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. 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. David Sharrock, Maggie O'Kane, and Edward Pilkington look at the lives of the rebels who turned to killing, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. "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. His body, defiled and broken in two by a train, two miles from where hed been taken, was foundtwo days later. He has had more love and attention than a lot of children I know.
Susan Venable: 141 records - CVs, addresses, photos, cars - uFind.name I am providing this page for those who are interested in learning more about the lives of these boys prior to their offense. Ian was clever enough to know that to survive he had to get out. It was a sign of such restlessness that he was unable to hang on to a football team for long - he kept shifting his allegiance like a floating voter. In 1999, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the pair did not receive a fair trial and awarded costs and expenses of 29,000 to Jon Venables and 15,000 to Robert Thompson. 'I think it has something to do with a hatred of vulnerability and babyness in themselves which they projected on to this toddler.'. Few had the patience to be friends with him, only his younger brother and a couple of lads who lived nearby. The statement said: "The man formerly known as Jon Venables has been charged with offences relating to indecent images of children and will appear in the Crown Court. 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. 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. In Crosbies corner shop Ian, the next oldest to Robert, was able to tot up the shopping in his mind before the cash register rang up the total. At the trialnine months laterI would learn that Robert Thompson had been among those people. It is just heartbreaking.". Mrs Thompson said she was so often called to Walton Lane police station to retrieve her truanting son that they should have given her a job there. ', A psychoanalyst and child psychotherapist comes up with yet another possible explanation. 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. I didnt, did I? she said to Neil during their interview with Gitta Sereny. Robert was number five of seven. She couldn't. Once the jury retired, so did the journalists - but we didnt go far. Usually, they were slung out. I wish we could turn the clocks back," Mrs Venablessaid. The boys, by now lacking any sense of guidance within the home, took to the streets, robbing, truanting, and some of them experimenting with drugs. 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. ", 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.". It emerged that the Venables family had suffered the same fate in another area. Both of them struggled at school and had been lumped into the year below their age. Maybe it was that incident that put the idea into Jon or Robbie's head to 'get a little boy lost'. Robert said 'If you tell anybody I'll get my big brother to batter you up'. Twenty-five years on, Im still prone to hot tears at the memory of it all and I do question the trial. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Such a childish voice. But after a year they let Ian out again. Mrs Thompson worked as an office cleaner until two years ago, when she got pregnant again by another man, who also left her. On November 24, 1993, the two boys, by then aged 11, became the youngest defendants to be sentenced for murder in a British court. 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. Child killer Mary Bell and Maxine Carr, the former girlfriend of Soham murderer Ian Huntley, are the others. More often, he would pinch them from local shops. Boy A - Robert Thompson - was the shorter and more rounded of the two. He is far from it. Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. His mother, Susan, attributed this behavior with peer pressure and hyperactivity, and put him on a special diet, though it did nothing to quell his frequent emotional outbursts. Asked later if he could recall a time when his brother had exhibited any unusually aggressive tendencies, Roberts brother said no: Hes frightened of his own shadow. Nonetheless, in hindsight, its safe to assume that by 1993, ten-year-old Robert was swiftly approaching crisis point., Alarmingly, some of the neighboring children later claimed to have seen Robert behave cruelly towards animals, and pull the heads off of baby pigeons, although this was never unequivocally confirmed. Depressed, Ann began drinking heavily and was taking narcotics which caused her to hallucinate. The mayor of Preston accused them of being sick ghouls, but still they came, queuing up for tickets two hours before proceedings began. The Radio Merseyside newsroom, where I was working at the time, was full and everyone was on this story one way or another. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. Then there were the separated parents, the poverty, the truanting, the videos. Thompson & Venebales. He is an old-fashioned crime and punishment man. 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. The taunts upset Jons already volatile temper, and he began coming home in increasingly low spirits and crying. she said. It is about a Good Guy doll invaded by the spirit of a mass murderer who kills people in gruesome ways. The Royal Mint of a 50p coin featuring Professor Albus Dumbledore as part of a Harry Potter-themed collection. Forensic and pathology evidence was a huge challenge for everyone, not least the jury who were shown pictures of James injuries. Her family were dignified throughout, but on that day one of theBulgerfamily supporters allowed themselvesa loud 'YES' as the verdicts came in. Jon's first year after he was moved was relatively successful. 'When the fisticuffs ended, they made friends.' Her husband came back to Walton now and again to see his mother, but he never came to see the boys. 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. They knew what they were doing," another wrote. 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. Channel 5 is set to air a new two-part documentary that tells the definitive story of . In some families this was the third generation to be unemployed. Pictures; Inside the Guardian; Guardian Weekly . 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. Two boys who forged a friendship out of breaking the rules. Its beyond me," one viewer tweeted. Best of all, they would spend time on the Walton railway line where Robert had built a den close to the bridge. Nature. Lawyers for the pair argued that the adult court venue and publicity made it impossible for the schoolboys to be given a fair trial. