James Bulger’s mother has hit out at Labour proposals to raise the age of criminal responsibility, describing the move as “dangerous”.
The two-year-old British toddler from Kirkby, Merseyside, was abducted, tortured, and murdered by two 10-year-old boys, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, on February 12, 1993.
His mother, Denise Fergus, now claims David Lammy’s overhaul of the youth justice system is “extremely worrying”.
The age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales could be raised to as high as 14, as the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) set out a major rethink as to how Britain’s justice system handles young offenders.
Mr Lammy said Labour would “carefully consider” whether the existing age of criminal responsibility of 10 reflected “modern understanding of childhood, vulnerability and development in today’s society”.
The Youth Justice White Paper has prompted Ms Fergus to urge for “tougher justice to prevent children committing adult crimes.”
She said: “It is extremely worrying that plans could be afoot to raising the age of criminal responsibility.
“It would be a dangerous move.”
James Bulger’s mother has hit out at Labour proposals to raise the age of criminal responsibility, describing the move as ‘dangerous’
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She told the Daily Mail: “I have seen firsthand how adult crimes can be committed by children. If you are capable of committing an adult crime, you should be tried in the courts like an adult.
“We need tougher justice to prevent children committing adult crimes, not a review of the age of criminal responsibility with the view to raise it. I really hope the government rethink any plans they might have to raise the age of criminal responsibility.”
James was taken from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle while his mother, Denise Fergus, was briefly distracted at a butcher’s shop.
Convicted on November 24, 1993, Thompson and Venables became the youngest convicted murderers in modern British history at age 11.
The two-year-old British toddler from Kirkby, Merseyside, was abducted, tortured, and murdered by two 10-year-old boys
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Both were paroled on a life licence in June 2001 at the age of 18, receiving new identities and lifelong anonymity, after eight years in young offenders’ institutions.
Unlike Thompson, Venables has repeatedly reoffended, returning to prison in 2010 and 2017 for possessing child abuse images.
Ms Fergus said: “The two killers who murdered James were 10 when they killed him. They knew exactly what they were doing. It is a great injustice that they weren’t ever sent to prison and were just 18 when they were released from the youth offenders’ institute they were sent to.
“One of them has repeatedly reoffended and is currently back in prison. For me, this shows that children are still capable of committing adult crimes which can have a devastating effect on victims’ families.”
David Lammy will ‘carefully consider’ whether the existing age of criminal responsibility reflects ‘understanding of childhood’
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The youth justice White Paper review cited the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in justifying a rise in criminal responsibility.
It read: “Internationally, many comparable jurisdictions have adopted higher thresholds, and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommends a minimum age of criminal responsibility of 14. Many Parliamentarians and organisations across England and Wales have called for the government to increase the minimum age of criminal responsibility.”
The age of criminal responsibility was raised from eight in Scotland in 2021.
The current minimum age in England and Wales was set in 1963.