James Bulger’s mum is pleading with Prime Minister Liz Truss to step in to block a bid for freedom by her son’s killer.
Denise Bulger has written to the PM as Jon Venables, 40, faces a parole hearing within days. She said: “He still poses a serious danger to families.”
Denise urged Ms Truss to honour a shelved Tory vow to tighten parole laws for dangerous criminals. With her son’s killer potentially days away from freedom, Denise has begged the PM to honour a Tory pledge to harden parole laws to keep dangerous offenders inside, MirrorOnline reports.
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James’s mum wants the PM to step in and ensure Jon Venables is not freed after he twice reoffended since murdering the youngster in 1993.
She has written to Ms Truss insisting: “He still poses a serious danger to other families like ours.”
Venables, 40, has a parole hearing looming and could be back on the streets if it is felt he is rehabilitated, having served his minimum sentence for possessing child sex images. Denise, 53, had held a landmark meeting with then Justice Secretary Dominic Raab in June, who promised stricter legislation around the parole given to dangerous offenders.
She described it as “my biggest step forward in 29 years in justice for James”.
But a day after Ms Truss became PM last month, she sacked Mr Raab and shelved the planned Bill of Rights reform, which included laws to strengthen the powers of ministers to veto the release of high-risk prisoners. New Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis can still intervene to halt Venables’ freedom.
After being contacted by the Daily Mirror tonight, he offered to meet Denise next week.
Denise said: “We need the Prime Minister or her new Justice Secretary to step in immediately to make sure my son’s killer stays firmly behind bars where he belongs. We are calling on them to, please, intervene now.”
Speaking of Mr Lewis’s offer, she added: “This is a positive gesture but there is a time when the talking has to stop and action has to be taken.”
Denise said her representatives have sent five emails in the past five weeks to the MoJ asking for an update on previous discussions with Mr Raab but have heard nothing.
She added: “I feel like they’ve cut us off. We’ve not had a single reply to any emails asking what is going on with the assurances that were made.”
Denise said of her letter to the PM: “I’ve got a list of questions I want to put to her and answers that I need. I don’t want to be fobbed off.
"I am saying exactly how I feel. I’m saying how I feel so let down, again. When we had our success with Mr Raab some sceptical people told us not to trust the Tories, but we were certain this was not something they could renege on. But they’ve done it. I guess they were right."
James was two when killed by Venables and Robert Thompson, both aged 10, after they snatched him from a shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool. They were convicted of murder in November 1993 and detained indefinitely.
The pair were released aged 18 in 2001 with new identities. Thompson, 39, has not reoffended. But Venables was sent back to jail in 2010 and 2017 after being caught with child sex abuse images on his PC.
He was turned down for parole in 2020 after serving his minimum 40 months’ sentence but has made a new bid for freedom.
Speaking on her talks with Mr Raab, Denise said: “It felt like the first time ever a politician had listened to me. It was outlined how offenders would fall into different categories, with the most serious offenders’ parole being signed off by a Justice Secretary.
“We came away assured our son’s killer would not be coming out.”
But on September 6, Ms Truss axed Mr Raab and the Bill of Rights was ditched. The PM gave no official explanation.
The MoJ tonight pointed out the emails from Denise’s representatives were sent to two people who left the department with Mr Raab and hadn’t added forwarding information to their accounts.
A spokesman said of the offer from Mr Lewis to meet Denise: “He shares her desire to reform the parole process to protect the public from the most dangerous offenders.”
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