U.K. sets toddler's killers free

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JUNE 23. Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were 10 when, for no apparent reason than sadism, they kidnapped a two-year-old child James Bulger from a shopping mall in Bootle, Liverpool, in February 1993, murdered him and placed his mutilated body on a railway track provoking nationwide fury.

They were convicted after a long and contentious trial during which they often yawned or simply looked disinterested in the proceedings provoking even more public hostility. On Friday, eight years after their gruesome crime, the two were ordered to be released by a parole board, not as Robert Thompson and Jon Venables but under new identities to protect them from social ostracisation and possible reprisal.

Now 18, they have not been seen in public for years and nobody outside the rehabilitation centre where they were detained knows how they look. Their real identities are to remain a secret for the rest of their lives-and not even their girl friends or wives in case they decide to marry and settle down are supposed to be told who they really were. The media has been barred from disclosing any information that might lead to their discovery. It has not been disclosed when or where they would be released. There is some speculation that they may have already been freed. The two have been prohibited from entering Liverpool, or approaching the Bulger family which is devastated that the killers of their child should have been set free barely after eight years. The two would be under constant watch of probation services, and can be recalled if they are seen to be a risk to the public or their behaviour is not satisfactory. When they are set free, it would be the last time they would be setting eyes on each other as they would be barred from meeting again. Their release has been ordered after a long and elaborate review of their behaviour which led the Parole Board to conclude that they no longer pose a threat.

The Home Secretary, Mr. David Blunkett, announcing the decision, said: ``The murder of James Bulger was a terrible event for his family and the whole nation. But no public interest would be served by pursuing the perpetrators now that the Parole Board has decided that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that they should be confined.''

However, this is not how the Bulger family, their neighbours and friends and a lot of others see it. They believe that justice has not been done, and the killers of James Bulger have been literally allowed to get away with murder. Vigilantes have threatened to track them down, and James Bulger's distraught mother Mrs. Denise Fergus said that 'no matter where they go, someone out there is waiting``. One tabloid has challenged the injunction on media reporting and it is argued that the media would be doing a public service by disclosing their identity if it emerges that their presence in a particular institution or area could be potentially dangerous.

Within hours of the decision to release them, the Manchester Evening News was believed to be in breach of the injunction after it reportedly carried information that might help identify the two boys. The newspaper denied this, even as the Attorney-General said he was considering contempt proceedings against the paper.

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