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'When you have got people in the area threatening to blow your kneecaps off every moment of the day - that's just the way they are. The two bumped into each other - literally - in the school playground in the middle of a fight. These are the words of an officer who was in the police station when DCI Geoff MacDonald of Merseyside Police broke the news to Denise that James was dead. Robert's mother agreed with her son's assessment: 'Name one family in the area who would have a good word for us.'. Teachers hold placards as they shout slogans while taking part in a protest organised in Manchester as part of a national strike day. She was prone to hysteria and hailed from a 'strict and disciplined' background. Our feelings haven't changed towards him. Profile: Jon Venables - BBC News 'I thought he was all right,' said Boy B, as he was known in court - Jon Venables. The other shops in the area were also armoured with mesh, including the Red Garden chipper where Robert used to pop in with his brothers most nights for a 25p bag of chips. Ann, desperate to escape the physical and emotional torment of living with her drunken father, was married to Robert, Sr. in December 1971, on the day of her eighteenth birthday. Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. "You look at him and you say to yourself, 'How could you be involved in anything like this?'" They had to report him missing at the security office before he was found, and Jon's mother was very angry. The trial though didnt, and was never designed to, shed light on how two such young children could be guilty of such sustained barbarity. Forensic and pathology evidence was a huge challenge for everyone, not least the jury who were shown pictures of James injuries. It was so stressful trying to contain him. Money, or his family's lack of it, preyed on his mind. Thompson was inscrutable in the dock as we heard his voice for the first time. Robert was number five of seven. Denise was in court that day. You know, we just try and help him as best we can to try to come to terms with things. Ann Thompson and Susan and Neil Venables didn't need to imagine. This story has no borders,' NBC correspondent Denis Murphy said. fun to be with" and always had plenty of friends. Only two people can answer the question, and even their ability is doubtful. They were in the Strand shopping centre in Bootle when the brother wandered off. What upsets me is I've no way of bringing him up for the rest of his young years so he's going to lose all his childhood. "He is easily led. He wanted a Rovers strip for his birthday present. This would have made little Robert the target of the fourth Thompson brother, who, in less than a years time, had confessed to arson, tried to stab his elder brother in a fit of rage, and had allegedly committed a lewd act against two small children (this incident was overlooked due to lack of evidence; however, because it was always considered a likely possibility that little Robert had been the victim of sexual abuse himself, and since Robert reportedly confirmed this years later, this occurrence involving his elder brother might be thought particularly revealing). susan venables pictures The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. He has had security with loving parents and a loving brother and sister.". his killers were just 10 years old and attention focused on their upbringing and dysfunctional home life. The questioning was calm, steady, even playful at the beginning to try to get a sense the two boys really did know the difference between right and wrong. Grainy CCTV footage later showed the innocent toddler being led away by Venables and Thompson, who marched the little boy through the streets of Bootle for two miles - a walk that would have taken hours given his size. Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. Forlorn hope, though. Haunting CCTV footage shows the pair leading the tiny, trusting boy . Susan Venables has blamed weakness for her sons role in the killing of James Bulger, claiming that he got involved with the wrong person. They have never come out of hiding. Grey Heron. Thompson & Venebales. The other boy, Robert Thompson, we are told is now abiding by the conditions of his life license since he was released 17 years ago, and is doing well. Ann denied the physical abuse, but later admitted to being cruel to the boys at times. Police respond to reporters of a swan being removed from the harbour by a drunk male before it being involved in a collision on Mutley Plain. The Killing of James Bulger: Where are Robert Thompson and Jon Venables From the start, Jon was drawn and repulsed by Robbie like opposite and equal poles of a magnet. 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. Haunting words of killer Jon Venables' parents resurface on 25th Aged 10, he was barely literate. xf fy. This would have been at about 5.30pm - just the time the boys were about to begin killing Jamie. Since the murder Robert has been in a state of post-traumatic shock, hounded by nightmares and flashbacks from the railway tracks. Their age was hard to gauge from the CCTV images, so just when you imagined you couldnt be more shocked by this story, it emerged the two accused were just 10-years-old. Truanting, or 'sagging off', had become a way of life for Robert. They were drawn to one another quickly. He had been quiet that weekend, they said, but they had thought that was because his mother had taken him to the police station on the Friday evening for playing truant. After spending just eight years in custody, Britain's youngest killers were released and given lifetime anonymity in the UK. More press conferences, terrible details beginning to emerge about the state James was found in, and the chilling prospect, soon confirmed, that indeed it was children who had done this. re bz. 