The Sleep of Reason: The James Bulger Case

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An injunction was imposed on the media after the trial, preventing the publication of details about Thompson and Venables. He would go into backgrounds of police officers, prosecutors and psychiatrists and I felt that it was unneeded. It is a rational detailing of the events and I expect it is different from others by the way it looks at Robert Thompson and Jon Venables.

On 24 August, co-hosts on Seven's breakfast show Sunrise asked whether the killers were now living in Australia, in an apparent tie-in with that week's episode of City Homicide. A truly sad story and uncomfortable in parts, this book left me still wondering whether both boys who murdered James Bulger have ever come to terms with the events that took place. Smith simply extends the understanding of why they may have done what they did, and placed it in the context of a long history of murder by children in Britain.Harry Fletcher, the assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, said that only 24-hour surveillance would have stopped Venables.

Early press reports and police statements had referred to Bulger being seen with "two youths" (suggesting that the killers were teenagers), the ages of the boys being difficult to ascertain from the images captured by CCTV. I also looked for a reference to a study mentioned in the conclusion relating to childhood crimes and media influence but unfortunately there was no mention of a reference. Thatcherism and Smith's list of similar crimes perpetrated in the Victorian era, which implies connections on the basis of how the working class is being treated). Blunkett added his own conditions to their licence and insisted on being sent daily updates on the boys' actions. He pleaded guilty to charges of downloading and distributing child sexual abuse material, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.Venables' parents regularly visited their son at Red Bank, just as Thompson's mother did, every three days, at Barton Moss. Baroness Butler-Sloss, the judge who made the decision to grant Venables anonymity in 2001, warned that Venables could be killed if his identity was revealed. i feel the boys did have an ongoing loose plan to abduct a child and perhaps cause ‘trouble/harm’ caused by their anger/control issues but I don’t feel - looking at the route they took etc that their end goal was to murder in such a gory way. Does that make the murderers’ crimes less horrific, and the acts at least one of them has committed since James’s murder in 1993 less heinous? He pleaded guilty via video link to three charges of making indecent images of children, and one of possessing a "paedophile manual", that included advice for would-be child molesters, including instructions on child grooming and evading detection.

There is really no answer to why they did it but they got caught on the video and taken into custody, had a court trial and than sentenced.On 4 July 2013, it was reported that the Parole Board for England and Wales had approved the release of Venables. The pathologist's report, which was read out in court, found that Bulger's foreskin had been forcibly pulled back. The editors of The Sun handed a petition bearing nearly 280,000 signatures to Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, in a bid to increase the time spent by both boys in custody. They were thieves and miscreants prior to February 12, 1993 and they not only lied repeatedly about their involvement during police interviews, but also tried to hide their crime and even attempted to kidnap and murder another 2-year-old shortly before abducting, torturing, and beating James to death. At the malls entrance the security video showed that the two boys were coaxing the two- years-old toddler to follow them outside the mall.