I have lost my son as well. The boys, by now lacking any sense of guidance within the home, took to the streets, robbing, truanting, and some of them experimenting with drugs. The two bumped into each other - literally - in the school playground in the middle of a fight. Robert would give Jon presents of stolen objects: trolls, of course, toy terrapins, sweets. He was a loyal fan, though he did not go often to Goodison Park. I wasnt on duty that day, so the very beginnings of the story washed over me. If it suited his moodwhich it frequently didBobby would beat the boys, curse at them, and threaten to send them to a home for children who misbehaved. That was in September 1991, 17 months before they killed James Bulger. I remember watching her then on TV, her sobbing plea for information and thinking how much guts it must have taken to get up that day and face a roomful of journalists and photographers. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. It set the tone for the years ahead in which there was to be no respite from the hatred. This happened, more often than not, at night, when they refused to go to bed when told. He didn't want to hurt James. We will never be able to do the fun things any more . I didnt, did I? she said to Neil during their interview with Gitta Sereny. To be absolutely accurate, she had only one illusion. Just something to do.'. By then, Robert and Jon had abducted James Bulger from the Strand and attempted to drown him in the nearby canal.
susan venables pictures Ultimately, however, the couples indifferences led to separation, and they were eventually divorced in 1986. She claimed, however, that she was completely unaware of Jons erratic behaviors at school, had never seen any evidence to support them (such as cuts on his arms or holes in his socks), and dismissed the possibility that many of the occurrences cited by the teacher had ever taken place. His former wife would send their boys up the street to give their father the fingers through the bay windows of his mother's house. 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. 'You'd better tell the truth. Child killer Mary Bell and Maxine Carr, the former girlfriend of Soham murderer Ian Huntley, are the others. 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The family was put up in a hostel temporarily and later relocated by the social services. He has had his holidays like everyone else. 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. Thompson & Venebales. Susan Venables's bent body shrank deeper into itself. Many of us had dined together most nights throughout the trial, mulling it all over but distracting ourselves, too. 'In my opinion he was victimised. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. He frequented local cinemas and regularly hired videos for the night. She couldn't. He took a jar of paracetamol. He has had more love and attention than a lot of children I know. 'I even went up to the railway line because I knew the other boy had a den up there and was on the railway nearly all the time.'. Susan was known as the town " whore". The first time he asked Jon to play truant with him was last September, only weeks after they had become friends. But talking in 1993, his mother tried to explain how her child turned into a murderer. ", Her husband, Neil, said: "If you had a league table of children, you would put him at the bottom of the list for anything like this.". It would be a week before we heard their voices, in hours of taped police interviews, They stopped us all in our tracks. Susan Venables is on Facebook. When the fisticuffs ended, impressed by each other's performance, they made friends. Jon's parents, who sat in court for most of the trial, said they grieved for the Bulgers. So much happened whilst I was there involving Jon. They hid his body under bricks so that the first train to come along cut his body in two, but he was already dead before this happened. qu fy. They played a double act towards the children: his mother, Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman with a hawkish look, was the hard one. On November 24, 1993, the two boys, by then aged 11, became the youngest defendants to be sentenced for murder in a British court. 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. Denise, James Bugler's mother, went with her brother's girlfriend Nicola to the Bootle Strand Shopping Centre and took James with her. When they finally came to a disused railway track near the police station, the murderous duo tortured James, throwing stones and bricks at the baby, and kicking and stamping on him before finally dropping a heavy iron bar on to the defenceless tot. Mr Venables said: "He wouldn't watch horror. "'It wasnt fair to interview him. Now we waited. "He is easily led. The Royal Mint of a 50p coin featuring Professor Albus Dumbledore as part of a Harry Potter-themed collection. Directly in front of the bench was the raised dock in which Thompson, Venables, and two social workers would sit for the next four weeks. During that time, Susan felt as if she was trapped and overburdened, often taking her frustrations out on her husband, who believed it was her responsibility to take care