Jon Venables

I have watched with interest the recall back to custody of Jon Venables over the last few days. The reaction of James Bulger's mother, Denise Fergus, is of course, totally understandable. Nobody can blame her for feeling let down by the judicial system. One can see her argument that Venables, and his accomplice, Robert Thompson, should have spent time in an adult prison before being released.

These two young men were released in 2001 under life licence and that to me, does not in any way, constitute, real freedom. The terms of their licences mean that they have to be supervised by the probation service for the rest of their lives. They cannot leave the UK without permission, have to notify their probation officer if they change address or enter a new relationship and cannot return to their home town without the written consent of the authorities. They will never be completely free. And no matter how much rehabilitation and therapy Thompson and Venables underwent during their eight years in custody, what they did as ten year olds that fateful day in 1993 will stay with them until the day they die. They will have to live with committing that abhorrent and evil act forever. That in itself is a life sentence.

To say that Venables and Thompson should never have been released at 18 and spared adult prison at that time, I believe, is wrong. To keep them in prison for many years beyond their teens, exposing them to hardened recidivist adult criminals would have been very detrimental; only serving to completely undo any good that was done whilst they were in secure accomodation.

Whatever Venables has done now to warrant being recalled to prison, is of course the subject of wild speculation. The tabloid press, always ravenous for a story, is exploiting the anguish of James' family to the hilt. Until we know exactly how serious Venables' breach of his licence is, the Bulger family should be left alone and not be encouraged to speak to those sections of the media whose sole aim is to distort and sensationalise.

No doubt a great effort will be made to blow Venables' cover and reveal his whereabouts. Even though there is a worldwide injunction in force prohibiting the publication of any details either Venables or Thompson, it is highly probable the former will be recognised by a fellow prisoner.

I believe Venables' recall to prison proves that the judicial system is working well. Clearly this was not the first infringement of his licence and he was obviously given several warnings before being sent back to jail. But the fact that Venables is now behind bars again shows that he was considered to be a danger to the public by the people charged with supervising his behaviour.

If Venables has committed a very serious offence then the proper judicial process should be allowed to run its course.