. . '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. Instead, she was involved in an ITV documentary with Sir Trevor McDonald that will air on Thursday. 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. The old wood panelled courtroom is small. He always had plenty of friends. Thompson, who gained five GCSEs and A-levels in design and technology, is said to have developed an interest in theatre. Join Facebook to connect with Susan Venables and others you may know. His parents say he is 'broken-hearted'. He gets upset. Neil had been laid off in the months prior, so the couple sold their home, and Neil moved back in with his father, before finally relocating to an apartment in Kirkdale. At night, for instance, the two boys would lie in bed together and suck each others thumbs. Robert Thompson was born to Robert Sr. and Ann Thompson on the 23rd day of August 1982, in Liverpool, England. The couple fought frequently as to their eldest sons troubles, which they later learned included mild learning difficulties, and Susan, at times becoming so exasperated by the situation, began to resent her sons presence. That's the thing that upsets me because obviously where I was standing poor little James must have been not. Sitting in the new class was a chubby boy with a cherub's face - Robert Thompson. By now the two boys from Walton were part of an international freak show. We will never be able to do the fun things any more . On countless occasions, Bobby battered his wife, once causing her to miscarry, and his temper didnt stop at his wife. The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. But they shouldn't have been tried in an adult court because they were still children. Nature. Something went wrong, please try again later. Not surprisingly, Ann had also attempted suicide in the same manner, some months before. 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. See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. One police officer described how Jon Venables was so small, his legs were swinging. At the end of the street a mesh wire frame coverered the window of the money lenders. How can people defend their actions .#TheBulgerKillers.". This time, curiosity took the upper hand: 'I wanted to see what it was like,' he said. When she turned around moments later, her son was gone. For weeks, she stayed in bed, not bothering to tend to the children, and when she finally did reemerge, she readily admitted she drank from morning to night, but had stopped taking the pills. Venables, who was said to have been subjected to regular beatings by his mother Susan, titled the drawing 'My Dads house'. 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. Haunting CCTV footage shows the pair leading the tiny, trusting boy . 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. So much happened whilst I was there involving Jon. Counsel for the prosecution, Richard Henriques QC, made it clear all three elements needed to be proved for a murder conviction. The press were gobbling it up. 'I walked round for a couple of hours trying to find them. In quest of companionship, he occasionally bullied his younger brother into truanting with him, and, in an effort to impress his peers, frequently boasted of his late-night exploits on the railway line, but failed to attract much attention. There is, like, a little paint factory. 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. Sandra Gotheridge. He carried books on wrestling and wildlife in his school bag. In any case, the couple drifted together, and in 1983, just fifteen months succeeding Jons birth, Susan gave birth to their third child, a daughter. In a 1993 interview, published in the Guardian newspaper just one day after Robert was convicted of the murder of James Bulger, Ann Thompson was quick to place fault on the neighborhood and the surrounding authorities, who she felt had failed both her and her sons. That's the thing that upsets me because obviously, where I was standing poor little James must have been not far . If I wanted to kill a baby, Id kill Id kill me own, wouldnt I?. "I think about little James and what he must have gone through, how they must feel. fun to be with" and always had plenty of friends. He was fearful of the other boy. The judge, in sentencing the boys yesterday, voiced his strong suspicion that exposure to violent videos had played a strong part in corrupting them. The appearance in court this week of Venables, now a 35-year-old man, on charges of possessing indecent images of children, was a jarring reminder that, still a quarter of a century on, his rehabilitation is more an ambition than a reality. I used to get them for myself at night time. Everyone called him Chubby, because of his round, cherub's face. They were sent home to their mother at one point, but after attempting suicide with overdoses, were placed back into care. Read about our approach to external linking. Birds. Such pleasantries were not for Robbie. Thompson got better opportunities there than if hed been walking the streets in Walton, says the author. 