Venables allegations 'extremely serious'

Jon Venables arrested in 1993; James Bulger's mum Denise Fergus; YouTube: Sky News on Venables case

It has been confirmed that Jon Venables was sent back to prison because of “extremely serious allegations”, as the controversy surrounding one of James Bulger’s schoolboy killers continues.

A report in the Sun newspaper claimed Venables is alleged to have committed a serious sexual offence. A day later, the Sunday Mirror alleged that Venables was sent back to jail on suspicion of child porn offences. In a statement, Justice Secretary Jack Straw said: "Our motivation throughout has been solely to ensure that some extremely serious allegations are properly investigated and that justice is done."

It was announced on Tuesday night that Venables, now 27, was taken back into custody for breaching the conditions of his licence, but the Ministry of Justice refused to give any more details.

Since then there have been many reports on how Venables breached his licence, with sources suggesting that he has returned to Liverpool on numerous occasions, and even been to watch Everton play at Goodison Park. This has been dismissed by the Liverpool Echo, which claims that Venables committed an alleged assault on a colleague after his true identity was revealed in a confrontation at work.

Nothing has yet been confirmed, however, and the Government have
refused to tell James’ mother Denise Fergus details about the case,
who is outraged at the way she has been treated.

She told the Daily Mail: “All kinds of horrible thoughts were going through
my head, and they still are because no one will tell me what he's done.
It's wrong - as James' mother, I have a right to know.

“They are always going on about their lives, protecting them, but there's
no-one protecting me. If this hadn't been about to leak into the papers, I
don't believe they would even have told me he was in prison. They knew
the story was about to break, and they didn't want me to find out about it
on the television news.”

Mrs Fergus says her primary concern was that Venables had not hurt
anybody else, particularly a child, but every question she asked was
blocked. She said: “Why can't the Government be honest and tell us
what he's done? Why won't they accept responsibility?

“I keep asking myself: ‘When will all this end?’ And the answer is ‘never’. It's just one torment after another. Those boys have never been punished for murdering my son; they have been rewarded.”

James’ mother had initially reacted to the news using Twitter and Facebook, saying she “would like to let everyone know Jon Venables is where he belongs tonight, behind bars” and “hope now justice for my son is served... hope he [Venables] now rots in hell”.

Jack Straw, who says he will meet with Mrs Fergus to discuss the recent developments, also said in his statement: “I was unable to give further details of the reasons for Jon Venables' return to custody, because it was not in the public interest to do so.“
 
Venables, along with Robert Thompson, abducted and murdered two year-old James in February 1993. The pair were just ten when they led James away from The Strand shopping centre in Bootle, and brutally murdered him on a nearby railway line. James’ body was found by children playing on a freight line over two miles away from the shopping centre and a mere 200 yards from Walton Lane police station.

His killers were given new identities when they were controversially released in 2001, although Venables could spend his remaining days behind bars after breaching the licence. The restrictions imposed included bans on returning to Merseyside, contacting James Bulger's family, or contacting each other.

James Bulger was murdered