'I don't know,' he replied. He liked to spend the weekend on the streets. Neither gave evidence to the court, but were found guilty after an officer told how Venables admitted the murder, saying, "We did it. A torrent of questions erupted from the moment the grim news came out that James Bulger's body had been found on a railway line in Liverpool and the last people seen with him were two ten-year-olds, captured on grainy CCTV footage. After a while he tried to commit suicide to get back in. Susan Venabless bent body shrank deeper into itself. This happened, more often than not, at night, when they refused to go to bed when told. . .". He has had more love and attention than a lot of children I know. There is hatred and envy directed at the baby - a wish to see it suffer in the way they have suffered. Susan and neil venables. Among the list were several horror films, including one video in which the police took special interest: Child's Play 3, a film which carries the line 'Children are consumer trainees'. Susan Venable - we found 141 people search records: 55 CVs and social profiles with photos, 50 addresses & phone numbers, 1 real estate objects, 6 Susan Venable's cars, 2 companies. ", Her husband, Neil, said: "If you had a league table of children, you would put him at the bottom of the list for anything like this.". Born 10 days apart in August 1982 in Liverpool. Online Marketing For Your Business Ann and Bobby fought regularly in front of the children, with virtually all of the fights leading to physical violence. I don't think they understood he was hyperactive. 'I didn't know it would be like this,' Mr Venables said with hindsight. Venables served seven years of a life sentence for the 1993 murder before he was freed in June 2001, aged 18. The citys worst instincts produced the wrongful hounding of a family whose sons people decided were responsible. Asked later if he could recall a time when his brother had exhibited any unusually aggressive tendencies, Roberts brother said no: Hes frightened of his own shadow. Nonetheless, in hindsight, its safe to assume that by 1993, ten-year-old Robert was swiftly approaching crisis point., Alarmingly, some of the neighboring children later claimed to have seen Robert behave cruelly towards animals, and pull the heads off of baby pigeons, although this was never unequivocally confirmed. 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. "In order that justice can be done, no further details are being released at this stage and the proceedings are subject to reporting restrictions.". I know how I feel as a mother. Were they to blame? Facebook gives people the power. The pair was tried for the abduction and murder of James as adults owing to the fact they were over 10, which is legally deemed to be the age of criminal responsibility. Three days later his body was found, and three days after that a tip-off came from a shopkeeper who had seen two boys playing truant on the day James went missing and gave police two names - Jon Venables and Robert Thompson. At night, for instance, the two boys would lie in bed together and suck each others thumbs. For me, though, it is Susan and Neil Venables who stay most in my memory of that day. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. When Robert was asked what his hobby was he did not say trolls but 'skipping school'. From the moment Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were convicted of the murder of James Bulger, their, families have been condemned to lives spent looking over their shoulders. For she added: 'But he's not a murderer.'. Susan Venables Profiles | Facebook A smell of bleach lingered on some of the tiled steps that led up to the front doors. Susan Venables Profiles | Facebook The couple, who are living together again after a partial separation, said their feelings towards Jon had not changed despite the terrible crime. Walton Village Financial Services would lend you pounds 300 for Christmas and demand a total of pounds 460 in repayment. Get the biggest TV headlines, recaps and insider knowledge straight to your inbox. His mother called him hyperactive since, even more than his friend, he was scarcely able to sit still. The pair were handed new identities after being released from prison. the street. however, as the incident in the playground shows, the ever-present threat of discovery cast a constant shadow over anyone related to the two murderers. 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. Constantly restless, his workbooks were empty, and he would often be denied recess because he was so far behind. I thought he was all right, Jon said of Robert during his police interviews. S. Susan venables. "All he said when we've said 'Why didn't you run away?' Will you tell his mum I'm sorry?". I didnt, did I? she said to Neil during their interview with Gitta Sereny. 'I walked round for a couple of hours trying to find them. Child killer Mary Bell and Maxine Carr, the former girlfriend of Soham murderer Ian Huntley, are the others. I dont think she saw a very happy future., The author says there was no contact with the Venables family after the trial as Mrs Thompson focused, her energy on supporting her son, refusing to accept he was a monster. James Bulgers mother Denise claims that she managed to track down Thompson six years ago, planning to confront him but instead stared at him from the opposite side of the street, full of rage but unable to act. Friday 12th February 1993. Both were banned from ever returning to Liverpool and given new identities at a reported cost of 1.5million. Read about our approach to external linking. But talking in 1993, his mother tried to explain how her child turned into a murderer. Jon Venables is demonstrably no such thing. I couldnt make any sense of it, Robert later recalled, desolately, when asked about his fathers unexpected departure. "It is hard to take in really. Neil Venables regarded himself as the Barry Norman of Merseyside - a film buff with a penchant for horror. They said their son met Robert Thompson in September 1991, when Jon was transferred from another school. 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. Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman . For his parents, the fact they were children was actually a cause for hope at that point. It was their sons picked up by detectives. God knows how they must be feeling now.. The abduction and brutal murder of this two-year-old by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who were just 10 at the time, prompted a conversation in Britain that we are still having today. Channel 5 is set to air a new two-part documentary that tells the definitive story of . ', A psychoanalyst and child psychotherapist comes up with yet another possible explanation. His body, defiled and broken in two by a train, two miles from where hed been taken, was foundtwo days later. Recently, I dug out my old notebooks of the trial and my handwriting during the verdicts says it all. Just as Venables's confession convicted him, a shoe print belonging to Robert Thompson, found on James cheekbone, confirmed his guilt, too. 'In my opinion he was victimised. Ultimately, however, the couples indifferences led to separation, and they were eventually divorced in 1986. His former wife would send their boys up the street to give their father the fingers through the bay windows of his mother's house. she said. Southern. Neil had been laid off in the months prior, so the couple sold their home, and Neil moved back in with his father, before finally relocating to an apartment in Kirkdale. She was living in secrecy but always felt that she was walking around with a huge sign: mother of Bulger killer, above her head. "BULL**** about 'two frightened kids whod made a terrible mistake' The tapes said they kept stoning him, even when he kept getting up. Look at mine. Last week the author Angela Phillips spoke of how the gentle son of the female friend of hers turned into a fascist skinhead: 'The boy his mother wanted him to become was not man enough for the world he was forced to inhabit. He has never really been what you would call a sagger off school (a truant). The best photos of birds and other wildlife from around the world. She said that Jon was always "loving, caring, thoughtful and considerate . Although Susan couldnt recall any dramatic change in Jons behavior, his teachers there expressed some concern that Jon had become upset and difficult following the separation. The taunts upset Jons already volatile temper, and he began coming home in increasingly low spirits and crying. Left to his own devices Jon liked to spend his playtime in fairly sedentary ways. The Swedes, French, Germans, Canadian and Americans had all come to gaze at Liverpool's child killers. 'We have never really been apart,' Mrs Venables said. In some families this was the third generation to be unemployed. susan and neil venables Sandra Gotheridge. It was when Jon turned seven that Susan and the children had relocated to Norris Green, one of Liverpools larger, more reputable areas. football, snooker, things like that. The only sign he was discomforted by hearing it was a near constant pulling of his tongue in his hands. The beginnings of the friendship were inauspicious enough. Robert is not believed to have reoffended - Venables has been convicted twice since being set free. Murder of James Bulger - Wikipedia Most of the fun revolved around shoplifting - sweets, trolls, pepperami, tins of modelling paint, drinks, candles; anything, really. UK news in pictures 15 February 2023. His grip was so strong that it took two people to pry Jon off of the boy. The street in which Robert lived was not untypical: a row of terraced bay windowed houses that stretched from the railway line back towards the city. Mr Venables said that the two boys had played truant together four times before, adding that he caught them twice. Mrs Venables walked around the area for hours, searching for him. JON Venables's family was far from affluent, but it was not as close to the breadline as Robert's. He did like to be liked, and loved to have friends, and he has got involved with the wrong person.". Susan Venables is on Facebook. He said he was frightened of Robert's older brother. 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. She got her drinking under control and began giving her murderer son the attention he. Venables was a different creature. Denise Fergus remains convinced both will always be a danger to children. The base of the dock floor at Preston Crown Court had to be raised 18 inches so each boy could see over it. Sorry, we are unable to accept comments about this article at the moment. They deal with drugs, they deal with everything. Naturaleza. We have found 88 people in the UK with the name Susan Venables. They pair was ordered to be detained at her majesty's pleasure - meaning indefinitely - but in 2001, a six-month review by the parole board found they were no longer a threat to public safety and they were released on life licence after serving just eight years. There, he is terrorising a girl. Superintendent Kirby is a religious man. David Sharrock, Maggie O'Kane, and Edward Pilkington look at the lives of the rebels who turned to killing, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. From a distance Robert looked a sweet child. It's high time they were investigated. They played truant, they pinched sweets, they terrorised old ladies. They rejected suggestions that he could have watched Child's Play Three, a film that his father had rented three weeks before James's death, which, it has been claimed, included scenes similar to those of the attack on the two-year-old. But after a year they let Ian out again. It worked. It has already been reported that Jon Venables real identity has been exposed in prison, where he is said to be receiving 24-hour protection. . From their point of view it makes perfect sense. His response couldn't have been more different as he sank into the oversized blazer he was wearing. