Bulger mother 'sees son's killer'

Robert Thompson pictured in custody

The mother of murdered child James Bulger has told a newspaper how she tracked down one of her son's killers.

Denise Fergus said she was "paralysed with hatred" and could not bring herself to confront Robert Thompson.

According to the News of the World, she plans to trace Jon Venables who, with Thompson, was convicted of murdering two-year-old James in 1993.

The killers, who were aged 11 at the time, are in their twenties and have been granted anonymity for life.

They were released from detention in 2001 having served under eight years and were given new identities and addresses.

According to the News of the World, Mrs Fergus feels that knowing where the men are gives her a sense of power.

I was close enough to him, about 20 feet or so, to know without any doubt it was him Denise Fergus

She told the paper she had been sent a letter by an anonymous 'well-wisher' in which Thompson's daytime movements were outlined.

The 37-year-old mother of three then went to the area described in the letter on numerous occasions and waited until she found him in September.

She said she recognised him "in an instant. It was such a shock to see him in front of me.

"This was the person who murdered my little James. The person I last saw as a smiling 11-year-old in the dock all those years ago.

"I wanted to rush up to him and scream, 'Why did you kill my child!'. Yet I was turned to stone - paralysed with hatred.

"I was close enough to him, about 20 feet or so, to know without any doubt it was him.

Denise Fergus wants to know where both killers are

Mrs Fergus said: "I was staring at him and he was none the wiser. Part of me wanted to jump out of the car and punch him but I was paralysed with the hatred I feel for him.

"In the end I just stared after him as he wandered down the street, turned a corner - and was gone."

Mrs Fergus said it was now her aim to find Venables and track him down in the same way.

"It gives me a sense of power knowing I can spot them," she said.

"I have no intention of doing anything - I just want to know what they look like and where they are."

Thompson and Venables, then aged 10, abducted James from a shopping centre in Merseyside and tortured him on a railway line.

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