Hes your son., Unhappily, it was during this critical time that Ann became pregnant with her seventh child, the product of another failed relationship. She was prone to hysteria and hailed from a 'strict and disciplined' background. I got on with my job, but months later the impact of that trial had sunk in and a difficult, tearful, confusing year followed for me. This happened, more often than not, at night, when they refused to go to bed when told. Resentful of her husbands lack of involvement with the children, Susan conceded that the couple fought constantly, especially throughout 1983, but maintained that Neil had never been aggressive towards her, nor had she hit him. .". He was fearful, he was weak and he was provoked. The detective explained how, before she left, she soothed him, told him his parents would love him whatever he told the police, reminding him that Denise neededto know what had happened to her baby. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. I'm bringing up on my own but if I went round and screwed every warehouse my children would have everything too.'. Recently, I dug out my old notebooks of the trial and my handwriting during the verdicts says it all. The couple, who also have a 13- year-old son, who has learning difficulties, and a 9-year-old daughter, denied that Jon was bullied by his brother or that he watched violent horror films at home. 'I walked round for a couple of hours trying to find them. But just as he was entering the school gates he met Jon and they decided to sag off together for the fourth - and final - time. Best of all, they would spend time on the Walton railway line where Robert had built a den close to the bridge. 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The documentary on the James Bulger murder case sparked anger after viewers criticised the Channel 4 show for "sympathising" with the toddler's killers. The Swedes, French, Germans, Canadian and Americans had all come to gaze at Liverpool's child killers. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter', Why half of India's urban women stay at home. He was always getting prizes for maths at school. He's a good reader if he's interested in it. "Contrary to what the papers will tell you, he is not a little urchin boy. Venables and Thompson abducted, tortured and killed two-year-old James in Liverpool in 1993 when they were both aged just 10. Neighbors later reported that it wasnt uncommon for Robert to be seen wandering the streets of Walton after midnight, since he was always running off at night. The only sign he was discomforted by hearing it was a near constant pulling of his tongue in his hands. He had an elder brother, aged 13, and a nine-year-old sister. Finally, in 1988, while on a family vacation, the breaking point came, when Big Bobby, then thirty-four, began an adulterous relationship with a friend and neighbor in her fifties. Only a handful of officials and close family members know their true identities. One neighbour said she always let him into her home whenever his mother was out. The couple, who are living together again after a partial separation, said their feelings towards Jon had not changed despite the terrible crime. "My heart really goes out to them. Hyperactive children can't sit still all day,' Mrs Venables said. Just something to do.'. 'I couldn't be arsed talking about them,' said one. He was jailed for two years before being granted parole again in July 2013. "It is hard to take in really. Just having a bit of shade!! Mr Venables said: "He wouldn't watch horror. Another time they were saucy and asked a sales girl if she stocked 'fishy nickers'. Are they mad? He began telling his father that he believed his parents loved his brother and sister more than they did him, and, at one point, implored his father to send him to school with his siblings. Our feelings haven't changed towards him. They knew what they were doing," another wrote. 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. fun to be with" and always had plenty of friends. Money, or his family's lack of it, preyed on his mind. Venables received a 40-month prison sentence after appearing via video link at the Old Bailey. But his outbursts of anger grew worse and he was suspended for trying to throttle a boy with a ruler. Express. She was a woman as large in personality and physique as the burdens she carried. Jon spent Sunday to Thursday with his mum and the rest of every week with his dad. Left to his own devices Jon liked to spend his playtime in fairly sedentary ways. Jon Venables said the class teacher tried to entice Robert by offering him a prize for a week's continual attendance - he did, but the prize never came. gl. Take him home, the officer would say to her. Robert's mother agreed with her son's assessment: 'Name one family in the area who would have a good word for us.'. Child killer Mary Bell and Maxine Carr, the former girlfriend of Soham murderer Ian Huntley, are the others. They deal with drugs, they deal with everything. It's high time they were investigated. He has had security with loving parents and a loving brother and sister.". Usually, they were slung out. 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. But now and again. The James Bulger murder View gallery Venables was born on August 12, 1982. They were sent home to their mother at one point, but after attempting suicide with overdoses, were placed back into care. Not that he had any need to borrow his dad's. Robert had eaten too many and felt sick. The Crown Prosecution Service released a statement in January confirming Venables had been charged. There was almost total silence there apart from the sound of shoes on the ground. All information on this page is true to my knowledge, and is not intended to diminish or justify either boys actions in any way whatsoever. Jon's first year after he was moved was relatively successful. This time, curiosity took the upper hand: 'I wanted to see what it was like,' he said. She also had to stay strong for the remaining children. Ironically, the relationship between mother and son improved when he, was behind bars. The family was already exhaustingly overextended, and Robert, being the fifth edition, was quick to pick up on the coping mechanisms needed to survive in a life of unremitting chaos and enmity. Susan Venables's bent body shrank deeper into itself. Not their punishmentand exclusion from society for the rest of their childhood. 