The news that one of James Bulger’s killers has been accused of a new sordid crime has reopened old wounds for the late toddler’s mum, Denise.
It was the case that sent shockwaves around the world 17 years ago. James Bulger was just two years old when he was abducted at a shopping centre in the English city of Liverpool and brutally tortured and murdered.
In an unthinkable twist, it was revealed the killers were 10-year-old boys – Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who became the youngest convicted murderers in modern English history.
After eight years in prison, the boys were released in June 2001 with new identities. At the time, the European Court condemned their “inhuman treatment in an adult court”.
On March 2 this year, Jon Venables – now 27 – was taken back into custody amid allegations he possessed “high-level” child pornography. For James’ mother, Denise Fergus, now 42 and remarried with three younger sons aged 10 to 16, this latest development is too much to bear.