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Identity Of Jon Venables Could Be Revealed As James Bulger's Family Challenge Court

Identity Of Jon Venables Could Be Revealed As James Bulger's Family Challenge Court

The family are reported to be attending the High Court to challenge Venables' anonymity

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

The new identity of Jon Venables could be revealed as the family of victim James Bulger are due to challenge a court order which gives anonymity to the toddler's killer.


A hearing at the High Court in London is scheduled for today, according to the Mirror.

The Mirror reports that the case will be held in open court and heard by the President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby. The case is listed by a number followed by the name Bulger.

According to the paper, it will involve an application by members of Bulger's family to challenge the injunction which 'prevents identification of the person previously known as Jon Venables'.

Venables has recently been sent back to prison after being found with indecent images of children.

He was jailed for three years and four months after he admitted looking on the dark web for 'extreme child abuse images'. He was also found to be in possession of a vile 'paedophile manual'. According to police over 1,000 images were found on his computer.

It was the second time he had been caught with indecent images of children. When arrested, he told cops he had 'stupid urges'.

James Bulger's mum Denis Fergus.
PA

Venables and Robert Thompson tortured and murdered two-year-old James Bulger after snatching him from a shopping centre in Merseyside in 1993. Both the boys were aged just 10 at the time and were handed life sentences for the shocking crime.

They were later given new identities and lifelong anonymity by a High Court Judge. However, James' dad Ralph Bulger has led calls for Venables to be stripped of his anonymity to keep other children safe.

He told the Mirror in February: "We've got to watch this sexual deviant. We know what he's capable of. He's just waiting for another victim. Let's make sure there's no more."

Mandy Waller, the family liaison officer who worked with the Bulger family at the time, told Good Morning Britain: "I think that he had a predilection for young children from a young age. They should be monitoring him more closely when he comes out and taking away his anonymity."

James Bulger was just two when he was tortured and killed.
PA

While Venables' solicitor from 1993, Laurence Lee, added: "I have every sympathy with the Bulger family. If I were in their shoes, I'd be clamouring as loudly as they are for his anonymity. He's had his chances. Anonymity has been wasted on him."

Source: The Mirror

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: james bulger, UK News, jon venables, crime