(UK murdered child) James Bulger killer Jon Venables to be freed
Source: BBC
One of James Bulger's killers, Jon Venables, should be released from prison, the parole board has said.
Venables was previously paroled, but sent back to jail for accessing child pornography.
James's mother Denise Fergus tweeted in response: "Venables is getting released. Just don't believe what I've got to go through again."
Two-year-old James was killed in Bootle in February 1993 by Venables and Robert Thompson, both aged 10.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23190447
Wikipedia article about the case, including details of how Venables regressed to crime after being released from prison.
The Sunday Times Magazine in the UK had this award-winning article in April 2011 "The secret life of a killer" whose author won 2011 Feature Writer of the Year
Laurian
(2,593 posts)and over must be excruciating. I couldn't bear it.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)James Patrick Bulger (16 March 1990[1] 12 February 1993) was a boy from Kirkby, England, who was murdered on 12 February 1993, at the age of two. He was abducted, tortured and murdered by two ten-year-old boys, Robert Thompson (born 23 August 1982) and Jon Venables (born 13 August 1982).[2][3] Bulger disappeared from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, near Liverpool, while accompanying his mother. His mutilated body was found on a railway line two-and-a-half miles (4 km) away in Walton, two days after his murder. Thompson and Venables were charged on 20 February 1993 with Bulger's abduction and murder.
He hasn't stopped actively breaking the law and abusing his chances, now they set him loose again.
Coming soon to a home near you, with a different identity no doubt, and all the help most people would never recieve.
What a charmed life he leads.
I remember that like it was yesterday. Was just thinking about it as a matter if fact.
Chakab
(1,727 posts)James would be 23 now. Very sad.
yardwork
(61,622 posts)It's not safe for him to be out of prison.
bitchkitty
(7,349 posts)I agree, he should never, ever be released.
alp227
(32,025 posts)warrant46
(2,205 posts)</sarcasm>
bitchkitty
(7,349 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,320 posts)I don't think we, as uninformed people with no expertise, can know enough about his psychology to be able to say "he must be in prison for the rest of his life".
Violet_Crumble
(35,961 posts)I don't think there's been any other murder that affected me like that one. I read that long article that was posted in the OP, and all I could think was how Denise Fergus must feel. I know they were only ten when they murdered James Bulger, but if it gave Denise Fergus even a second of comfort, I'd be all for them both staying in prison for the rest of their lives.
sir pball
(4,742 posts)While child pornography isn't quite on the same level as murder (at least for the sake of argument), his return to rather heinous crime after release proves to me that he should be locked up. Perhaps "not guilty by reason of mental defect" or whatever the UK equivalent is, so he can stay in Broadmoor until informed people with expertise have determined he's safe.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,320 posts)he needs to remain inside - even if there's a qualified psychiatrist among us, they won't have the necessary evidence. I agree that longer in prison or a secure unit might be the best thing, but there could be enough of a difference between child porn and murder/torture that we can't just say "it's that same problem as from when he was 10".
sir pball
(4,742 posts)If he had been evaluated by a criminal/forensic psychologist prior to his first release, I wouldn't be surprised if he had been retained in the system. I am actually surprised he was sentenced as any kind of a criminal - I think we can all agree that a 10 year old who does something like this is likely more "mentally defective" than just thuggish.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,320 posts)followed by a release on license (which is what kept him in prison for 3 years after the conviction for child porn, although the sentence for that was just 2 years). Trying him for murder was controversial, but the sentence did take into account that he was a child; his time in detention was not just a simple imprisonment - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger .
Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)was the big story. I just don't know what to make of 10-year-olds doing such a thing. A 10-year-old is not capable of consent - therefore their actions cannot be held accountable for their actions at least to in the same sense that adult. It is true that someone who did something at the age of when they are too young to consent for their actions cannot be held forever. But given how extreme it was - it is hard to know what to do.
MrSlayer
(22,143 posts)And this poor woman will no longer have to suffer as badly.
alp227
(32,025 posts)The pictures of Venables were accidentally leaked by someone who knew him. I don't know about Thompson.
I can't link/show you as I live in Britain and could be culpable in breaking the law.
southerncrone
(5,506 posts)When 2 ten yr olds abduct, torture & kill a 2 yr old, we know society is in deep trouble. The fact that one of the killers has been given chances b/4, yet broke laws related to children goes to show he will offend again. Whose child will be next?
The bigger question is what in these 10 yr old's lives & upbringing would have caused them to do such a dastardly deed. Will the other murderer be given parole as well, or is he already out?
If the parole board thinks this is a good idea, then they must want more child pornography circulated (as he has proven he will do), or they are insane. Either way, they should be replaced w/members who have, at least, some common sense.