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By now, Robert had also stepped comfortably into the role of the aggressor, and, following in the footsteps of his elder brothers, began tormenting his eight-year-old brother on a daily basis. Susan Venables has blamed weakness for her sons role in the killing of James Bulger, claiming that he got involved with the wrong person. To be absolutely accurate, she had only one illusion. Lock him in it.'. As a grim portrait of abuse, drunkenness and neglect emerged, the hatred and loathing for Robert Thompson and Jon Venables was also turned on their parents. The boys, by now lacking any sense of guidance within the home, took to the streets, robbing, truanting, and some of them experimenting with drugs. Channel 5 is set to air a new two-part documentary that tells the definitive story of . One of the focal points of the local community was QD Videos at the bottom of Robert's street, where the kids would browse through the horror stacks, discussing their favourites knowledgeably. Since the murder Robert has been in a state of post-traumatic shock, hounded by nightmares and flashbacks from the railway tracks. CCTV images revealed how James had been lured away by Thompson and Venables, who was also aged 10. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. Like Ann Thompson, however, both parents of Jon Venables rallied round their son and in preparationfor his release Mr Venables accom-panied him on trips to football matches. The breaking point came when Jon was suspended from Broad Square after attempting to choke a classmate with a twelve-inch wooden ruler. The beginnings of the friendship were inauspicious enough. She was a woman as large in personality and physique as the burdens she carried. In court, he hid his face again. While Robert was described as a wily child, known to tell lies, most of the St. Marys school staff agreed that the boy posed little trouble, and, if and when he attended, was generally well-mannered during class. ', The closest either boy came to offering an explanation was when Jon was asked by police why he had taken James's shoe off by the railway tracks. It was their sons picked up by detectives. The bird was taken to the vets where they are nursing it back to health. Once he stole decorating borders from a DIY shop which he discarded at regular intervals to mark his way home. She initially enrolled the two younger children in Broad Square Elementary, but it soon became clear that her daughter was struggling to keep up with the schools curriculum. Susan seemed happy with the arrangement, although, for the children, this type of relationship would have been just one more confusing anomaly to cope with in the wake of an already confusing time in their young lives. This would have put Jon in a particularly arduous position, as the couples only excelling child, and as author Gitta Sereny observed from her time spent with the Venables in 1994, forcing this middle child, Jon, for a long time, perhaps unconsciously, to compensate his mother for her two problem children, put an enormous weight of responsibility on this child virtually from the time he was born., As Susan struggled to manage her two disadvantaged children day to day, Neil was the familys breadwinner, working as a forklift driver. The primary concern among the faculty was Roberts growing amount of absences. His mates called him a girl because whenever there was something on his mind he sucked his thumb. On many occasions, Susan was observed physically and verbally assaulting Jon. 'I sat away from him - he caused trouble,' Jon said. It has already been reported that Jon Venables real identity has been exposed in prison, where he is said to be receiving 24-hour protection. wo. They said their son met Robert Thompson in September 1991, when Jon was transferred from another school. It is just heartbreaking.". Not really?. Some neighbours claim they saw the boy snaring birds into traps in the back yard of his home, while one local youth claimed he saw the boy pull the heads off live baby pigeons. He started with Liverpool, but by the time of the murder he had switched to Blackburn Rovers. 'When the fisticuffs ended, they made friends.' Ann was a heavy drinker, separated from her husband, also called Robert, who had deserted the family several years earlier and did not attend court. I couldnt make any sense of it, Robert later recalled, desolately, when asked about his fathers unexpected departure. In some families this was the third generation to be unemployed. The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. He also liked to scare old ladies by jumping out in front of their noses. Their. For she added: 'But he's not a murderer.'. Get the biggest TV headlines, recaps and insider knowledge straight to your inbox. One day they stayed out until 10.30pm and Jon received a severe reprimand from his mother. He didn't want to hurt James. She was a happy baby, much happier than her eldest brother had been, but as she grew older, Susan began noticing that she, too, appeared lazy, and was not as advanced as Jon. On Sundays he used to watch Thunderbirds. ", Children accused of a crime are usually granted anonymity, but at the end of the trial the judge allowed both to be named, "because the public interest overrode the interest of the defendants.". she said. Yet, even while Susan admitted to being under huge emotional strain on a daily basis, the couple later denied that her constant hysterics would have encroached on Jon in any way, considering he was still in infancy at the time. Susan Venables, mother of Jon - referred to throughout the trial as Boy B - blamed her son's 'weakness' for the murder of James Bulger, . The case of James, a two-year-old who was snatched from a shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool, in 1993, before being tortured and left to die, shocked the nation. After a while the boys became used to it. sp. It emerged that the Venables family had suffered the same fate in another area. I know how I feel as a mother. Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, both 10, murdered him in cold blood. Only a handful of officials and close family members know their true identities. Nature. Constantly restless, his workbooks were empty, and he would often be denied recess because he was so far behind. It seems likely that he was bullied. They played truant, they pinched sweets, they terrorised old ladies. He disliked Thunderbirds because of the puppets' 'stringy thingies'. You know, we just try and help him as best we can to try to come to terms with things. rk ye. fun to be with" and always had plenty of friends. Im bringing them up on my own, but if I went round and screwed every warehouse, my kids would have everything, too. Even so, while Roberts community was rough, his home life was perhaps worse, and could hardly be considered a refuge for the boy. Heck, we don't even have murderers that young in New York.'. Venables and Thompson abducted, tortured and killed two-year-old James in Liverpool in 1993 when they were both aged just 10. He would throw things at other children, cut himself deliberately with scissors and stick paper all over his face. Egypt. Ann Thompson and Susan and Neil Venables didn't need to imagine. Get out and get into Dyson Hall children's centre, the only residential care school in the country just outside Liverpool. Money, or his family's lack of it, preyed on his mind. Its beyond me," one viewer tweeted. Then, one Friday in February, they discovered a new rule to break: they murdered a two-year-old. Seeing at first hand the pain of a family who have lost a toddler to an act of brutal violence is almost unbearably moving. 'America is the land of shopping malls. 'Provided you have no court orders for debts already,' the man on the phone would add helpfully. If I wanted to kill a baby, Id kill Id kill me own, wouldnt I?. Their kids have got everything. Something went wrong, please try again later. They have never come out of hiding. However, you will find some great articles which you can comment on right now in our Comment section. When a police officer asked him why he didn't rescue James bleeding on the railway lines he replied: ' 'Cos blood stains, doesn't it, and then me mother would have to pay more money. There, he is terrorising a girl. The other shops in the area were also armoured with mesh, including the Red Garden chipper where Robert used to pop in with his brothers most nights for a 25p bag of chips. THE first time the boys set eyes on each other after they were arrested was in Preston crown court 3 1/2 weeks ago. View the profiles of people named Susan Venables. The shock in the city was plain to see, but it wasn't just in Liverpool that people stared at the CCTV pictures of the boy holding James' hand, while another led the way to the exit of the shopping centre where a frantic Denise Bulger would have been desperately looking for her child. Read about our approach to external linking. It is just heartbreaking.". Without anyone in the family to turn to for support, he had to look outside for people whose swaggering aggression he could emulate. I'm warning yer,' she would say. Once they went into a home decoration shop and hid under a pile of carpets. At school Jon was considered bright enough, though he had trouble keeping up with lessons. We still dont know why. A video still of James Bulger, aged 2 years old, being led away in the 'New Strand' shopping centre. When Jon left home on the morning of Friday, February 12 he was happy because it was the last day of school before a week's holiday and he was going to take some pet gerbils home. When the court was played Jon's taped descriptions of how they had truanted they simultaneously smiled. Given the Venables family history, it was later suggested that Jon could arguably have been affected by an undiagnosed disorder at the time, and was clearly emotionally underdeveloped. .". Guilty of abducting and murdering James PatrickBulger. The teacher had a different perspective, saying that Susan was in fact aware of the issue, and had expressed deep concern. The days James was abducted, February 12 1993, I was a young reporter in my home city of Liverpool. 'You'd better tell the truth. The statement said: "The man formerly known as Jon Venables has been charged with offences relating to indecent images of children and will appear in the Crown Court. Robert is not believed to have reoffended - Venables has been convicted twice since being set free. The base of the dock floor at Preston Crown Court had to be raised 18 inches so each boy could see over it. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging in the air as he sat in the custody office. The family was put up in a hostel temporarily and later relocated by the social services. "He fell over," was the response. His mother, Susan, attributed this behavior with peer pressure and hyperactivity, and put him on a special diet, though it did nothing to quell his frequent emotional outbursts. Jon was slim in build and taller than Robert, just over five feet. INSIDE the court sat the two boys, dwarfed by the weight and majesty of the place. Nicola had to exchange some clothes at TJ Hughes, Denise waited nearby, watching the children. MOST of the boys were bright. Jon had to be pulled off the boy, who had gone red in the face, by a teacher who described the incident as the worst case of school violence she had witnessed. Susan Venables has blamed "weakness" for her son's role in the killing