Jon Venables – just 10 when he brutally tortured and killed two-year-old James – has been granted a new parole hearing which could see him back on the streets later this year
James Bulger’s mum has told of her “anger” and “distress” at her son’s killer being granted a fresh parole bid – and is now braced to hear his voice for the first time in decades.
Twisted Jon Venables – just 10 when he brutally tortured and killed two-year-old James in 1993 – was yesterday granted a new parole hearing, which if successful would see him back on the streets later this year.
James’ mum Denise Fergus, who has been granted access to one of Venables’ hearings for the first time ever, faces an agonising wait over the next month to hear when the summit will be.
She will then be scrambled to a secret prison or court facility to attend the parole hearing, where the identity of Venables – now 43 – will be protected but hauntingly she will hear his voice through a video link in a separate room.
Parole chiefs are likely to hear mitigation from Venables about why he believes he has been rehabilitated – the first time the grieving mum has heard her killer’s voice for 30 years.
Today in an exclusive interview mum Denise, 57, has told of her fury that Venables – initially freed in 2001 from a life sentence for murder but recalled to jail in 2010 and 2017 after being found with child abuse imagery – has been granted another shot at release despite shunning his last hearing in 2023.
She told how she has readied herself for “weeks of purgatory and trauma” before the crucial hearing and is braced to properly hear the voice of her son’s killer for the first time since his 1993 trial when he was a child.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Denise said: “It is distressing and frankly makes me angry that I’ve now been told that James’ killer will be afforded a parole hearing and a chance of release. Surely this person has proved he can not be given yet another chance yet he’s been given one.
“The parole board must remember, he’s not a 10-year-old anymore. He’s bigger, he’s stronger, he’s got more wits about him. He’s been educated to lie to his back teeth. My worry is that if he’s released, he’ll lose that protection, he’ll be looking over his shoulder the whole time, he’ll have a target on his back. He’s not going to like it in the real world. What is he going to do to get back inside?
On readying herself to hear Venables’ voice again, she said: “I’m ready to hear his voice. I’m braced for it. It will be hard to listen to the person who killed James but I can feel in my bones that it is something I’ve got to do. I have to be part of this hearing.
“I’m not focusing on how he’ll sound, how apologetic or polite he might sound. I don’t care what he says. If he starts giving excuses, I’ll be seething inside and will have to sit on my hands.
“He can say he’s rehabilitated or how he’s changed as many times as he likes but I know he hasn’t changed a bit. He killed my son.
“I want him to know that I’m there. I want him to know I haven’t forgotten, I haven’t forgiven and I will always know what he is. I want my presence to say to him, ‘you should never see the light of day again after what you did to James. You are the worst of dangers to society and 30 years has not changed what you are. You have killed once and I believe you will murder again’.”
Denise also revealed how she is worried the hearing could now clash with either next month’s anniversary of James murder or what would have been his 36th birthday in March.
Earlier the Mirror broke the news that Venables had been granted a parole hearing – expected in the next month.
Parole officials told Denise in a telephone call it was deemed fair to grant him an oral hearing after months reviewing written submissions from prison workers, counsellors, psychiatrists and impact statements from members of James’ family, including Denise,
She said: “I have learned to prepare for the worst over the past 30 years or so but when the news came it was still upsetting. It’s galling they’ve given him another parole hearing after he decided not to turn up to the last one in 2023.
“It means weeks of purgatory now. We now need to wait and on hearing the news my first thought was of how I ready myself for being at the hearing and the importance of letting my son’s killer know that I’m listening in.
“It doesn’t make it any easier though. I’ll be thinking about it all the time. I’ll be waking up thinking, ‘is today the day of the parole hearing’. I don’t want to live on my nerves anymore. I feel like I’m the one in prison, not him.”
It was confirmed to Denise that she would be able to have access to the parole hearing – something which was denied at his previous two hearings – despite not being able to be in the same room.
She will be notified at short notice to attend a secret location when she will be placed in front of a video-link of the hearing.
Denise, who lives with her husband Stuart on Merseyside, added: “Until I’m in the room I don’t know how I’ll react, whether fury will rise in me at the sound of him, because it’s the first hearing I’ve ever attended. I expect I’ll have to sit on my hands and keep my mouth shut or I’ll get kicked out of the room.”
Denise’s victim impact statement is expected to be read out at the hearing to the board.
Denise and Stuart told how they were on “high alert” in the lead up to Christmas – knowing news of the parole could come at any moment.
Stuart added: “In February and March there are some big anniversaries for us. Time when we need to reflect. However, it feels that these could now be affected by the spectre of the hearing.”
Venables’ hideous crime shocked the nation when he and Robert Thompson barbarically murdered James after snatching James from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside in 1993.
Both were released after less than eight years in a reoffenders institute. But while Thompson, also 43, is believed to have not reoffended, Venables has been recalled to prison twice for making sexual images of children.
His last parole hearing was in December 2023 when he refused to attend at the last minute.
This was after he was granted an unprecedented two-day hearing, which took place behind closed doors because he argued seeing James’ family “would harm his mental health”.
After two-weeks deliberation, a parole board ruled that Venables was “still a danger to children” and “could not be trusted”.
At the time, a three-page summary of the Parole Board panel’s decision said: “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and on licence, and the evidence presented in the dossier, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public.
“It noted the risks as set out above, doubted Mr Venables’ ability to be open and honest with professionals, and concluded that there remained a need for him to address outstanding levels of risk, and to develop his relationship with his probation officer.”
It said the killer had completed a “considerable amount of work” in prison to address his offending but the panel remained “concerned by continuing issues of sexual preoccupation”.
Speaking about her son’s killer, Denise added: “He took so many things away from me – not only James but happiness and so much more. James would likely be married now, he could have kids, we could be grandparents to James’ children. Instead, we don’t have those things and yet still we are talking about him. I hope that the parole board see what we see. He should never see freedom again.”
