'I'M THE LAST TO KNOW'
James Bulger’s mum slams son’s ‘perverted psychopath’ killer as he’s sent back to jail for child abuse images
Denise Fergus says she has been left feeling 'extremely upset' and 'totally insulted' by the Probation Service
THE MOTHER of murdered toddler James Bulger has labelled her son’s killer a “vile, perverted psychopath” as she hit out saying she was the “last to know” he had been sent back to prison for vile child abuse images.
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Just hours later he was taken to a maximum category A jail, where he is currently being held for breaching the terms of the life licence handed to him and pal Robert Thompson after the abduction, torture and murder of two-year-old James on Merseyside in 1993.
And today James' mum Denise Fergus accused the Probation Service of intentionally keeping her in the dark about the situation, saying she has been left "extremely angry" and "totally insulted".
In a statement she said: "Venables has now proved beyond any doubt what a vile perverted psychopath he has always been. What hurts the most is the way the probation service have tried to cover this up.
“Venables was taken into custody a week ago yet I was only informed hours before it hit the national press this morning.
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“It’s very clear to me they were trying to keep this quiet until they got a call from the media for a right to reply.
“They then phoned me last night at 8.40pm in a hurried call with few details given just that he had breached the terms of his license and had been returned to prison.
“This has left me extremely upset angry and feeling totally insulted.”
She said she now intends to take action against the probation service.
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She added: “I will be taking advice from my lawyer before making a formal complaint to the probation service.
“I hope finally I might be able to get some justice for my son James.
“I predicted Venables would reoffend unless they kept a very tight rein on him and I pray now that someone from the UK government will finally listen to me. We need justice for James.”
This afternoon a Ministry Of Justice spokesperson said: “This was a horrific murder and our deepest sympathies remain with Mrs Fergus and Mr Bulger for the pain and suffering they have endured.
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“It is so important that families of victims are kept informed about any developments involving the offender, and we take this duty extremely seriously.
“A dedicated victim liaison officer contacts families as soon as the offender is charged, but we regret the additional distress this has caused in this case.
“We want to reassure Mrs Fergus and Mr Bulger that a liaison officer will continue to stay in regular contact with them as the case progresses.”
Venables has not yet been charged with any offence but is now also the subject of a major police investigation.
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The “immediate recall” procedure means Venables has been returned to prison twice in the last decade despite vast sums – estimated at up to £5 MILLION - being spent on his rehabilitation.
After Venables was freed on parole again in July 2013, James’ anguished dad Ralph Bulger warned: “It is only a matter of time before he caves in to his lust for young children again.”
And last night a source told The Sun: “Venables’ recall is a huge blow to those who have championed the efforts to reform him over the past 25 years.
“Every expense has been afforded him, every expert opinion offered, every opportunity given.
“And yet here we are again and by anyone’s standards, the question has now to be asked whether he has finally run out of chances.
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“If he is found to have committed a new offence, then why should the public continue to pay through the nose to protect his anonymity any longer?”
Venables is understood to have been living in a secret location in the North of England under a SECOND new identity given to him following his release from prison in 2013.
But news of his second recall to custody in just seven years is sure to spark fury from James’ parents, Denise Fergus and Ralph Bulger.
Within minutes of the news of Venables' re-offending being made public, Denise simply tweeted "here we go again".
Convicted paedophile Venables is seen as an ultra-high risk ex-offender, has been constantly monitored by probation officials in recent years.
They are believed to have visited his home early last week and found evidence of the images on an electronic device.
High cost of failure
DESPITE huge opposition, both Thompson and Venables were released under strict conditions in 2001 and given new identities.
Since being freed, Venables alone is thought to have cost the public around £5 million.
The total includes an estimated £1.5 million to create a complicated “legend” for at least two new identities and expert help to live in total secrecy.
A further £1.5 million is believed to have been lavished on keeping him in a young offenders’ institution for eight years before his first release in 2001.
