He has had Christmas presents. One woman asked how James had injured his forehead. They knew what they were doing," another wrote. Will you tell his mum I'm sorry?". Most people would regard such sentiments as having come rather late in the day and certainly too late to save poor James. 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. 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. 'It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. March 10, 2021 - 20:29 GMT Eve Crosbie. They saw it with their eyes. He has had security with loving parents and a loving brother and sister.". Robert said 'If you tell anybody I'll get my big brother to batter you up'. He carried books on wrestling and wildlife in his school bag. Maybe it was that incident that put the idea into Jon or Robbie's head to 'get a little boy lost'. The prosecution, led by Richard Henriques QC, made its case quite simply really, using the journey they took James on to tell the story. More often, he would pinch them from local shops. After spending just eight years in custody, Britain's youngest killers were released and given lifetime anonymity in the UK. I didnt, did I? she said to Neil during their interview with Gitta Sereny. View the profiles of people named Susan Venables. But after a year they let Ian out again. It has already been reported that Jon Venables real identity has been exposed in prison, where he is said to be receiving 24-hour protection. Such a childish voice. He was always getting prizes for maths at school. I'm warning yer,' she would say. It was when Jon turned seven that Susan and the children had relocated to Norris Green, one of Liverpools larger, more reputable areas. Between January and the day of the murder Robert had absconded 37 half days out of a possible 60 . Friday 12th February 1993. Thompson was inscrutable in the dock as we heard his voice for the first time. It is here, of course, that Jon met and made friends with fellow eccentric, Robert Thompson. Get out and get into Dyson Hall children's centre, the only residential care school in the country just outside Liverpool. Both were banned from ever returning to Liverpool and given new identities at a reported cost of 1.5million. Such pleasantries were not for Robbie. 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. He had been stripped from the waist down,. He was too scared to be naughty on his own. The judge, in sentencing the boys yesterday, voiced his strong suspicion that exposure to violent videos had played a strong part in corrupting them. At Radio City in Liverpool the calls were coming through from Australia, New Zealand and Canada. "My heart really goes out to them. however, as the incident in the playground shows, the ever-present threat of discovery cast a constant shadow over anyone related to the two murderers. Shortly after the breakup, an accidental fire destroyed the Thompsons home, leaving Ann homeless, jobless, and with little money to support her kids. Whatever problems she had in her own life, she was always there. In the last few years she stopped drinking in the Top House and tried to keep things together. Child killer Mary Bell and Maxine Carr, the former girlfriend of Soham murderer Ian Huntley, are the others. You know, we just try and help him as best we can to try to come to terms with things. 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. 'I think it has something to do with a hatred of vulnerability and babyness in themselves which they projected on to this toddler.'. 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. "Just TV programmes and little things remind me of the good times we had together . By now the Venables were reunited as a result of the court case. Big Bobby, like Anns father, was a violent alcoholic, who was easily crossed. Given the Venables family history, it was later suggested that Jon could arguably have been affected by an undiagnosed disorder at the time, and was clearly emotionally underdeveloped. Following the arrest of their sons it was reported that the mothers of the boys had been attacked and vilified in. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Jon continued to attend Broad Square, where children of the neighborhood openly mocked and poked fun at his siblings, calling them backward. Jon was also an easy target due to a squint in his eye. As a new documentary is set to air on ITV, the haunting words of Jon Venables' parents have resurfaced. 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. 'I sat away from him - he caused trouble,' Jon said. In all, they played truant four times. She was paranoid about being discovered. Bird Pictures. 'America is the land of shopping malls. It was their sons picked up by detectives. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. He did like to be liked, and loved to have friends, and he has got involved with the wrong person.". Facebook gives people the power. She said that Jon was always "loving, caring, thoughtful and considerate . 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. When Jon's parents gave a recent press interview, it was Mrs Venables who did most of the talking; the father just sat and cried. Mr Venables ran out of the car and grabbed him, while Robert ran off down the street laughing and shouting: 'You can't catch me.'