JON VENABLES FACES NEW PAROLE BATTLE AS JAMES BULGER’S FAMILY DEMANDS TRANSPARENCY

More than three decades after the murder of two-year-old James Bulger, Jon Venables is once again at the center of a new parole battle — and this time, James’s family is pushing for the process to be placed under public scrutiny.

Venables, now 43, is due to face another parole hearing after his previous bid for release was rejected in 2023. At the same time, James Bulger’s mother, Denise Fergus, and other members of the family have asked for the upcoming hearing to be held in public.

The Parole Board confirmed in August 2026 that it had received applications seeking to make the hearing public.

For Denise Fergus, the latest development brings back a case that has shaped her life since the day her two-year-old son disappeared from a shopping center in Bootle, Merseyside, in February 1993.

JAMES BULGER WAS TWO YEARS OLD

On February 12, 1993, James Bulger was abducted from the Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle.

Venables and Robert Thompson, both 10 years old at the time, took the toddler away from the shopping center before murdering him.

The case became one of the most notorious child murder cases in modern British history.

Venables and Thompson were subsequently convicted of murder and became the youngest people in Britain to stand trial for murder.

Because they were children when the crime was committed, the court later imposed strict protections around their identities.

Both were eventually released on licence in 2001 and given new identities. Their anonymity remains protected by a lifelong legal order.

VENABLES WAS LATER RETURNED TO PRISON

The story did not end with his release.

Venables was recalled to prison in 2010 after being convicted of possessing indecent images of children.

He was subsequently released again in 2013.

In 2017, he was recalled to custody for a second time after another conviction involving indecent images of children.

He has remained in prison since then.

Those later convictions have become a central part of the debate surrounding his continued detention and any future release.

The issue before the Parole Board is not whether Venables was responsible for James Bulger’s murder — that conviction was established decades ago.

The question for the parole process is whether his current risk can be safely managed if he were released into the community.

HIS LAST PAROLE BID WAS REJECTED

Venables previously appeared before the Parole Board in 2023.

That application for release was rejected.

The Parole Board concluded at the time that it was not satisfied that his release would be safe for the protection of the public. The decision also identified concerns about his ability to be open with professionals and outstanding risks that needed to be addressed.

Now, more than two years later, he has another opportunity to have his case considered.

The latest parole process was confirmed in January 2026.

DENISE FERGUS WANTS THE HEARING TO BE PUBLIC

In August, the Parole Board revealed that it had received an application from Denise and Stuart Fergus asking for Venables’ forthcoming hearing to be held in public.

Their application argues that the case remains of exceptional public interest and that greater transparency could help the public understand how parole decisions are made.

The family also argues that greater openness could help counter misinformation surrounding the case and reduce the uncertainty that has surrounded previous parole proceedings.

They say a public hearing would allow people to see how evidence is assessed, how risk is considered and how decisions about possible release are reached.

The application also argues that the case has unusual features because Venables committed the original offence as a child but was later convicted of further serious offences as an adult.

JAMES’ FATHER AND BROTHER ALSO SEEK TRANSPARENCY

A separate application was submitted on behalf of James Bulger’s father, Ralph Bulger, and his brother, Jimmy Bulger.

Their representatives argue that the case raises wider questions about public protection, risk management, anonymity and the way the parole system deals with offenders who have been recalled to prison.

They have proposed that the hearing could use a hybrid format, allowing sensitive or confidential evidence to be heard privately while other parts of the proceedings could potentially be observed by the public.

The application argues that safeguards could be used to protect Venables’ identity and other sensitive information.

BUT HIS IDENTITY REMAINS LEGALLY PROTECTED

One of the most complicated aspects of the case is Venables’ anonymity.

A lifelong injunction protects information that could identify him under his current identity.

The legal protection was originally introduced because he and Thompson were children when they committed the murder and authorities concluded that revealing their identities and whereabouts could place them at risk.

That protection does not automatically mean that every aspect of a parole hearing must remain private.

However, it creates significant practical and legal issues if a hearing is opened to the public.

The Parole Board therefore has to balance transparency against the need to protect confidential information and prevent the disclosure of identifying details.

THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE

This is not the first time the Bulger family has sought a public parole hearing.

In 2023, an application was made for Venables’ parole hearing to be opened to the public.

The Parole Board’s chair rejected that request in October that year.

The decision cited, among other issues, the lifelong anonymity order and the risks associated with information from the hearing potentially identifying Venables.

The new application therefore represents another attempt to bring greater transparency to a parole process that has historically taken place largely behind closed doors.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The Parole Board has invited representations concerning the applications for a public hearing.

The deadline for representations relating to the application from Denise and Stuart Fergus was August 14, 2026, while the separate application submitted on behalf of Ralph and Jimmy Bulger had a September 10 deadline.

As of the latest Parole Board information available, the application remains listed among pending public-hearing applications. No decision has been published confirming that Venables’ forthcoming parole hearing will be open to the public.

That leaves two separate questions surrounding the next stage of the case.

First, will the Parole Board allow the public to observe the hearing?

And second, will the Board ultimately decide that Venables can be safely released?

Those questions should not be confused.

A public hearing would concern the transparency of the parole process. A release decision would depend on the evidence presented to the Parole Board and its assessment of whether any risk could be safely managed in the community.

For Denise Fergus and the rest of James Bulger’s family, however, another parole hearing means being forced to revisit one of the most painful chapters of their lives.

James was only two years old when he was killed.

More than 33 years later, the legal process surrounding one of the people convicted of his murder continues — with the Bulger family now asking not only to be heard, but for the public to see more clearly how the decision about his future is made.

And as the new parole process moves forward, the question of transparency has become almost as significant as the question of release itself.