This case is one of the saddest I've ever read. I originally read about this back in 2013 and it truly stuck with me due to how horrific and violent it was. Because there was recent changes, I went ahead and researched it all over again to give a clear picture on the case.
On February 12th, 1993 John Venables and Robert Thompson decided to skip school. According to several people, this was quite common for the 10 year old boys to do.
That morning, the boys decided to visit the New Strand Shopping Center in Bootle. They walked around for a while and stole a few items along the way. Among those things were sweets, a troll doll, some batteries and a can of blue paint. The last two items would later be found at the crime scene.
That morning, the boys were captured by CCTV selecting their 'target'. Like wild animals in search for their prey, the young boys looked for a small child to take.
Among the many people at the shopping center that day, was Denise Bulger and her 2 year old son James. Around 3:40pm, while Denise was at a butcher's shop, she became distracted. Venables and Thompson saw the opportunity and took James by the hand and led him away from his mother. When Denise turned around, James was nowhere to be seen. At approximately 3:42pm, CCTV shows Venables and Thompson leading James out of the shopping center by the hand.
Once outside the shopping center, the boys decided to take James to a Liverpool canal around 1/4 mile from the store. There, he was dropped on his head and subsequently suffered injuries to his face. Venables and Thompson joked about dropping James into the canal and leaving him there. Some witnesses claim to have seen the boys by the canal and that they recall seeing James "crying his eyes out". One of the most frustrating things about this whole thing is that throughout the entire 2.5 mile (4km) walk they took, they were seen by 38 people. Most people chose not to intervene, while the only 2 people who questioned the boys decided to walk away when they were told that James was their little brother or that James was lost and they were on their way to take him to the police station. Nobody followed up. They took their word for it and carried on. These boys were bold enough to even bring James into a pet shop, but the owner kicked them out for unknown reasons.
Eventually, they arrived at the Village of Walton and since the police station was literally right across the street from where they were, the boys decided to take James up to a steep bank to a railway close to the Anfield Cemetery. It is there that James' torture began.
A paint can was thrown at him striking him in the left eye. They kicked him, stomped on him, and threw bricks and stones at his little body. They shoved batteries into his mouth and some reports even state that James was sodomized with some of the batteries, although this could not be confirmed for certain. Finally, as if it had not been enough, the boys dropped a 22lb (10kg) iron bar on his head resulting in 10 skull fractures. The pathologist who examined James' body later concluded that James suffered a total of 42 injuries and that due to the extent of each one, he was unable to determine which had been the fatal blow. Once they were satisfied, the boys moved his body onto the train tracks and covered his head with ruble. Their hopes were to destroy any evidence of the homicide and instead make it look as if James had been in an accident. Unfortunately, due to this, James' body suffered even further trauma when it was cut in half by a passing train. It was confirmed that he was no longer alive when this occurred, so his death had clearly not been an accident.
James' body was located 2 days after the murder. Due to some of the evidence, the police suspected that the crime may have been brought on by sexual motives. James had been found with his shoes, socks, pants and underwear removed. On top of that, there was evidence that his foreskin had been forcefully retracted. When the boys were questioned, they gave absolutely no details on this and vehemently denied ever putting any batteries in James' anus.
When police finally released the CCTV footage, one lady came forward and identified Venables as one of the boys. Because of this, Thompson was also implicated since they were frequently seen skipping school together. Both boys were arrested and law enforcement was shocked to learn their ages. Forensics confirmed that both Venables and Thompson had blue paint on their clothing which matched the one found at the crime scene. There was also blood on their shoes which was later confirmed as James' through DNA. On top of that, James had a visible shoe print on his face that was an exact match to a shoe that Thompson had been seen wearing the day of the murder.
While being interviewed by the police, Thompson is said to have asked them if they had taken James to the hospital to "get him alive again".
Both boys remained in custody while awaiting trial and where held in secure units where they would be sentenced to be detained indefinitely.
Come the day of trial, 500 protestors gathered outside of court. They boys faced several charges including abduction. It was actually revealed that they had tried to abduct another 2 year old child earlier that morning but were caught and stopped by the child's mother. The boys later admitted that their plan originally was to abduct a small child, lead them out of the store and push them onto oncoming traffic. Because of all of this, and due to the comments of a child psychologist that examined and questioned the boys before trial, it was ruled that both of them were considered capable of 'mischievous discretion' meaning that they were old enough to understand that they were committing a serious crime.
Eileen Vizard, the psychologist, was recorded stating that in her professional opinion, she fully believes that based on the examination, both boys knew right from wrong. She also stated that they were exhibiting signs of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) due to the murder. During the investigation, it was discovered that Thompson had been the mastermind behind the abduction plan but it had been Venables who decided to continue on and take James to the train tracks. The boys actually did not speak during their trials and instead, police relied on over 20hrs of footage from the interrogation as well as the CCTV footage of the shopping center to build their case.
On November 24th, 1993 at the age of 11, John Venables and Robert Thompson were sentenced to a minimum of 8 years and lifted reporting restrictions. This meant that the boys' identities would not be protected even though they were minors. The judge is on record stating that their crime was of "unparalleled evil and barbarity" and due to this, he thought it was in the public's best interest to have their information available. The boys were separated and were kept in different facilities. Robert Thompson was held in Barton Moss Secure Care Center in Manchester and John Venables was kept in a small 8 bedded facility in the Red Bank Secure Unit in St. Helen's on Meyerside. Their families were allowed to visit regularly over their incarceration. While there, both boys were taught to conceal their true identities and the crime they had committed. They continued to show signs of PTSD and frequently experienced flashbacks of the event.
In 1999, there was an appeal presented to the courts stating that the boys had not been given a fair trial and should also not have been tried as adults. Because of the appeal, in June of 2001, after 6 months of review, Thompson and Venables were found to "no longer be a danger/public threat to society" and could be released once their minimum time had been served. Once released, they were both given new identities including new passports, medical records, national insurance ID's and quality certificates. Extra conditions were also added to their release. They could not contact each other, their families or James' family. They were prohibited from being anywhere close to the Meyerside area and were to report to their probation officer daily. They were also given curfews and were advised that if any of their conditions were broken, they could return to prison.
Not much was heard from Robert Thompson after his release. With his new identity, he was able to start a life somewhere without the public really knowing who he was. As for Venables, he sadly did not take advantage of the opportunity he was given. After being released, John Venables began drinking heavily and also began experimenting with drugs. He dated several women, some of whom were reported being as young as 17 when he himself was already in his early 20's. Within the first couple of years, he got into a fight at a pub and was also caught breaking his conditions by going to Meyerside. Due to this, his probation officer along with law enforcement made a visit to his home were they found that Venables was in possession of child pornography. He was arrested and was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography in 2010. After his release from prison, he was again given a new identity. It is reported that he actually confessed his true identity to friends on two separate occasions while intoxicated. In November of 2017, Venables returned to prison after it was discovered that he was in possession of child abuse photos along with other illegal material. He remains in jail as of the publication of this post.
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