Jon Venables ‘may never be free under new parole plan’, says James Bulger’s mum

The mother of murdered two-year-old James Bulger has revealed that Jon Venables – one of his killers – may never be released from prison due to a planned parole overhaul.

Ahead of the 30th anniversary of James' death next month, his mum Denise Fergus has told how Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has promised her that his Reform Bill would keep Venables behind bars, as he has reoffended twice.

Denise has also taken solace from information given to her recently by Professor Paul Britton – a police forensic psychologist who worked on the shocking case in 1993.

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He has revealed to her that he did not think Venables and Robert Thompson’s attack on James was sexually motivated.

She told the Daily Mirror: "He told me in no uncertain terms that Venables and Thompson had 'no proper sexual involvement with James'."

Venables has twice been returned to jail for possessing images of child sex abuse, and Denise said: "While I have no doubt Venables is now a sexual deviant and a massive danger to society, it was a great peace of mind to know that James’s murder was not sexually driven."

Justice Secretary Raab also added to her peace of mind when he told her Venables would not walk free again under his proposed new "two strikes and you stay in" policy.

Speaking ahead of the release of her updated autobiography I Let Him Go, Denise said: "What we have been promised has made the last 30 years of pushing for James worth it.

"Mr Raab has told me straightforwardly that under his new legislation it would basically be a case of 'two strikes and you stay in prison'.

"That would apply to the three most serious types of criminals – paedophiles, child killers and terrorists. There would not be endless chances at rehabilitating anyone who had committed this type of crime.

"And that meant, under Raab’s planned new law, Venables would never see the light of day. I feel hopeful for the first time in 30 years that this could become law and we’d have justice for James and for future potential victims. It would be historic."

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Venables and Thompson snatched James from a shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool, an abduction captured on CCTV.

They were convicted of murder in November 1993 and detained indefinitely, but released, aged 18, in 2001 and given new identities after spending just eight years in young offender institutions.

Thompson, 39, has not reoffended, but Venables was sent back to jail in 2010 and 2017 after being caught with child sex abuse images on his PC.

He was turned down for parole in 2020 after serving his minimum 40 months’ sentence, but has made a new bid for freedom.

A report earlier this year suggested Venables, 40, could be up for parole as early as this month, something which Denise’s parole sources have told her is not true.

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