of the children, and offered her little support in the way of childrearing. . Thompson, who gained five GCSEs and A-levels in design and technology, is said to have developed an interest in theatre. Susan Venables Facebook: susan.venables.9 Lives in Mellor, Blackburn With Darwen, . si fs. Yet, even while Susan admitted to being under huge emotional strain on a daily basis, the couple later denied that her constant hysterics would have encroached on Jon in any way, considering he was still in infancy at the time. Constantly restless, his workbooks were empty, and he would often be denied recess because he was so far behind. A maudlin ballad about Liverpool was playing in the back- ground and she was cooking the dish known as Scouse. He didn't want to hurt James. More press conferences, terrible details beginning to emerge about the state James was found in, and the chilling prospect, soon confirmed, that indeed it was children who had done this. She said that Jon was always "loving, caring, thoughtful and considerate . Jon was afraid of her. Both were banned from ever returning to Liverpool and given new identities at a reported cost of 1.5million. She said that Jon was always "loving, caring, thoughtful and considerate . They were in the Strand shopping centre in Bootle when the brother wandered off. ql zo. Guilty of abducting and murdering James PatrickBulger. Meanwhile, Thompson has not re-offended since his release, and is believed to be in a long-term relationship with a man who knows who he really is. I just burst into tears because you just knew what that meanther heart was broken. The final scene takes place among the tracks of a fun-fair ghost train where the doll, which resembles an infant with spiky hair has his face slashed before he is cut to pieces by a ventilator fan. They occasionally exchanged furtive glances. Every day the public gallery was packed with students, pensioners, mothers, teenagers, all drawn to the courtroom spectacle as to a TV soap. James mother Denise Fergus has been saying this for a long time, but still we hoped that the boy who savaged a tiny child to death could become a man safe to be in our midst. Forlorn hope, though. 'It was good. The case is doomed to be picked over by every faction within the caring professionals and politics. Extraordinarily, she even shouted up to the railway tracks at Walton where she knew Robert had a den. Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. The haunting words of Jon Venables' parents only interview have resurfaced, twenty five years after he killed tot Jamie Bulger. He was also given 'respite care' - six weekly weekend breaks to relieve the family of the burden of looking after him. Not their punishmentand exclusion from society for the rest of their childhood. . Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. Who were their parents? The bleached houses were peppered with burglar alarms, the shabby ones did not look worth the trouble. They deal with drugs, they deal with everything. fn ye vw la. wo. The abduction and brutal murder of this two-year-old by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who were just 10 at the time, prompted a conversation in Britain that we are still having today. It was to be an adult trial, both boys appearing every day in the full gaze of whoever was in that room, but neither giving evidence directly to the court.
Child Killer - Thompson & Venables - Murder in the Uk In the autumn term of 1992, Robert played truant for 49 half days and Jon for 40. Venables was caught with 1,170 indecent photos of children on his laptop, the Old Bailey was told. I don't think they understood he was hyperactive. Keep them apart or he'll get into trouble, they said. The shocking murder that shook the nation, Both Venables and Robert Thompson were 10 years-old when they tortured and killed 2 year-old James Bulger, Thompson and Venables were tried as adults, James Bulger, aged 2 years old, being led away in a shopping centre in Liverpool, Denise Fergus denied having anything to do with the Channel 4 documentary about her son, James Bulger's murder case could now be investigated, The petition is on nearly 15,000 signatures, James Bulger was just two when he was brutally murdered, He had been out shopping with his mum Denise, James was made to walk two miles before being left for dead on a disused rail line, Denise tirelessly campaigned to have their sentence increased, Denise once admitted she's lived 'in fear' since the trial. 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. Lock him in it.'. Susan seemed happy with the arrangement, although, for the children, this type of relationship would have been just one more confusing anomaly to cope with in the wake of an already confusing time in their young lives. Those who knew him well said he was a very emotional child, prone to mood swings. We have found 88 people in the UK with the name Susan Venables. . . Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. They probably weren't out to kill someone, but they were probably out to ruin someone else's happiness. Nine months later, I was one of 30 or so journalists inside Preston Crown Court when the trial began. 2023 BBC.
