Bulger killer Jon Venables set for parole hearing

Child killer Jon Venables is set to have his latest bid for freedom heard by the Parole Board.

The 43-year-old, who tortured and murdered two-year-old James Bulger in 1993 when he was only 10, will have his case heard at an oral hearing more than two years after his previous appeal.

Venables was released on licence in July 2001 but was recalled to prison in February 2010 after indecent images of children were found on his computer. He was later freed a second time for the same offence in 2017.

In 2023, the Parole Board rejected Venables' bid, concluding he still posed a danger to children and could go on to reoffend.

Venables and Robert Thompson, also 10, snatched toddler James from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, in February 1993.

The Daily Mirror reported that James Bulger's family had been informed of the upcoming parole hearing, which it said was expected to take place next month.

No date has yet been confirmed by the Parole Board.

Kym Morris, speaking on behalf of James's mum Denise Fergus, told the newspaper: "Once again, Denise Fergus has been forced to confront a process that reopens unimaginable trauma.

"Denise was hoping for a redirection, allowing her a measure of peace and protection from further distress. That hope has now been taken away."

Morris added that an application from James's mum to observe the hearing had been granted.

Victims have been able to attend parole hearings held in private under reforms rolled out nationally in April as part of efforts to boost confidence in the justice system.

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