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. March 10, 2021 - 20:29 GMT Eve Crosbie. Sorry, we are unable to accept comments about this article at the moment. One day they stayed out until 10.30pm and Jon received a severe reprimand from his mother. Robert is not believed to have reoffended - Venables has been convicted twice since being set free. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging in the air as he sat in the custody office. His mother gave him pocket money to buy them. I just burst into tears because you just knew what that meanther heart was broken. At night, for instance, the two boys would lie in bed together and suck each others thumbs. He didn't want to hurt James. I have lost my son as well. In 1999, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the pair did not receive a fair trial and awarded costs and expenses of 29,000 to Jon Venables and 15,000 to Robert Thompson. The details of Jamess death were sickening. She was living in secrecy but always felt that she was walking around with a huge sign: mother of Bulger killer, above her head. Birds. He frequented local cinemas and regularly hired videos for the night. He had been stripped from the waist down,. susan and neil venables Robert passed this down the line bullying his eight-year-old brother into playing truant. I'm warning yer,' she would say. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Parents of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson talk about their sons, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Money, or his family's lack of it, preyed on his mind. View the profiles of people named Susan Venables. Susan and neil venables. Both of them struggled at school and had been lumped into the year below their age. . It's high time they were investigated. what is the bite force of a baboon. Pictures; Inside the Guardian; Guardian Weekly . "I think about little James and what he must have gone through, how they must feel. Jon was slim in build and taller than Robert, just over five feet. At 2:30 they went to the two-story shopping centre. ", 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.". He has had his holidays like everyone else. Some people thought they were as old as 12 or 13, but when they met they were both only 10 years old. But. has prompted a public outcry for an investigation into issues surrounding the case. I just think of James and his Dad and about all that fun with his little boy, like I had with Jon.". 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. Mrs Venables said: 'I think it was because the class group was too big for them to go in . During the Bulger investigation, police checked the details of 50 videos Mr Venables had hired in recent months. Big Bobby, like Anns father, was a violent alcoholic, who was easily crossed. Jon Venables is demonstrably no such thing. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Now we waited. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Our feelings haven't changed towards him. DAVID James Smith, who visited Mrs Thompson at one of her secret homes, reveals that it was a sad existence. 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. Absence of a male role model is increasingly being explored - by both left and right - as one of the main reasons why today's boys and young men are going wrong; why 90 per cent of indictable offences are committed by men. 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. Then, one Friday in February, they discovered a new rule to break: they murdered a two-year-old. Aged 10, he was barely literate. THE first time the boys set eyes on each other after they were arrested was in Preston crown court 3 1/2 weeks ago. 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. 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. One neighbour said she always let him into her home whenever his mother was out. "It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. Teachers later reported that whereas the boys were manageable when separated, together their behavior worsened dramatically. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. It was their sons picked up by detectives. He was fearful, he was weak and he was provoked. The Swedes, French, Germans, Canadian and Americans had all come to gaze at Liverpool's child killers. Walton Village Financial Services would lend you pounds 300 for Christmas and demand a total of pounds 460 in repayment. 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. Unemployment levels were more than twice the national average in Walton. He is far from it. I know how I feel as a mother. '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. He says 'I know, Mum'. Spidery and messy. 'I sat away from him - he caused trouble,' Jon said. Haunting words of killer Jon Venables' parents resurface on 25th The couple was financially strained from the start, but Ann did what she could to make it work. He carried books on wrestling and wildlife in his school bag. He is an old-fashioned crime and punishment man. On the walls hung oil paintings of local judges and magistrates, their surfaces crinkled with age. Regrettably, yet perhaps not entirely unforeseen, the cycle of abuse continued. "BULL**** about 'two frightened kids whod made a terrible mistake' The tapes said they kept stoning him, even when he kept getting up. This happened, more often than not, at night, when they refused to go to bed when told. When you have got people in the area threatening to blow your kneecaps off every moment of the daythats just the way they are. Their kids have got everything. TWO BOYS. his mother was told that it was important that she stayed in his life and stood by him. The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. '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. Hope. 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. Just something to do.'. He liked to spend the weekend on the streets. 