'I think about little James and what he must have gone through, how they must feel. When the fisticuffs ended, impressed by each other's performance, they made friends. There was a pattern of bullying, with the older boys picking on their younger brothers down the line. 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I feel so sorry for them. Then they would hide their school satchels under a subway and set off on their adventure. Members of the Up Helly Aa 'Jarl Squad' parade through the streets in Lerwick, Shetland Islands, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon using a camera during her visit to BBC Studioworks in Glasgow, Passersby chat with the police as they arrive to see King Charles III and the Princess Royal attend a church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, People at a vigil at Lurgan Park in Lurgan, Co Armagh in memory of murder victim Natalie McNally and opposing violence against women, Firefighters use hoses to dampen down at the scene of a fire at St Marks Church in Hamilton Terrace, St Johns Wood, London, which has been destroyed by the blaze which began in the early hours of the morning, Huskies pull their musher during a training run before this weekends annual Aviemore Sled Dog Rally, in Feshiebridge, A knitted topper celebrating Burns Night placed on a post box in Alloway, Ayrshire, Deer graze during sunrise at Ashton Court Estate, Bristol, where clear misty skies and a cold morning brings frost across parts of the south west UK, Ambulance workers on the picket line outside the Donnington Ambulance Hub, at Donnington, near Telford, Shropshire. the street. Ms Truss has written a 4,000-word essay in todays Sunday Telegraph in which she stood by her plans to boost economic growth during her short tenure in No 10, Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker fails to stop team-mate Joel Matip (not pictured) from scoring an own goal during the Premier League match at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, A member of the public lines the road into St Michaels on Wyre, Lancashire, with missing posters of Nicola Bulley, 45, as police continue their search for the missing woman who was last seen on the morning of Friday January 27, when she was spotted walking her dog on a footpath by the nearby River Wyre, Not your usual prisoner! Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Parents of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson talk about their sons, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. It is claimed that taxpayers could have to fork out another 250,000 to provide a new life when he is eventually released. however, as the incident in the playground shows, the ever-present threat of discovery cast a constant shadow over anyone related to the two murderers. 'I couldn't be arsed talking about them,' said one. Constantly fighting and battering one another, and possibly, too, being hit by their emotionally drained mother, the Thompson brothers often looked scruffy, and, on more than one occasion, were seen bearing bruises and bite marks. Jon's first year after he was moved was relatively successful. The phone-in programme, as ever, was a place to turn to try to find reasons - evil, poverty, neglect, possessed anything to explain what felt inexplicable. I said no. He stayed away from school so often the local police called him a professional truant. His body was found two days later on a railway line. Susan Venable - we found 141 people search records: 55 CVs and social profiles with photos, 50 addresses & phone numbers, 1 real estate objects, 6 Susan Venable's cars, 2 companies. He would throw things at other children, cut himself deliberately with scissors and stick paper all over his face. I don't think they understood he was hyperactive. The hardliners in the police have a simpler explanation. They were in the Strand shopping centre in Bootle when the brother wandered off. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. He frequented local cinemas and regularly hired videos for the night. Jon's parents said they talked to their son about James after he was arrested, but had to stop. Jon's parents, who sat in court for most of the trial, said they grieved for the Bulgers. Money, or his family's lack of it, preyed on his mind. Following the arrest of their sons it was reported that the mothers of the boys had been attacked and vilified in. Weeping, she said: 'I wasn't actually on the railway track because there is a fence, but I went up the side. Grey seal pups on the beach at Horsey in Norfolk, as the pupping season draws to a close at one the UK's most important sites for the mammals. I dont think she saw a very happy future., The author says there was no contact with the Venables family after the trial as Mrs Thompson focused, her energy on supporting her son, refusing to accept he was a monster. For his parents, the fact they were children was actually a cause for hope at that point. Grainy CCTV footage later showed the innocent toddler being led away by Venables and Thompson, who marched the little boy through the streets of Bootle for two miles - a walk that would have taken hours given his size. Please review our, You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. A pathologist later said that there were so many injuries - 42 in total - that not one could be isolated as causing the little boy's fatal wound. The couple was financially strained from the start, but Ann did what she could to make it work. