Revealed: James Bulger killer’s parole apology to family

ONE of James Bulger’s killers has spoken of his “shame and revulsion” over his crime as he tried to win his freedom.

Robert Thompson told the parole board: “I am deeply ashamed of what I did, and of having played a part in this horrible murder.”

But James’ dad Ralph last night said these were “false words”, adding: “I’ll never accept that either of these two is sorry for what they done.”

Thompson said he was “a better person and had had a better life and a better education” as a result of his eight years in detention.

He and Jon Venables were locked up in 1993 for murdering two-yearold James, who the 10-year-olds had abducted from a shopping centre.

In his 2001 statement, Thompson said he was “desperately sorry” but accepted his remorse would not be thought genuine by Ralph and James’s mum Denise.

A Parole Board decision in June that year recommended Thompson and Venables, both then 18, be released on a lifelong licence and they were freed under new identities.

Thompson’s statement is revealed for the first time in tonight’s Channel 5 documentary James Bulger: The New Revelations.

Thompson said when he and Venables left the Strand shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, he “became aware Jon Venables had a little boy with him”.

Of CCTV images showing James being HEARTBREAK James Bulger’s mother Denise led off, Thompson said: “I very much regret that I did nothing to stop it at this time and the sight of those photographs fills me with shame and revulsion.”

But he denied they sexually assaulted James before killing him. He added: “Jon Venables and I did not speak to each other at all, as I remember, during the attack. And we didn’t speak about it after we left James Bulger on the railway line.”

Thompson, now 36, said he did not admit his crime at the time because he was scared of reprisals.

Writing of when he and Venables first appeared in court, he said: “I could hear people shouting and chanting, ‘Hang the bastards’ and screaming at the policemen to ‘Hand them over’.”

He said he feared he would always face the risk of violence if his identity was ever revealed.

He said: “I know that the manager has been told that they ‘are waiting for me’, and I know what that means.”

The documentary also reveals details