JAMES BULGER’S FAMILY WANTS JON VENABLES’ NEXT PAROLE HEARING MADE PUBLIC — AFTER HIS LATER OFFENDING

More than three decades after the murder of two-year-old James Bulger, his family is calling for greater transparency as Jon Venables prepares for another parole hearing.

The family of murdered toddler James Bulger is calling for the next parole hearing of his killer, Jon Venables, to be held in public.

The fresh request comes more than 30 years after two-year-old James was abducted and murdered in Merseyside in 1993.

For James’s mother, Denise Fergus, the upcoming parole process has reopened an unimaginable chapter of grief — but she and other members of the family now want the public to be able to understand what is being considered behind closed doors.

A FRESH BID FOR A PUBLIC HEARING

The Parole Board confirmed in August that it had received applications asking for Venables’ hearing to be made public.

One application was submitted by Denise and Stuart Fergus, while another came from legal representatives for James’s father, Ralph Bulger, and his brother Jimmy.

The applications cited significant public interest in the case, the need for greater transparency and the importance of allowing people to better understand the parole process.

The request does not mean the hearing will automatically become public.

The Parole Board must consider the applications and representations before making a decision.

WHY THE CASE HAS RETURNED TO THE SPOTLIGHT

Venables and Robert Thompson were both 10 years old when they abducted James Bulger from a shopping centre in Bootle in February 1993.

The killing shocked Britain and became one of the country’s most notorious criminal cases.

Both boys were convicted and eventually released under new identities and strict conditions.

Venables was first released in 2001.

But he was later recalled to prison on two occasions after offences involving indecent images of children.

Those later offences have become a central part of the debate surrounding his suitability for release and the level of public scrutiny surrounding his parole process.

HIS LAST PAROLE BID

Venables’ previous parole bid was rejected in 2023.

At that time, the Parole Board concluded that he remained a danger to children and that there was a risk he could commit another offence.

He has since been granted another opportunity to have his case considered by the Parole Board.

Denise Fergus has been granted permission to observe the upcoming hearing, according to earlier reports.

But her family now wants something more.

They want the process itself to be open to the public.

“UNIMAGINABLE TRAUMA” FOR JAMES’ FAMILY

The latest development has inevitably brought the painful memory of James back into focus.

For Denise, every new parole process means confronting the events that changed her life more than three decades ago.

Her representatives have described the repeated parole proceedings as reopening profound trauma for the family.

The argument for a public hearing is also tied to the wider question of transparency.

Supporters of the application say a public hearing could help people understand how parole decisions are made in exceptionally serious cases and reduce speculation surrounding the process.

THE DECISION HAS NOT YET BEEN MADE

Importantly, the Parole Board has not announced that Venables’ hearing will be public.

The normal position for parole hearings remains that they are held in private, although public hearings can be considered in exceptional circumstances.

A previous application to make a Venables parole hearing public was rejected in 2023.

The latest application therefore represents another attempt by James Bulger’s family to bring greater openness to a case that has remained in the public eye for more than three decades.

For now, the question remains unanswered:

Will the next parole hearing of Jon Venables finally be opened to the public?

For James Bulger’s family, the answer could determine how much transparency surrounds yet another deeply painful chapter in a case they have been forced to revisit again and again.