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter', Why half of India's urban women stay at home. Ian was clever enough to know that to survive he had to get out. Jon Venables said the class teacher tried to entice Robert by offering him a prize for a week's continual attendance - he did, but the prize never came. yet, as Venables is back behind bars. Two boys who forged a friendship out of breaking the rules. WALTON, where they both lived, is, in the jargon of planning, an inner-city urban priority area; neither the best nor the worst the city has to offer. Jon Venables is demonstrably no such thing. The questioning was calm, steady, even playful at the beginning to try to get a sense the two boys really did know the difference between right and wrong. He wore his dark hair short, almost a crew cut, which accentuated his ample forehead and blunt nose. She initially enrolled the two younger children in Broad Square Elementary, but it soon became clear that her daughter was struggling to keep up with the schools curriculum. I wish we could turn the clocks back," Mrs Venablessaid. What a horror it all was. Seeing at first hand the pain of a family who have lost a toddler to an act of brutal violence is almost unbearably moving. Their kids have got everything. The pair were handed new identities after being released from prison. The attitude when you live where we live is that you have to be tough or else you dont survive, she said. ', A psychoanalyst and child psychotherapist comes up with yet another possible explanation. But his outbursts of anger grew worse and he was suspended for trying to throttle a boy with a ruler. JON Venables's family was far from affluent, but it was not as close to the breadline as Robert's. He had that odd combination of obsession with and disdain for possessions that is characteristic of children who have never enjoyed any of their own. 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. "All he said when we've said 'Why didn't you run away?' They would sneak out during the morning break, hiding behind a wall before the coast was clear. However, given that the tension in the household was persistent throughout the most crucial of Jons formative years, the belief that he had moved through the ordeal entirely unaffected is questionable. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? "I think my son's concentration wasn't the way it should have been, but he wasn't slow. Both had parents who had separated. Mrs Venables walked around the area for hours, searching for him. It's high time they were investigated. Teachers later reported that whereas the boys were manageable when separated, together their behavior worsened dramatically. Ann tried to discourage this by hiding his shoes, or by taking him down to the Walton Lane police station and having the officer on duty frighten him into compliance, but to no avail. Susan and neil venables. The two bumped into each other - literally - in the school playground in the middle of a fight. 'Provided you have no court orders for debts already,' the man on the phone would add helpfully. He has never really been what you would call a sagger off school (a truant). The documentary last night featured interviews with those involved in the 1993 trial, including James dad Ralph Bulger, Jon Venables solicitor Laurence Lee and detective sergeant Phil Roberts, who interviewed Robert Thompson. I cant believe people find excuses for these murderers. 'They were just your average scruff - like the rest of us.'. He was repulsed because he found Robert's disdain for authority scary. His mother called him hyperactive since, even more than his friend, he was scarcely able to sit still. He didn't want to hurt James. His body, defiled and broken in two by a train, two miles from where hed been taken, was foundtwo days later. I am providing this page for those who are interested in learning more about the lives of these boys prior to their offense. He would go to bed. Susan Venables, mother of Jon - referred to throughout the trial as Boy B - blamed her son's 'weakness' for the murder of James Bulger, . Child killer Mary Bell and Maxine Carr, the former girlfriend of Soham murderer Ian Huntley, are the others. kl. Between January and the day of the murder Robert had absconded 37 half days out of a possible 60 . Their. Denise Fergus remains convinced both will always be a danger to children. Get the biggest TV headlines, recaps and insider knowledge straight to your inbox. Occasionally, when the children would be left sitting on the red wall outside the house too long, one of the neighbours would call the police to go and get her out of the Top House. Self pity? So he came home. 'He always seemed perfectly well behaved and I think he looked on me as some kind of grandma. 