Given the Venables family history, it was later suggested that Jon could arguably have been affected by an undiagnosed disorder at the time, and was clearly emotionally underdeveloped. The petition, that now has 14,682 signatures, reads: "We want a Public Inquiry into the James Bulger murder case. His body was found two days later on a railway line. Now we waited. . Get the biggest TV headlines, recaps and insider knowledge straight to your inbox. Susan Venables agreed but on condition that she saw her son first. Jon's parents, who sat in court for most of the trial, said they grieved for the Bulgers. Venables, who was released on licence in 2001 after serving eight years for the murder of two-year-old James, was returned to prison last November after he was caught with the pictures. Nine months later, I was one of 30 or so journalists inside Preston Crown Court when the trial began. His mother called him hyperactive since, even more than his friend, he was scarcely able to sit still. She initially enrolled the two younger children in Broad Square Elementary, but it soon became clear that her daughter was struggling to keep up with the schools curriculum. We still think the same of him as we always have. wo. 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. Meanwhile, A petition demanding a public inquiry into James Bulger's murder case has got nearly 15,000 signatures in one day. King Charles III shakes hands with Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky as he welcomes at Buckingham Palace, in London, ahead of an audience during his first visit to the UK since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 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 experience gave Jon renewed confidence, and the second time they sagged off together he suggested it. Although not officially entered into a witness protection programme they were given help by the authorities in finding new homes and taking on new identities. Half way through the 1992-1993 school year, Robert had already racked up nearly 50 unauthorized absences, and was falling significantly behind in his schoolwork. He is far from it. what is the bite force of a baboon. Not their punishmentand exclusion from society for the rest of their childhood. Both parents hope was that he would make something of his life and eventually find some peace. It's high time they were investigated. Spidery and messy. But his outbursts of anger grew worse and he was suspended for trying to throttle a boy with a ruler. By chance, the rest of Jon's family was driving past and spotted them. In any case, the couple drifted together, and in 1983, just fifteen months succeeding Jons birth, Susan gave birth to their third child, a daughter. eb. [3] [4] Thompson and Venables led Bulger away . "The report of the Prison Service into an incident at Red Bank secure unit has not been published. 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. Susan and neil venables. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Put bluntly, Jon Venables still gets a kick out of seeing small children suffer. He did like to be liked, and loved to have friends, and he has got involved with the wrong person.". It is claimed that taxpayers could have to fork out another 250,000 to provide a new life when he is eventually released. March 10, 2021 - 20:29 GMT Eve Crosbie. Then they would hide their school satchels under a subway and set off on their adventure. 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. Were they to blame? 'Just mad. In some families this was the third generation to be unemployed. Still, despite being clearly intimidated by him, Roberts brother appeared to share a strangely intimate bond with him. 'I can't read hard words,' he said. That's the thing that upsets me because obviously, where I was standing poor little James must have been not far . The most startling moment of the trial came when, in lieu of giving evidence in person, the boys' taped interviews with police - recorded just after their arrest - were played in court. I just heard an almighty screech. Eventually, Bobby walked out on his family, but not before beating his wife one final time. Jon Venables now: How old is James Bulger's killer? What happened to Naturaleza. Sitting in the new class was a chubby boy with a cherub's face - Robert Thompson. If I wanted to kill a baby, Id kill Id kill me own, wouldnt I?. Weeping, she said: 'I wasn't actually on the railway track because there is a fence, but I went up the side. "He fell over," was the response. si fs. They hid his body under bricks so that the first train to come along cut his body in two, but he was already dead before this happened. She was a woman as large in personality and physique as the burdens she carried. I used to get them for myself at night time. Susan and the children moved in with her mother for a short time, and then settled in a small cluster of derelict apartments in Old Swan, where Jon attended the nearby Broad Green Preschool. The Rt Reverend Glyn Webster lights a candle in front of the newly restored Lady Chapel East Window at All Saints North Street in York, one of thirteen stained glass windows from the church undergoing conservation work at Barley Studio, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary Pat Cullen on the picket line outside Great Ormond Street Hospital in London during a strike by nurses and ambulance staff, Britains former prime minister Liz Truss leaves her home on February 5, 2023 in London, England. Hyperactive children can't sit still all day,' Mrs Venables said. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? 'Sometimes I told Robbie to do things so he does,' he told a police officer, with pride in his voice. 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. I would say he was provoked. They deal with drugs, they deal with everything. One time they sagged off with Robert's younger brother, which went disastrously wrong. Those who knew him well said he was a very emotional child, prone to mood swings. UK news in pictures 15 February 2023. Instead, she was involved in an ITV documentary with Sir Trevor McDonald that will air on Thursday. They played truant, they pinched sweets, they terrorised old ladies. This happened, more often than not, at night, when they refused to go to bed when told. Thompson did what he often did, looked around, grabbing clumsily at his tongue. One neighbour said she always let him into her home whenever his mother was out. Susan Venables's bent body shrank deeper into itself. 