James Bulger's Mum Calls For Killer Jon Venables To Stay Locked Up

James Bulger's Mum Calls For Killer Jon Venables To Stay Locked Up

James Bulger's mother is to make a personal plea tomorrow to keep killer Jon Venables in jail.

Denise Fergus wants the Parole Board to look again at whether her son's murder was sexually motivated – evidence that was omitted from the 1993 trial of Venables and Robert Thompson.

Denise will appear in person for the first time at a parole hearing to make a victim personal statement (VPS) today.

In her statement she is set to call for evidence left out from the original trial of to be reconsidered. Venables was recalled to prison in 2010 after police discovered hundreds of indecent images of children on his computer.

He has been granted anonymity since he was first released in 2001, at the age of 18. James's mum opposes his parole application, saying she believes Venables should be detained in a psychiatric hospital.

But if he is released, she will urge parole bosses not to give the 30-year-old anonymity again, and to ensure he is tagged so that he cannot enter Merseyside.

Denise told the Liverpool Echo: "I do not believe that it is safe to let Venables out of a prison and back in to the community.

"Instead of being let out on parole, he should be sent to a psychiatric hospital where he should stay locked-up for a very long time."

Among the issues Mrs Fergus wants to see examined is an allegation Venables had a sexual relationship with a staff member at a secure unit where he was housed.

That claim was not referred to in the 2010 Omand Report in to the handling of his case, and Denise, 45, believes it was not considered in 2001.

Denise said: "I'm worried that the parole board will not look at all the evidence. There's a big risk they will put blinkers on and let the evidence that was covered up remain buried.

"But I am going to tell them they must be 100% sure all the evidence has been taken into consideration and not swept under the carpet."

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