Ann denied the physical abuse, but later admitted to being cruel to the boys at times. He wore his dark hair short, almost a crew cut, which accentuated his ample forehead and blunt nose. Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. In Crosbies corner shop Ian, the next oldest to Robert, was able to tot up the shopping in his mind before the cash register rang up the total. As the paedophile killer pleaded guilty on Wednesday to possessing more than 1,000 indecent images of children and a "paedo manual" - his parents words on their son's involvement make disturbing reading. The Rt Reverend Glyn Webster lights a candle in front of the newly restored Lady Chapel East Window at All Saints North Street in York, one of thirteen stained glass windows from the church undergoing conservation work at Barley Studio, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary Pat Cullen on the picket line outside Great Ormond Street Hospital in London during a strike by nurses and ambulance staff, Britains former prime minister Liz Truss leaves her home on February 5, 2023 in London, England. But. Eventually, Bobby walked out on his family, but not before beating his wife one final time. Jon breaks into hysteria whenever the subject is mentioned. Jon Venables said the class teacher tried to entice Robert by offering him a prize for a week's continual attendance - he did, but the prize never came. It set the tone for the years ahead in which there was to be no respite from the hatred. In return, Jon would let Robert ride his bicycle, and from time to time he would suggest naughty deeds himself. He would go to bed. The statement said: "The man formerly known as Jon Venables has been charged with offences relating to indecent images of children and will appear in the Crown Court. Jon's parents said they talked to their son about James after he was arrested, but had to stop. The Americans fed 1 1/2 minutes of the Jamie Bulger story into a 22-minute bulletin of national and international news. My young body must have been tense with the deep anxiety that permeated every inch of that courtroom. He had a Game Boy console and hankered after a Sega machine, and when they played truant he would head straight for the computer game corner of Tandy's or Dixons. Jon Venables is demonstrably no such thing. He was repulsed because he found Robert's disdain for authority scary. Thompson and Venables, now both 27 years old, are among only four individuals in the UK whose crimes are so notorious that they have been given lifelong anonymity. Venables, who was released on licence in 2001 after serving eight years for the murder of two-year-old James, was returned to prison last November after he was caught with the pictures. Neston Town Council unveil plans for Good Friday Easter Market, Drivers at risk of a 1,000 fine for these simple number plate mistakes, Trip Advisor: Six best Chinese restaurants in Wirral, 'Pubs need to adapt' if they are going to survive the times ahead, Birchwood company donates huge 45,000 to children's hospice, Series of strict conditions placed on dog after Widnes attack, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. Birds. The bird was taken to the vets where they are nursing it back to health. Ann was a heavy drinker, separated from her husband, also called Robert, who had deserted the family several years earlier and did not attend court. At Preston Crown Court a few months later, I was one of a handful of journalists given full access to the small courtroom for the trial of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, both now 11-years-old. "I don't think we went wrong as parents at all. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. After they became friends he initiated Jon into the delights of climbing into people's back gardens and the consequent thrill of being chased out by the owners. The guilty verdicts came quickly - within five hours. Mrs Venables said: "He mentions James, not all the time. The reaction prompted James' mum Denise Fergus to let supporters know she had nothing to do with the programme. Jobs were few and far between. As their sweet voices rang around the courtroom, Venables hid his face in his oversized blazer and cried. Mrs Venables said: 'I think it was because the class group was too big for them to go in . Mrs Venables walked around the area for hours, searching for him. They sat just feet from me, perched on the edge of their wooden seat, smartly dressed and hunched in shame just below their son, Jon. The two had an aberrant relationship with one another, in the sense that it was almost as though they had never divorced. When he played truant he was scared she would come and find him. the street. It was so stressful trying to contain him. Everton was his team. "Youngsters are usually tried in a youth court, [Thompson and Venables] were tried in an adult court. He was jailed for two years before being granted parole again in July 2013. The James Bulger murder View gallery Venables was born on August 12, 1982. Neil explained to him that the school they attended was special, and that Jon wouldnt be accepted. as he was known in court - Jon Venables. Following the arrest of their sons it was reported that the mothers of the boys had been attacked and vilified in. Neil Venables regarded himself as the Barry Norman of Merseyside - a film buff with a penchant for horror. His mother, Susan, attributed this behavior with peer pressure and hyperactivity, and put him on a special diet, though it did nothing to quell his frequent emotional outbursts. - a grey heron in Asawn, Southern Egypt. And now The Bulger Killers: Was Justice Done? Both boys had been held back a year, and they were put in the same class. We have found 88 people in the UK with the name Susan Venables. He said he was frightened of Robert's older brother. 'I think about little James and what he must have gone through, how they must feel. Facebook gives people the power. .". By now, Robert had also stepped comfortably into the role of the aggressor, and, following in the footsteps of his elder brothers, began tormenting his eight-year-old brother on a daily basis. