Bulger killer faces trial over child abuse pics
ONE of the killers of James Bulger is to have a secret trial for possessing child abuse images.
Jon Venables, 35 – now with a second new identity – was sent back to jail in November after allegedly being caught with vile material. Prosecutors said yesterday he had been charged.
The date and place of his trial cannot be reported so the public will not be told when he faces justice.
A very small number of trials are held without defendants being identified, usually because of national security.
Last night James’s father Ralph said: “It’s time to strip Venables of all his anonymity and try him in open court like every other criminal.
“Millions have been spent on him but he keeps re-offending.
“The injunction protecting his identity was there to rehabilitate him but the grotesque experiment failed.”
Venables and Robert Thompson were 10 when they abducted, tortured and murdered two-yearold James in Bootle, Merseyside, in 1993.
In 2001, after serving eight years, Venables was released on licence and given a new identity.
It is the second time he has been arrested over child porn. In 2010 he was sent back to jail for two years and given another ID. In 2008 he was held after a drunk brawl and given a warning.
He has been cautioned for having cocaine.