JON VENABLES TO FACE PRIVATE PAROLE HEARING DESPITE JAMES BULGER’S MOTHER SEEKING PUBLIC HEARING

LONDON, England — Jon Venables, one of the two boys convicted of murdering two-year-old James Bulger in 1993, will have his latest parole hearing held in private despite a request from James’s mother for the proceedings to be opened to the public.

The Parole Board announced the decision on September 28, 2026, rejecting applications from Denise and Stuart Fergus, as well as representatives of James’s father, for the hearing to be made public. Several media organizations had also applied to attend publicly.

Venables, now 44, is seeking release at an oral parole hearing more than two years after his previous parole review.

WHY THE HEARING WILL REMAIN PRIVATE

Parole hearings in England and Wales are normally conducted in private. A hearing can be opened to the public when the Parole Board determines that doing so would be in the interests of justice.

In this case, however, the Board concluded that the legal threshold for a public hearing had not been met.

The decision said a public hearing could make it extremely difficult for Venables to give evidence because he could be listened to by people seeking information that could potentially be used to locate or harm him.

John Saunders, deciding on behalf of the Parole Board, said a high threshold applies when determining whether a hearing should be made public.

The Board therefore ruled that the hearing should proceed privately.

JAMES BULGER’S FAMILY HAD ASKED FOR TRANSPARENCY

Before the decision, Denise Fergus and her partner Stuart Fergus argued that a public hearing could help address misinformation surrounding the case.

In their application, they said the continuing discussion of the case on social media had been retraumatizing and that greater transparency could help the public better understand how parole decisions are made.

They also argued that public scrutiny could provide greater confidence in the parole system and allow victims’ families to better understand how risk and release arrangements are assessed.

Despite the decision, a representative for Denise Fergus said her application to observe the hearing had been granted.

Under reforms introduced nationally in April 2026, victims can attend parole hearings even when those hearings remain private.

THE 1993 MURDER OF JAMES BULGER

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

Venables and Robert Thompson, both 10 years old at the time, were convicted of his murder later that year.

The case became one of Britain’s most widely known child-murder cases and has continued to receive public attention for more than three decades.

Because the two offenders were children at the time of the crime, their identities were subject to strict legal protections following their release.

VENABLES HAS BEEN RECALLED TO PRISON TWICE

Venables was released on licence in July 2001.

He was recalled to prison in February 2010 after indecent images of children were discovered on his computer.

He was released again in August 2013, but was recalled in November 2017 after another offence involving indecent images of children.

His case was subsequently reviewed by parole authorities.

In 2023, the Parole Board rejected his application for release, concluding that he continued to pose a risk of further offending, including a risk to children.

The latest hearing will therefore examine whether the circumstances have changed sufficiently for him to be released under licence or whether he should remain in custody.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The decision to keep the hearing private does not itself determine whether Venables will be released.

The parole panel will consider evidence relating to his current risk, rehabilitation and proposed arrangements if release is granted.

The hearing will take place without public observation, although victims’ representatives are able to attend under the new arrangements.

For James Bulger’s family, the decision means the latest stage of a case that has shaped their lives for more than 30 years will once again take place largely away from public view.

James was only two years old when he was killed.

More than three decades later, the question of whether one of the men convicted of his murder should be released remains before the parole system.