Jon Venables, who tortured and murdered two-year-old James Bulger in Merseyside in 1993, could be released in just months after he was granted a fresh parole hearing.
The killer was released on life licence and handed a new identity in 2001 – but has been recalled to prison twice over offences relating to child abuse images.
Venables will face the Parole Board to argue his case to be released in a hearing likely to take place next month.
The notorious murderer was refused parole in 2020 and once more in 2023 after officers believed he continued to pose a risk to children and could go on to re-offend.
The parents of Venables’s victim, James Bulger, are set to write witness statements regarding why he should remain locked up
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PA
The parents of Venables’s victim, James Bulger, are set to write witness statements regarding why he should remain locked up, The Sun revealed.
A source told the newspaper: “It is outrageous he is getting another shot at freedom – how many chances does he need?
“The family have been assured he will be dealt with as a ‘high-risk’ case and it will take a lot to see him freed.
“But it is still a huge concern that he is allowed to re-apply so quickly.
Venables was recalled to prison in 2010 after he was found with child pornography on his computer (file photo)
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PA“Denise and Ralph are angry and anxious.”
Venables was 10 years old when he was found guilty of abducting, torturing and killing Bulger with his assistant Robert Thompson.
After kidnapping the child from a Merseyside shopping centre, Venables and Thompson took the two-year-old to a railway track over two miles away and murdered him.
Nine years on from his release, Venables was recalled to prison in 2010 after he was found with child pornography on his computer.
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The murderer was released again in August 2013 – and assumed a new identity for the second time.
However, after being caught once more with child abuse images in November 2017, he was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.
The father of James Bulger, Ralph, launched a legal challenge to force the authorities to reveal Venables’s new identity publicly, but lost.
The Government was also urged to launch a public inquiry by MPs into the murder after an online petition reached over 213,000 signatures.
In the child killer’s previous hearing in 2023, the Parole Board said: “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and on licence, and the evidence presented in the dossier, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public.
“It noted the risks as set out above, doubted Venables’s ability to be open and honest with professionals, and concluded that there remained a need for him to address outstanding levels of risk, and to develop his relationship with his probation officer.”
A summary of Venables’s hearing noted that he had “accepted that he had a long-term sexual interest in children or indecent images of children”.
Ahead of the upcoming hearing, the Parole Board said: “We can confirm the parole review of Jon Venables has been referred to the Parole Board by the Secretary of State for Justice and is following standard processes.”