Britain Sets Killers of Toddler Free

June 22, 2001 -- Two schoolboys who battered a toddler before killing him in a murder case that shook Britain will be released after serving less than nine years of their sentence.

Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, now aged 18, were just 10 years old when they abducted 2-year-old James Bulger in February 1993 from a Liverpool mall before torturing him, beating him to death and dumping his body on a railway line.

Following the national revulsion the murder generated, the teens will be given new identities, which a British judge has barred the media from disclosing if they were to learn details of their new lives.

Announcing the decision to release the pair in a written statement to Parliament today, Home Secretary David Blunkett said the parole board had informed him of the decision, "subject to conditions, to direct the release ... of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables."

For the rest of their lives, the two teens will be "subject to strict license conditions and liable to immediate recall if there is any concern at any time about their risk," Blunkett's statement said.

Venables' parole hearing took place at a secret location on Monday and Tuesday, followed by Thompson's two-day appearance at a different venue.

Thompson and Venables were sent to secure units in November 1993 after they were found guilty of torturing and murdering James.

It was unclear whether or not the pair have yet been released.

'I Just Want Justice'

The decision to release the two teens, who will both turn 19 in August, came as a bitter blow to Bulger's family, who have maintained the youths were notorious killers who had not been punished sufficiently.

"I do not want revenge, I just want justice," said James' mother, Denise Fergus, in a statement released this week.

"I believe the two killers should go to a young offenders' institution for at least three or fours years, so they will have experienced some punishment for what they did," the statement said.

The boys were initially given an eight-year prison sentence, which was later increased to 15 years by then-Home Secretary Michael Howard.

But in October, a judge restored the original sentence, saying it would not be beneficial for the boys to be in the "corrosive atmosphere of an adult prison."

The parole panels included a judge, a psychiatrist and an independent member who examined up-to-date reports from doctors and criminologists.

Shock, Anger, Grief

The decision is widely expected to reopen a national debate on justice and retribution in Britain.

In 1993, James' murder led to an outpouring of collective grief and horror across the nation as the gruesome details of the killing emerged.

The tragedy began around 3 p.m. on Feb. 12 in a Liverpudlian mall, where the two boys led little James from the outside a butcher's shop while his mother was in the store. That was captured on a surveillance camera

The two 10-year-olds led the toddler to a railway line, where they beat him toto death with an iron bar and bricks, then put his body onthe tracks. By the time he was found, a train had passed, slicing hisbody in two.

As the boys led James to the railroad, the trio was spotted by a number of passers-by, some of whom challenged the boys because James appeared distressed by a head wound — the result of being dropped on the head. However, no one actually stopped the children.

The witnesses were not spared the wrath of the press and the public, many of whom accused them of being complicit in the crime.

Earlier this week, the likely release of the two teens sparked a frenzy as protesters demanded a stricter punishment claiming Thompson and Venables had been "mollycoddled."

In a poll conducted by The Liverpool Echo, a local daily, 35,000 of 42,000 respondents believed the pair should not be freed.