Grave of murdered toddler James Bulger vandalised

The mother of murdered toddler James Bulger said she felt her "heart break" after finding out his grave had been vandalised.

Denise Fergus appealed for information on her Facebook page after two cherub statues next to the two-year-old's headstone were smashed.

James was lured away from his mum in February 1993 at a Bootle shopping centre by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson - then both aged 10 - who tortured and killed him.

Writing about the vandalism, Fergus said: "I'm devastated someone could be so cruel and hurtful to my James."

She said it was believed the attack happened at Kirkdale Cemetery at some point between 10:00 GMT and 15:30 on Thursday.

Photographs showed two headless marble style statues either side of a headstone - which featured a picture of James and was clearly engraved with his name.

Fergus said she had been alerted by a message from a woman walking her dog and she then "rushed down" to the cemetery.

"I need to find whoever done this to my son's resting place," she said.

Fergus said she tried to "help as many families as I can with either justice campaigns or helping families through the charity I set up in his memory" and she could not believe someone had done this to a baby's grave.

She urged anyone with information to contact Merseyside Police or her charity, the James Bulger Memorial Trust.

Merseyside Police described the attack as "abhorrent and truly shocking."

Insp Chris Taylor said: "We are taking this matter extremely seriously and remain determined to find the person or people responsible.

"To vandalise a grave is completely abhorrent and it's truly shocking to think that someone could commit such an appalling act.

"Officers attended the scene when the incident was first reported and we are supporting the family during our enquiries."

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