JAMES BULGER - Aged 3 years - Liverpool, Merseyside (UK)

raineycha
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:03 pm

James Patrick Bulger (16 March 1990 – 12 February 1993) was the victim of a high-profile abduction and murder. His killers were 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 the area around Merseyside.

The two boys, by then aged 11, were found guilty of murder at Preston Crown Court on 24 November 1993. The trial judge sentenced them to be detained at her majesty's pleasure, with a recommendation that they should be kept in custody for "Many, many,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 February 2003 (they had been charged with James's murder on 22 February 1993), when they would both be 20 years old.

The popular press and certain sections of the public felt that the sentence was too lenient, and the editors of The Sun newspaper handed a petition bearing 300,000 signatures to then Home Secretary Michael Howard, in a bid to increase the time spent by both boys in custody. This campaign was ultimately successful, and in 1995 Michael Howard announced that the two boys would be kept in custody for a minimum of 15 years, now meaning that they would not be considered for release until February 2008, by which time they would both be 25 years old.

In 1997, the Court of Appeal ruled that Howard's decision to set a 15-year tariff was unlawful, and the Home Secretary lost his power to set minimum terms for life-sentence prisoners under the age of 18 years. The High Court and European Court of Human Rights have since ruled that politicians can no longer decide how long a life sentence prisoner can remain behind bars.

Thompson and Venables were released on a life licence in June 2001, after serving eight years of their life sentence (reduced for "good behaviour" (citation needed)), when a parole hearing concluded that public safety would not be threatened by their rehabilitation into society. An injunction was imposed shortly after the trial, preventing the publication of details about the boys, for fear of reprisals by members of the public. The injunction remained in force following their release, so that details of their new identities and locations could not be published. this story absolutely breaks my heart. i can't bear to look at that photo of him being led away from the shops. rest in peace sweetheart. those 2 scumbags should rot in hell.

smokie
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:05 pm

Yes raineycha that is a sad story and one that I can remember well. Yes he was a little baby to. So sad may this little angel rest in peace too.

merlynsam
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:15 pm

This is the full story - but you need a strong disposition to read it.

The detail is quite dreadful.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics3/bulger/

raineycha
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:27 am

merlynsam wrote:This is the full story - but you need a strong disposition to read it.

The detail is quite dreadful.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics3/bulger/

It's awful isn't it, I just can't read it, even after 15 years. Those 2 boys are people I would quite happily kill with my own hands. :twisted:

snowwhite
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:39 am

I'm not going to read it. Jamie's murder still hurts me today as much as it did at the time. Sleep safely little Jamie. xx

crys
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:12 pm

i agree snowwhite, i still cannot read about this poor little boy.

at the time of his killers being realeased, my own cousin's murderers were also being realeased at the same time. Richard was just 15 when taken from us and after spending just 7 years in prison, his murderers were set free in the same month that James Bulger's was. i wrote hundreds upon hundreds of letters to the Government, made up petitions and stood on busy streets tirelessly campaigning to have the life sentence mean just that. of course i got no where but just knowing that in the same month, 4 brutal people were allowed to walk free - two that had tortured and killed this little boy just broke my heart.

and let me just tell you this - not one of those men have been rehabilitated - all 4, two of Richard's killers and both of Jamie Bulger's have been back in prison, so that just tells you something doesn't it.

snowwhite
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:22 pm

crys wrote:i agree snowwhite, i still cannot read about this poor little boy.

at the time of his killers being realeased, my own cousin's murderers were also being realeased at the same time. Richard was just 15 when taken from us and after spending just 7 years in prison, his murderers were set free in the same month that James Bulger's was. i wrote hundreds upon hundreds of letters to the Government, made up petitions and stood on busy streets tirelessly campaigning to have the life sentence mean just that. of course i got no where but just knowing that in the same month, 4 brutal people were allowed to walk free - two that had tortured and killed this little boy just broke my heart.

and let me just tell you this - not one of those men have been rehabilitated - all 4, two of Richard's killers and both of Jamie Bulger's have been back in prison, so that just tells you something doesn't it.