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. Following the arrest of their sons it was reported that the mothers of the boys had been attacked and vilified in. Two boys who forged a friendship out of breaking the rules. There is, like, a little paint factory. In return, Jon would let Robert ride his bicycle, and from time to time he would suggest naughty deeds himself. On one occasion, he said, Robert ran off down the street laughing, "You can't catch me". 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. I remember watching her then on TV, her sobbing plea for information and thinking how much guts it must have taken to get up that day and face a roomful of journalists and photographers. They saw it with their eyes. 'When you have got people in the area threatening to blow your kneecaps off every moment of the day - that's just the way they are. I said no. I do believe that she feels guilty deep down for her own part in what happened., Despite the risks of discovery, the relationship is said to have contin- ued to thrive following Thompsons. In March 2010, Venables was recalled to prison for downloading and distributing more than 100 images of child abuse. When she turned around moments later, her son was gone. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt heartbreak for James and his parents and shame for her son. He always had plenty of friends. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The other shops in the area were also armoured with mesh, including the Red Garden chipper where Robert used to pop in with his brothers most nights for a 25p bag of chips. 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. As his killers began their sentences, such was the revulsion that it was already clear their families could not. Why would I want to kill him? he said, referring to the slain toddler. That means he is currently 35-years-old. It seems likely that he was bullied. What happened to James Bulger? She found it hard bringing the kids up in the neighbourhood. Lock him in it.'. . Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. From a distance Robert looked a sweet child. Ann denied the physical abuse, but later admitted to being cruel to the boys at times. Tweet. 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. However, you will find some great articles which you can comment on right now in our Comment section. JON Venables's family was far from affluent, but it was not as close to the breadline as Robert's. Heck, we don't even have murderers that young in New York.'. "He is easily led. Click here to find personal data about Susan Venables including phone numbers, addresses, directorships, electoral roll information, related property prices and other useful information. A newspaper man from Detroit said it was because 'Liverpool is the Beatles and love, love, love. While, on the face of it, there doesnt appear to be as much external devastation present in Jons family history as in Roberts, his outlandish behavior suggested that internally, Jon was in a state of extreme emotional upset. I thought he was all right, Jon said of Robert during his police interviews. James Bulgers mother Denise claims that she managed to track down Thompson six years ago, planning to confront him but instead stared at him from the opposite side of the street, full of rage but unable to act. football, snooker, things like that. In the first press conference she gave the day after her son was taken, this 25-year-old woman struck me as a girl, a desperate, grief stricken girl whose tired swollen eyes told their own story. Robert passed this down the line bullying his eight-year-old brother into playing truant. 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. 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. 'I think it has something to do with a hatred of vulnerability and babyness in themselves which they projected on to this toddler.'. "Youngsters are usually tried in a youth court, [Thompson and Venables] were tried in an adult court. On Monday night's documentary, Robert Thompson's solicitor Dominic Lloyd said: "Many years after the trial a juror said 'we found them guilty of murder but we didn't have the option to find them guilty of being two very bewildered and frightened little boys who made an awful mistake and need a lot of help'.". . Guilty of abducting and murdering James PatrickBulger. "I think about little James and what he must have gone through, how they must feel. The bleached houses were peppered with burglar alarms, the shabby ones did not look worth the trouble. What upsets me is I've no way of bringing him up for the rest of his young years so he's going to lose all his childhood. 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. David James Smith, who wrote a book about the Bulger case, The Sleep Of Reason, and stayed in touch with Ann Thompson afterwards. Toddler James Bulger disappeared on February 12 1993. She was living in secrecy but always felt that she was walking around with a huge sign: mother of Bulger killer, above her head. "'It wasnt fair to interview him. 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'. Our feelings haven't changed towards him. Jon breaks into hysteria whenever the subject is mentioned. The pattern of bullying among the brothers, which had been noted by the Head mistress of the boys school, appeared to descend down the line, with the eldest Thompson brother beating the one just below him in age, and that brother beating the brother below him, in turn. They were in the Strand shopping centre in Bootle when the brother wandered off. In quest of companionship, he occasionally bullied his younger brother into truanting with him, and, in an effort to impress his peers, frequently boasted of his late-night exploits on the railway line, but failed to attract much attention. Few will ever forget the chilling footage of two 10-year-old boys holding a toddler's hand as they led him to his death. He once came to me crying saying the other boys were picking on him, trying to steal his bike.'