge his internet ban and hiding a computer in his headboard in order to download abusive images of children, including what the judge described this week as serious crimes inflicted on male toddlers. Some people thought they were as old as 12 or 13, but when they met they were both only 10 years old. The Americans fed 1 1/2 minutes of the Jamie Bulger story into a 22-minute bulletin of national and international news. 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. They have never come out of hiding. Ann Thompson and Susan and Neil Venables didn't need to imagine. INSIDE the court sat the two boys, dwarfed by the weight and majesty of the place. "He is easily led. Not their punishmentand exclusion from society for the rest of their childhood. He has had more love and attention than a lot of children I know. This time, curiosity took the upper hand: 'I wanted to see what it was like,' he said. 'I couldn't hear anything,' she said. Money was always a struggle, and she got through the first years drinking in Higson's Top House off St Mary's Lane. It is just heartbreaking.". "My heart really goes out to them. 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. He was jailed for two years before being granted parole again in July 2013. Then, one Friday in February, they discovered a new rule to break: they murdered a two-year-old. 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. THE first time the boys set eyes on each other after they were arrested was in Preston crown court 3 1/2 weeks ago. '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. There was a pattern of bullying, with the older boys picking on their younger brothers down the line. I barely need to refer to my notes to remember in great detail the events that would dominate British news for years. 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. James Bulger's killers: Where are Robert Thompson and Jon Venables? The couple fought frequently as to their eldest sons troubles, which they later learned included mild learning difficulties, and Susan, at times becoming so exasperated by the situation, began to resent her sons presence. He had a Game Boy console and hankered after a Sega machine, and when they played truant he would head straight for the computer game corner of Tandy's or Dixons. 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. Some of the red brick houses were well-kept, others had torn net curtains and grubby windows. You know, we just try and help him as best we can to try to come to terms with things. They said their son met Robert Thompson in September 1991, when Jon was transferred from another school. His father, thin and balding, had a much gentler edge. Less thanfive hours laterthe verdicts were in. "An awful mistake for 10 year olds is shoplifting not murdering a 2 year old FFS," another angry viewer tweeted. 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. That seems the very least they could face for what they did. The Royal Mint of a 50p coin featuring Professor Albus Dumbledore as part of a Harry Potter-themed collection. eb. One woman asked how James had injured his forehead. Eventually, Bobby walked out on his family, but not before beating his wife one final time. Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both 10, murdered him in cold blood. According to a legal source we spoke to this week, Jon Venables parents have sought to be a support for their son, despite the enormity of his crime. I don't think they understood he was hyperactive. Behind them eyes bore into them - from everyone on all sides, journalists, their parents, members of the public, and of course, theBulgerfamily. Thompson, who gained five GCSEs and A-levels in design and technology, is said to have developed an interest in theatre. Ann, desperate to escape the physical and emotional torment of living with her drunken father, was married to Robert, Sr. in December 1971, on the day of her eighteenth birthday. 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. The phone-in programme, as ever, was a place to turn to try to find reasons - evil, poverty, neglect, possessed anything to explain what felt inexplicable. He denied having had any films that were not mainstream, or that were pornographic, in the house. Both boys had been held back a year, and they were put in the same class. I'm bringing up on my own but if I went round and screwed every warehouse my children would have everything too.'. 'Provided you have no court orders for debts already,' the man on the phone would add helpfully. He has never really been what you would call a sagger off school (a truant). . Thompson did what he often did, looked around, grabbing clumsily at his tongue. It was on his way back to the interview room when Venables finally admitted it: "We did it. Not really?. 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.
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