The Parole Board has been considering the release of Jon Venables – jailed for murdering two-year-old James Bulger in 1993 and returned to prison after being caught with child abuse videos
11:12, 13 Jan 2026Updated 11:39, 13 Jan 2026
Jon Venables, pictured after he was arrested for murdering James Bulger(Image: PA)
James Bulger’s mum has received news of a major development after her son’s killer Jon Venables was granted a parole hearing today.
Twisted Venables, 43, who was just 10 when he brutally tortured and killed tiny two-year-old James in 1993, will have a crunch showdown in front of parole chiefs – expected in the next month. It is a fresh blow for James’ mum Denise who will now attend the parole showdown, where she will hear the killer’s voice for the first time in more than 30 years.
The decision, which parole chiefs shared with James’ family today, has left Denise feeling “uncertainty and distress” and feeling “unimaginable trauma” at the reality of being pitched against 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.
Kym Morris, a spokeswoman for James’ mum Denise Fergus, exclusively told the Mirror: “Today we have been informed that a parole hearing has been granted in relation to John Venables. Once again, Denise Fergus has been forced to confront a process that reopens unimaginable trauma. Denise was hoping for a redirection, with no hearing granted by the MAC, allowing her a measure of peace and protection from further distress. That hope has now been taken away.
“Denise has been informed that her application to observe the hearing has been granted. While this provides her with access to the process, it does not lessen the emotional burden she is being asked to carry, nor does it offer the reassurance or closure she so desperately deserves.
“Instead, Denise now faces yet another prolonged period of uncertainty and distress, with limited clarity around how decisions are being reached or how ongoing risks are being assessed.”
James Bulger was murdered after being lured away from his mum(Image: )
Denise has been granted unprecedented access for the first time ever to observe the crunch hearing. She will be able to see the whole hearing apart from Venables’ face, which will be obscured to protect his identity. She will be able to hear him speak – something she hasn’t heard since the murder trial 30 years ago, when Venables was a child. Denise’s victim impact statement is expected to be read out at the hearing to the board.
Parole board officials decided that after reviewing written submissions from prison workers, counsellors, psychiatrists and impact statements from members of James’ family, including Denise, it was fair to grant him an oral hearing.
Denise with James (Image: Denise Bulger / ITN Productions)
In February 2018 Venables admitted possessing videos of male toddlers being abused and a “paedophile manual” on how to attack children. He was jailed for 40 months and had to serve a minimum of 20 months.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Edis told the Old Bailey that the manual suggested that Venables was “at least contemplating the possibility of moving on to actual sexual crime against children”. His first offence shocked the nation when he and child pal Robert Thompson barbarically murdered James after snatching him from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside in 1993.
James’ mum Denise Fergus has fought to keep Venables locked up(Image: CHRIS NEILL)
Both were released after less than eight years in a young offenders institute. While Thompson, also 43, is not believed to have reoffended, Venables has been recalled to prison twice for paedophile offences.
Venables would not have been helped by his decision to miss his last parole appeal in December 2023. He was granted a two-day hearing, which took place behind closed doors because he claimed seeing James’ family “would harm his mental health”.
Robert Thompson is not thought to have reoffended(Image: PA)
But after arguing that it should be heard in private, he failed to show up – meaning all evidence was read to the parole board. In 2023, after two-weeks deliberation, a panel ruled that Venables was “still a danger to children” and “could not be trusted”.
A three-page summary of the Parole Board’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.
James Bulger (left) was lured to his death by Jon Venables (Image: PA)
“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”.