. Southern. Our feelings haven't changed towards him. He stayed away from school so often the local police called him a professional truant. Once Robert shared with him a tin of Roses chocolates which he had poured surreptitiously into his coat pocket. Birds. xf fy. They said their son met Robert Thompson in September 1991, when Jon was transferred from another school. She also had to stay strong for the remaining children. Ironically, the relationship between mother and son improved when he, was behind bars. "It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. 'I can't read hard words,' he said. Yes, these things are important, but trust. 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. I do believe that she feels guilty deep down for her own part in what happened., Despite the risks of discovery, the relationship is said to have contin- ued to thrive following Thompsons. Moments later, we were told, Jon Venables uttered the words, We did it. The hardliners in the police have a simpler explanation. Susan Venables, mother of Jon - referred to throughout the trial as Boy B - blamed her son's 'weakness' for the murder of James Bulger, . A newspaper man from Detroit said it was because 'Liverpool is the Beatles and love, love, love. The best instincts led hundreds, including me, to lay flowers a few days later at the site of James horrific end. 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Last November he was arrested and recalled to jail on suspicion of possession of images of child sex abuse. Neil Venables regarded himself as the Barry Norman of Merseyside - a film buff with a penchant for horror. Thompson, who gained five GCSEs and A-levels in design and technology, is said to have developed an interest in theatre. Then there were the separated parents, the poverty, the truanting, the videos. cl gz. ', A psychoanalyst and child psychotherapist comes up with yet another possible explanation. Mr Venables said that the two boys had played truant together four times before, adding that he caught them twice. They have never come out of hiding. Click here to find personal data about Susan Venables including phone numbers, addresses, directorships, electoral roll information, related property prices and other useful information. 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. The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Recently, I dug out my old notebooks of the trial and my handwriting during the verdicts says it all. The beginnings of the friendship were inauspicious enough. 'I didn't know it would be like this,' Mr Venables said with hindsight. So much happened whilst I was there involving Jon. The questioning was calm, steady, even playful at the beginning to try to get a sense the two boys really did know the difference between right and wrong. Forlorn hope, though. Both Ann and the children knew well the sting of palm against flesh, and Bobby often used these beatings to ensure that his wife and children conformed. ", 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.". 'Just mad. You know, we just try and help him as best we can to try to come to terms with things. 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. 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. 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. On one occasion one of Anns sons let his real name slip at school and they had to move almost at once, says. It is not known whether the boy watched any of his father's adult movies. 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. Kids fantasise about such things. Could they have planned to do it in advance? He said he was frightened of Robert's older brother. Half way through the 1992-1993 school year, Robert had already racked up nearly 50 unauthorized absences, and was falling significantly behind in his schoolwork. I didnt connect the dots until much later on. Two boys who forged a friendship out of breaking the rules. He had left her to bring up six children alone. "You look at him and you say to yourself, 'How could you be involved in anything like this?'" Both parents hope was that he would make something of his life and eventually find some peace. School had no hold on him - there was no corporal punishment or other form of penalty that touched him. . I would say he was provoked. He appears to be a normal human, but inside the soft flesh there is indestructable metal. 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. qu fy. 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. "Youngsters are usually tried in a youth court, [Thompson and Venables] were tried in an adult court. Lock him in it.'. 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.. They went on family outings together, slept together, and when Susan did find a place, virtually coexisted between the two homes. 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. The best photos of birds and other wildlife from around the world. Extraordinarily, she even shouted up to the railway tracks at Walton where she knew Robert had a den. football, snooker, things like that. The teacher had a different perspective, saying that Susan was in fact aware of the issue, and had expressed deep concern. The documentary on the James Bulger murder case sparked anger after viewers criticised the Channel 4 show for "sympathising" with the toddler's killers. It was a sign of such restlessness that he was unable to hang on to a football team for long - he kept shifting his allegiance like a floating voter. A sudden pause in the tapes and one of the officers appeared in person to describe how he asked Neil and Susan Venables to leave the room because he thought Jon wanted to tell him something. 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. It was their sons picked up by detectives. 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. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging in the air as he sat in the custody office. I barely need to refer to my notes to remember in great detail the events that would dominate British news for years. They didnt kill him in an accident it was premeditated and they tortured that poor baby. That seems the very least they could face for what they did. The base of the dock floor at Preston Crown Court had to be raised 18 inches so each boy could see over it. has prompted a public outcry for an investigation into issues surrounding the case. 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. He was fearful of the other boy. For me, though, it is Susan and Neil Venables who stay most in my memory of that day. The most startling moment of the trial came when, in lieu of giving evidence in person, the boys' taped interviews with police - recorded just after their arrest - were played in court. He was fearful, he was weak and he was provoked," she said. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Toddler James Bulger disappeared on February 12 1993. Only two people can answer the question, and even their ability is doubtful. 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. 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. Guilty of abducting and murdering James PatrickBulger. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging. 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. JON Venables's family was far from affluent, but it was not as close to the breadline as Robert's. The boys lived off chips. The guilty verdicts came quickly - within five hours. Robert passed this down the line bullying his eight-year-old brother into playing truant. They had much in common. The Swedes, French, Germans, Canadian and Americans had all come to gaze at Liverpool's child killers. But curiosity drew him towards Robert in equal measure. She remained very frightened and felt that she and her son were the most hated people in the country. Among the list were several horror films, including one video in which the police took special interest: Child's Play 3, a film which carries the line 'Children are consumer trainees'. 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. Then between 1990 and 1991, Jons teachers recognized a dramatic change in the boys behavior, which was alarming enough for one of his teachers to begin keeping a daily log. I came back and then (Mrs Venables) went out. Real bottom of the gut stuff, like an animal. Nine months later, I was one of 30 or so journalists inside Preston Crown Court when the trial began. Ironically, Jon was the child who caused his parents least anxiety. Ultimately, however, the couples indifferences led to separation, and they were eventually divorced in 1986. At school Jon was considered bright enough, though he had trouble keeping up with lessons. Heck, we don't even have murderers that young in New York.'. The living versions on the floor of the court looked equally wrinkled and austere. 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. Neston Town Council unveil plans for Good Friday Easter Market, Drivers at risk of a 1,000 fine for these simple number plate mistakes, Trip Advisor: Six best Chinese restaurants in Wirral, 'Pubs need to adapt' if they are going to survive the times ahead, Birchwood company donates huge 45,000 to children's hospice, Series of strict conditions placed on dog after Widnes attack, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. Meanwhile, A petition demanding a public inquiry into James Bulger's murder case has got nearly 15,000 signatures in one day. Venables parents were divorced but still lived within a stones throw of one another and were both involved in their sons upbringing. Spidery and messy. and things like that is that he was frightened. As the paedophile killer pleaded guilty on Wednesday to possessing more than 1,000 indecent images of children and a "paedo manual" - his parents words on their son's involvement make disturbing reading. The detective explained how, before she left, she soothed him, told him his parents would love him whatever he told the police, reminding him that Denise neededto know what had happened to her baby. Then they had carried, dragged and kicked him along a two and a half mile journey, at times swinging him violently in the air or dropping him against the road, until they reached the railway where they stoned him with bricks, bashed his head with a 22lb iron bar, and left him dead across the tracks to be cut in half by a passing goods train. S. Susan venables. She was prone to hysteria and hailed from a 'strict and disciplined' background. As a result of the incident, Jon's mother decided to move him to another school. Fiction Writing. For his parents, the fact they were children was actually a cause for hope at that point. 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. "My heart really goes out to them. But his progress took a nose dive in September 1991 when he was transferred into another class. Constantly restless, his workbooks were empty, and he would often be denied recess because he was so far behind. Jon's parents, who sat in court for most of the trial, said they grieved for the Bulgers. Superintendent Kirby is a religious man. 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. 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. He was jailed for two years before being granted parole again in July 2013.. 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.

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