According to the teacher, Jon would rock back and forth in his desk, making strange noises (this behavior was later speculated to be Jons jealous attempt to emulate his elder brother, in order to receive the same special attention), bang his head on the desk or walls repeatedly, glue bits of paper all over his face, wedge himself in between desks, throw himself on the ground, throw chairs across the corridor, rip projects off the classroom walls, cut holes in his socks, and intentionally cut himself with scissors. How could two small boys savage and leave a toddler for dead? This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Robert was number five of seven. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? His mother cared about him. The best instincts led hundreds, including me, to lay flowers a few days later at the site of James horrific end. Englands Ollie Chessum dives in to score his sides second try during the Guinness Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium, London, Sam Smith arrives for the Brit Awards ceremony, A robin redbreast takes flight in Dublins botanic gardens. Liked by susan venables. That seems the very least they could face for what they did. Mrs Venables has also said that she felt heartbreak for James and his parents and shame for her son. He was jailed for two years before being granted parole again in July 2013.. He didn't want to hurt James. Her family were dignified throughout, but on that day one of theBulgerfamily supporters allowed themselvesa loud 'YES' as the verdicts came in. 'Sometimes I told Robbie to do things so he does,' he told a police officer, with pride in his voice. The detective explained how, before she left, she soothed him, told him his parents would love him whatever he told the police, reminding him that Denise neededto know what had happened to her baby. On November 24, 1993, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables became the youngest persons to be convicted of murder in Britain in almost 250 years, when the pair, both eleven, was found guilty of the abduction and murder of two-year-old James Patrick Bulger. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Venables received a 40-month prison sentence after appearing via video link at the Old Bailey. On Sundays he used to watch Thunderbirds. Lock him in it.'. He took a jar of paracetamol. It is just heartbreaking.". He would steal objects that he neither needed nor wanted, then chuck them away in the street. Venables on the other hand was becoming increasingly agitated in the police interviews. Teachers hold placards as they shout slogans while taking part in a protest organised in Manchester as part of a national strike day. James Bulger was weeks away from his third birthday, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson behaved very differently in court, Mother who killed her five children euthanised, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, Alex Murdaugh jailed for life for double murder, US sues Exxon over nooses found at Louisiana plant, Zoom boss Greg Tomb fired without cause. 'I didn't know it would be like this,' Mr Venables said with hindsight. 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. 2023 BBC. 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". .". Look at mine. From a distance Robert looked a sweet child. Walton Village Financial Services would lend you pounds 300 for Christmas and demand a total of pounds 460 in repayment. He was jailed for two years before being granted parole again in July 2013. Ann, desperate to escape the physical and emotional torment of living with her drunken father, was married to Robert, Sr. in December 1971, on the day of her eighteenth birthday. When she turned around moments later, her son was gone. It set the tone for the years ahead in which there was to be no respite from the hatred. It was so stressful trying to contain him. Superintendent Albert Kirby, who headed the investigation, doesn't believe in the under-belly of Liverpool nonsense or stuff about the disintegration of modern society, the collapse of the nineties cities. Jon Venables is demonstrably no such thing. They sat just feet from me, perched on the edge of their wooden seat, smartly dressed and hunched in shame just below their son, Jon. I don't think so. The first Susan Venables knew they had stayed away from school was when she saw one of Jon's classmates on her way home with the gerbils. Once the jury retired, so did the journalists - but we didnt go far. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. It was when Jon turned seven that Susan and the children had relocated to Norris Green, one of Liverpools larger, more reputable areas. 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. Sandra Gotheridge. They were in the Strand shopping centre in Bootle when the brother wandered off. The pair was tried for the abduction and murder of James as adults owing to the fact they were over 10, which is legally deemed to be the age of criminal responsibility. The bleached houses were peppered with burglar alarms, the shabby ones did not look worth the trouble. 