Sorry to hear about your cousin Crys. Hadn't realised that Jamie's killers had been back in prison since their release.

raineycha
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:46 pm

snowwhite wrote:

crys wrote:i agree snowwhite, i still cannot read about this poor little boy.

at the time of his killers being realeased, my own cousin's murderers were also being realeased at the same time. Richard was just 15 when taken from us and after spending just 7 years in prison, his murderers were set free in the same month that James Bulger's was. i wrote hundreds upon hundreds of letters to the Government, made up petitions and stood on busy streets tirelessly campaigning to have the life sentence mean just that. of course i got no where but just knowing that in the same month, 4 brutal people were allowed to walk free - two that had tortured and killed this little boy just broke my heart.

and let me just tell you this - not one of those men have been rehabilitated - all 4, two of Richard's killers and both of Jamie Bulger's have been back in prison, so that just tells you something doesn't it.

Sorry to hear about your cousin Crys. Hadn't realised that Jamie's killers had been back in prison since their release.

you know what. one of them was in a detention centre about 15 mins. from my house and a friend of a friend is s a dental nurse and had to do something to his teeth. i tell you what i would have stabbed the little b*****d. his death really upset me at the time. i remember crying for days. even yesterday when i saw that cctv photo of him, the tears were rolling. some people are pure evil and should rot in jail for life, or better, not have a life!!!. i don't know how his poor mother will ever get over it.

crys
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:59 pm

well i found out by pure chance that one of them had gone back to prison again, obviously it's difficult to find out becasue they were allowed to stay anon, however by pure chance a friend of mine ended up in prison himself and was sharing a cell with one of them! when i found out. i did ask him how he kept his hands off off him. fortunately a few other inmates did not and he got a hard time. but it was not even if this country, he was in prison abroad. so he's allowed to roam free and commit crimes all over and poor James is dead. that's the great Government that we have.

yes my cousin was murdered back in the 90's, in a racist attack. i will find some information and post it.

raineycha
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:04 pm

crys wrote:well i found out by pure chance that one of them had gone back to prison again, obviously it's difficult to find out becasue they were allowed to stay anon, however by pure chance a friend of mine ended up in prison himself and was sharing a cell with one of them! when i found out. i did ask him how he kept his hands off off him. fortunately a few other inmates did not and he got a hard time. but it was not even if this country, he was in prison abroad. so he's allowed to roam free and commit crimes all over and poor James is dead. that's the great Government that we have.

yes my cousin was murdered back in the 90's, in a racist attack. i will find some information and post it.

REALLY SORRY ABOUT YOUR COUSIN CRYS. i can understand why so many people are leaving this country to live abroad! God, if i was in a cell with that animal i would seriously kill him, i wouldn't care if i got life myself!! sorry if i'm ranting! i just feel so strongly about this case. my little boy is the same age as he was when he died, it doesn't even bear thinking about does it.

crys
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:09 pm

i know exactly how you feel rainy. still to this day it breaks my heart.

here's a few articles about my cousin Richard. the first is a really good insight not only into how my cousin Lucy felt after the death but of other families and the pain they go through.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/invisible-victims-of-the-cruellest-crime-of-all-732178.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19950520/ai_n13983491

raineycha
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:16 pm

crys wrote:i know exactly how you feel rainy. still to this day it breaks my heart.

here's a few articles about my cousin Richard. the first is a really good insight not only into how my cousin Lucy felt after the death but of other families and the pain they go through.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/invisible-victims-of-the-cruellest-crime-of-all-732178.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19950520/ai_n13983491

oh that's so sad Crys. i really don't know how people cope with the loss of someone so young and in such awful circumstances. i'm sure i would just fall aprt. your cousin sounds like he was a lovely young man. it's alwys the way isn't it. it's always the good ones that are taken from us. xxx

crys
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:24 pm

yes he was lovely, a big kind hearted bear who rarely even played out, let alone got into trouble. he died the day after my 14th birthday and again, because i was young, i was shielded but it got me nowhere as it made me start to rebel. one of the boys who was with him when he died still has nightmares about it now and he is 25.

