James Bulger’s killer Jon Venables ‘could be free in weeks after getting parole hearing’
Jon Venables, one of James Bulger’s killers, is bidding to be freed from jail again before a new law comes into force which could keep him locked up forever.
Now 40, the child murderer has reportedly been granted a parole hearing, paving the way for him to be released from prison within weeks.
He is likely to appear before Parole Board chiefs as early as next month, according to The Sun.
A source told the paper: ‘An oral hearing would mean Venables is one decision away from being released. James’ family are horrified at the prospect.’
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab is said to be ‘looking very closely’ at the case.
His Victims Bill would include a ‘two strikes and you’re in’ scheme, preventing dangerous repeat offenders committing serious offences while on parole from ever being let out.
Mr Raab hopes it will clear Parliament by Easter.
Venables and Robert Thompson were both aged 10 when they tortured and killed little James after snatching the toddler from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, in February 1993.
The pair – still the UK’s youngest convicted murderers in modern history – were jailed for life but released on licence with new identities in 2001.
Venables was sent back to prison in 2010 and 2017 for possessing indecent images of children.
He was denied parole back in September 2020 but became eligible for a further review within two years.
Ahead of that previous review, James’s mother Denise Fergus urged the Board to deny Venables early release and ‘finally admit this man is a threat and danger to society’.
She claimed he had shown ‘no remorse or any signs of being rehabilitated’.
His father Ralph Bulger told The Mirror he could ‘rest easy’ after the decision, adding: ‘This is the first time ever that the right decision has been made regarding my son’s killers.
‘I am so relieved because I was convinced he was getting out – just as he has done before.’
Parole hearings – which decide if criminals, including those serving life sentences and terrorists, should be freed from jail or stay behind bars – have always been held in private inside prisons, with victims and other observers granted limited access in rare circumstances.
But under new rule changes which came into force last July, victims, the press and other interested parties are allowed to request a case is reviewed in public in a bid to remove the secrecy around the process.
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