Bulger’s killers were children themselves – as Robert Thompson and Jon Venables became the youngest people to be charged with murder in the twentieth century. Murders that Shocked Britain s3e4: The Murder of James Bulger, CI 2012
The then Home Secretary Michael Howard responded to public pressure and increased the jail terms to fifteen years. ibid.
On the afternoon of Friday 12th February 1993 a 2-year-old boy disappears from a shopping centre in Bootle, near Liverpool. His name is James Bulger. Crimes that Shook Britain: James Bulger
Along with a confession from Venables, compelling evidence from the scene also links the boys to the murder. ibid.
James Bulger’s killers inflicted 42 injuries on the two-year-old, a Home Office pathologist yesterday told the jury trying two 11-year-olds for his murder. He had multiple fractures to the skull and the right side was shattered.
Dr Alan Williams counted 22 bruises, splits and grazes on James’s face and head, and 20 more wounds on his body.
The prosecution at Preston Crown Court claims the accused boys – who deny all charges – attacked him on 12 February at a railway embankment in Walton, Liverpool. It claims they knew they were doing wrong and intended to cause James serious injury.
Dr Williams said that post-mortem examinations revealed that James had been struck by at least 30 blows, and he had endured ‘a short period of survival’ after the attack. The Independent online article Jonathan Foster 10th November 1993
Frozen in time – a moment in 1993 that James was abducted. The crime was unprecedented and all the more horrific because his killers were children themselves. Real Crime with Mark Austin s7e13: James Bulger: A Mother’s Story, ITV 2008
He appeared to be following two boys. ibid.
Sunday 14th February 1993: The body of a toddler was found on a railway track in Liverpool’s Walton district. ibid.
Robert Thompson … was ten years old … John Venables … he was also ten years old … both suspects were taken to separate police stations away from the media. ibid.
‘So we walked up to him and we were walking around him and I took his hand.’ The Bulger Killers: Was Justice Done? police taped evidence, Channel 4 2018
25 years ago James Bulger was murdered by Robert Thomas and Jon Venables. Amid the furious press frenzy the public debate raged: were they monsters who should be locked up for life? ibid.
On 12th February 1993 James Bulger went missing from the Bootle Strand shopping centre in Merseyside. ibid.
When presented with their evidence the boys began to blame each other. ibid.
‘James is never far from conversation anyway.’ Trevor McDonald, James Bulger: A Mother’s Story, ITV 2018
The abduction and murder of James Bulger was one of the most disturbing stories … and remains deeply shocking to this day. Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were the youngest children in living memory to be convicted of murder. ibid.
The boys now blamed each other for taking the lead role in the killing. ibid.
Jon Venables was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography. Venables was jailed for two years. Yesterday, after reoffending in 2017, he pleaded guilty to the possession of child pornography and is now back in prison. ibid.
Little James, the couple’s only son … 1993 Bootle just north of Liverpool … When she turns around James is gone. How could he have vanished? … She scours the shopping centre … Killer Kids s1e7: Group Killers, 2011
At only ten the two boys are little terrors … A security camera catches them on film as they leave … They hit him and pelt him with bricks; they finish their victim off by whacking him on the head with an iron plaque. ibid.
In 1993, 2 10-year-old boys from Liverpool became the most notorious and despised child murderers in the world. Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were the youngest children ever to be tried of murder and convicted in Britain. They had abducted and murdered 2-year-old James Bulger. It is a crime that has haunted Britain. James Bulger: New Revelations, Channel 5 2018
Security footage from the Strand shopping centre revealed that he had been led away by two youths. ibid.
The battered body of James was found by children playing. His body has been left on the railway track. ibid.
They were interviewed over three days … ‘They blamed each other.’ ibid.
Thompson and Venables both entered please of not guilty at the trial, each continuing to blame each other. ibid.
When Thompson was in school he was indifferent and untrustworthy. ibid.
‘My life on the streets was better for me than my life at home.’ ibid. Thompson
He [Jon] cut himself deliberately with scissors … and threw things at other children … He tried to choke another child with a ruler.’ ibid. Venables’ school report
2010: He [Venables] was imprisoned for downloading images of child pornography. In 2017 he was back in prison again for the same offence. ibid.
Police respond to a possible sighting of James Bulger. The location is over a mile from the shopping centre where he was reported missing. Lost Boy: Killing of James Bulger, Channel 5 2021, captions
Robert Thompson and Jon Venables are taken to separate police stations to be interviewed. ibid.
They both started blaming each other. Lost Boy: Killing of James Bulger II
‘They [crowd] wanted blood. They really did.’ ibid. rozzer
The prosecution called thirty-eight witnesses. They saw Thompson and Venables make the two-and-a-half-mile journey from the Strand to the railway line. ibid. caption
The cause of death was a result of multiple head injuries. ibid.
They were sentenced to 7 years and 8 months for the murder. To be served in a secure children’s home. ibid.
In 2010 Venables was sentenced to 2 years in prison for faking 57 indecent photographs of children and distributing 7 indecent images of children. In 2017 Venables was arrested again. ibid. captions
This is the story of one of Britain’s most dramatic trials. Told only by those inside the courtroom in 1993. Two of the youngest defendants ever. Charged with murdering a toddler. James Bulger: The Trial, Channel 5 2023
Two ten-year-old boys had been arrested over the abduction and murder of two-year-old James Bulger. The nation was gripped with hatred for Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. ibid. caption
The trial was moved 35 miles away from Liverpool. ibid.
Thompson and Venables, now 11, pleaded not guilty to all charges. Instead, they accused each other. ibid.
The blood and paint had linked the boys to the scene of the crime. And the kick proved that Robert Thompson had attacked James. ibid.
Neither boy was to give evidence. ibid.
The killers of two-year-old James Bulger: ten-year-old Jon Venables and Robert Thompson … Two of the youngest convicted killers in modern British history. True Crime Recaps: Spine-Chilling Killer Kids, Youtube 29.40, 2023
Both boys had blue paint on their clothes and James’ blood on their shoes. ibid.
They only got eight years. ibid.
BULGER, JAMES WHITEY: Mobsters: Whitey Bulger TV - Outlaw Empires TV - Whitey Bulger: The Making of a Monster TV - Whitey: United States of America v James J Bulger 2014 -
The notorious Irish mobster Jim Whitey Bulger ... Within his own criminal circle he preached a code of honour, loyalty and trust. Mobsters: Whitey Bulger, Biography 2008
In the end Bulger himself betrayed his fellow mobsters. ibid.
The drugs were in huge demand. But Whitey never sampled his own product. ibid.
Bulger and Flemmi were linked to twenty-one murders, eleven of them while they were working for the FBI. ibid.
His last confirmed sighting was in Piccadilly Circus. ibid.
In November 2013, James Whitey Bulger was sentenced to prison for two consecutive life terms plus 5 years. ibid. caption
By 1979 Whitey controlled South Boston and all its underworld ... Whitey Bulger was the most ruthless mobster in South Boston ... In the early 1980s Whitey Bulger had killed and buried numerous victims in the basement of a house in South Boston. But now the house was up for sale … Unearthing the bodies was even more gruesome than burying them. Outlaw Empires: South Boston Irish Mob, Discovery 2012
James Whitey Bulger, legendary crime boss and cold-blooded murderer. A charming manipulator who got under women’s skin. A psychopath who ruled a vast criminal empire. Whitey Bulger: The Making of a Monster, Discovery 2015
The Boston underworld was a cut-throat and complex arena of rival gang dynasties. ibid.
The most wanted man in America was finally arrested. ibid.
Only Whitey knows where all the bodies are buried. ibid.