As a new documentary is set to air on ITV, the haunting words of Jon Venables' parents have resurfaced. I made notes of the pathologists evidence. NEIL Venables was warned by friends not to let his son play with the other boy. It was their sons picked up by detectives. Nine months later, I was one of 30 or so journalists inside Preston Crown Court when the trial began. The shock in the city was plain to see, but it wasn't just in Liverpool that people stared at the CCTV pictures of the boy holding James' hand, while another led the way to the exit of the shopping centre where a frantic Denise Bulger would have been desperately looking for her child. gl. Hes your son., Unhappily, it was during this critical time that Ann became pregnant with her seventh child, the product of another failed relationship. More often, he would pinch them from local shops. I would say he was provoked. I came back and then (Mrs Venables) went out. By then, Robert and Jon had abducted James Bulger from the Strand and attempted to drown him in the nearby canal. Robert always wanted to stay out late and encouraged Jon to join him. Mrs Venables described how she searched for Jon. One time they sagged off with Robert's younger brother, which went disastrously wrong. Few had the patience to be friends with him, only his younger brother and a couple of lads who lived nearby. Many of us had dined together most nights throughout the trial, mulling it all over but distracting ourselves, too. The parents of James Bulgers killers have also come to learn that the consequences of that terrible day will stay with them for ever too. 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. In contrast he has had no contact with his father despite an approach soon after sentencing. The days James was abducted, February 12 1993, I was a young reporter in my home city of Liverpool. Bulger killer had 'better life' after toddler murder - BBC News He was pale in complexion and had watery brown, listless eyes. 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. Tweet. Money was always a struggle, and she got through the first years drinking in Higson's Top House off St Mary's Lane. Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. Ann was a heavy drinker, separated from her husband, also called Robert, who had deserted the family several years earlier and did not attend court. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? The final scene takes place among the tracks of a fun-fair ghost train where the doll, which resembles an infant with spiky hair has his face slashed before he is cut to pieces by a ventilator fan. 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. The Royal Mint of a 50p coin featuring Professor Albus Dumbledore as part of a Harry Potter-themed collection. I feel so sorry for them. 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. I thought he was all right, Jon said of Robert during his police interviews. He had been stripped from the waist down,. Robert's mother agreed with her son's assessment: 'Name one family in the area who would have a good word for us.'. The press were gobbling it up. 'It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. There, he is terrorising a girl. He believes these were evil boys. susan venables pictures Apart from Jon's incident with the ruler, there had been no record of previous violence. On many occasions, Susan was observed physically and verbally assaulting Jon. Between January and the day of the murder Robert had absconded 37 half days out of a possible 60 . Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. While both boys may have felt helpless and inferior in their own settings, together they were fearless, a portrait of machismo, each playing on the others strong points. EXCLUSIVE: 20 Years On, The Suzanne Capper Case - Confidentials "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. Behind them eyes bore into them - from everyone on all sides, journalists, their parents, members of the public, and of course, theBulgerfamily. and things like that is that he was frightened. Sandra Gotheridge. The prosecution, led by Richard Henriques QC, made its case quite simply really, using the journey they took James on to tell the story. 'I can't read hard words,' he said. Boy A - Robert Thompson - was the shorter and more rounded of the two. The pair were handed new identities after being released from prison. Susan Venables, mother of Jon, blamed her son's "weakness" for the killing and said he was "fearful" and "provoked" by his accomplice Robert Thompson. It seems likely that he was bullied. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. I would say he was provoked. "He is easily led. Egypt. His grip was so strong that it took two people to pry Jon off of the boy. 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. 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. 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. xf fy. Those who knew him well said he was a very emotional child, prone to mood swings. She was paranoid about being discovered. Self pity? S. Susan venables. Mrs Thompson worked as an office cleaner until two years ago, when she got pregnant again by another man, who also left her. 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. It is just heartbreaking.". The judge, in sentencing the boys yesterday, voiced his strong suspicion that exposure to violent videos had played a strong part in corrupting them. Fiction Writing. DAVID James Smith, who visited Mrs Thompson at one of her secret homes, reveals that it was a sad existence. 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. Forlorn hope, though. Wiping away tears, he went on: 'I feel for that family. 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 of Anns sons claimed that Ann, too, had beaten them with sticks, and had struck one of the boys with a cane. In the autumn term of 1992, Robert played truant for 49 half days and Jon for 40. What a horror it all was. They occasionally exchanged furtive glances. I wish we could turn the clocks back," Mrs Venablessaid. Only two people can answer the question, and even their ability is doubtful. "He fell over," was the response. His parents say he is 'broken-hearted'. 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. kl. I don't think they understood he was hyperactive. The teacher had a different perspective, saying that Susan was in fact aware of the issue, and had expressed deep concern. 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. Just something to do.'. Robert is not believed to have reoffended - Venables has been convicted twice since being set free. Moments later, we were told, Jon Venables uttered the words, We did it. 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I cant believe people find excuses for these murderers. Mr Venables said it had never crossed their minds that the video pictures from the security cameras in the shopping centre from which James went missing showed their own son.