A TV show accused of sympathising with the killers of James Bulger has overshadowed a message of hope from his mum.

Tomorrow ITV viewers will see Denise Fergus reveal previously unseen happy pictures of the tragic toddler.

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Denise Fergus will unveil the unseen photos of tragic James Bulger on ITV’s James Bulger: A Mother’s Story
In an interview marking the 25th anniversary of his death, she tells how she wants to cherish precious memories of her son and back a charity in his name.

Denise, 50, says: “What I want to do is turn something so negative, that happened to James, into something positive.”

But her appearance on James Bulger: A Mother’s Story, follows a storm over Monday’s Channel 4 documentary The Bulger Killers: Was Justice Done?

The show was slammed for appearing to have sympathy for ten-year-old killers Jon Venables and Robert Thompson.

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Denise released the unseen images to mark the 25th anniversary of James Bulger’s murder

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ITV viewers will be shown the exclusive unseen images of the tragic toddler

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Denise Fergus hopes to send out a message of hope with James Bulger: A Mother’s Story
They were played audio footage of police interviewing killers Jon Venables and Robert Thompson before being sentenced to custody until they reached 18 years old.

The pair were Britain’s youngest killers for 250 years and remain only two of six people with lifetime anonymity in the country.

Speaking on last night’s documentary, Dominic Lloyd, Robert Thompson’s solicitor said: “Many years after the trial a juror said ‘we found them guilty of murder but we didn’t have the option to find them guilty of being two very bewildered and frightened little boys who made an awful mistake and need a lot of help’.”

His comment led to anger from viewers who felt he was sympathising with the boys who tortured and killed Bulger, two, after snatching him from the Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Merseyside.

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Denise Fergus’ upcoming ITV special on James Bulger has been overshadowed by Channel 4’s documentary accused of sympathising with the toddler’s killers

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Denise Fergus said she wants to cherish the memories of her son and set up a charity in his name
After the documentary aired last night, Bulger’s mum Denise Fergus said she had “no part in it”.

One Twitter user said: “It wasn’t fair to interview him. He was in great distress” And what about the little, innocent boy he killed??! I can’t believe people find excuses for these murderers. It’s beyond me.”

Another added: “An awful mistake??!! They didn’t kill him in an accident it was premeditated and they tortured that poor baby. How can people defend their actions .#TheBulgerKillers.”

“#TheBulgerKillers has taken an uncomfortable turn where it seems the documentary angle is to make out Thompson & Venables were victims in the whole thing & harshly treated him.”

Crime & Punishment season continues on ITV as Trevor McDonald meets Denise Fergus, the mother of James Bulger

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James Bulger’s murder 25 years ago sent shockwaves through Britain

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Denise will be talking to Trevor McDonald about her life after the death of James

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James Bulger was abducted and taken to a railway line to be tortured by Jon Venables and Robert ThompsonCredit: PA:Press Association
Another added: “An awful mistake for ten-year-olds is shoplifting not murdering a two-year-old.”

Someone else said: “Actually can’t believe the people saying that they where just little boys that made a mistake!

“They where cold blooded killers that knew exactly what they where doing to that defenceless little boy!!

“They got off easy #TheBulgerKillers.”

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Jon Venables was ten years old when he was arrested for the torture and murder of two-year-old James BulgerCredit: AFP

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Robert Thompson and Venables became Britain’s youngest killers for 250 yearsCredit: PA:Press Association
Later in the documentary, Lloyd added: “Both of those two children can’t have been anything other than severely traumatised by what they were part of on February 12.”

He continued: “If this had happened months earlier the boys wouldn’t have been prosecuted – they were only just over the age that they could be prosecuted.

“In that kind of case then that scale has to be weighed down firmly in favour of rehabilitation. To do the contrary is to effectively condemn them to prison for life at ten years of age. That’s not something I’m comfortable with at all.

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Robert Thompson’s solicitor Dominic Lloyd told how the boys were ‘severely traumatised’ by what had happened