“JUSTICE, AT LAST” In a decision that has brought a rare glimmer of relief to a grieving mother after three decades of torment, the Parole Board has denied release to Jon Venables, one of the infamous child killers convicted in the 1993 murder of two-year-old James Bulger. Denise Fergus, James’s mother, hailed the ruling as “the best thing to happen in 30 years,” marking a significant victory in her unrelenting campaign for justice. The denial, announced this week, follows a tense hearing where Fergus attended for the first time, confronting the process that has repeatedly reopened her wounds.
The case dates back to February 12, 1993, when Venables and his accomplice Robert Thompson, both aged 10, abducted toddler James from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Merseyside. Security footage captured the chilling moment the boys led the trusting child away by the hand while his mother, Denise, momentarily turned to pay at a butcher’s counter. What followed was a harrowing 2.5-mile journey across Liverpool, culminating in a savage attack on railway tracks in Walton. James suffered 42 injuries, including blows from bricks, stones, and an iron bar, before being left on the tracks where a train severed his body. The brutality shocked the nation, sparking debates on juvenile justice, evil in children, and societal failures.
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Venables and Thompson were convicted of murder in November 1993, becoming the youngest killers in modern British history. Sentenced to indefinite detention, they served eight years before being released on licence in 2001 with new identities and lifelong anonymity, a decision that ignited public outrage. Denise Fergus has long argued this protection shields them from accountability, describing it as a “lifelong sentence” for her family while the killers enjoy freedom.
Jon Venables’s post-release life has been marred by repeated offences, justifying the Parole Board’s latest rejection. Released at 18, he was recalled to prison in 2010 after being found with child abuse images on his computer. Paroled again in 2013, he was jailed in 2017 for possessing over 1,000 indecent images of children, including category A material depicting the most severe abuse. Reports from his 2023 parole hearing revealed ongoing denial of the sexual elements in James’s murder, despite psychiatric assessments suggesting otherwise. Experts testified to his high risk of reoffending, citing a lack of remorse and persistent attraction to child exploitation.
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The recent hearing, granted in January 2026 despite Fergus’s pleas for denial without review, was a pivotal moment. For the first time, Fergus was allowed to observe proceedings, though behind closed doors to protect Venables’s mental health—a stipulation that previously excluded her. She described the experience as “mentally draining” but necessary, vowing to fight for a law change: if parole is breached twice, as in Venables’s case, it should never be reconsidered. “He’s probably knowing everything about me, he probably knows everything about my family,” she told ITV News, highlighting the imbalance where victims’ lives are exposed while offenders remain hidden.
In her emotional response to the denial, Fergus expressed “uncertainty and distress” during the build-up but ultimate relief. “It is distressing and frankly makes me angry,” she said prior to the decision, fearing another release. Post-ruling, supporters echoed her sentiment: “This matters for James and for every family who never got answers.” The James Bulger Memorial Trust, founded by Fergus to support families of murdered children, amplified calls for reform, emphasizing Venables as “one of the biggest dangers to our country.”
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The ruling has reignited national discourse. James’s father, Ralph Bulger, has previously sought to lift Venables’s anonymity, arguing public safety demands transparency. Politicians, including MPs debating a public inquiry into the case, have praised Fergus’s courage. In a 2024 parliamentary session, her book “I Let Him Go” was cited, detailing the abduction’s heart-wrenching details and her enduring pain. “Denise remains deeply concerned,” noted the Memorial Trust.
Advocates argue the denial underscores systemic flaws: repeated recalls expose flaws in rehabilitation for child offenders. Venables, now 43, reportedly “feels he is the one that has been wronged,” a mindset Fergus condemns as celebrity-like entitlement. She vows to continue campaigning, stating on Good Morning Britain that offenders like him “should never be released.”
This latest chapter offers Fergus a momentary respite, but the fight persists. As she told Sky News, “I felt like I had actually been listened to.” For a nation still haunted by James’s innocent face, the denial represents not just justice delayed, but justice affirmed—at last.