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. The boys lived off chips. In March 2010, Venables was recalled to prison for downloading and distributing more than 100 images of child abuse. Both were banned from ever returning to Liverpool and given new identities at a reported cost of 1.5million. By chance, the rest of Jon's family was driving past and spotted them. March 10, 2021 - 20:29 GMT Eve Crosbie. so they were put in a lower year. Some neighbours claim they saw the boy snaring birds into traps in the back yard of his home, while one local youth claimed he saw the boy pull the heads off live baby pigeons. Trauma? When Jon left home on the morning of Friday, February 12 he was happy because it was the last day of school before a week's holiday and he was going to take some pet gerbils home. I thought he was all right, Jon said of Robert during his police interviews. MOST of the boys were bright. On Monday night's documentary, Robert Thompson's solicitor Dominic Lloyd 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'.". One of the focal points of the local community was QD Videos at the bottom of Robert's street, where the kids would browse through the horror stacks, discussing their favourites knowledgeably. Those who knew him well said he was a very emotional child, prone to mood swings. They occasionally exchanged furtive glances. She was a woman as large in personality and physique as the burdens she carried. On countless occasions, Bobby battered his wife, once causing her to miscarry, and his temper didnt stop at his wife. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Since the murder Robert has been in a state of post-traumatic shock, hounded by nightmares and flashbacks from the railway tracks. . We still dont know why. . One neighbour said she always let him into her home whenever his mother was out. "It is hard to take in really. 'When the fisticuffs ended, they made friends.' Three years ago, after his mother walloped him, he went to social services and asked them to put him in care. ROBERT had a reputation in the neighbourhood for being a troublemaker. They had to report him missing at the security office before he was found, and Jon's mother was very angry. He also liked to scare old ladies by jumping out in front of their noses. That was in September 1991, 17 months before they killed James Bulger. Whatever problems she had in her own life, she was always there. WALTON, where they both lived, is, in the jargon of planning, an inner-city urban priority area; neither the best nor the worst the city has to offer. View the profiles of people named Susan Venables. Susan Venables has blamed "weakness" for her son's role in the killing of James Bulger, claiming that he "got involved with the wrong person". Robert would give Jon presents of stolen objects: trolls, of course, toy terrapins, sweets. si fs. "He tends to be a bit hyperactive so his concentration did go a bit, but apart from that he is quite bright, no worries.". They saw it with their eyes. Murder of James Bulger. "One mystery surrounding the murder of James Bulger case is why the 'experts' insisted that Jon Venables was rehabilitated. Not really?. Lock him in it.'. 2023 BBC. Susan was known as the town " whore". Instead, she was involved in an ITV documentary with Sir Trevor McDonald that will air on Thursday. But apart from his brother, Robert struggled to build friendships. We still think the same of him as we always have. He wanted a Rovers strip for his birthday present. Half way through the 1992-1993 school year, Robert had already racked up nearly 50 unauthorized absences, and was falling significantly behind in his schoolwork. He has had more love and attention than a lot of children I know. At Radio City in Liverpool the calls were coming through from Australia, New Zealand and Canada. . On many occasions, Susan was observed physically and verbally assaulting Jon. He is far from it. xf fy. He took a jar of paracetamol. Or they would mess around in shops, playing on computer games if Robert had his way, sliding on the polished floors if Jon had his. Meanwhile, A petition demanding a public inquiry into James Bulger's murder case has got nearly 15,000 signatures in one day. I just heard an almighty screech. One of the new works by Banksy, appears to show a 1950s housewife, wearing a classic blue pinny and yellow washing up gloves, with a swollen eye and a missing tooth seemingly shoving her male partner into a chest freezer, the piece is set on a white wall backdrop in Kent. I just burst into tears because you just knew what that meanther heart was broken. I would say he was provoked. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging in the air as he sat in the custody office. The toddler's mum Denise Bulger was at the counter of a butchers in the Strand shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool, on February 12, 1993, when she briefly let go of her son's hand to get some change from her purse. Everyone called him Chubby, because of his round, cherub's face. Jon's parents, who sat in court for most of the trial, said they grieved for the Bulgers. Counsel for the prosecution, Richard Henriques QC, made it clear all three elements needed to be proved for a murder conviction. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter', Why half of India's urban women stay at home. In a 1993 interview, published in the Guardian newspaper just one day after Robert was convicted of the murder of James Bulger, Ann Thompson was quick to place fault on the neighborhood and the surrounding authorities, who she felt had failed both her and her sons. "The age of criminal responsibility in this country is 10 that's too low. But however hollow a gesture it might have seemed, those who are in touch with the Thompson and Venables families insist that they have sought to make some sort of amends with their sons after the horrific events of 17 years ago that will rightly stay with them for the rest of their lives. Read about our approach to external linking. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Mr Venables said it had never crossed their minds that the video pictures from the security cameras in the shopping centre from which James went missing showed their own son. When they finally came to a disused railway track near the police station, the murderous duo tortured James, throwing stones and bricks at the baby, and kicking and stamping on him before finally dropping a heavy iron bar on to the defenceless tot. When shop keepers asked what they were doing they would pretend they were waiting for their mum. As a new documentary is set to air on ITV, the haunting words of Jon Venables' parents have resurfaced. They were drawn to one another quickly. He's quite bright and clever. Their kids have got everything, she added, bitterly. re bz. He was fearful, he was weak and he was provoked," she said. I wish we could turn the clocks back," Mrs Venablessaid. this weekend for breaching the terms of his early release, the parents of both the Bulger killers continue to stand by them. rk ye. Like Ann Thompson, however, both parents of Jon Venables rallied round their son and in preparationfor his release Mr Venables accom-panied him on trips to football matches. James mother Denise Fergus has been saying this for a long time, but still we hoped that the boy who savaged a tiny child to death could become a man safe to be in our midst. A newsroom reporter who was not working on the case fended off transatlantic interview demands, saying that it was not enough that he had a Liverpool accent. The Swedes, French, Germans, Canadian and Americans had all come to gaze at Liverpool's child killers. "All he said when we've said 'Why didn't you run away?' Are they mad? His mother cared about him. 'The attitude when you live where we live is that you have to be tough or else you don't survive,' she said. School had no hold on him - there was no corporal punishment or other form of penalty that touched him. Pictures; Inside the Guardian; Guardian Weekly . I used to get them for myself at night time. fn ye vw la. But his outbursts of anger grew worse and he was suspended for trying to throttle a boy with a ruler. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? The prosecution, led by Richard Henriques QC, made its case quite simply really, using the journey they took James on to tell the story. When Robert was asked what his hobby was he did not say trolls but 'skipping school'. The old wood panelled courtroom is small. But I still kept him in if he was naughty or anything like that.'. 'In my opinion he was victimised. Haunting CCTV footage shows the pair leading the tiny, trusting boy . Extraordinarily, she even shouted up to the railway tracks at Walton where she knew Robert had a den. Susan opted to remove him from the school then, and some months later, she reenrolled him in St. Marys in Walton. "On the other hand, you are looking at him and you are saying 'Well, I know why - because he is so weak'. 'I was the softie,' Neil Venables said. In 2010, Meggie Atkinson, then children's commissioner for England, called for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised to 12 in light of the trial. It was to be an adult trial, both boys appearing every day in the full gaze of whoever was in that room, but neither giving evidence directly to the court. I wish we could turn the clocks back,' Mrs Venables, 36, said. In the years between Venabless first return to prison and this latest conviction he was deemed to be living successfully in the community, when in fact he was working out ways to dodge his internet ban and hiding a computer in his headboard in order to download abusive images of children, including what the judge described this week as serious crimes inflicted on male toddlers. He was fearful of the other boy. She got her drinking under control and began giving her murderer son the attention he. The experience gave Jon renewed confidence, and the second time they sagged off together he suggested it. Given the Venables family history, it was later suggested that Jon could arguably have been affected by an undiagnosed disorder at the time, and was clearly emotionally underdeveloped. I don't think they understood he was hyperactive. Forensic and pathology evidence was a huge challenge for everyone, not least the jury who were shown pictures of James injuries. ql zo. Celestial. At Preston Crown Court Thompsons mother Ann and Venables parents Neil and Sue sat side by side. UK news in pictures 15 February 2023. The appearance in court this week of Venables, now a 35-year-old man, on charges of possessing indecent images of children, was a jarring reminder that, still a quarter of a century on, his rehabilitation is more an ambition than a reality. Susan Venables is on Facebook. When Jon's parents gave a recent press interview, it was Mrs Venables who did most of the talking; the father just sat and cried. In contrast he has had no contact with his father despite an approach soon after sentencing. Will you tell his mum I'm sorry?". The couple, who are living together again after a partial separation, said their feelings towards Jon had not changed despite the terrible crime. Nine months later, I was one of 30 or so journalists inside Preston Crown Court when the trial began. Mrs Venables described how she searched for Jon. According to the teacher, Jon would rock back and forth in his desk, making strange noises (this behavior was later speculated to be Jons jealous attempt to emulate his elder brother, in order to receive the same special attention), bang his head on the desk or walls repeatedly, glue bits of paper all over his face, wedge himself in between desks, throw himself on the ground, throw chairs across the corridor, rip projects off the classroom walls, cut holes in his socks, and intentionally cut himself with scissors. The taunts upset Jons already volatile temper, and he began coming home in increasingly low spirits and crying. It would be a week before we heard their voices, in hours of taped police interviews, They stopped us all in our tracks. I remember watching her then on TV, her sobbing plea for information and thinking how much guts it must have taken to get up that day and face a roomful of journalists and photographers. ', They sagged off in the afternoon and walked around the shops in County Road, near Walton. The family was put up in a hostel temporarily and later relocated by the social services. The trial though didnt, and was never designed to, shed light on how two such young children could be guilty of such sustained barbarity. Neil Venables, 40, said he felt "just devastated, thinking of that little boy'. Verdict day came. Ian was clever enough to know that to survive he had to get out. That means he is currently 35-years-old. She was living in secrecy but always felt that she was walking around with a huge sign: mother of Bulger killer, above her head.
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