Few had the patience to be friends with him, only his younger brother and a couple of lads who lived nearby. This time we came together in shock and disbelief. The family was put up in a hostel temporarily and later relocated by the social services. What doing well means is anybodys guess. 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. Denise Fergus remains convinced both will always be a danger to children. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Haunting CCTV footage shows the pair leading the tiny, trusting boy . Something went wrong, please try again later. Venables served seven years of a life sentence for the 1993 murder before he was freed in June 2001, aged 18. She initially enrolled the two younger children in Broad Square Elementary, but it soon became clear that her daughter was struggling to keep up with the schools curriculum. It is not known whether the boy watched any of his father's adult movies. The street in which Robert lived was not untypical: a row of terraced bay windowed houses that stretched from the railway line back towards the city. What a horror it all was. The distress of one woman who had come agonisingly close to taking James by the hand herself to a police station, only to be hoodwinked by Thompson and Venables that they were doing just that. Grey seal pups on the beach at Horsey in Norfolk, as the pupping season draws to a close at one the UK's most important sites for the mammals. It was so stressful trying to contain him. ROBERT had a reputation in the neighbourhood for being a troublemaker. His father, thin and balding, had a much gentler edge. Denise Bulger believes her son's murderers - men now - should be in prison for ever. Susan Venables is on Facebook. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. During that time, Susan felt as if she was trapped and overburdened, often taking her frustrations out on her husband, who believed it was her responsibility to take care of the children, and offered her little support in the way of childrearing. 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. The beginnings of the friendship were inauspicious enough. Dudson was given a minimum term of 18 years. . A newsroom reporter who was not working on the case fended off transatlantic interview demands, saying that it was not enough that he had a Liverpool accent. She claimed, however, that she was completely unaware of Jons erratic behaviors at school, had never seen any evidence to support them (such as cuts on his arms or holes in his socks), and dismissed the possibility that many of the occurrences cited by the teacher had ever taken place. In March 2010, Venables was recalled to prison for downloading and distributing more than 100 images of child abuse. Twenty-five years on, Im still prone to hot tears at the memory of it all and I do question the trial. They played a double act towards the children: his mother, Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman with a hawkish look, was the hard one. Trauma? His mind was too restless to take up other hobbies for long. 'We have never really been apart,' Mrs Venables said. Look at mine. Keep them apart or he'll get into trouble, they said. When social workers came round, they did so to see his sister and his brother, who had learning difficulties and was receiving special education. Jobs were few and far between. From their point of view it makes perfect sense. When they finally came to a disused railway track near the police station, the murderous duo tortured James, throwing stones and bricks at the baby, and kicking and stamping on him before finally dropping a heavy iron bar on to the defenceless tot. It set the tone for the years ahead in which there was to be no respite from the hatred. We will never be able to do the fun things any more . Robert had eaten too many and felt sick. release. But he liked collecting trolls, little doll-like creatures with ugly faces and spiky fluorescent hair. Shortly after the breakup, an accidental fire destroyed the Thompsons home, leaving Ann homeless, jobless, and with little money to support her kids. 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. His mother was not so keen on the idea - they cost pounds 35 each. "You look at him and you say to yourself, 'How could you be involved in anything like this?'" But apart from his brother, Robert struggled to build friendships. 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. He was also given 'respite care' - six weekly weekend breaks to relieve the family of the burden of looking after him. 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. He is broken- hearted over it. Recently, I dug out my old notebooks of the trial and my handwriting during the verdicts says it all. 'I walked round for a couple of hours trying to find them. Susan was known as the town " whore". Both of them struggled at school and had been lumped into the year below their age. With Neil seldom in contact with Susan or the children during this time, Susan was forced to contend with Jons escalating troubles alone, sometimes taking her own frustrations out on the children. I made notes of the pathologists evidence. When the court was played Jon's taped descriptions of how they had truanted they simultaneously smiled. When she turned around moments later, her son was gone. Get out and get into Dyson Hall children's centre, the only residential care school in the country just outside Liverpool. Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. They would hang around the video shop in Walton Village where the shop girl was pleased to have their company. sp. Nine months later, I was one of 30 or so journalists inside Preston Crown Court when the trial began. The bird was taken to the vets where they are nursing it back to health. 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. CCTV images revealed how James had been lured away by Thompson and Venables, who was also aged 10. There was almost total silence there apart from the sound of shoes on the ground. He has had his holidays like everyone else. 'The attitude when you live where we live is that you have to be tough or else you don't survive,' she said. It was to be an adult trial, both boys appearing every day in the full gaze of whoever was in that room, but neither giving evidence directly to the court. Lock him in it.'. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt heartbreak for James and his parents and shame for her son. 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. "BULL**** about 'two frightened kids whod made a terrible mistake' The tapes said they kept stoning him, even when he kept getting up. They probably weren't out to kill someone, but they were probably out to ruin someone else's happiness. 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. 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. Both parents hope was that he would make something of his life and eventually find some peace. Apart from Jon's incident with the ruler, there had been no record of previous violence. 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. "I think about little James and what he must have gone through, how they must feel. fun to be with" and always had plenty of friends. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? It seems likely that he was bullied. Superintendent Albert Kirby, who headed the investigation, doesn't believe in the under-belly of Liverpool nonsense or stuff about the disintegration of modern society, the collapse of the nineties cities. 'I can't read hard words,' he said. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. On one occasion one of Anns sons let his real name slip at school and they had to move almost at once, says. Mrs Thompson said she was so often called to Walton Lane police station to retrieve her truanting son that they should have given her a job there. Usually, they were slung out. Eventually, Bobby walked out on his family, but not before beating his wife one final time. King Charles III shakes hands with Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky as he welcomes at Buckingham Palace, in London, ahead of an audience during his first visit to the UK since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nature. 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. The couple, who are living together again after a partial separation, said their feelings towards Jon had not changed despite the terrible crime. gl. They knew what they were doing," another wrote. Thompson did what he often did, looked around, grabbing clumsily at his tongue. This would have put Jon in a particularly arduous position, as the couples only excelling child, and as author Gitta Sereny observed from her time spent with the Venables in 1994, forcing this middle child, Jon, for a long time, perhaps unconsciously, to compensate his mother for her two problem children, put an enormous weight of responsibility on this child virtually from the time he was born., As Susan struggled to manage her two disadvantaged children day to day, Neil was the familys breadwinner, working as a forklift driver. Mrs Venables said: "He mentions James, not all the time. 'It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. She visited regularly and they would hold family anniversaries in the, place where he was held. He wore his dark hair short, almost a crew cut, which accentuated his ample forehead and blunt nose. The end of the court case was not the end of course. Jon had to be pulled off the boy, who had gone red in the face, by a teacher who described the incident as the worst case of school violence she had witnessed. And there were rewards for breaking rules. Their kids have got everything. 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. She also had to stay strong for the remaining children. Ironically, the relationship between mother and son improved when he, was behind bars. The bleached houses were peppered with burglar alarms, the shabby ones did not look worth the trouble. 'Provided you have no court orders for debts already,' the man on the phone would add helpfully. He is far from it. 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. Facebook gives people the power. We have found 88 people in the UK with the name Susan Venables. Anne Thompson could hold her drink and no one ever saw her staggering home. However, you will find some great articles which you can comment on right now in our Comment section. Once they went into a home decoration shop and hid under a pile of carpets. I am not sure if in fact he was seen by the school psychologist, but I did complete a form for him.. A newspaper man from Detroit said it was because 'Liverpool is the Beatles and love, love, love. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging in the air as he sat in the custody office. After spending just eight years in custody, Britain's youngest killers were released and given lifetime anonymity in the UK. He had an elder brother, aged 13, and a nine-year-old sister. Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. He had been stripped from the waist down,. 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. . ', 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.' He would throw things at other children, cut himself deliberately with scissors and stick paper all over his face. Neil explained to him that the school they attended was special, and that Jon wouldnt be accepted. 'In this state it is quite painful to see a normal relationship between mother and child. Who knows. His parents say he is 'broken-hearted'. this weekend for breaching the terms of his early release, the parents of both the Bulger killers continue to stand by them. 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. 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 carried books on wrestling and wildlife in his school bag. Channel 5 is set to air a new two-part documentary that tells the definitive story of . Behind them eyes bore into them - from everyone on all sides, journalists, their parents, members of the public, and of course, theBulgerfamily. 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. Money, or his family's lack of it, preyed on his mind. On many occasions, Susan was observed physically and verbally assaulting Jon. In some families this was the third generation to be unemployed. The breaking point came when Jon was suspended from Broad Square after attempting to choke a classmate with a twelve-inch wooden ruler. It was high- lighted by the trial judge Mr Justice Morland who said they must take moral responsibility for the terrible actions of the young killers. I wish we could turn the clocks back,' Mrs Venables, 36, said. Moments later, we were told, Jon Venables uttered the words, We did it. 