Child killer Jon Venables ‘will fight parole board decision to keep him locked up’
Jon Venables has said he will fight the decision to keep him in prison after his bid for parole failed, it’s been claimed.
Venables was one of two boys who murdered James Bulger in 1993 and since then he’s been returned to prison twice for possessing indecent images of children.
His most recent bid for freedom failed after the parole board ruled it was ‘not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public’.
Venables ‘lost the plot’ and ‘went mad, screaming and shouting’ when he was told the news – but he’s now vowed to fight the decision.
He had 21 days to submit an appeal after last Wednesday’s ruling – which means the Bulger family won’t have much peace of mind this festive period as they worry one of their child’s murderers could be released.
Both Venables and fellow killer Robert Thompson, now 41, were released from prison in 2001 and given new identities.
While Thompson hasn’t reoffended since, Venables has been returned to prison twice in 2010 and 2017 for possessing indecent images of children.
A source told The Sun: ‘He was ranting and raving and promising to appeal and insisting he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
‘He does have the right to appeal, and knows as well as anyone how to exploit his rights.
o, while James’ family cannot fully rest easy, they will take solace in in thinking Venables is likely to be laughed out of court in an appeal.
‘But they have been put through enough to know that anything can happen in this case.’
The father of murdered toddler James today spoke out of the ‘mental torture’ he experiences every day.
Speaking on TalkTv, Ralph said: ‘I’m glad he’s being kept in. The public’s a bit more safe for two years. It’s a bit of a result.
‘It’s just two years of not having to worry about him. He knows how to lie to them. He was taught to lie, to hide this identity so he knows what he’s doing.’
Venables along with friend Robert Thompson abducted two-year-old James Bulger from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Merseyside on February 12, 1993, before torturing and murdering him.
His body was found on a railway line two-and-a-half miles away in Walton two days later.
Later that month both Venables and Thompson were charged with abduction and murder, and were found guilty on November 24 – making them the youngest convicted murderers in British history.
They were given indefinite prison sentences, but both were released in 2001, aged 18, and were given new identities following the huge outrage over the murder.
Venables last applied for parole in 2020, which was denied, and his most recent bid for release last week has now also been refused.
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