James Bulger's mum 'cannot eat or sleep' over Jon Venables recall
James Bulger's mother Denise Fergus says she cannot eat or sleep over Jon Venables story
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By Jack Clark. |  |
Monday, 08, Mar 2010 05:16
By Matthew Champion.
The government has insisted it will not disclose why Jon Venables, one of the two people who killed James Bulger, was last month returned to prison.
The murdered toddler's mother Denise Fergus earlier admitted she was struggling to cope since news broke that Venables had been recalled to prison for unspecified reasons.
It emerged last week that the 27-year-old had been returned to prison for breaching the terms of his licence. Justice secretary Jack Straw told the Commons on Monday it was "not in the interest of justice" to specify why.
Venables abducted two-year-old James from a shopping centre in Bootle, Liverpool, with Robert Thompson in February 1993 before they beat him to death and laid his body on a railway track.
They were both convicted of his murder but released from prison eight years later under licence conditions and with a new identity.
The government has refused to reveal why Venables was returned to custody, with the Sunday Mirror claiming he is suspected of possessing images of child abuse.
Justice secretary Mr Straw, who has agreed to meet James' mother Denise Fergus, had earlier admitted he was in the "horns of a dilemma" over what to disclose concerning the allegations against Venables.
Responding to an urgent question in the Commons, Mr Straw revealed Venables had been taken into custody in February following an "alleged serious breach of his licence and a potential compromise of his new identity".
He said James' parents were informed under the statutory victims contact scheme but defended his and the home secretary's statements since the news broke.
Mr Straw insisted that if he had said any more he would have "undermined the integrity of the criminal justice process".
The justice secretary added that the new allegations would be "properly investigated so that justice could be done".
"No one would want anything other," he said.
Media outlets have already been warned against publishing anything that could jeopardise his new identity, although according to the Observer he has repeatedly done so himself in recent months.
And although proceedings are not active, there is also the threat of jeopardising any future trial against Venables.
Mrs Fergus told ITV1's This Morning on Monday her head was "all over the place" over the developments.
"I do not want to prejudice a trial but I have the right to know," she said.
"I want to know why he, I can't even bring myself to say his name, has been recalled to prison.
"If he [Mr Straw] can't tell me now, then I want to know after any criminal proceedings against him have finished.
"I can't eat again. I have pulled my kids out of school. It has brought it all flooding back."
Mr Straw told the Today programme he was faced with a legal and moral minefield.
"This case is very unusual with its extensive notoriety - many other situations where information is disclosed do not have the same implications there are here," he said.
"The judgment I have made - [and] I have received very clear advice from people directly involved in the investigation - [is that] it could be prejudicial, and in my view better to be cautious about what was disclosed.
"I fully understand why we have received a barrage of criticism that we should have said more."
A Parole Board hearing into the Venables case will be held in the next 28 days, with officials indicating the ruling will probably be made public due to the extremely-high public interest.
James Bulger's murder made headlines worldwide over the shock and revulsion of two schoolboys playing truant abducting a two-year-old while his mother went into a shop before beating him to death and leaving his body on a railway line so they could not be linked to the murder.
CCTV footage was released showing James being led away from the shopping centre while holding one of his killer's hands before the two boys were arrested ten days after the February 13th 1993 killing.
Later that year they were both found guilty of murder and sentenced to be detained at HM pleasure, the substitute for life when the defendant is a juvenile.
In 2001 they were released however when the parole board said they did not pose a risk to society.