of James Bulger, claiming that he "got involved with the wrong person". Superintendent Kirby is a religious man. Find out more, The latest offers and discount codes from popular brands on Telegraph Voucher Codes, As James Bulger killer Jon Venables is sent back to prison, Shelagh Fogarty writes about her experiences as a young reporter on the case at the time, James Bulger, aged 2 years old, being led away in the New Strand shopping centre in the Bootle area of Liverpool, Denise Bulger arrives at Preston Crown Couty on November 24 1993, Shelagh Fogarty was a young reporter at the time of the murder, The police van carrying Venables and Thompson arrives at Preston Crown Court, Sarah Ferguson exclusive: Meghan has made Harry very happy, 32 best gifts for her: top present ideas to buy for mother's day in 2023, Midlife women are being told to sit down and shut up and not just by men, Imogen Stubbs: Its become less and less acceptable to age, Cost of HRT set to be slashed in new prescription scheme, Magic Mike and the naked truth about male strippers, Inside the James Bulger files 25 years on. If it suited his moodwhich it frequently didBobby would beat the boys, curse at them, and threaten to send them to a home for children who misbehaved. Liked by susan venables. He gets upset. Every day the public gallery was packed with students, pensioners, mothers, teenagers, all drawn to the courtroom spectacle as to a TV soap. Directly in front of the bench was the raised dock in which Thompson, Venables, and two social workers would sit for the next four weeks. Ian was clever enough to know that to survive he had to get out. Not their punishmentand exclusion from society for the rest of their childhood. Jon Venables arrived at Walton St. Marys Church of England School a disrupted and attention-seeking boy, whose behavior was so bizarre at times that one of his teachers considered him to be emotionally unstable. When Jon's parents gave a recent press interview, it was Mrs Venables who did most of the talking; the father just sat and cried. To do that he put on the witness stand all those people who had seen the three boys on the route from the shopping centre to the railway line. Security launched a search for James inside the centre and James' family searched for their son overnight. In contrast he has had no contact with his father despite an approach soon after sentencing. From a distance Robert looked a sweet child. Just something to do.'. He frequented local cinemas and regularly hired videos for the night. . Scores more watched proceedings from a neighbouring office block which, for the duration of the trial, came under court jurisdiction. He wanted a Rovers strip for his birthday present. But they shouldn't have been tried in an adult court because they were still children. . It was so stressful trying to contain him. By chance, the rest of Jon's family was driving past and spotted them. The taunts upset Jons already volatile temper, and he began coming home in increasingly low spirits and crying. sons, were settled in council houses within easy reach of the institutions where their sons were being held. 'They would say 'take your son home'. Not that he had any need to borrow his dad's. Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. Money was always a struggle, and she got through the first years drinking in Higson's Top House off St Mary's Lane. At first, Robert seemed to respond well to this, taking the initiative to help feed and clothe the baby, and doing what he could to please his mother. "In terms of knowing what the full consequences of your actions are, you are into older childhood or adolescence. Thompson was inscrutable in the dock as we heard his voice for the first time. How can people defend their actions .#TheBulgerKillers.". One of the new works by Banksy, appears to show a 1950s housewife, wearing a classic blue pinny and yellow washing up gloves, with a swollen eye and a missing tooth seemingly shoving her male partner into a chest freezer, the piece is set on a white wall backdrop in Kent. Both Ann and the children knew well the sting of palm against flesh, and Bobby often used these beatings to ensure that his wife and children conformed. The petition, that now has 14,682 signatures, reads: "We want a Public Inquiry into the James Bulger murder case. ', A psychoanalyst and child psychotherapist comes up with yet another possible explanation. The toddler's mum Denise Bulger was at the counter of a butchers in the Strand shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool, on February 12, 1993, when she briefly let go of her son's hand to get some change from her purse. "BULL**** about 'two frightened kids whod made a terrible mistake' The tapes said they kept stoning him, even when he kept getting up. Venables was a different creature. Big Bobby, like Anns father, was a violent alcoholic, who was easily crossed. He was in great distress' And what about the little, innocent boy he killed??! The week after he walked out the family's home burned down in an accidental fire. Aged 10, he was barely literate. There is hatred and envy directed at the baby - a wish to see it suffer in the way they have suffered. . Both had parents who had separated. They were drawn to one another quickly. He appears to be a normal human, but inside the soft flesh there is indestructable metal. 'They were just your average scruff - like the rest of us.'. The boys at Dyson Hall were the object of some envy among their mates because they were given tracksuits and trainers upon arrival and went on trips to Alton Towers. His mother especially has been a tower of strength, says the source. . Three years ago, after his mother walloped him, he went to social services and asked them to put him in care.