“JUSTICE, AT LAST?” — DENISE FERGUS FACES ANOTHER PAINFUL CHAPTER IN THE JON VENABLES PAROLE BATTLE

More than three decades after her two-year-old son James was murdered, Denise Fergus is once again being forced to confront the parole process surrounding one of his killers.

Jon Venables, who was convicted alongside Robert Thompson for the 1993 murder of James Bulger, is facing another parole hearing more than two years after his previous bid for release was rejected.

For Denise, the process is not simply another legal proceeding.

It means reopening a wound that has never truly healed.

A CASE BRITAIN HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN

James Bulger was just two years old when he was abducted from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, in February 1993.

Venables and Thompson, both 10 at the time, were convicted of his murder.

The case shocked Britain and became one of the most notorious child murder cases in the country’s history.

Venables was eventually released on licence in 2001, but his freedom did not last permanently.

He was recalled to prison in 2010 after indecent images of children were found on his computer. He was released again in 2013 before being recalled once more in 2017 after another offence involving indecent images of children.

HIS LAST PAROLE BID WAS REJECTED

In December 2023, the Parole Board rejected Venables’ application for release.

The panel said it was not satisfied that releasing him at that point would be safe for the protection of the public.

That decision meant Venables remained in prison.

But it did not end the possibility of another parole application.

Now, more than two years later, another hearing is being prepared.

DENISE FERGUS WILL BE THERE

When the latest hearing was announced in January, Denise’s representatives said she had been forced once again to confront what they described as “unimaginable trauma.”

Denise has been granted permission to observe the upcoming hearing.

She has also spoken publicly about her opposition to Venables being released and has called for changes to the parole system, including tougher rules for offenders who repeatedly breach licence conditions.

In January, she said she hoped Venables would never be released again.

For a mother who has spent more than 30 years living with the loss of her child, the parole process carries an enormous emotional weight.

THE FAMILY WANTS TRANSPARENCY

The case has also sparked a renewed debate over how parole hearings involving notorious offenders should be conducted.

In August 2026, the Parole Board published an application concerning whether the oral hearing in Venables’ case should be made public.

The application was submitted by legal representatives for James’s father, Ralph Bulger, and brother, Jimmy Bulger.

The move reflects the extraordinary level of public interest surrounding the case — and the continuing impact it has had on James’s family.

For Denise, however, the issue remains deeply personal.

This is not simply about whether one prisoner should be released.

It is about a little boy whose name has remained in the public consciousness for more than three decades.

ANOTHER DECISION LOOMS

The latest proceedings do not mean Venables has been granted parole.

Nor has there been a confirmed 2026 decision denying his release.

Instead, the new hearing represents another chapter in a case that Denise Fergus has been forced to revisit again and again.

The last time Venables’ release was rejected, the Parole Board concluded that freedom was not considered safe for the protection of the public.

Now the question is whether anything has changed since then.

And once again, Denise Fergus will be there to hear the decision about the man convicted over the death of her son.

More than 30 years later, the name James Bulger still carries the same heartbreaking question:

How could a family ever truly move on from something like this?