[Hugo]

James "Jamie" Patrick Bulger (16 March 1990 – 12 February 1993) was a two-year old toddler who was abducted and murdered by two 10 year-old boys, Jon Venables (born 8 August 1982) and Robert Thompson (born 23 August 1982), in Merseyside, England. The murder of a child by two other children caused an immense public outpouring of shock, outrage and grief, particularly in Liverpool and surrounding towns. The trial judge ordered that the two boys should be detained for "very, very many years to come". Shortly after the trial, Lord Taylor of Gosforth, the Lord Chief Justice, ordered that the two boys should serve a minimum of ten years behind bars, which would have made them eligible for release in 2003.

Jon Venables and Robert Thompson had skipped school on February 12, 1993. That day, in the New Strand Shopping Centre, Bootle, they attempted to walk off with a young child. They had succeeded in luring a two-year-old boy away from his mother, and were in the process of taking him out of the shopping centre, when she noticed him missing, ran outside, and called him back. For this, the boys were later charged with attempted abduction; however, the charge was dropped when the jury failed to reach a verdict.


Bulger being led away by Venables and Thompson (above Bulger), recorded on shopping centre CCTVThat same afternoon, James Bulger (often called "Jamie Bulger" in press reports), from nearby Kirkby, went on a trip with his mother Denise to a nearby shopping centre. Whilst there, at some point Mrs Bulger realised that her son had gone missing. The two boys had taken him by the hand and led him out of the precinct. This moment was captured on a CCTV camera at 15:39.

The boys took Bulger on a 2˝ mile (4 km) walk. At one point, they led him to a canal, where he sustained some injuries to his head and face, after apparently being dropped to the ground. Later on in their journey, a witness reported seeing Bulger being kicked in the ribs by one of the boys, to encourage him along.

During the entire walk, the boys were seen by 38 people, some of whom noticed an injury to the child's head and later recalled that he seemed distressed. Others reported that Bulger appeared happy and was seen laughing, the boys seemingly alternating between hurting and distracting him. A few members of the public challenged the two older boys, but they claimed they were looking after their younger brother, or that he was lost and that they were taking him to the police station, and were allowed to continue on their way. They eventually led Bulger to a section of railway line near Walton, Merseyside.

From the facts disclosed at trial, at this location, one of the boys threw blue modelling paint on Bulger's face. They kicked him and hit him with bricks, stones and a 22 lb (10 kg) iron bar. They then placed batteries in his mouth (false reports that the batteries were placed in his rectum were spread by a chain letter [1] which also stated that Bulger's fingers were cut off using scissors, this again untrue.) Before they left him, the boys laid Bulger across the railway tracks and weighed his head down with rubble, in hopes that a passing train would hit him and make his death appear to be an accident involving a careless boy and a train. Two days later, on the Sunday of the next week, Bulger's body was discovered; a forensic pathologist later testified that he had died before his body was run over by an oncoming train.

As the circumstances surrounding the death became clear, tabloid newspapers compared the killers with Myra Hindley and Ian Brady who had committed the Moors Murders. They denounced the people who had seen Bulger but not realised the trouble he was in as the "Liverpool 38" (see Kitty Genovese, bystander effect). Within days, the Liverpool Echo newspaper had published 1,086 death notices for Bulger.[citation needed] The railway embankment upon which his body had been discovered was flooded with hundreds of bunches of flowers: one of these floral tributes, a single rose, was laid by Thompson. Within days, he and Venables were arrested, after an investigation led by Detective Superintendent Albert Kirby of the Merseyside Police.

In the initial aftermath of their arrest, and throughout the media accounts of their trial, the boys were referred to simply as 'Child A' (Thompson) and 'Child B' (Venables). At the close of the trial, the judge ruled that their names should be released (probably because of the widely publicised nature of the murder and the public reaction to it), and they were identified by name in the account of their convictions, along with lengthy descriptions of their lives and backgrounds. Public shock at the murder was compounded by the release, after the trial was over, of mug shots taken during initial questioning by police. The pictures showed a pair of frightened children, and many found it hard to believe such a crime had been perpetrated by two people so young.