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. I wish we could turn the clocks back," Mrs Venablessaid. He had an elder brother, aged 13, and a nine-year-old sister. . Both Ann and the children knew well the sting of palm against flesh, and Bobby often used these beatings to ensure that his wife and children conformed. Financially, the couple appeared to be functioning, but meanwhile, Susan was at the end of her rope with her eldest son, who, having become increasingly frustrated at his inability to communicate, had grown terribly unhappy and was having temper tantrums regularly. The right will draw attention to the broken homes, the single parents, the persistent truancy. See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. They probably weren't out to kill someone, but they were probably out to ruin someone else's happiness. Her husband came back to Walton now and again to see his mother, but he never came to see the boys. ', They sagged off in the afternoon and walked around the shops in County Road, near Walton. But. He didn't want to hurt James. Three years ago, after his mother walloped him, he went to social services and asked them to put him in care. The left will make play of social deprivation, unemployment, bad housing and general inner-city rot. Real bottom of the gut stuff, like an animal. The atmosphere in the courtroom was oppressive as the tension of a month was about to break. Revealed: The horror drawing by Jon Venables weeks before he killed IN A letter to her son written soon after he was sentenced, Ann Thompson wrote: no matter what you did or didnt do, Im your mother and I will stay with you no matter what happens.. "One mystery surrounding the murder of James Bulger case is why the 'experts' insisted that Jon Venables was rehabilitated. Counsel for the prosecution, Richard Henriques QC, made it clear all three elements needed to be proved for a murder conviction. . By chance, the rest of Jon's family was driving past and spotted them. Only a handful of officials and close family members know their true identities. When she turned around moments later, her son was gone. si fs. Heck, we don't even have murderers that young in New York.'. Just something to do.'. It is about a Good Guy doll invaded by the spirit of a mass murderer who kills people in gruesome ways. He started with Liverpool, but by the time of the murder he had switched to Blackburn Rovers. Sometimes Robert would sag off on his own, but it was more fun with a friend. 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". See that cell. I would say he was provoked. He began telling his father that he believed his parents loved his brother and sister more than they did him, and, at one point, implored his father to send him to school with his siblings. "'It wasnt fair to interview him. At his first primary school the headmistress referred him to a psychologist, noting how he used to bang his head against the classroom wall to gain attention. They saw it with their eyes. Some of the red brick houses were well-kept, others had torn net curtains and grubby windows. But his comment sparked anger from viewers. The breaking point came when Jon was suspended from Broad Square after attempting to choke a classmate with a twelve-inch wooden ruler. I said no. The experience gave Jon renewed confidence, and the second time they sagged off together he suggested it. It was high- lighted by the trial judge Mr Justice Morland who said they must take moral responsibility for the terrible actions of the young killers. Ian was clever enough to know that to survive he had to get out. gk. Jon, who had the most trouble sleeping, appeared fearful of Susan, and was terrified, above all, of her condemnation. That's the thing that upsets me because obviously where I was standing poor little James must have been not. ', Mrs Thompson had no illusions about her son: 'He's a little liar, he's devious, he's a scally, he robs, he plays truant.' At first, Robert seemed to respond well to this, taking the initiative to help feed and clothe the baby, and doing what he could to please his mother. The most agonising thing about the whole case was that so many people had stopped them and questioned them. He was repulsed because he found Robert's disdain for authority scary. He gets upset. 'He always seemed perfectly well behaved and I think he looked on me as some kind of grandma. David James Smith, who wrote a book about the Bulger case, The Sleep Of Reason, and stayed in touch with Ann Thompson afterwards. A sudden pause in the tapes and one of the officers appeared in person to describe how he asked Neil and Susan Venables to leave the room because he thought Jon wanted to tell him something. Mrs Thompson worked as an office cleaner until two years ago, when she got pregnant again by another man, who also left her. A police officer remembered Venables being so small that his legs didn't touch the floor as he sat in the custody office after his arrest. They knew what they were doing," another wrote. She was a happy baby, much happier than her eldest brother had been, but as she grew older, Susan began noticing that she, too, appeared lazy, and was not as advanced as Jon. Tweet. Few had the patience to be friends with him, only his younger brother and a couple of lads who lived nearby. He disliked Thunderbirds because of the puppets' 'stringy thingies'. 'It's always our family that gets the blame,' Robert said to police after he was arrested for James's murder. He would go to bed. [3] [4] Thompson and Venables led Bulger away . They looked, moved, fidgeted, scratched, cried - even sucked their thumbs - just like any 11-year-olds. Neighbors later reported that it wasnt uncommon for Robert to be seen wandering the streets of Walton after midnight, since he was always running off at night. He was a loyal fan, though he did not go often to Goodison Park. James smith (16 March 1990 [2] - 12 February 1993) was a two-year-old boy from Kirkby, Merseyside, England, who was abducted, tortured, and murdered by two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson (born 23 August 1982) and Jon Venables (born 13 August 1982), on 12 February 1993. If I wanted to kill a baby, Id kill Id kill me own, wouldnt I?. Venables, who was said to have been subjected to regular beatings by his mother Susan, titled the drawing 'My Dads house'. 'You'd better tell the truth. Venables and Thompson abducted, tortured and killed two-year-old James in Liverpool in 1993 when they were both aged just 10.