DENISE FERGUS SEEKS PUBLIC PAROLE HEARING FOR JON VENABLES IN FRESH FIGHT FOR JUSTICE

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND — More than three decades after her two-year-old son James Bulger was abducted and murdered, Denise Fergus is once again challenging the legal protections surrounding one of the men responsible for his death.

This time, she wants the public to see the justice process for themselves.

Fergus and her husband, Stuart, have formally applied for Jon Venables’ upcoming parole hearing to be held in public, according to the Parole Board.

The move represents the latest chapter in a decades-long battle over Venables’ continued anonymity, his repeated returns to prison and whether he should ever be released again.

A CASE THAT HAS NEVER REALLY ENDED

James Bulger was just two years old when Venables and Robert Thompson, both 10 at the time, abducted him from a shopping center in Bootle, Merseyside, on February 12, 1993.

The boys took James away from the shopping center and ultimately murdered him.

Their crime shocked Britain and became one of the country’s most notorious child-murder cases.

Both were convicted and detained indefinitely in 1993.

Thompson was released in 2001 and is not known to have reoffended.

Venables’ path has been very different.

He has twice been recalled to prison after his release, including over offenses involving child sexual abuse material. He has remained in custody since his second recall in 2017.

ANOTHER PAROLE HEARING

In January 2026, the Parole Board confirmed that Venables would face another oral parole hearing.

The 43-year-old’s previous attempt to secure release was rejected in 2023 after the Parole Board concluded that he continued to pose a risk to children.

For Denise Fergus, the prospect of another parole hearing has reopened wounds that have never fully healed.

She has repeatedly said that she does not believe Venables should ever be released.

In January, she also called for a change in the law that would prevent someone from repeatedly receiving further opportunities for parole after breaching the conditions of release.

Now she wants the hearing itself to receive greater public scrutiny.

THE FIGHT OVER SECRECY

Venables has been protected by a lifelong anonymity order because of his age when he committed the crime.

The legal protection is intended to prevent his identity and whereabouts from being publicly disclosed.

The order has remained one of the most controversial aspects of the case, particularly after Venables was returned to prison for further offenses.

Fergus has previously argued that his anonymity should be reconsidered.

But the legal system has continued to balance two competing concerns: the public interest in transparency and the safety of a former child offender whose identity could expose him to serious threats.

That tension is now at the center of the latest parole battle.

COULD THE HEARING ACTUALLY BE PUBLIC?

The Parole Board has confirmed that it received the application from Denise and Stuart Fergus.

Venables has the opportunity to object.

If the request is approved, the hearing would not simply become an unrestricted public courtroom proceeding.

Because his lifelong anonymity order would remain in place, special measures could be used to protect his identity, including a screen and voice-distortion technology.

That means the public could potentially observe the parole process without being given information that could identify where Venables lives or reveal his protected identity.

The hearing is not expected to take place before September 2026.

WHY DENISE WANTS PEOPLE TO WATCH

For Fergus, the issue goes beyond curiosity.

She has spent more than 30 years living with the consequences of James’ murder.

She has also endured the repeated possibility that Venables could one day walk free.

A public hearing, she and her husband argue, would provide greater transparency and allow the public to see how the parole decision is reached.

It would also give the family a chance to confront a process that has repeatedly affected their lives.

But a public hearing would not automatically mean Venables would be released—or that the family would get every answer they want.

The Parole Board’s central responsibility would remain the assessment of risk and public safety.

A PREVIOUS PAROLE BID FAILED

Venables’ last parole bid ended in 2023 when the Parole Board determined that he remained a danger to children.

That decision is significant because any new application must be considered in light of his previous conduct, prison behavior, risk assessments and evidence about whether his risk has changed.

Fergus has made clear that she does not believe enough has changed to justify his release.

She has previously said she hopes he never sees the outside world again.

THE LEGAL BATTLE IS FAR FROM OVER

The Fergus family’s application does not guarantee that the public will see Venables’ parole hearing.

The Parole Board must consider the request, and Venables has a right to object.

If the hearing is ultimately opened to the public, additional restrictions designed to preserve his anonymity are likely to remain.

That means the coming legal battle is not simply about whether Venables gets parole.

It is also about how transparent the process should be when the person seeking freedom is one of Britain’s most notorious convicted child killers.

THREE DECADES LATER, DENISE FERGUS IS STILL FIGHTING

For much of the past 33 years, Denise Fergus has had to live with a reality no parent should ever face.

Her son James never got the chance to grow up.

Venables did.

And now, at 43, he is once again asking the justice system to consider whether he should be released.

Fergus is determined that this time, the process should not happen entirely behind closed doors.

Her message is clear: if the parole system is going to decide whether one of James Bulger’s killers can regain his freedom, she wants that decision subjected to the greatest possible scrutiny.

Whether the Parole Board agrees to a public hearing remains to be decided.

But one thing is certain.

Thirty-three years after James Bulger was taken from his family, Denise Fergus is still fighting for answers, accountability and justice.

The application for a public parole hearing has been confirmed by the Parole Board. No decision has yet been announced on whether the hearing will be opened to the public. Venables remains protected by anonymity orders, and this article does not disclose any information that could identify his current identity or location.