. However, given that the tension in the household was persistent throughout the most crucial of Jons formative years, the belief that he had moved through the ordeal entirely unaffected is questionable. Aged 10, he was barely literate. A sudden pause in the tapes and one of the officers appeared in person to describe how he asked Neil and Susan Venables to leave the room because he thought Jon wanted to tell him something. Words with the drawing, full of spelling mistakes and grammatical. I wish we could turn the clocks back,' Mrs Venables, 36, said. Susan Venables is on Facebook. They had much in common. 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. I didnt connect the dots until much later on. 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. In all, they played truant four times. 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. ", Her husband, Neil, said: "If you had a league table of children, you would put him at the bottom of the list for anything like this.". Jon Venables is demonstrably no such thing. 'His mum was more strict. 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. Both had a need to attract attention, which they achieved through a host of petty rebellions. INSIDE the court sat the two boys, dwarfed by the weight and majesty of the place. Facebook gives people the power. Robert had asked once before but Jon, who had rarely truanted in his previous school, was scared and said no. It would be a week before we heard their voices, in hours of taped police interviews, They stopped us all in our tracks. His mind was too restless to take up other hobbies for long. Ann tried to discourage this by hiding his shoes, or by taking him down to the Walton Lane police station and having the officer on duty frighten him into compliance, but to no avail. On Sundays he used to watch Thunderbirds. 'It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. It was not until much later, when questioned as to his involvement in the death of James Bulger, that Roberts resentment towards the new baby became suddenly and painfully apparent. In the last few years she stopped drinking in the Top House and tried to keep things together. The citys worst instincts produced the wrongful hounding of a family whose sons people decided were responsible. His response couldn't have been more different as he sank into the oversized blazer he was wearing. "In terms of knowing what the full consequences of your actions are, you are into older childhood or adolescence. Sandra Gotheridge. Find out more, The latest offers and discount codes from popular brands on Telegraph Voucher Codes, As James Bulger killer Jon Venables is sent back to prison, Shelagh Fogarty writes about her experiences as a young reporter on the case at the time, James Bulger, aged 2 years old, being led away in the New Strand shopping centre in the Bootle area of Liverpool, Denise Bulger arrives at Preston Crown Couty on November 24 1993, Shelagh Fogarty was a young reporter at the time of the murder, The police van carrying Venables and Thompson arrives at Preston Crown Court, Sarah Ferguson exclusive: Meghan has made Harry very happy, 32 best gifts for her: top present ideas to buy for mother's day in 2023, Midlife women are being told to sit down and shut up and not just by men, Imogen Stubbs: Its become less and less acceptable to age, Cost of HRT set to be slashed in new prescription scheme, Magic Mike and the naked truth about male strippers, Inside the James Bulger files 25 years on. She got her drinking under control and began giving her murderer son the attention he. Robert always wanted to stay out late and encouraged Jon to join him. What a horror it all was. Ultimately, however, the couples indifferences led to separation, and they were eventually divorced in 1986. He had been quiet that weekend, they said, but they had thought that was because his mother had taken him to the police station on the Friday evening for playing truant. He is an old-fashioned crime and punishment man. James' mother Denise believes they should have remained in jail for life and has tirelessly campaigned against their rights to anonymity. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt. He has had more love and attention than a lot of children I know. But his progress took a nose dive in September 1991 when he was transferred into another class. After a while he tried to commit suicide to get back in. qu fy. By chance, the rest of Jon's family was driving past and spotted them. He wanted a Rovers strip for his birthday present. 'I even went up to the railway line because I knew the other boy had a den up there and was on the railway nearly all the time.'. Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. Please review our, You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. On the 20 year anniversary of the murder of James Bulger, BBC Radio 5 Live's Shelagh Fogarty recalls the trial of his young killers. Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. Since his 14-year-old brother, Phillip , had already tried to stab him, the social services agreed. Denise Bulger believes her son's murderers - men now - should be in prison for ever. Mrs Venables said: 'I think it was because the class group was too big for them to go in . His parents say he is 'broken-hearted'. I barely need to refer to my notes to remember in great detail the events that would dominate British news for years. Only two people can answer the question, and even their ability is doubtful. Ian was clever enough to know that to survive he had to get out. He was also given 'respite care' - six weekly weekend breaks to relieve the family of the burden of looking after him. The old wood panelled courtroom is small. They said their son met Robert Thompson in September 1991, when Jon was transferred from another school. eb. 