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt. Still, despite being clearly intimidated by him, Roberts brother appeared to share a strangely intimate bond with him. Jon Venables arrived at Walton St. Marys Church of England School a disrupted and attention-seeking boy, whose behavior was so bizarre at times that one of his teachers considered him to be emotionally unstable. I would get him something like a cartoon.". CCTV images revealed how James had been lured away by Thompson and Venables, who was also aged 10. Not their punishmentand exclusion from society for the rest of their childhood. He was jailed for two years before being granted parole again in July 2013. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. fn ye vw la. He carried books on wrestling and wildlife in his school bag. ", Children accused of a crime are usually granted anonymity, but at the end of the trial the judge allowed both to be named, "because the public interest overrode the interest of the defendants.". I dont think she saw a very happy future., The author says there was no contact with the Venables family after the trial as Mrs Thompson focused, her energy on supporting her son, refusing to accept he was a monster. Egypt. . 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. 'It was good. His mother called him hyperactive since, even more than his friend, he was scarcely able to sit still. The atmosphere in the courtroom was oppressive as the tension of a month was about to break. xf fy. One neighbour said she always let him into her home whenever his mother was out. 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. "We are committed to driving sustainability in the leather industry, through the commitment of. 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. ROBERT had a reputation in the neighbourhood for being a troublemaker. Words with the drawing, full of spelling mistakes and grammatical. So he came home. Constantly restless, his workbooks were empty, and he would often be denied recess because he was so far behind. . his killers were just 10 years old and attention focused on their upbringing and dysfunctional home life. 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. They and Ann Thompson, who has six other. After they became friends he initiated Jon into the delights of climbing into people's back gardens and the consequent thrill of being chased out by the owners. A smell of bleach lingered on some of the tiled steps that led up to the front doors. School had no hold on him - there was no corporal punishment or other form of penalty that touched him. Bird Pictures. Regrettably, yet perhaps not entirely unforeseen, the cycle of abuse continued. Sometimes Robert would sag off on his own, but it was more fun with a friend.
'25 years after the James Bulger trial, I still shed hot tears at the Teachers later reported that whereas the boys were manageable when separated, together their behavior worsened dramatically. Englands Ollie Chessum dives in to score his sides second try during the Guinness Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium, London, Sam Smith arrives for the Brit Awards ceremony, A robin redbreast takes flight in Dublins botanic gardens. The left will make play of social deprivation, unemployment, bad housing and general inner-city rot. Who knows. wo. sons, were settled in council houses within easy reach of the institutions where their sons were being held. I feel so sorry for them. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Ann denied the physical abuse, but later admitted to being cruel to the boys at times. He would often have to stay in class at break times to catch up. By then, Robert and Jon had abducted James Bulger from the Strand and attempted to drown him in the nearby canal. At 2:30 they went to the two-story shopping centre. But now and again. 'His mum was more strict. 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. this weekend for breaching the terms of his early release, the parents of both the Bulger killers continue to stand by them. On countless occasions, Bobby battered his wife, once causing her to miscarry, and his temper didnt stop at his wife. football, snooker, things like that. After spending just eight years in custody, Britain's youngest killers were released and given lifetime anonymity in the UK. 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. He had left her to bring up six children alone. He used to be bullied by other children for being so behind, and would return home at night visibly upset. The petition, that now has 14,682 signatures, reads: "We want a Public Inquiry into the James Bulger murder case. Please review our, You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. Police respond to reporters of a swan being removed from the harbour by a drunk male before it being involved in a collision on Mutley Plain. They deal with drugs, they deal with everything. "Contrary to what the papers will tell you, he is not a little urchin boy. After a while he tried to commit suicide to get back in. When you have got people in the area threatening to blow your kneecaps off every moment of the daythats just the way they are.
James Bulger murder: Shelagh Fogarty remembers the trial Some neighbours claim they saw the boy snaring birds into traps in the back yard of his home, while one local youth claimed he saw the boy pull the heads off live baby pigeons. rk ye. That was in September 1991, 17 months before they killed James Bulger. And in Lower Lane police station when he was being questioned about the murder she had to be told that her harsh words were inhibiting him from confessing. He believes these were evil boys. They have never come out of hiding.
An Egret looking for his dinner! - Aswan, Egypt | Bird pictures, Aswan Susan Venables, now 53, suffered from severe depres-sion and struggled with her two other children, an older son and younger daughter, who suffered learning difficulties. Unemployment levels were more than twice the national average in Walton. It was their sons picked up by detectives. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (second left) and Scottish Secretary Alister Jack (second right) during a visit to the Port of Cromarty Firth, Invergordon, during a two day visit to Scotland to highlight the benefits of remaining in the United Kingdom as he seeks to counter Nicola Sturgeon's push for independence, King Charles reacts as he visits the Aboyne and Mid Deeside Community Shed in Scotland, There are only a handful of images of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, 'Jon was weak and was provoked': Parents of Jamie Bulger killers speak, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, $6 off a $50+ order with this AliExpress discount code, 10% off selected orders over 100 - eBay discount code, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands.