His mother was not so keen on the idea - they cost pounds 35 each. These are the words of an officer who was in the police station when DCI Geoff MacDonald of Merseyside Police broke the news to Denise that James was dead. From a distance Robert looked a sweet child. Natural Landmarks. Who knows. Their faces affected me deeply. Teachers later reported that whereas the boys were manageable when separated, together their behavior worsened dramatically. He denied having had any films that were not mainstream, or that were pornographic, in the house. A video still of James Bulger, aged 2 years old, being led away in the 'New Strand' shopping centre. Toddler James Bulger disappeared on February 12 1993. He had been stripped from the waist down,. "I think my son's concentration wasn't the way it should have been, but he wasn't slow. She visited regularly and they would hold family anniversaries in the, place where he was held. Three years ago, after his mother walloped him, he went to social services and asked them to put him in care. Although he appeared to have the more stable upbringing of the two boys, there was a history of family problems. Meanwhile Robert Thompson always regarded as the ringleader and the most likely of the murderous duo to fall by the wayside is said to be doing well. Venables parents were divorced but still lived within a stones throw of one another and were both involved in their sons upbringing. The Royal Mint of a 50p coin featuring Professor Albus Dumbledore as part of a Harry Potter-themed collection. The sunrises through the sea mist over the sculpture The Couple by Sean Henry at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea on the Northumberland coast. By now the two boys from Walton were part of an international freak show. His mother, Susan, attributed this behavior with peer pressure and hyperactivity, and put him on a special diet, though it did nothing to quell his frequent emotional outbursts. Left to his own devices Jon liked to spend his playtime in fairly sedentary ways. 'I didn't know it would be like this,' Mr Venables said with hindsight. James Bulgers mother Denise claims that she managed to track down Thompson six years ago, planning to confront him but instead stared at him from the opposite side of the street, full of rage but unable to act. The phone-in programme, as ever, was a place to turn to try to find reasons - evil, poverty, neglect, possessed anything to explain what felt inexplicable. Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman . So, when he first began his association with classmate Jon Venables, in September 1992, Robert was happy to have finally befriended a boy like Jon, who could almost always be persuaded to follow in his lead. From their point of view it makes perfect sense. I'm warning yer,' she would say. Other parents came in to complain about attention seeking. In a 1993 interview, published in the Guardian newspaper just one day after Robert was convicted of the murder of James Bulger, Ann Thompson was quick to place fault on the neighborhood and the surrounding authorities, who she felt had failed both her and her sons. He said he was frightened of Robert's older brother. 'I think it has something to do with a hatred of vulnerability and babyness in themselves which they projected on to this toddler.'.
'25 years after the James Bulger trial, I still shed hot tears at the But they shouldn't have been tried in an adult court because they were still children. Her family were dignified throughout, but on that day one of theBulgerfamily supporters allowed themselvesa loud 'YES' as the verdicts came in. . Robert said 'If you tell anybody I'll get my big brother to batter you up'. Jon was afraid of her. Eventually, Bobby walked out on his family, but not before beating his wife one final time. Constantly fighting and battering one another, and possibly, too, being hit by their emotionally drained mother, the Thompson brothers often looked scruffy, and, on more than one occasion, were seen bearing bruises and bite marks. He also liked to scare old ladies by jumping out in front of their noses. Their parents entered the courtroom; The Venables arrived together, Ann Thompson came with supporters but no sign of Robert's father. The family was put up in a hostel temporarily and later relocated by the social services. I have cried for JamesBulgermany times, so God only knows the tears his parents and family have shed. Bird Pictures. I said no. On the 20 year anniversary of the murder of James Bulger, BBC Radio 5 Live's Shelagh Fogarty recalls the trial of his young killers. On Sundays he used to watch Thunderbirds. I used to get them for myself at night time. They said their son met Robert Thompson in September 1991, when Jon was transferred from another school. Sandra Gotheridge. One of Anns sons claimed that Ann, too, had beaten them with sticks, and had struck one of the boys with a cane. It was not until much later, when questioned as to his involvement in the death of James Bulger, that Roberts resentment towards the new baby became suddenly and painfully apparent. "It is hard to take in really. Scores more watched proceedings from a neighbouring office block which, for the duration of the trial, came under court jurisdiction. For a start, there were only three children, of whom Jon was the middle. His body, defiled and broken in two by a train, two miles from where hed been taken, was foundtwo days later.