anyway i won't sabotage this thread any longer! but i will say that life should mean life. xx

raineycha
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:33 pm

crys wrote:yes he was lovely, a big kind hearted bear who rarely even played out, let alone got into trouble. he died the day after my 14th birthday and again, because i was young, i was shielded but it got me nowhere as it made me start to rebel. one of the boys who was with him when he died still has nightmares about it now and he is 25.

anyway i won't sabotage this thread any longer! but i will say that life should mean life. xx

i definitely 2nd that!!!

sinbadthesailor
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:47 pm

Oh God that's awful Crys.
You know you read a lot more these days about racist attacks, cant understand racists myself, what the hell difference does the colour of your skin make?

Makes you so angry.

ann x

raineycha
Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:51 pm

sinbadthesailor wrote:Oh God that's awful Crys.
You know you read a lot more these days about racist attacks, cant understand racists myself, what the hell difference does the colour of your skin make?

Makes you so angry.

ann x

i so agree with you. doesn't matter to me if you are white , black yellow or bl**dy green. we are all human for God's sake. i absolutely cannot stand racism in any form.

merlynsam
Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 5:58 pm

WARNING: This is a VERY upsetting article.

Guardian

Sunday March 2 2008

By Elizabeth Day

"'James Would Be 18 Now - the Pain of Losing Him Will Never Go Away'

Fifteen years ago, the murder of toddler James Bulger by two young boys horrified Britain and inflicted deep wounds on their home city of Liverpool. In this moving interview, James's mother Denise Fergus tells Elizabeth Day that the passing years have not diminished the pain over the loss of her son and her anger towards his killers, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables

Denise Fergus still cannot bring herself to walk near the Walton railway line. The track is a constant reminder, a prosaic memorial of all that haunts her. She goes out of her way to avoid it, to circumvent this unremarkable part of Liverpool, even if it adds miles to her journey and makes her late home.

It has been 15 years since the murder of her son James Bulger on this stretch of track; 15 years since he was beaten to death by two killers who were themselves children. Time might have passed but, if anything, Denise's memories have come more sharply into focus with each quiet anniversary. There is nothing exceptional in her annual remembrance, nothing that would intimate the barbaric nature of her son's death nor that would hint to a passing onlooker at the anger that burns deep inside. On the day James was killed, 12 February, she took a wreath of flowers to his grave. The rest she kept in her thoughts."

http://tinyurl.com/2lr6lq

crys
Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 6:59 pm

Heartbreaking. :cry:

raineycha
Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:42 pm

crys wrote:Heartbreaking. :cry:

he was such a gorgeous little boy, what a tragic waste. does anyone know how you donate to the fund his mum has set up in his memory?

merlynsam
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:03 am

To contribute to the memory of James Bulger:

CHEQUES or postal orders, payable to Red Balloon James Bulger House Appeal, should be sent to: Red Balloon James Bulger House Appeal, PO Box 1305, LIVERPOOL, L69 3LB. You can also make a donation via the Red Balloon website, www.redballoonlearner.co.uk

Liverpool Echo

Mar 14 2008

By Mary Murtagh,

A school in memory of James Bulger will be haven for victims

http://tinyurl.com/2u2czf

rolo
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:01 pm

merlynsam wrote:This is the full story - but you need a strong disposition to read it.

The detail is quite dreadful.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics3/bulger/

Merly,
I read this story until the early hours this morning (I wanted to stay
awake as my little girl was being sick almost every half hour) I skimmed
past details of James' murder but even after 15 years it is still heartbreaking.
I still can't fathom why they were released after 8 years, nothing that
I've read about his killers convinces me it was the right thing to do.

merlynsam
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:45 pm

Rolo wrote:

merlynsam wrote:This is the full story - but you need a strong disposition to read it.