'Just mad. One could draw some parallels between the film's plot and James Bulger's death. He has had Christmas presents. 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. . Who were their parents? Fiction Writing. Depressed, Ann began drinking heavily and was taking narcotics which caused her to hallucinate. Whatever problems she had in her own life, she was always there. I have lost my son as well. 'Provided you have no court orders for debts already,' the man on the phone would add helpfully. Counsel for the prosecution, Richard Henriques QC, made it clear all three elements needed to be proved for a murder conviction. Robert said 'If you tell anybody I'll get my big brother to batter you up'. Their. 'I think about little James and what he must have gone through, how they must feel. Ann and Bobby fought regularly in front of the children, with virtually all of the fights leading to physical violence. Their parents entered the courtroom; The Venables arrived together, Ann Thompson came with supporters but no sign of Robert's father. Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman . It is not known whether the boy watched any of his father's adult movies. Money was always a struggle, and she got through the first years drinking in Higson's Top House off St Mary's Lane. If it suited his moodwhich it frequently didBobby would beat the boys, curse at them, and threaten to send them to a home for children who misbehaved. Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both 10, murdered him in cold blood. They didnt kill him in an accident it was premeditated and they tortured that poor baby. He has had his holidays like everyone else. The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. 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. They and Ann Thompson, who has six other. As their sweet voices rang around the courtroom, Venables hid his face in his oversized blazer and cried. 'America is the land of shopping malls. The trial though didnt, and was never designed to, shed light on how two such young children could be guilty of such sustained barbarity. fn ye vw la. So, when he first began his association with classmate Jon Venables, in September 1992, Robert was happy to have finally befriended a boy like Jon, who could almost always be persuaded to follow in his lead. As the paedophile killer pleaded guilty on Wednesday to possessing more than 1,000 indecent images of children and a "paedo manual" - his parents words on their son's involvement make disturbing reading. View the profiles of people named Susan Venables. Look at mine. The toddler's mum Denise Bulger was at the counter of a butchers in the Strand shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool, on February 12, 1993, when she briefly let go of her son's hand to get some change from her purse. the street. She said an educational psychologist had diagnosed hyperactivity in her son, who was bullied at his previous school. Shame? . Get the biggest TV headlines, recaps and insider knowledge straight to your inbox. His mother, Anne Marie Thompson, who is 39, got the house from the local housing trust after her husband, Robert, ran off with a woman from Stockport five years ago. He was repulsed because he found Robert's disdain for authority scary. We are proud to endorse the COP27 Leather Manifesto. "He tends to be a bit hyperactive so his concentration did go a bit, but apart from that he is quite bright, no worries.". His mother gave him pocket money to buy them. 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. 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. Susan seemed happy with the arrangement, although, for the children, this type of relationship would have been just one more confusing anomaly to cope with in the wake of an already confusing time in their young lives. The mayor of Preston accused them of being sick ghouls, but still they came, queuing up for tickets two hours before proceedings began. 'I don't know,' he replied. Venables, who was said to have been subjected to regular beatings by his mother Susan, titled the drawing 'My Dads house'. as he was known in court - Jon Venables. But. The two had an aberrant relationship with one another, in the sense that it was almost as though they had never divorced. 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. Jon was slim in build and taller than Robert, just over five feet. He was given a new name, a job and a flat on his release to try to ensure his security . So much happened whilst I was there involving Jon. From the moment Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were convicted of the murder of James Bulger, their, families have been condemned to lives spent looking over their shoulders. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. Spidery and messy. I am providing this page for those who are interested in learning more about the lives of these boys prior to their offense. Forensic and pathology evidence was a huge challenge for everyone, not least the jury who were shown pictures of James' injuries. 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. Both were banned from ever returning to Liverpool and given new identities at a reported cost of 1.5million. Dudson was given a minimum term of 18 years. A maudlin ballad about Liverpool was playing in the back- ground and she was cooking the dish known as Scouse. He wore his dark hair short, almost a crew cut, which accentuated his ample forehead and blunt nose. Susan Venables Facebook: susan.venables.9 Lives in Mellor, Blackburn With Darwen, . One of the new works by Banksy, appears to show a 1950s housewife, wearing a classic blue pinny and yellow washing up gloves, with a swollen eye and a missing tooth seemingly shoving her male partner into a chest freezer, the piece is set on a white wall backdrop in Kent. 'I can't read hard words,' he said. Were they to blame? Susan Venables, mother of Jon - referred to throughout the trial as Boy B - blamed her son's 'weakness' for the murder of James Bulger, .

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