Jamie Bulger killer Venables jailed for child pornography
ONE of James Bulger’s killers has been jailed for 40 months after admitting having more than a thousand indecent images of children and a paedophile manual.
Jon 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.
James’s mother Denise Fergus and father Ralph Bulger were in court yesterday to see one of their son’s killers sentenced for his latest offences.
Venables and his friend Robert Thompson tortured and killed James in Liverpool in 1993 when they were both aged 10. They were granted lifelong anonymity with new identities when they were freed on licence.
Prosecutor Louis Mably QC told the court how Venables’ computer was seized in November last year. Officers uncovered images of children mainly aged between six and 13, but some were younger.
They found a paedophile manual aimed at teaching how to have sex with children “safely”.
Venables also had software on his laptop that enabled him to access the dark web.
As he was being taken to a police station, the court heard Venables admitted he had “let people down”. He said: “This is my own fault. I have let people down again. I have had stupid urges.”
Venables – referred to as AB – pleaded guilty to four counts. He admitted having 392 category A images, 148 category B and 630 category C pictures. He also pleaded guilty via video link from custody to having a paedophile manual on or before November 17 last year.
Mr Justice Edis described him as “manipulative and dishonest” and said the documents he had been in possession of were “vile”.
It is the second time Venables has been caught with child abuse images. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to charges of downloading and distributing child pornography and jailed for two years.
Meanwhile, James’s mother has said: “I’ve never had justice for James.”
Speaking to Trevor McDonald in a new documentary to be broadcast on ITV tonight – the 25th anniversary of James’s murder – Ms Fergus says: “I never said ‘lock them up and throw away the key’. I thought doing a proper sentence in a proper prison would be justice for James. But that never happened.”
Ms Fergus says in ‘James Bulger: A Mother’s Story’: “I did say that if they weren’t punished properly, then they would go on to re-offend and that’s exactly what happened with Venables.”