Venables parole bid: Can killer go free?

Child killer Jon Venables, now 43, is preparing for another parole hearing concerning his potential release. This oral hearing is scheduled to take place next month, more than two years after his previous attempt in 2023 was denied. During that prior assessment, the Parole Board concluded that Venables continued to pose a significant danger to children and could re-offend.

Venables, who was just 10 years old when he, along with Robert Thompson, abducted and murdered two-year-old James Bulger in February 1993, has had a complex history with his licence. He was first released in July 2001, recalled in February 2010 for indecent images of children, freed again in August 2013, and recalled once more in November 2017 for the same offense. His parole case was last considered in September 2020.

James Bulger's mother, Denise Fergus, has been informed of the upcoming hearing and will observe it. A spokesperson for Ms. Fergus stated that she has been "forced to confront a process that reopens unimaginable trauma" and had hoped for a "redirection" to allow her peace. Her application to attend the hearing has been approved, a possibility for victims under recent reforms.