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. The haunting words of Jon Venables' parents only interview have resurfaced, twenty five years after he killed tot Jamie Bulger. He had a Game Boy console and hankered after a Sega machine, and when they played truant he would head straight for the computer game corner of Tandy's or Dixons. From the moment Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were convicted of the murder of James Bulger, their, families have been condemned to lives spent looking over their shoulders. It was the kind of family neighbours compare themselves against and then feel better. I said no. He was given a new name, a job and a flat on his release to try to ensure his security . They pair was ordered to be detained at her majesty's pleasure - meaning indefinitely - but in 2001, a six-month review by the parole board found they were no longer a threat to public safety and they were released on life licence after serving just eight years. fn ye vw la. The teacher had a different perspective, saying that Susan was in fact aware of the issue, and had expressed deep concern. 'They were just your average scruff - like the rest of us.'. Wiping away tears, he went on: 'I feel for that family. . Words with the drawing, full of spelling mistakes and grammatical. He was fearful, he was weak and he was provoked. Left to his own devices Jon liked to spend his playtime in fairly sedentary ways. fun to be with" and always had plenty of friends. The right will draw attention to the broken homes, the single parents, the persistent truancy. Susan opted to remove him from the school then, and some months later, she reenrolled him in St. Marys in Walton. Both of them struggled at school and had been lumped into the year below their age. Mr Venables said it had never crossed their minds that the video pictures from the security cameras in the shopping centre from which James went missing showed their own son. The street in which Robert lived was not untypical: a row of terraced bay windowed houses that stretched from the railway line back towards the city. A newsroom reporter who was not working on the case fended off transatlantic interview demands, saying that it was not enough that he had a Liverpool accent. This time, curiosity took the upper hand: 'I wanted to see what it was like,' he said. . "I think my son's concentration wasn't the way it should have been, but he wasn't slow. We feel so sorry for him because he must be going through so much torment. One woman asked how James had injured his forehead. His grip was so strong that it took two people to pry Jon off of the boy. But apart from his brother, Robert struggled to build friendships. He is one of those children that if you told him to put his hand in the fire, he would. For a start, there were only three children, of whom Jon was the middle. He disliked Thunderbirds because of the puppets' 'stringy thingies'. Their kids have got everything, she added, bitterly. Then between 1990 and 1991, Jons teachers recognized a dramatic change in the boys behavior, which was alarming enough for one of his teachers to begin keeping a daily log. A pathologist later said that there were so many injuries - 42 in total - that not one could be isolated as causing the little boy's fatal wound. Venables served seven years of a life sentence for the 1993 murder before he was freed in June 2001, aged 18. Read about our approach to external linking. After a while the boys became used to it. Their faces affected me deeply. Susan and neil venables. Without anyone in the family to turn to for support, he had to look outside for people whose swaggering aggression he could emulate. James Bulger would now be weeks away from his 23rd birthday. From the start, Jon was drawn and repulsed by Robbie like opposite and equal poles of a magnet. Guilty of abducting and murdering James PatrickBulger. They deal with drugs, they deal with everything. Not for long though. Dudson was given a minimum term of 18 years. 'They would say 'take your son home'. They played truant, they pinched sweets, they terrorised old ladies. But his progress took a nose dive in September 1991 when he was transferred into another class. Once they went into a home decoration shop and hid under a pile of carpets. The trial though didnt, and was never designed to, shed light on how two such young children could be guilty of such sustained barbarity. Mrs Thompson worked as an office cleaner until two years ago, when she got pregnant again by another man, who also left her. "All he said when we've said 'Why didn't you run away?' However, you will find some great articles which you can comment on right now in our Comment section. I would say he was provoked. Robert said 'If you tell anybody I'll get my big brother to batter you up'. 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.
Bulger killer had 'better life' after toddler murder - BBC News Nature. 'We have never really been apart,' Mrs Venables said. But viewers were shocked when experts "defended" the 10-year-old murderers saying they made "an awful mistake".