JON VENABLES FACES ANOTHER PAROLE HEARING — MORE THAN 30 YEARS AFTER THE MURDER OF JAMES BULGER

More than three decades after two 10-year-old boys abducted and murdered toddler James Bulger, one of his killers is once again facing the possibility of release.

Jon Venables, now 43, is due to have his latest case considered by the Parole Board in a hearing that has reopened painful memories for James Bulger’s family.

Venables and Robert Thompson were both 10 years old when they took two-year-old James from the New Strand shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, on Feb. 12, 1993.

The little boy was later found dead beside a railway line.

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

More than 30 years later, the consequences are still being felt.

ANOTHER BID FOR FREEDOM

Venables previously appeared before the Parole Board in 2023.

That application was rejected after the board concluded that he remained a danger to children and could go on to offend again.

Now, he has another opportunity to argue that he can safely be released under licence.

The latest hearing is expected to take place orally, although the exact arrangements and date have been subject to the Parole Board process.

For James’s family, the prospect of another hearing has been devastating.

In January, a spokesperson for James’s mother, Denise Fergus, said the process once again forced her to confront what she described as unimaginable trauma.

WHY VENABLES REMAINS IN PRISON

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

But his freedom did not last.

In 2010, he was recalled to prison after child-abuse material was found on a computer.

He was later released again in 2013.

In 2017, he was recalled once more after being linked to further offences involving child-abuse material.

Those subsequent offences have become a major part of the continuing debate over whether he should ever be released again.

His supporters have argued that he has undergone rehabilitation and should be assessed on his current risk rather than solely on the crime committed when he was a child.

James’s family has repeatedly argued that public safety and the seriousness of Venables’ subsequent offending must remain central to the decision.

THE FAMILY WANTS ANSWERS

The latest parole process has also raised questions about transparency.

In August 2026, the Parole Board confirmed that it had received applications seeking to have Venables’ hearing held in public. One application came from Denise and Stuart Fergus, while another was submitted by the legal representative of James’s father, Ralph Bulger, and James’s brother, Jimmy Bulger.

The applicants argued that the exceptional nature of the case and Venables’ later convictions meant there was a strong public-interest argument for greater transparency.

The Parole Board’s published notice invited representations on the applications.

The request does not itself mean the hearing will automatically be made public. A decision on whether the hearing should be opened to the public is a separate matter.

A CASE THAT NEVER REALLY ENDED

For much of Britain, the murder of James Bulger belongs to the darkest pages of the early 1990s.

For his family, however, it has never been history.

Every parole hearing brings the case back into the present.

In Parliament in February 2026, MPs discussed the impact that repeated parole hearings can have on victims’ families. The debate specifically referenced the continuing ordeal faced by James Bulger’s relatives.

More than three decades have passed since James was taken from his mother.

He would now be in his mid-30s.

Instead, his family continues to face a question they have been forced to confront repeatedly:

Should Jon Venables ever be allowed to live freely in society again?

That decision will ultimately belong to the Parole Board.

For James Bulger’s family, however, the pain behind that question has never gone away.