The detail is quite dreadful.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics3/bulger/

Merly,
I read this story until the early hours this morning (I wanted to stay
awake as my little girl was being sick almost every half hour) I skimmed
past details of James' murder but even after 15 years it is still heartbreaking.
I still can't fathom why they were released after 8 years, nothing that
I've read about his killers convinces me it was the right thing to do.

Rolo

It takes a strong and brave person to read this story. I only read it after joining this forum - but my late-hubby was part of the 'initial assessment team' for one of the boys.

I think I have told you that after my late-hubby retired from the police, he re-trained as a teacher of special needs children and worked in a secure adolescent unit.

Both boys were separated after charges and not allowed to have contact with each other.

They underwent an initial 12 week assessment. That assessment is then advised to the court.

What I believe and understand is only hearsay - so I won't repeat it.

I had to read the James Bulger story to understand exactly why my late-hubby was so affected by this particular job at that time. Does that make sense? He hadn't been as affected by his job since he had walked the moors for the Hindley/Brady murders.

My personal opinion ? Neither Roberts nor Venebales is re-habilitated and should never have been allowed to see the light of day!

crys
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:00 pm


well i tell you something merly, i don't beleive they are either, in fact i know they are not. but if this makes sense, i know how much you hold back on your opinion until you have the facts. if your telling me that then i take it as Gospel because i know you don't express your opinions that often.

it must of been hard being married to a man who dealt with such high profile and gruesome cases - i think if i was privvy to half of the stuff he must have been in contact with, i would be walking like i had the weight of the world on my shoulders.

merlynsam
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:24 pm

Crys

Thanks for responding.

I believe that there are some extra-special people who are placed on this earth to undertake particularly responsible jobs.

I am not one of them - but I believe I was married to one!

These people are strong and resilient - but not totally resistent to the emotional ramifications of a case. I remember how late-hubby had to walk out of the room if there was a TV memorial for the children buried on Saddleworth Moors........he and his colleagues couldn't find them - and Hindley and Brady were not helping.

Hindley had a few helicopter excursions outside of Holloway prison. The police had to follow through any lead to try to find these children.

rolo
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:09 pm

merlynsam wrote:

Rolo wrote:

merlynsam wrote:This is the full story - but you need a strong disposition to read it.

The detail is quite dreadful.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics3/bulger/

Merly,
I read this story until the early hours this morning (I wanted to stay
awake as my little girl was being sick almost every half hour) I skimmed
past details of James' murder but even after 15 years it is still heartbreaking.
I still can't fathom why they were released after 8 years, nothing that
I've read about his killers convinces me it was the right thing to do.

Rolo

It takes a strong and brave person to read this story. I only read it after joining this forum - but my late-hubby was part of the 'initial assessment team' for one of the boys.

I think I have told you that after my late-hubby retired from the police, he re-trained as a teacher of special needs children and worked in a secure adolescent unit.

Both boys were separated after charges and not allowed to have contact with each other.

They underwent an initial 12 week assessment. That assessment is then advised to the court.

What I believe and understand is only hearsay - so I won't repeat it.

I had to read the James Bulger story to understand exactly why my late-hubby was so affected by this particular job at that time. Does that make sense? He hadn't been as affected by his job since he had walked the moors for the Hindley/Brady murders.

My personal opinion ? Neither Roberts nor Venebales is re-habilitated and should never have been allowed to see the light of day!

Merly, I understand totally what you are saying.
Although I said I'd skimmed past details of his murder, some of
it, I couldn't fail to notice and quickly scrolled past it. I've never read
in detail events leading up to the abduction and what happend in the couple
of hours before James death, the interviews and the court case.
Some parts 'rang some bells' with me, but I felt I'd learned more about
the case through reading this. I will not accept that their upbringing
played any part in their actions, I agree with Denise (James'mum) that
Thompson & Venables knew exactly what they were doing and although
only 10 years old at the time, were older than their years.
It sickens me to know these two are free to live their lives and be
protected when I've known, non violent thieves and robbers to receive
longer sentences. Still wrong to commit any crime, I know, but some of
our sentencing tariffs in this country are ridiculous.