Government refuses to comment on reports that killer of James Bulger was recalled over alleged child pornography offences
Peter Walker
Ministers faced increasing pressure today to release details about offences allegedly committed by one of James Bulger's killers, following a report that he was returned to prison in connection with child pornography offences.
The claim, in the Sunday Mirror, follows separate allegations that Jon Venables, now 27, who was released on licence in 2001 and given a new name, had become mentally fragile. According to other reports, he has been known to drink heavily and use drugs, and has revealed his true identity to others.
A ministry of justice spokesman said: "We cannot confirm or deny anything with regards to this".
James's mother, Denise Fergus, is calling for the government to confirm Venables's alleged offence and for him to appear in court under his own name. She is to meet the justice secretary, Jack Straw, this week.
Straw has said only that Venables was recalled to prison due to "extremely serious allegations", refusing to give further details.
He was supported today by fellow ministers, who warned that discussions of Venables's alleged misdeed could jeopardise any future legal proceedings, and that he would find it impossible to get a fair trial if his past was revealed in court.
Harriet Harman, the leader of the Commons, told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "We don't want anything to happen whereby they can't be brought to a trial because it is said that they can't get a fair trial because all the media reporting has been prejudiced".
The children's secretary, Ed Balls, told Sky News: "A society where politicians make those kinds of decisions would be the wrong kind of society".
He added: "It was right for people to try rehabilitation but the first thing always has to be making sure the public are safe".
The government's stance has been broadly backed by the opposition, although the shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, said a "drip drip" release of news about Venables could be extremely difficult for James's parents.
He also questioned whether Venables had been properly supervised, telling Sky: "He appears to have been – if even half of the newspaper stories are true – able to act in a way that most if us would think is inconsistent with the actions of somebody that's supposed to be under the supervision of the state".
Venables and Robert Thompson, then aged 10, lured two-year-old James away from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, in February 1993, and battered him to death. Under the terms of their release, they must adhere to a series of strict conditions, including that they never make contact with each other or return to Liverpool.
At the time of the trial, Venables was viewed as the more hopeful case for rehabilitation, because he was apparently more remorseful than his co-accused.
The decision of the trial judge, Mr Justice Morland, to let the killers be named was criticised by some observers, who pointed out that such was their notoriety this would simply mean their having to be given new identities on their release.
Earlier this year, the judge who sentenced two brothers who tortured and sexually humiliated a pair of younger children in Edlington, South Yorkshire – a case with several parallels to the Bulger killing – opted to maintain the attackers' anonymity.
The Bulger trial heard nothing about any sexual element to the murder, although this was something considered by investigators.
A 2006 Home Office report by a group of leading child and adolescent psychiatrists found a strong correlation between sexually abusive behaviour in children and personality disorders which can lead to serious criminal behaviour.
The Guardian
