TIMELINE OF FIENDS
12 FEBRUARY 1993
Two-year-old James Bulger is taken from a shopping centre in Bootle and murdered in Bootle by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson who were just 10.
1 NOVEMBER 1993
Venables and Thompson are sentenced to a minimum of eight years – extended to a minimum 10 years after an intervention by the Lord Chief Justice.
JULY 1994
After a public outcry Home Secretary Michael Howard announces the boys will stay in jail for at least 15 years – meaning they would be released in February 2008 when they would be 25.
1997
House of Lords overrules Mr Howard’s extension to the sentence, saying the matter was for a judge not a politician.
16 DECEMBER 1999
The European Court of Human Rights rules Venables and Thompson did not get a fair, impartial trial as they were too young to understand.
JUNE 2001
Venables and Thompson are released on life licence after the Parole Board rules they are no longer a threat to public safety. Both are given new identities to protect them from vigilante attacks.
2 MARCH 2010
The Ministry of Justice reveals Venables has been returned to prison but refuses to say why.
21 JUNE 2010
Venables is charged with possession and distribution of child sex abuse material. In court it was revealed he had posed as a 35-year-old mum who boasted about abusing her eight-year-old daughter to coax others to send sick videos.
4 MAY 2011
Venables is given a second new identity after a man shared a video allegedly showing the killer.
3 SEPTEMBER 2013
Venables is released from prison.
23 NOVEMBER 2017
Venables is returned to prison after more child sex material is found on his computer. In February 2018 he admits making indecent images and possessing a “paedophile manual”. He is jailed for 40 months and loses a parole bid in 2020 but applies again this year.