James Bulger’s mum pleads with Liz Truss to keep killer Jon Venables behind bars

THE mother of murdered two-year-old James Bulger has sent a plea to Liz Truss in a bid to keep killer Jon Venables behind bars.

Denise Fergus has written a letter to the prime minister begging her not to let the 40-year-old out of prison as his parole hearing looms.

Days before Venables could be released, Denise, aged 53, sent an impassioned letter to Ms Truss, declaring: “He still poses a serious danger to other families like ours.”

The Mirror reports that Denise sent the letter to implore the Conservative leader to step in and block Venables’ freedom due to him reoffending twice since murdering James in 1993.

https://t.co/R5v3QA1ylA pic.twitter.com/DbWmqJbNzd

— James Bulger charity (@jbmt1) February 12, 2022

He could be released at the parole hearing after serving the minimum sentence for possessing child sex abuse images.

Denise hopes that the PM will honour a pledge by a Tory colleague made in June by former Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, who vowed to tighten laws for dangerous criminals.

The loving mum, who has campaigned in James’ memory since his murder, declared this as her “biggest step forward in 29 years in justice for James”.

But Raab was sacked last month when Ms Truss became PM, leading to the Bill of Rights reform being shelved.

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 skeptical 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.”

Venables and Robert Thompson were aged 10 when they abducted two-year-old James from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside before torturing and murdering him.

The boys were convicted of murder and detained indefinitely but were released aged 18 with new identities, without spending any time in an adult prison.

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It's been confirmed that one of James Bulger's killers Jon Venables (pictured) has been refused parole.
Venables and Robert Thompson murdered the 2-year-old in 1993. They were released in 2001. Venables has twice been returned to jail for possessing indecent images of children. pic.twitter.com/aC7NkecPFr

— BBC North West (@BBCNWT) September 29, 2020

Thompson has since stayed out of trouble, while Venables has been sent back to prison twice in 2010 and 2017 after child sex abuse images were found on his computer.

The killer was denied parole in 2020 after serving his minimum sentence of 40 months and has since made a second bid for freedom.

Denise is hoping that new Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis will pick up where Raab left off, and stop Venables from being released.

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.”