JON VENABLES FACES ANOTHER PAROLE HEARING — MORE THAN 30 YEARS AFTER JAMES BULGER’S DEATH

More than three decades after two 10-year-old boys abducted and killed two-year-old James Bulger, one of them is once again at the centre of a parole battle — reopening a chapter James’s family has spent years trying to survive.

Jon Venables was only 10 years old when he and Robert Thompson abducted James Bulger from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, in February 1993.

The case shocked Britain.

James was just two.

The two boys were convicted of his abduction and killing later that year, becoming the youngest convicted killers in modern British history.

Now, more than 30 years later, Venables is 43 and remains in prison.

And once again, the question of whether he could eventually be released has returned.

ANOTHER CHANCE AT FREEDOM

Venables is due to have his latest case considered by the Parole Board at an oral hearing.

His previous parole bid, in 2023, was rejected.

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

The new hearing means the issue of Venables’ release is back before parole officials more than two years after that decision.

For James Bulger’s family, however, this is not simply another legal proceeding.

It is another reminder of the events of 1993.

THE CASE THAT SHOCKED BRITAIN

James disappeared while shopping with his mother in Bootle on February 12, 1993.

Venables and Thompson led the toddler away from the shopping centre.

What followed became one of the most notorious child-crime cases in British history.

The boys were arrested and later convicted of James’s abduction and killing.

Both were sentenced to detention during His Majesty’s pleasure, the form of life sentence used for children convicted of very serious offences.

Venables was eventually released on licence in 2001.

But his freedom did not last permanently.

RELEASE. RECALL. RELEASE. RECALL.

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

He was released again in 2013.

Four years later, he was recalled once more after another offence involving indecent images of children.

His case subsequently returned to the Parole Board.

In 2020, he was refused parole.

Then, in December 2023, another application was rejected after the panel concluded that releasing him would not yet be safe.

That history has become central to the arguments surrounding his latest bid.

JAMES’S FAMILY WANTS THE HEARING OPEN

In August 2026, the Parole Board publicly confirmed that it had received applications seeking to have Venables’ oral hearing held in public.

One application came from Denise and Stuart Fergus, while another was submitted by the legal representative of Jimmy Bulger and Ralph Bulger.

The applications argue that the case has exceptional public interest and that greater transparency could help the public understand how parole decisions are made.

They also point to the continuing impact of social-media discussion and misinformation surrounding the case.

But there is an important distinction:

The application for a public hearing is not the same as a decision to hold the hearing publicly.

The Parole Board must decide whether the legal requirements for a public hearing are met.

A FAMILY FORCED TO RELIVE THE PAST

For James’s mother, Denise Fergus, the possibility of another parole hearing has brought back memories that never truly disappeared.

The case has already forced James’s family to repeatedly confront the possibility that one of the people responsible for his death could eventually leave prison.

UK Parliament also acknowledged in February 2026 that parole proceedings can be traumatic for victims and their families.

That is one of the central tensions in the case.

The parole system must assess whether a prisoner can safely be released.

But for the victim’s family, every new review can feel like another reopening of the wound.

MORE THAN 30 YEARS LATER

The boy who disappeared from a shopping centre in 1993 has become a symbol of one of Britain’s most disturbing child-crime cases.

James never had the opportunity to grow up.

He never went to secondary school.

He never became an adult.

He never had the chance to build the life his family imagined for him.

Venables, meanwhile, has spent much of his adult life moving through the prison and parole system.

And now another hearing awaits.

Whether it results in release remains a matter for the Parole Board.

But one thing is certain:

More than 30 years after James Bulger was taken from his family, his name remains at the centre of a legal battle that his loved ones never asked to fight.

For them, the past has never really become the past.

And as Venables once again seeks a possible path out of prison, James’s family is once again being forced to face the question they have lived with for decades:

What does justice look like when the child at the centre of the case can never come home?