The case of James Patrick Bulger.

On Friday 12 February 1993, James Patrick Bulger (aged 2 years)  and his mother Denise was out shopping at Bootle Strand shopping centre in Liverpool, Merseyside. In the late afternoon, Denise made her final visit to A.R.Tyms butcher’s shop. She placed her order, but she was momentarily distracted and took her eyes off James. Sadly, it was long enough for him to disappear. She rushed outside and searched frantically. For Denise Bulger her worst nightmare came true. The police were called after the security staff failed to locate him. She described him as wearing a blue anorak with a hood and mustard coloured lining, silver-coloured tracksuit bottoms and white trainers. The police launched a major search for the missing child in Bootle.

What started off as a simple hunt for the missing toddler turned into something sinister when by Friday night he was still not found. The police and security staff worked through the night at the Strand Shopping Centre and looked through the CCTV footage. Their efforts took effect were when they came across some CCTV footage where they pinpointed James leaving the butcher’s shop earlier that day. They tracked his movements, then witnessed was a panic-stricken Denise who had also left the shop and was seen on the ground floor hunting for her son. James was then seen on the top floor and he appeared to be following 2 boys. The haunting grainy footage was the last recorded footage and moments of James Bulger. The 2 boys can be seen with James, with 1 boy is holding the toddlers hand. They were all heading towards the exit and the direction of the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

Sunday 14th February 1993, Valentine’s Day, it had been 2 days since James went missing from The Strand. The police, James’ family and friends of the family did everything to try find the missing boy. Patrol cars with loudspeakers, press conferences appealing for the 2 boy had been called and a manhunt was underway in canals and wasteland areas.

Hope for a happy ending disappeared when a young boy rushed into Walton Lane police station and announced a toddler's battered body was found by children playing on a freight railway line 200 yards from behind Walton Lane police station, Liverpool, and more than two miles from the Strand shopping centre.
What the police discovered horrified the nation. The body discovered was James Bulger. The police had a murder case to solve and 2 young boys to track down.

Within hours of the surveillance footage being captured on the afternoon of February 12, 1993, both 10 year olds Jon Venables and Robert Thompson had tortured 2 year old James Bulger to death. Venables and Thompson had brought blue paint stolen from the shopping mall and splashed it in Bulger’s left eye. They then kicked him, pummelled him with bricks and stones, and stuffed batteries into his mouth. The boys hit Bulger over the head with a 22-pound iron bar, which resulted in 10 skull fractures. All in all, Bulger sustained 42 injuries to his face, head, and body. He was so badly battered, authorities later concluded, that there was no way to tell which injury represented the fatal blow. Venables and Thompson then placed James’ dead body (a forensic pathologist later concluded that he was dead at this point) across the train tracks, in hopes of making the whole thing look like an accident, and abandoned the scene before a train came along and severed the toddler in two.

On February the 18th, police made the arrests of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. Both only 10 years old, it was ultimately an anonymous phone call to the police that implicated Jon Venables and Robert Thompson as the James Bulger killers. The caller told the police that Venables and Thompson were both absent from school on Friday and that they themselves had seen blue paint on the sleeve of Venables’ jacket. Both boys were interviewed and had realised they had been caught. They’re both broke down into tears and began blaming each other for some of the horrific acts the had committed. However, it was during a break where Thompson’s mother Susan begged him to tell the truth and he confessed to his part in the brutal murder of the child. Police discovered blood on Thompson’s shoes and blue paint on Venables’ jacket. They were later changed and are the youngest to charged with murder in the 20th century.

The boys were sentenced to life imprisonment but were released on licence in 2001. Both killers won an unprecedented court order from High Court judge Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss which grants them anonymity for the rest of their lives. The were freed under new identities.

In September 2008, Venables was arrested on suspicion of affray after he and another man become involved in a drunken street fight. He was given a formal warning by the Probation Service about breaching the good behaviour expected of him as a condition of his licence.
Later the same year he was cautioned for possession of cocaine after he was found with a small amount of the class A drug, which was said to be for personal use. The public remained unaware of both offences until 2010.

In March 2010, Venables was returned to prison after breaching the terms of his release, the Ministry of Justice said. It kick-started frenzied media speculation over the nature of the alleged breaches

In April 16 2010, Prosecutors handed a police file over the latest allegations.

On the 21st June 2010, A judge at the Old Bailey lifts media restrictions, allowing it to be reported that Venables has been charged with downloading and distributing child pornography and on the 23rd July 2010, Venables plead guilty to the charges. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison. James Bulger's mother Denise Fergus attacked the length of sentence as "simply not enough".

Jon Venables is a prolific criminal, murderer and a pedophile who under no circumstances should be released from prison or given a new identity. He is a monster. He was a child himself when he murdered another. What child could possibly commit such evil acts and then commit further offences in his future? He doesn’t deserve to be free. 
James Bulger and his poor family never got the justice they deserved by any means whatsoever. Both boys should still be behind bars and should be serving the life sentence instead of behind released on licence with new identities. What was the authorities thinking? They say it’s to protect them from others, but why should they be protected? The deserve whatever they get from their sickening doings and the wicked choices they made. If people decide to take crimes upon them that’s their choice and they will face the consequences. They would get longer time in prison no doubt than the both of them either did because the system is absolutelyshocking. After what Venables did to James, under no thought did they have it in them did they put him behind bars for life to keep him away from children. Jon Venables or whatever his name is now, could be living next door to you and you wouldn’t know about it. Your children would be at extreme risk of him. He needs to be known by people to keep everyone safe. 
Look at it this way. More people’s lives would be at risk with him being around, his identity needs to be released. His life is 1 life. 1 person behind bars or killed is better than the nation. No children would be harmed if he was still behind bars, and parents and other people would be aware of his presence if his anonymity is risen.