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JON Venables's family was far from affluent, but it was not as close to the breadline as Robert's. Verdict day came. In the autumn term of 1992, Robert played truant for 49 half days and Jon for 40. Express. Its beyond me," one viewer tweeted. He had been quiet that weekend, they said, but they had thought that was because his mother had taken him to the police station on the Friday evening for playing truant. 'It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. After spending just eight years in custody, Britain's youngest killers were released and given lifetime anonymity in the UK. While, on the face of it, there doesnt appear to be as much external devastation present in Jons family history as in Roberts, his outlandish behavior suggested that internally, Jon was in a state of extreme emotional upset. Venables and Thompson were seen on CCTV calmly leading the toddler out of the shopping centre by his hand. . The pair were handed new identities after being released from prison. 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. 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. His mother especially has been a tower of strength, says the source. He said he was frightened of Robert's older brother. He started with Liverpool, but by the time of the murder he had switched to Blackburn Rovers. It's high time they were investigated. 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. One investigating police officer said: 'You could look into the eyes of Robert and knew you were looking at evil.' 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. Their seats were just below the raised dock where their sons would sit for the next three weeks, listening to a prosecution which aimed to prove not only that they killed James Bulger, but that they planned to, and that when they did they knew it to be wrong. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging in the air as he sat in the custody office. What a horror it all was. She spent much of her time at the pub after that, and rarely stayed in for a meal. At school Jon was considered bright enough, though he had trouble keeping up with lessons. March 10, 2021 - 20:29 GMT Eve Crosbie. ', A psychoanalyst and child psychotherapist comes up with yet another possible explanation. All information on this page is true to my knowledge, and is not intended to diminish or justify either boys actions in any way whatsoever. ', 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. 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. 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.. He is an old-fashioned crime and punishment man. Just as Venables's confession convicted him, a shoe print belonging to Robert Thompson, found on James cheekbone, confirmed his guilt, too. 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. He appears to be a normal human, but inside the soft flesh there is indestructable metal. To widespread dismay and condemnation from the Bulger family, the killers were given new identities, courtesy of the taxpayer. I wish we could turn the clocks back," Mrs Venablessaid. That seems the very least they could face for what they did. football, snooker, things like that. I wish we could turn the clocks back,' Mrs Venables, 36, said. She was a woman as large in personality and physique as the burdens she carried. and things like that is that he was frightened. Thompson & Venebales. She got her drinking under control and began giving her murderer son the attention he. Not surprisingly, Ann had also attempted suicide in the same manner, some months before. 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. He said he was frightened of Robert's older brother. 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. It was on his way back to the interview room when Venables finally admitted it: "We did it. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt heartbreak for James and his parents and shame for her son. ', Mrs Thompson had no illusions about her son: 'He's a little liar, he's devious, he's a scally, he robs, he plays truant.' Just seeing the size of them that first time, the childish figures they naturally were, caught my breath. "The report of the Prison Service into an incident at Red Bank secure unit has not been published. Teachers hold placards as they shout slogans while taking part in a protest organised in Manchester as part of a national strike day. Such a childish voice. One woman asked how James had injured his forehead. He didn't want to hurt James. Now we waited. 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. I just burst into tears because you just knew what that meanther heart was broken. At Preston Crown Court Thompsons mother Ann and Venables parents Neil and Sue sat side by side. James mother Denise Fergus has been saying this for a long time, but still we hoped that the boy who savaged a tiny child to death could become a man safe to be in our midst. ql zo. Thompson, who gained five GCSEs and A-levels in design and technology, is said to have developed an interest in theatre. "I think about little James and what he must have gone through, how they must feel. He liked to spend the weekend on the streets. One day they stayed out until 10.30pm and Jon received a severe reprimand from his mother. It is just heartbreaking.". The other shops in the area were also armoured with mesh, including the Red Garden chipper where Robert used to pop in with his brothers most nights for a 25p bag of chips. They fled the city, never to return. He was given a new name, a job and a flat on his release to try to ensure his security . When the fisticuffs ended, impressed by each other's performance, they made friends. Our feelings haven't changed towards him. "He is easily led. Once the jury retired, so did the journalists - but we didnt go far. It seems likely that he was bullied. Her husband came back to Walton now and again to see his mother, but he never came to see the boys. Facebook gives people the power. For his parents, the fact they were children was actually a cause for hope at that point. 