James Bulger was lured to his death

A Channel 4 spokesman confirmed the photograph had "been shown to a reporter" during the making of the Despatches programme but said it would not be broadcast on the documentary in keeping with the injunction.

Thompson and Venables, now both 18, were detained indefinitely for the Liverpool toddler's murder following a trial at Preston Crown Court in November 1993.

The 10-year-old truants abducted the little boy from the Strand shopping centre, in Bootle, and lured him to a railway line before leaving his battered body on the track.

Mother's despair

James' mother, Denise Fergus, who has remarried after separating from the child's father Ralph, was angered by the cloak of anonymity granted to her son's killers.

She said the public had the right to know if they were living next door to a murderer.

Mrs Fergus, 33, was already upset by a senior judge's decision last October which effectively ended the boys' tariff - the minimum period they must spend in custody - paving the way for an early release.

She set up a protest group Justice for James in her home town of Kirkby, on Merseyside, to campaign against the early release of Thompson and Venables.

A friend of Mrs Fergus told The Mail on Sunday she was aware of the existence of the photograph.

"She does not condone any plans to publish the image but she does understand the feelings and motives of anyone who might feel driven to flout the law.

"She would not condemn them for acting out of frustration," the friend added.