Five hundred angry protesters gathered at South Sefton Magistrates Court during the boys' initial court appearances. The parents of the accused were moved to different parts of the country and had to assume new identities following a series of death threats.

The full trial took place at Preston Crown Court, and was conducted as an adult trial would have been, with the accused sitting in the dock away from their parents, and with the judge and court officials dressed in full legal regalia. Each boy sat in full view of the court on raised chairs (so they could see out of the dock designed for adults) accompanied by two social workers. Although they were separated from their parents, they were within touching distance of them on days that their families attended the trial. News stories frequently reported on the demeanour of the defendants, since they were in full view of reporters. (These aspects of the trial were later criticised by the European Court of Human Rights, who ruled that they had not received a fair trial.)

The boys, who themselves did not testify in their own defence, were found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment at a young offenders institution at Her Majesty's Pleasure. The trial judge, Mr Justice Morland, set their minimum period of incarceration to eight years. This was increased on appeal to 10 years by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Taylor of Gosforth. Again, it was increased to 15 years by the Home Secretary, Michael Howard, on the grounds that he was "acting in the public interest". This decision was overturned in 1997 by the Law Lords. In October 2000, Lord Chief Justice Harry Woolf reduced their minimum sentence by two years for their behaviour in detention, effectively restoring the original trial judge's eight-year term.

1999, lawyers acting for Venables and Thompson appealed to the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that the boys' trial had not been impartial, since they were too young to be able to follow the proceedings and understand the workings of an adult court. They also claimed that Howard's intervention led to a charged atmosphere, making a fair trial impossible. The Court found in the boys' favour.

The European Court case led to the new Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, reviewing the minimum sentence imposed. In October 2000, he recommended the tariff be reduced from ten to eight years, adding that young offenders' institutions were a 'corrosive atmosphere' for the juveniles.

In June 2001, after a six-month review of the case, the parole board ruled the boys were no longer a threat to public safety and were thus eligible for release now that the minimum tariff had expired. The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, approved the decision, and they were both released that summer. They were given new identities and moved to secret residence locations under a "witness protection"-style action. They will live out their lives on a 'life licence', which allows for their immediate re-incarceration if they break the terms of their release, that is if they are seen to be a danger to the public.

Topic : Can people change? Did they deserved to be released?

[Benji]

Well to be honest, if somebody did wrong, they should be punished. They have been punished, and have served there time, they should have freedom.

Im not sticking up for them, for what they did was absoloutley disgusting and disturbing,but dosent every criminal that has served there time in prison be allowed freeedom if they have served there sentence?

Its only fair. What ever they did, who ever you are, everybody deserves to be treated fairly.

[Sunny_01]

I think that the thing people find most appaling about this particular crime is that it was 2 children who were capable of such cruelty to another human being. As for can they be re-habilitated, well maybe but we will never really know as they are on life licences and will forever be under police protection and watch.

[spacebandit]

I don't believe in the death penalty, I regard it as state sponsored murder.


But murder should qualify for an automatic life sentence, where life should mean life with no holiday camp accessories, perceived or otherwise.

and I don't care how old they were when they did it - they should stay locked up until they die

[bananarama]

Originally posted by Benji
Well to be honest, if somebody did wrong, they should be punished. They have been punished, and have served there time, they should have freedom.

Im not sticking up for them, for what they did was absoloutley disgusting and disturbing,but dosent every criminal that has served there time in prison be allowed freeedom if they have served there sentence?

Its only fair. What ever they did, who ever you are, everybody deserves to be treated fairly.

No they have not been punished. The victim and parents are the ones that have been punished by cold blooded killers going free.......

The pair should have had a life sentence that means life in prison. Justice in this mamby pamby country is an insult to victims....

[xXxCharlottexXx]

This was really horrible. We were learning about this in school this week.

[XxShortyxX]

I remember this, it was so sad. I couldn't believe the people that killed him were only 10 years old. I think they are before out of prison now.