A woman who claimed to have unknowingly dated Jon Venables - one of the people who murdered James Bulger - has revealed that she felt 'sick' upon finding out who he was.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, explained that the killer appeared charming and confident, and also had a 'very dark sense of humour'.
She also said that during the course of her knowing him, he showed himself to be manipulative and 'threatening'.
Advert
She told the Metro: "'I felt sick when I was told, it still has not sunk in. He was just so average, he didn't scream 'child killer'.
"Our circle of friends are in shock, we have known him for years, people have introduced him to their children."
Earlier this year, Venables was sent back to jail on child pornography charges. Police found a laptop hidden behind his bed which contained some sickening material during a routine visit to his home.
The woman, who is around 10 years younger than Venables, 35, said that after meeting him in 2013 they grew close, despite the fact that she had a boyfriend.
Advert
"He used to catch the same bus as me and after a few weeks we got talking, and pretty quickly he made it clear he had a thing for me," she said.
"He was passionate about politics and was always going to gigs. He loved the same bands as me, so I liked his vibe. He was very confident, even obnoxious, and had a very dark sense of humour."
She added: "He asked me out for a drink and I agreed. We went into the town centre and into a pub.
"He dressed smarter than I had seen him before and paid for all the drinks. He drank beer and we had about six each.
"He was a bit older than me, nearly ten years, but it was a bit like going out with a yob, he was a real know-it-all. It was a Sunday night so we did not stay out. We kissed at the bus stop, and he left me there."
Advert
It didn't take long for Venables' manipulative side to reveal itself.
The woman said: "I had a boyfriend at the time and he started demanding I finish with him, when I would not he started threatening me.
"He started telling me he would tell my boyfriend about us if I did not."
The woman continued to explain that Venables then started up a relationship with someone else, though even this didn't stop him trying to have a hold over her.
She said: "Just three days later he was with someone else, after all the threats he had made about my relationship I could not believe it, but I was also kind of relieved.
Advert
"He did not act like a player, like he was shagging loads of people at the same time but he had obviously been with a lot of women, but I was shocked he got with someone else so quickly."
She continued: "If he saw me and my boyfriend together on the bus he would be really weird. He would blatantly eye me up and make it very uncomfortable."
The woman also said that one night they got into an argument about politics, and he came up 'really close' and shouted: "You don't know who I am."
Those already sinister words then took on a whole new meaning when she found out who he really was, after a mutual friend saw an illegal picture of Venables on social media and confronted her.
Advert
She said: "What I cannot stop thinking about is that I am the same age as Jamie Bulger would have been. When I was growing up, my parents always talked about what happened to him.
"I know every detail of what they did to him, my parents were so scared of letting me out of their sight and losing me."
She added: "And after all those precautions over all those years that my parents took to ensure I was safe I ended up going on a date with Jon Venables."
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: james bulger, World News, UK News, jon venables, UK