JON VENABLES TO FACE PRIVATE PAROLE HEARING NEARLY THREE DECADES AFTER JAMES BULGER’S MURDER

Nearly three decades after the murder of two-year-old James Bulger, Jon Venables is set to face another parole hearing as he seeks possible release from prison.

Venables, now 44, will have his latest parole case considered at an oral hearing. However, the Parole Board has ruled that the hearing will remain private, rejecting applications from James’s mother, Denise Fergus, and several media organisations for the proceedings to be opened to the public.

The decision was announced on September 28, 2026, almost three years after Venables’ previous parole review.

WHY THE HEARING WILL REMAIN PRIVATE

Parole hearings in England and Wales are normally conducted privately, although the Parole Board can allow members of the public to observe when it considers that doing so would be in the interests of justice.

Denise Fergus had argued that a public hearing could help address what she described as misinformation surrounding the case and could give victims’ families a greater understanding of how parole decisions are made.

The Parole Board acknowledged the significant public interest but concluded that the threshold for making the hearing public had not been met.

It said a public hearing could make it extremely difficult for Venables to give evidence because of concerns that information disclosed during the proceedings could be used by people seeking to locate and harm him.

A representative for Fergus has been granted permission to observe the private hearing under reforms allowing victims to attend private parole proceedings.

THE MURDER OF JAMES BULGER

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

The boys were subsequently convicted of James’s murder.

The case became one of the most closely followed child-murder cases in modern British history.

Because both offenders were children themselves, their identities were subject to strict legal protections. Those protections have continued throughout their adult lives.

YEARS IN PRISON AND PREVIOUS RELEASES

Venables was released on licence in July 2001, after serving years in custody.

He was recalled to prison in 2010 after indecent images of children were found on his computer.

He was released again in 2013, but was recalled to custody for a second time in November 2017 after another offence involving indecent images of children.

His subsequent parole applications have been unsuccessful.

In 2023, the Parole Board rejected his application for release, concluding that he remained a risk and could commit further offences.

Venables has remained in custody since his 2017 recall.

ANOTHER PAROLE DECISION AHEAD

The forthcoming hearing will consider whether Venables can safely be released under licence or should remain in prison.

The exact date of the oral hearing has not been publicly announced.

The proceedings will not be open to members of the public, but the victim’s representative will be able to observe under the new arrangements introduced nationally in April 2026.

For Denise Fergus, the decision means another chapter in a case that has shaped her life for more than 30 years.

For Venables, it represents another parole review after years of imprisonment and previous recalls.

Whatever decision the Parole Board ultimately reaches, the hearing will take place under strict confidentiality and anonymity protections.

The murder of James Bulger remains one of the most painful cases in Britain’s recent history — and nearly 34 years later, the legal consequences of that crime continue to unfold.