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. Forensic and pathology evidence was a huge challenge for everyone, not least the jury who were shown pictures of James' injuries. I am providing this page for those who are interested in learning more about the lives of these boys prior to their offense. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt heartbreak for James and his parents and shame for her son. He used to be bullied by other children for being so behind, and would return home at night visibly upset. The two had an aberrant relationship with one another, in the sense that it was almost as though they had never divorced. Venables served seven years of a life sentence for the 1993 murder before he was freed in June 2001, aged 18. 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. 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. David James Smith, who wrote a book about the Bulger case, The Sleep Of Reason, and stayed in touch with Ann Thompson afterwards. But apart from his brother, Robert struggled to build friendships. Maybe it was that incident that put the idea into Jon or Robbie's head to 'get a little boy lost'. Usually, they were slung out. She spent much of her time at the pub after that, and rarely stayed in for a meal. They saw it with their eyes. Jon was afraid of her. It was on his way back to the interview room when Venables finally admitted it: "We did it. The bleached houses were peppered with burglar alarms, the shabby ones did not look worth the trouble. The four who drove Suzanne to Romiley - Jean Powell (now Jean Gillespie), Bernadette McNeilly, Glyn Powell, and Anthony Dudson - were all found guilty of murder. and things like that is that he was frightened. Heck, we don't even have murderers that young in New York.'. He said that on the day James was killed, when he went to the school in the afternoon to collect Jon he was told his son was missing. That was in September 1991, 17 months before they killed James Bulger. He would often have to stay in class at break times to catch up. By now the two boys from Walton were part of an international freak show. Look at mine. They went on family outings together, slept together, and when Susan did find a place, virtually coexisted between the two homes. Mrs Venables said: 'I think it was because the class group was too big for them to go in . 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. Grainy CCTV footage shows them walking James away from the Strand . Parents who stand by James's killers - Express.co.uk It set the tone for the years ahead in which there was to be no respite from the hatred. Such a childish voice. Read about our approach to external linking. Their faces affected me deeply. re bz. Witness after witness who had seen them, or stopped and asked them what was going on, took the stand. It was during this time that Susan, having suffered from clinical depression for many years, had experienced what were later described as two traumatic incidences, both of which Jon would have witnessed. When a police officer asked him why he didn't rescue James bleeding on the railway lines he replied: ' 'Cos blood stains, doesn't it, and then me mother would have to pay more money. They probably weren't out to kill someone, but they were probably out to ruin someone else's happiness. Express. 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. Chilling words of Jon Venables' parents resurface on 25th anniversary Look at mine. They fled the city, never to return. It was high- lighted by the trial judge Mr Justice Morland who said they must take moral responsibility for the terrible actions of the young killers. Thousands of members of Unison, Unite and the GMB unions are set to walk out across England and Wales on Monday as part of continued industrial action in the health service, Performers taking part in a parade involving costumes, lion dances and floats, during Chinese New Year celebrations in London, Everton fans hold up banners protesting against the board of directors during their Premier League match against West Ham at the London Stadium, A pair of swans fly over a frozen pond in Bushy Park in London, People take part in a demonstration in support of trans rights outside the UK Government Office in Edinburgh, A member of the Royal College of Nursing holds their dog whilst on the picket line outside Kings College Hospital in London, as nurses take industrial action over pay, The scene on the A39 Quantock Road in Bridgwater after a double-decker bus overturned in a crash involving a motorcycle, A man walks dogs in snowy conditions in a park in Hexham. Following the arrest of their sons it was reported that the mothers of the boys had been attacked and vilified in. Sorry, we are unable to accept comments about this article at the moment. He was fearful of the other boy. She said an educational psychologist had diagnosed hyperactivity in her son, who was bullied at his previous school. I know how I feel as a mother. Susan Venables has blamed "weakness" for her son's role in the killing of James Bulger, claiming that he "got involved with the wrong person". Lady Penelope was his favourite character because she was rich, followed by Brains with the glasses. Self pity? The only sign he was discomforted by hearing it was a near constant pulling of his tongue in his hands. Who were their parents? Everyone called him Chubby, because of his round, cherub's face. He has never really been what you would call a sagger off school (a truant). Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. And there were rewards for breaking rules. Yet, even while Susan admitted to being under huge emotional strain on a daily basis, the couple later denied that her constant hysterics would have encroached on Jon in any way, considering he was still in infancy at the time. The judge, in sentencing the boys yesterday, voiced his strong suspicion that exposure to violent videos had played a strong part in corrupting them.