Bulger killer Jon Venables jailed again ‘for child porn’ | News.com.au

By Alison Chung and Tom Bonnett, Sky News
NewsCore, March 08, 2010 5:44AM

JON Venables, who killed two-year-old British toddler James Bulger in 1993, was reportedly sent back to jail last week on suspected child pornography offences.

British newspaper the Sunday Mirror claimed probation chiefs revoked Venables’ parole licence once the allegations were made, but UK cabinet officials refused to reveal the exact reasons.

The 27-year-old was recalled to prison after what Justice Secretary Jack Straw described simply as ‘extremely serious allegations’.

Venables and his accomplice Robert Thompson were just 10 when they tortured and battered James to death in Liverpool, northern England, 17 years ago.

They were both controversially released from jail on lifelong parole in 2001 with new identities after serving eight years for their crimes and were made to obey strict conditions, such as not contacting each other or returning to the city where James was killed.

James’s mother Denise Fergus believes Venables should lose his anonymity if he is charged with new offences.

Her spokesman Chris Johnson said: ‘If after that, depending on the outcome of the court case, the powers that be decide that he should have some new identity yet again, then we’ll deal with that when we come to it.

‘But she (Fergus) can’t understand why he doesn’t appear in a dock under his own name, if that’s going to be where he ends up.’

Fergus did not believe Venables deserved early release from jail and said he should have served closer to 15 years.

‘In her mind, if there has been an offence committed, it means that that could have been avoided,’ Johnson said.

If Venables returned to court, it could cause a potential security nightmare for the authorities trying to preserve his lifelong anonymity order.

Mr Straw, the police and the UK Director of Public Prosecutions all said revealing Bulger’s new identity would undermine the integrity of the criminal justice process and could prevent prosecution.

Reports last week said Venables visited nightclubs and a pop concert in Liverpool and even watched Premier League soccer club Everton in the city.

He also reportedly worked as a nightclub bouncer and had a history of drug abuse.