James Bulger’s mum says killer Jon Venables should remain anonymous

The mum of murdered toddler James Bulger has revealed she won’t be supporting calls for killer Jon Venables’ new identity to be revealed, in a dramatic and unexpected admission in court.

Denise Fergus has been open about her devastation following the brutal murder of her son, but said revealing child killer Venables’ identity now he’s grown up would only lead to “vigilante action and innocent people being hurt”.

It comes after the toddler’s devastated father Ralph and uncle launched High Court proceedings calling for the lifelong anonymity granted to Venables to be lifted.

According to multiple media outlets, Denise has now said in a statement, read in court: “I understand the motivation for the application, but my concern is that if Venables were known by his own name, it could lead to vigilante action and innocent people being hurt. Beyond that, I have no further comment to make.”

James’s mother, Denise Fergus, is not involved in this application: "I understand the motivation…but my concern is that if Venables were known by his own name, it could lead to vigilante action and innocent people being hurt. Beyond that, I have no further comment to make."

— Dan Whitehead (@danwnews) May 1, 2018

The original order was made almost two decades ago, giving both Venables and his accomplice Robert Thompson lifelong anonymity after they were found guilty of murdering James when they were just 10-years-old. 

Sir James Munby, the most senior family judge in England and Wales, is reportedly dealing with preliminary issues relating to the injunction, which was originally granted by the High Court in 2001. Now, details of the new application have been aired in court.

The father and uncle are being represented by solicitor-advocate Robin Makin, and according to the Mail Online, he told the court the original injunction was granted on the basis that Venables was rehabilitated and would not re-offend.

However, that has since changed, as Venables has been convicted twice since. While both he and Thompson were released under secret new identities previously, Venables is now back behind bars over indecent images of children. He was jailed for three years and four months in February over the new charges.

It comes after claims Venables would be getting a fifth new identity, after the child-killer’s most recent name and photograph were reportedly revealed.

Read more: Bulger killer Jon Venables’ hugely costly secret identity at risk

British tabloid the Mirror reported recently that prisoners in the jail where Venables is serving his new sentence have found out his real identity and have threatened to release the information to the public. The attorney general confirmed to the Mirror that it had received a complaint that Venables’ anonymity was under threat and said that it was investigating the issue.

The pair were originally imprisoned for the murder of James in 1993, after they abducted him from a shopping centre in Merseyside in England’s north. Just five people in Britain are afforded lifelong anonymity for protection from public outrage over the horror of their crimes.

Do you think Venables’ identity should be revealed?