One of the killers of James Bulger to remain in prison

Jon Venables will remain in prison after telling a parole panel he was not seeking release during his latest review, which was held in private.

A summary of the panel’s findings, published on Monday, said Venables submitted an opening statement at the start of the hearing. He accepted that he needed to undertake further work addressing his offending while in custody, and therefore was not asking to be released.

The panel considered evidence from prison and community probation officers, three psychologists and a psychiatrist.

Venables and Robert Thompson were both 10 when they abducted two-year-old James Bulger from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, and murdered him in 1993. The case led to the two boys being convicted of James’s murder.

Venables was first released on licence in July 2001. He was recalled to prison in February 2010 after indecent images of children were found on his computer, then released again in August 2013. He was recalled in November 2017 for the same offence.

Parole judges considered his case again in September 2020. The latest review has now concluded with Venables remaining in custody; the published summary said he had not sought release at the hearing.

The review was conducted privately. Its summary sets out the evidence considered and the recommendations made by those who gave evidence, but the available details do not provide further information about the panel’s reasoning beyond Venables’s stated position and the recommendations.

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