susan venables - Director - Juju & Co | LinkedIn 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. Shed never been back but she clearly missed Liverpool and had tried to recreate the city in her new home, he recalls. They knew what they were doing," another wrote. Heck, we don't even have murderers that young in New York.'. Mrs Venables said: 'I think it was because the class group was too big for them to go in . Lady Penelope was his favourite character because she was rich, followed by Brains with the glasses. He stayed away from school so often the local police called him a professional truant. I know how I feel as a mother.
Susan Venable: 141 records - CVs, addresses, photos, cars - uFind.name This time, curiosity took the upper hand: 'I wanted to see what it was like,' he said. Or they would mess around in shops, playing on computer games if Robert had his way, sliding on the polished floors if Jon had his. Take him home, the officer would say to her. In 2010, Meggie Atkinson, then children's commissioner for England, called for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised to 12 in light of the trial. The week after he walked out the family's home burned down in an accidental fire. Then, one Friday in February, they discovered a new rule to break: they murdered a two-year-old. Born on August 13th, 1982, Jon was the middle child of Neil and Susan Venables. 'America is the land of shopping malls. But he is not a murderer. and things like that is that he was frightened. Just as Venables's confession convicted him, a shoe print belonging to Robert Thompson, found on James cheekbone, confirmed his guilt, too. The best photos of birds and other wildlife from around the world. Susan, aged 36, a sharp woman . I do believe that she feels guilty deep down for her own part in what happened., Despite the risks of discovery, the relationship is said to have contin- ued to thrive following Thompsons. Tweet. That means he is currently 35-years-old. Thompson and Venables, now both 27 years old, are among only four individuals in the UK whose crimes are so notorious that they have been given lifelong anonymity. Susan Venables, mother of Jon - referred to throughout the trial as Boy B - blamed her son's 'weakness' for the murder of James Bulger, and said he was going through torment.
The Killing of James Bulger: Where are Robert Thompson and Jon Venables 'If, in their own lives, they have had it extremely tough and been bullied and neglected and abused then they end up rapidly having to prove themselves to be extremely tough and invulnerable - a bit like Arnold Shwarzenegger in The Terminator. Jon's parents, who sat in court for most of the trial, said they grieved for the Bulgers. The living versions on the floor of the court looked equally wrinkled and austere. It's high time they were investigated. He disliked Thunderbirds because of the puppets' 'stringy thingies'. How can people defend their actions .#TheBulgerKillers.". "Just TV programmes and little things remind me of the good times we had together . Sorry, we are unable to accept comments about this article at the moment. Ironically, Jon was the child who caused his parents least anxiety. Pictures; Inside the Guardian; Guardian Weekly . That seems the very least they could face for what they did. "It is hard to take in really. Celestial. It was during this time that Susan, having suffered from clinical depression for many years, had experienced what were later described as two traumatic incidences, both of which Jon would have witnessed. Susan Venables, mother of Jon - referred to throughout the trial as Boy B - blamed her son's 'weakness' for the murder of James Bulger, . After a while the boys became used to it. They went on family outings together, slept together, and when Susan did find a place, virtually coexisted between the two homes. Big Bobby, like Anns father, was a violent alcoholic, who was easily crossed. I suspect she still feels that., In 2001 there was a renewed uproar over the case when it emerged that the killers were to be freed, despite a. recommendation by the trial judge that they should remain behind bars for a very long time. so they were put in a lower year. Their seats were just below the raised dock where their sons would sit for the next three weeks, listening to a prosecution which aimed to prove not only that they killed James Bulger, but that they planned to, and that when they did they knew it to be wrong.