James Bulger's mother meets with justice secretary Jack Straw
Mother of murdered toddler James Bulger meets with justice secretary Jack Straw over return to prison of Jon Venables
Thursday, 11, Mar 2010 04:14
By Matthew Champion.
The mother of murdered toddler James Bulger has held private talks with justice secretary Jack Straw after one of the two people who killed her son was returned to prison for unknown reasons.
It emerged last week that Jon Venables, now 27, had been returned to custody for breaching the terms of his licence. Mr Straw has since told the Commons it is "not in the interests 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.
Denise Fergus, James' mother, had insisted she had a right to know why Venables had been placed back in prison.
Today she and her husband met Mr Straw at the town hall in Blackburn, where he is the MP.
"I can confirm I met with Mrs Fergus, and it was a private meeting," Mr Straw said afterwards, with both parties agreeing not to disclose what was discussed.
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 killers' 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.