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. Get the biggest TV headlines, recaps and insider knowledge straight to your inbox. One investigating police officer said: 'You could look into the eyes of Robert and knew you were looking at evil.' A parole board ruled that Thompson and Venables were no longer a threat. The two had an aberrant relationship with one another, in the sense that it was almost as though they had never divorced. 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'. 'He always seemed perfectly well behaved and I think he looked on me as some kind of grandma. Friday 12th February 1993. Truanting, or 'sagging off', had become a way of life for Robert. Jon Venables arrived at Walton St. Marys Church of England School a disrupted and attention-seeking boy, whose behavior was so bizarre at times that one of his teachers considered him to be emotionally unstable. There, he is terrorising a girl. Hope. Architect Shahed Saleem in the Ramadan Pavilion 2023 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. si fs. He also liked to scare old ladies by jumping out in front of their noses. 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. Regrettably, yet perhaps not entirely unforeseen, the cycle of abuse continued. His grip was so strong that it took two people to pry Jon off of the boy. He was given a new name, a job and a flat on his release to try to ensure his security . 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 had much in common. Southern. Celestial. . The base of the dock floor at Preston Crown Court had to be raised 18 inches so each boy could see over it. They saw it with their eyes. They didnt kill him in an accident it was premeditated and they tortured that poor baby. Susan Venables has blamed weakness for her sons role in the killing of James Bulger, claiming that he got involved with the wrong person. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. 'I was the softie,' Neil Venables said. And now The Bulger Killers: Was Justice Done? Guilty of abducting and murdering James PatrickBulger. Boy A - Robert Thompson - was the shorter and more rounded of the two. NEIL Venables was warned by friends not to let his son play with the other boy. 'It was good. But that is the common lot of thousands of 10-year-olds who have not turned into murderers. rk ye. It was this empowering chemistry between them that some argued set into motion the life-altering events that would devastate a family, challenge a community, and rock a nations core in the disquieting months that followed. "It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. His response couldn't have been more different as he sank into the oversized blazer he was wearing. He used to be bullied by other children for being so behind, and would return home at night visibly upset. Ann Thompson and Susan and Neil Venables didn't need to imagine. Thousands of members of Unison, Unite and the GMB unions are set to walk out across England and Wales on Monday as part of continued industrial action in the health service, Performers taking part in a parade involving costumes, lion dances and floats, during Chinese New Year celebrations in London, Everton fans hold up banners protesting against the board of directors during their Premier League match against West Ham at the London Stadium, A pair of swans fly over a frozen pond in Bushy Park in London, People take part in a demonstration in support of trans rights outside the UK Government Office in Edinburgh, A member of the Royal College of Nursing holds their dog whilst on the picket line outside Kings College Hospital in London, as nurses take industrial action over pay, The scene on the A39 Quantock Road in Bridgwater after a double-decker bus overturned in a crash involving a motorcycle, A man walks dogs in snowy conditions in a park in Hexham. They looked, moved, fidgeted, scratched, cried - even sucked their thumbs - just like any 11-year-olds. Please review our, You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. He was in great distress' And what about the little, innocent boy he killed??! Wiping away tears, he went on: 'I feel for that family. "It is hard to take in really. "In terms of knowing what the full consequences of your actions are, you are into older childhood or adolescence. More press conferences, terrible details beginning to emerge about the state James was found in, and the chilling prospect, soon confirmed, that indeed it was children who had done this. Ann and Bobby fought regularly in front of the children, with virtually all of the fights leading to physical violence. Who were their parents? Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both 10, murdered him in cold blood. The sunrises through the sea mist over the sculpture The Couple by Sean Henry at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea on the Northumberland coast. March 10, 2021 - 20:29 GMT Eve Crosbie. Big Bobby, like Anns father, was a violent alcoholic, who was easily crossed. 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. Venables, who was said to have been subjected to regular beatings by his mother Susan, titled the drawing 'My Dads house'. Following the arrest of their sons it was reported that the mothers of the boys had been attacked and vilified in. From the start, Jon was drawn and repulsed by Robbie like opposite and equal poles of a magnet. His former wife would send their boys up the street to give their father the fingers through the bay windows of his mother's house. Once the jury retired, so did the journalists - but we didnt go far. I'm bringing up on my own but if I went round and screwed every warehouse my children would have everything too.'. Will you tell his Mum Im sorry?. . In all, they played truant four times. One of Anns sons claimed that Ann, too, had beaten them with sticks, and had struck one of the boys with a cane. The experience gave Jon renewed confidence, and the second time they sagged off together he suggested it. Without anyone in the family to turn to for support, he had to look outside for people whose swaggering aggression he could emulate. Their parents entered the courtroom; The Venables arrived together, Ann Thompson came with supporters but no sign of Robert's father. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Take him home, the officer would say to her. These are the words of an officer who was in the police station when DCI Geoff MacDonald of Merseyside Police broke the news to Denise that James was dead. This would have been at about 5.30pm - just the time the boys were about to begin killing Jamie. and things like that is that he was frightened. "The report of the Prison Service into an incident at Red Bank secure unit has not been published. Click here to find personal data about Susan Venables including phone numbers, addresses, directorships, electoral roll information, related property prices and other useful information. The Swedes, French, Germans, Canadian and Americans had all come to gaze at Liverpool's child killers. Denise was in court that day. Since the murder Robert has been in a state of post-traumatic shock, hounded by nightmares and flashbacks from the railway tracks. It is time to examine all this.". Venables parents were divorced but still lived within a stones throw of one another and were both involved in their sons upbringing. The first time he asked Jon to play truant with him was last September, only weeks after they had become friends. so they were put in a lower year. As a new documentary is set to air on ITV, the haunting words of Jon Venables' parents have resurfaced. The reaction prompted James' mum Denise Fergus to let supporters know she had nothing to do with the programme. Naturaleza. He was fearful, he was weak and he was provoked. The couple was financially strained from the start, but Ann did what she could to make it work. A video still of James Bulger, aged 2 years old, being led away in the 'New Strand' shopping centre. I have lost my son as well. Left to his own devices Jon liked to spend his playtime in fairly sedentary ways. "I think my son's concentration wasn't the way it should have been, but he wasn't slow. Express. I have cried for JamesBulgermany times, so God only knows the tears his parents and family have shed. 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?". Once Robert shared with him a tin of Roses chocolates which he had poured surreptitiously into his coat pocket. It should certainly be moved up to 12; in some European countries it is 14," she said. I just burst into tears because you just knew what that meanther heart was broken. They and Ann Thompson, who has six other. The left will make play of social deprivation, unemployment, bad housing and general inner-city rot. Just seeing the size of them that first time, the childish figures they naturally were, caught my breath. 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. "He is easily led. Yes, these things are important, but trust. She was living in secrecy but always felt that she was walking around with a huge sign: mother of Bulger killer, above her head. The taunts upset Jons already volatile temper, and he began coming home in increasingly low spirits and crying. A day later she would face much worse. Denise, James Bugler's mother, went with her brother's girlfriend Nicola to the Bootle Strand Shopping Centre and took James with her. Constantly restless, his workbooks were empty, and he would often be denied recess because he was so far behind. The boys, by now lacking any sense of guidance within the home, took to the streets, robbing, truanting, and some of them experimenting with drugs. I know how I feel as a mother. She was a woman as large in personality and physique as the burdens she carried. The best photos of birds and other wildlife from around the world. 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. Best of all, they would spend time on the Walton railway line where Robert had built a den close to the bridge. There was a pattern of bullying, with the older boys picking on their younger brothers down the line. He frequented local cinemas and regularly hired videos for the night. 'They were just your average scruff - like the rest of us.'. Meanwhile Robert Thompson always regarded as the ringleader and the most likely of the murderous duo to fall by the wayside is said to be doing well. ', They sagged off in the afternoon and walked around the shops in County Road, near Walton. When Jon left home on the morning of Friday, February 12 he was happy because it was the last day of school before a week's holiday and he was going to take some pet gerbils home. Forensic and pathology evidence was a huge challenge for everyone, not least the jury who were shown pictures of James' injuries. Words with the drawing, full of spelling mistakes and grammatical. She said that Jon was always "loving, caring, thoughtful and considerate . He did like to be liked, and loved to have friends, and he has got involved with the wrong person.". He has never really been what you would call a sagger off school (a truant). By now, Robert had also stepped comfortably into the role of the aggressor, and, following in the footsteps of his elder brothers, began tormenting his eight-year-old brother on a daily basis. DAVID James Smith, who visited Mrs Thompson at one of her secret homes, reveals that it was a sad existence. everyone blamed Thompson and. "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. 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. 'I didn't know it would be like this,' Mr Venables said with hindsight. Ms Truss has written a 4,000-word essay in todays Sunday Telegraph in which she stood by her plans to boost economic growth during her short tenure in No 10, Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker fails to stop team-mate Joel Matip (not pictured) from scoring an own goal during the Premier League match at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, A member of the public lines the road into St Michaels on Wyre, Lancashire, with missing posters of Nicola Bulley, 45, as police continue their search for the missing woman who was last seen on the morning of Friday January 27, when she was spotted walking her dog on a footpath by the nearby River Wyre, Not your usual prisoner! qu fy. Once he stole decorating borders from a DIY shop which he discarded at regular intervals to mark his way home. 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