Court to Protect Teen Killers' Identity
L O N D O N, Jan. 11 -- James Bulger was only 2 years old when he was killed, and his murderers — Robert Thompson and Jon Venables — were only 10.
In a scene captured by security cameras, they abducted James from a mall and led him to a railroad track, where they tortured the toddler and then beat him to death.
James' mother, Denise Fergus, can hardly bear to think about it.
“You mustn’t forget that they tortured my baby before they killed him,” she says. “And then they tried to cover their tracks by laying his body across a railway line, as if it was accident — so a train would hit him.”
Now, Thompson and Venables are 18, and their sentences are over. This summer, they will be set free, most likely within 100 miles of where the murder took place.
To help them blend into society, a British court ruled Monday that the youths will be given new identities and new passports, and the media will be prohibited from revealing anything about their new lives. It’s unprecedented protection for convicted murderers.
The protections were granted in part because of fears for their safety, as the anger directed at the teens for the crime they committed eight years ago is still strong. British courts cited the teens’ “serious risk of attacks from … the public … and relatives and friends of the murdered child” as justification for their decision. James Bulger’s father allegedly threatened last year to hunt down and kill his son’s murderers.
Has the Court Overstepped Its Bounds?
But there are also many people who believe the justice system is going too far to protect James Bulger’s killers.
“The precedent that it sets is that basically, if you can show that you are in danger from other people, that you will be given anonymity, the court will allow you to exist in our society without the media having a right to identify you,” says Marcus Parington, a media lawyer.
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