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. gl. Ironically, Jon was the child who caused his parents least anxiety. Please review our, You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. As their sweet voices rang around the courtroom, Venables hid his face in his oversized blazer and cried. 'They would say 'take your son home'. I didnt, did I? she said to Neil during their interview with Gitta Sereny. Could they have planned to do it in advance? Grainy CCTV footage shows them walking James away from the Strand . 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. I wish we could turn the clocks back," Mrs Venablessaid. 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. 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 trial though didnt, and was never designed to, shed light on how two such young children could be guilty of such sustained barbarity. Were they to blame? How can people defend their actions .#TheBulgerKillers.". . The Radio Merseyside newsroom, where I was working at the time, was full and everyone was on this story one way or another. Robert Thompson was born to Robert Sr. and Ann Thompson on the 23rd day of August 1982, in Liverpool, England. I barely need to refer to my notes to remember in great detail the events that would dominate British news for years. Grey Heron. Thompson & Venebales. 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 admitted nothing. I have cried for JamesBulgermany times, so God only knows the tears his parents and family have shed. On many occasions, Susan was observed physically and verbally assaulting Jon. Yes, these things are important, but trust. When she turned around moments later, her son was gone. Security launched a search for James inside the centre and James' family searched for their son overnight. By now the two boys from Walton were part of an international freak show. He would often have to stay in class at break times to catch up. Ann Thompson and Susan and Neil Venables didn't need to imagine. She visited regularly and they would hold family anniversaries in the, place where he was held. cl gz. Anne Thompson could hold her drink and no one ever saw her staggering home. Venables and Thompson abducted, tortured and killed two-year-old James in Liverpool in 1993 when they were both aged just 10. The base of the dock floor at Preston Crown Court had to be raised 18 inches so each boy could see over it. 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. Lock him in it.'. But after a year they let Ian out again. She got her drinking under control and began giving her murderer son the attention he. A day later, when James still hadnt been found, it was clear from CCTV footage that he had been taken by children. Once he stole decorating borders from a DIY shop which he discarded at regular intervals to mark his way home. 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 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. That means he is currently 35-years-old. The boys lived off chips. Denise, James Bugler's mother, went with her brother's girlfriend Nicola to the Bootle Strand Shopping Centre and took James with her. David Sharrock, Maggie O'Kane, and Edward Pilkington look at the lives of the rebels who turned to killing, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. 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. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. She was prone to hysteria and hailed from a 'strict and disciplined' background. Robert would give Jon presents of stolen objects: trolls, of course, toy terrapins, sweets. They have never come out of hiding. The experience gave Jon renewed confidence, and the second time they sagged off together he suggested it. Jon was afraid of her. 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. "He is easily led. Friday 12th February 1993. "He is easily led. He did like to be liked, and loved to have friends, and he has got involved with the wrong person.". "Just to let you know that even though footage was used of me on the CH4 programme, I had no part in it," she tweeted. . Three days later his body was found, and three days after that a tip-off came from a shopkeeper who had seen two boys playing truant on the day James went missing and gave police two names - Jon Venables and Robert Thompson. 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. Asked later if he could recall a time when his brother had exhibited any unusually aggressive tendencies, Roberts brother said no: Hes frightened of his own shadow. Nonetheless, in hindsight, its safe to assume that by 1993, ten-year-old Robert was swiftly approaching crisis point., Alarmingly, some of the neighboring children later claimed to have seen Robert behave cruelly towards animals, and pull the heads off of baby pigeons, although this was never unequivocally confirmed. 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. As a result of the incident, Jon's mother decided to move him to another school. . Susan Venables - People Directory - 192.com Im bringing them up on my own, but if I went round and screwed every warehouse, my kids would have everything, too. Even so, while Roberts community was rough, his home life was perhaps worse, and could hardly be considered a refuge for the boy. Denise was in court that day. Forlorn hope, though. . 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. 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. 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. 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. Shortly after the breakup, an accidental fire destroyed the Thompsons home, leaving Ann homeless, jobless, and with little money to support her kids. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging. Venables, who was said to have been subjected to regular beatings by his mother Susan, titled the drawing 'My Dads house'. Although he appeared to have the more stable upbringing of the two boys, there was a history of family problems. 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. Ultimately, however, the couples indifferences led to separation, and they were eventually divorced in 1986. But that is the common lot of thousands of 10-year-olds who have not turned into murderers.
