“James Bulger’s Mother Believes Jon Venables Will Reoffend like Gary Glitter”

Denise Fergus, the mother of James Bulger, has pleaded with the parole board to keep Jon Venables, one of her son’s killers, in prison.

She has warned that if he is released, he will “kill a child again.” James Bulger was two years old when he was murdered by Venables and Robert Thompson in 1993.

The two boys were both 10 years old at the time of the crime.

They were released after serving eight years in secure children’s units, with lifetime anonymity given in 2001.

Venables has been recalled to prison twice, once in 2010 and again in 2017 for possession of indecent images of children.

Fergus fears that Venables will reoffend if he is released, and cites Gary Glitter’s recent reoffending as evidence.

She believes that Venables can “never change” and that his release is inevitable if the parole board allows it.

Fergus has written a victim statement to be read to parole chiefs, in which she warns that Venables will kill another child if he is released.

Fergus has previously met with Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, who promised her that his Reform Bill would keep Venables in jail.

Raab has said that he will “do everything in his power” to keep dangerous offenders in jail and has plans to overhaul the parole process to put victims at the heart of the process.

The murder of James Bulger shocked Britain, as it was a vicious crime committed by two 10-year-old boys.

Venables and Thompson abducted James from outside a butcher’s shop in Bootle, Merseyside, while his mother was inside a store for just a few seconds.

They led James on a two-and-a-half-mile walk through Liverpool to a railway line near the disused Walton & Anfield Railway Station, where they tortured him before killing him.

They were found guilty of murder in 1993 and were given lifetime anonymity in 2001.