The Killing of James Bulger: Where are Robert Thompson and Jon Venables Egypt. He was jailed for two years before being granted parole again in July 2013. The right will draw attention to the broken homes, the single parents, the persistent truancy. The Radio Merseyside newsroom, where I was working at the time, was full and everyone was on this story one way or another. A newsroom reporter who was not working on the case fended off transatlantic interview demands, saying that it was not enough that he had a Liverpool accent. xf fy. Both Ann and the children knew well the sting of palm against flesh, and Bobby often used these beatings to ensure that his wife and children conformed. Friday 12th February 1993. Facebook gives people the power. Seeing at first hand the pain of a family who have lost a toddler to an act of brutal violence is almost unbearably moving. There is hatred and envy directed at the baby - a wish to see it suffer in the way they have suffered. Little Bobby went to visit his brothers every so often, eager to show them the latest playthings he had robbed from the assorted shops nearby. He once came to me crying saying the other boys were picking on him, trying to steal his bike.'. Resentful of her husbands lack of involvement with the children, Susan conceded that the couple fought constantly, especially throughout 1983, but maintained that Neil had never been aggressive towards her, nor had she hit him. A newspaper man from Detroit said it was because 'Liverpool is the Beatles and love, love, love. You know, we just try and help him as best we can to try to come to terms with things. Shame? She remained very frightened and felt that she and her son were the most hated people in the country. gl. On the days he was at school he had a knack for stirring things up. She spent much of her time at the pub after that, and rarely stayed in for a meal. I couldnt make any sense of it, Robert later recalled, desolately, when asked about his fathers unexpected departure. 'It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. "He tends to be a bit hyperactive so his concentration did go a bit, but apart from that he is quite bright, no worries.". Susan was known as the town " whore". The bird was taken to the vets where they are nursing it back to health. He stayed away from school so often the local police called him a professional truant. Best of all, they would spend time on the Walton railway line where Robert had built a den close to the bridge. Truanting, or 'sagging off', had become a way of life for Robert. His father, Neil, an unemployed panel-beater, was separated from his mother but they lived only a mile apart, saw each other every other day, and took equal care of the children. and things like that is that he was frightened.
Child Killer - Thompson & Venables - Murder in the Uk everyone blamed Thompson and. Ultimately, however, the couples indifferences led to separation, and they were eventually divorced in 1986. Mr Venables said that the two boys had played truant together four times before, adding that he caught them twice. In the years between Venabless first return to prison and this latest conviction he was deemed to be living successfully in the community, when in fact he was working out ways to dodge his internet ban and hiding a computer in his headboard in order to download abusive images of children, including what the judge described this week as serious crimes inflicted on male toddlers. When the fisticuffs ended, impressed by each other's performance, they made friends. ', Mrs Thompson had no illusions about her son: 'He's a little liar, he's devious, he's a scally, he robs, he plays truant.' Big Bobby, like Anns father, was a violent alcoholic, who was easily crossed. When Jon's parents gave a recent press interview, it was Mrs Venables who did most of the talking; the father just sat and cried. Jon was slim in build and taller than Robert, just over five feet. Financially, the couple appeared to be functioning, but meanwhile, Susan was at the end of her rope with her eldest son, who, having become increasingly frustrated at his inability to communicate, had grown terribly unhappy and was having temper tantrums regularly. Englands Ollie Chessum dives in to score his sides second try during the Guinness Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium, London, Sam Smith arrives for the Brit Awards ceremony, A robin redbreast takes flight in Dublins botanic gardens. Once he stole decorating borders from a DIY shop which he discarded at regular intervals to mark his way home. Ian was clever enough to know that to survive he had to get out. The family was already exhaustingly overextended, and Robert, being the fifth edition, was quick to pick up on the coping mechanisms needed to survive in a life of unremitting chaos and enmity. Ann Thompson and Susan and Neil Venables didn't need to imagine. What they did was exceptionally unpleasant and the fact that a little boy ended up dead is not something the nation can easily forget.