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 Royal Mint of a 50p coin featuring Professor Albus Dumbledore as part of a Harry Potter-themed collection. 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 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. Neil explained to him that the school they attended was special, and that Jon wouldnt be accepted. The best photos of birds and other wildlife from around the world. In any case, the couple drifted together, and in 1983, just fifteen months succeeding Jons birth, Susan gave birth to their third child, a daughter. The family was put up in a hostel temporarily and later relocated by the social services. 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, . Hes your son., Unhappily, it was during this critical time that Ann became pregnant with her seventh child, the product of another failed relationship. Architect Shahed Saleem in the Ramadan Pavilion 2023 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. "One mystery surrounding the murder of James Bulger case is why the 'experts' insisted that Jon Venables was rehabilitated. God knows how they must be feeling now.. He caused me such anxiety, the teacher later recalled of Jon in a statement given to the Merseyside police. There is, like, a little paint factory. He gets upset. 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. On countless occasions, Bobby battered his wife, once causing her to miscarry, and his temper didnt stop at his wife. 'We have never really been apart,' Mrs Venables said. But. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter', Why half of India's urban women stay at home. In a 1993 interview, published in the Guardian newspaper just one day after Robert was convicted of the murder of James Bulger, Ann Thompson was quick to place fault on the neighborhood and the surrounding authorities, who she felt had failed both her and her sons. And now The Bulger Killers: Was Justice Done? Truanting, or 'sagging off', had become a way of life for Robert. 'I couldn't hear anything,' she said. 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. Something went wrong, please try again later. Robert was number five of seven. They played a double act towards the children: his mother, Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman with a hawkish look, was the hard one. Recently, I dug out my old notebooks of the trial and my handwriting during the verdicts says it all. Last November he was arrested and recalled to jail on suspicion of possession of images of child sex abuse. Will you tell his mum I'm sorry?". View the profiles of people named Susan Venables. 'Sometimes I told Robbie to do things so he does,' he told a police officer, with pride in his voice. Last week the author Angela Phillips spoke of how the gentle son of the female friend of hers turned into a fascist skinhead: 'The boy his mother wanted him to become was not man enough for the world he was forced to inhabit. Directly in front of the bench was the raised dock in which Thompson, Venables, and two social workers would sit for the next four weeks. Wiping away tears, he went on: 'I feel for that family. "He fell over," was the response. We have found 88 people in the UK with the name Susan Venables. They knew what they were doing," another wrote. But Robert was stuck in Walton with his older brothers and the baby. She found it hard bringing the kids up in the neighbourhood. Keep them apart or he'll get into trouble, they said. Fiction Writing. Unemployment levels were more than twice the national average in Walton. 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. They probably weren't out to kill someone, but they were probably out to ruin someone else's happiness. Sandra Gotheridge. Their kids have got everything. Neil Venables regarded himself as the Barry Norman of Merseyside - a film buff with a penchant for horror. his killers were just 10 years old and attention focused on their upbringing and dysfunctional home life. The sunrises through the sea mist over the sculpture The Couple by Sean Henry at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea on the Northumberland coast. Constantly restless, his workbooks were empty, and he would often be denied recess because he was so far behind. The Crown Prosecution Service released a statement in January confirming Venables had been charged. 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. They were in the Strand shopping centre in Bootle when the brother wandered off. He says 'I know, Mum'. Regrettably, yet perhaps not entirely unforeseen, the cycle of abuse continued. Thompson was inscrutable in the dock as we heard his voice for the first time. Mrs Thompson worked as an office cleaner until two years ago, when she got pregnant again by another man, who also left her. I wonder how many parents looked at their sons of a similar age that week, sure in the knowledge their own children could never be so wicked, but asked themselves anyway "what would I do if?". There, he is terrorising a girl. The police have uncovered no evidence of any abuse within either family. release. IN their interviews with the two boys, psychiatrists could find no clues to why the boys acted so violently. Jobs were few and far between. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? The beginnings of the friendship were inauspicious enough. He disliked Thunderbirds because of the puppets' 'stringy thingies'. He said that on the day James was killed, when he went to the school in the afternoon to collect Jon he was told his son was missing.