'I didn't know it would be like this,' Mr Venables said with hindsight. As a result of the incident, Jon's mother decided to move him to another school. It was this empowering chemistry between them that some argued set into motion the life-altering events that would devastate a family, challenge a community, and rock a nations core in the disquieting months that followed. - a grey heron in Asawn, Southern Egypt. "It was very dark and I shouted down, shouted his name. Like Ann Thompson, however, both parents of Jon Venables rallied round their son and in preparationfor his release Mr Venables accom-panied him on trips to football matches. He was fearful, he was weak and he was provoked," she said. On Sundays he used to watch Thunderbirds. everyone blamed Thompson and. Neil Venables regarded himself as the Barry Norman of Merseyside - a film buff with a penchant for horror. 'America is the land of shopping malls. "My heart really goes out to them. James' mother Denise believes they should have remained in jail for life and has tirelessly campaigned against their rights to anonymity. Susan Venables, mother of Jon, blamed her son's "weakness" for the killing and said he was "fearful" and "provoked" by his accomplice Robert Thompson. They sat just feet from me, perched on the edge of their wooden seat, smartly dressed and hunched in shame just below their son, Jon. Gillespie, McNeilly, and Powell were sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 25 years. It was their sons picked up by detectives. James Bulger was weeks away from his third birthday, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson behaved very differently in court, Mother who killed her five children euthanised, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, Alex Murdaugh jailed for life for double murder, US sues Exxon over nooses found at Louisiana plant, Zoom boss Greg Tomb fired without cause. Sometimes Robert would sag off on his own, but it was more fun with a friend. 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. His father, thin and balding, had a much gentler edge. Most people would regard such sentiments as having come rather late in the day and certainly too late to save poor James. Im bringing them up on my own, but if I went round and screwed every warehouse, my kids would have everything, too. Even so, while Roberts community was rough, his home life was perhaps worse, and could hardly be considered a refuge for the boy. His mother, Susan, attributed this behavior with peer pressure and hyperactivity, and put him on a special diet, though it did nothing to quell his frequent emotional outbursts. On Monday night's documentary, Robert Thompson's solicitor Dominic Lloyd said: "Many years after the trial a juror said 'we found them guilty of murder but we didn't have the option to find them guilty of being two very bewildered and frightened little boys who made an awful mistake and need a lot of help'.". Kids fantasise about such things. Guilty of abducting and murdering James PatrickBulger. In March 2010, Venables was recalled to prison for downloading and distributing more than 100 images of child abuse. Jon lived in terror of losing his mother's love, yet he was also terrified of her. Money was always a struggle, and she got through the first years drinking in Higson's Top House off St Mary's Lane. Robert always wanted to stay out late and encouraged Jon to join him. Then they had carried, dragged and kicked him along a two and a half mile journey, at times swinging him violently in the air or dropping him against the road, until they reached the railway where they stoned him with bricks, bashed his head with a 22lb iron bar, and left him dead across the tracks to be cut in half by a passing goods train. We still think the same of him as we always have. Online Marketing For Your Business ', Mrs Thompson had no illusions about her son: 'He's a little liar, he's devious, he's a scally, he robs, he plays truant.' But apart from his brother, Robert struggled to build friendships. and things like that is that he was frightened. Good people asked the boys if they were lost or urged them to take "their baby brother" home as he cried for his mummy. All information on this page is true to my knowledge, and is not intended to diminish or justify either boys actions in any way whatsoever. It was a sign of such restlessness that he was unable to hang on to a football team for long - he kept shifting his allegiance like a floating voter. He denied having had any films that were not mainstream, or that were pornographic, in the house. His grip was so strong that it took two people to pry Jon off of the boy. A day later she would face much worse. his mother was told that it was important that she stayed in his life and stood by him. 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. She couldn't. When Robert was asked what his hobby was he did not say trolls but 'skipping school'. I didnt, did I? she said to Neil during their interview with Gitta Sereny. The Swedes, French, Germans, Canadian and Americans had all come to gaze at Liverpool's child killers. What doing well means is anybodys guess. It is time to examine all this.". In Crosbies corner shop Ian, the next oldest to Robert, was able to tot up the shopping in his mind before the cash register rang up the total. In the business world, too many people think it's all about being hard, tough, ambitious, or having grit.