At least £100,000 a year was then spent monitoring Venables for a decade after his initial release.
And his three years in a category A prison is now known to have cost at least £500,000.
Two complex parole hearings, a Crown Court hearing and an independent review by Sir David Omand in 2010 add at least another £250,000.
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Venables will now be held indefinitely while the new allegations are probed and a Parole Board assesses him once again.
In theory, he could now be kept inside for the rest of his life if the Board decides he poses too much of a risk to ever be freed again.
If charged by prosecutors with a new offence, Venables would also face a new Crown Court trial.
But he would be likely to appear via videolink from jail to protect his face and new identity from being exposed in public.
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Now back in prison, Venables is thought to be housed in complete isolation from other inmates for his own safety.
During his last recall to jail he was held in a self-contained annexe and monitored 24/7 by at least two prison officers.
Official records later revealed the round-the-clock guard had cost taxpayers a staggering £279,000 in just 18 months.
Venables' timeline of big trouble
February 12, 1993 James Bulger is taken from shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside.
February 14 His battered body is found by railway line.
February 18 Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, then aged ten, are arrested.
November 24 Venables and Thompson, now 11, convicted of abduction and murder and detained indefinitely.
1993-2001 Venables is held in the eight-bed Red Bank secure unit in St Helens, Merseyside, while Thompson is held at Barton Moss, outside Manchester. Reports later claim Venables had sex with a female member of staff at Red Bank, who was accused of sexual misconduct and suspended. She allegedly never returned to work there.
Reports also claimed Venables was told to tell other residents he was detained for stealing cars, not a murderer
January 2001 Killers win unprecedented lifelong anonymity amid most draconian banning orders on their whereabouts ever.
June 2001 They are freed under new identities.
February 24, 2010 Venables back in jail after breaching life licence by hoarding child abuse images
July 2010 Venables sentenced to two years after admitting downloading and distributing indecent images of children
August 2013 Venables freed from prison after Parole Board recommends his release
November 2017 Venables recalled to prison after being caught with indecent images of children again
While inside, Venables was also given access to a private rowing machine, allowed to paint his cell and given private guitar lessons to pass the time, all funded by the public purse.
Venables was last recalled to prison in February 2010 when officials found him hoarding child abuse images of children as young as two.
He was later charged and convicted of downloading and distributing the photos and given a two-year jail term.
On the 20th anniversary of his murder, James Bulger's mum tells Sky News that Jon Venables is a 'Still a danger'
It later emerged Venables had persistently flouted strict parole terms by visiting Liverpool to go clubbing and watch football, while drinking heavily and taking cocaine.
Last night a source close to the investigation told The Sun: "It's all about protecting the public.
"We have these systems so those who could be a risk to the public are picked up.
"That's what happened here."
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "We do not comment on individual cases."
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In July 2013, James’ anguished dad Ralph Bulger darkly warned: “Jon Venables is and always was a predatory sex killer who will never be changed.
“He will always be a danger to children which is why he must be locked up for life."
Mum Denise Fergus, who split from Ralph after the tragedy, added: “There are experts who say Jon Venables is a psychopath and I believe that is true.
“I fear they will find that with him they have another Ian Brady on their hands.”
Venables and Thompson shocked the nation when the barbaric details emerged of James Bulger’s murder on February 12, 1993.
The pair, then aged ten, snatched the toddler from his mum as she let go of his hand for a few seconds to pay for sausages at a butcher’s in a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside.
Venables and Thompson then led James two miles away through traffic, and along a canal towpath, before battering him with a 22lb iron bar.
They poured modelling paint into his eyes, stoned him and clubbed him with half-bricks, before leaving him on the railway line to be sliced in two by a train.
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In November 1993, the pair, by now both 11, were found guilty of abducting and murdering James after a trial at Preston Crown Court.
The verdict made them the youngest convicted murderers in Britain for 250 years and they were detained in youth custody indefinitely.
They spent seven years receiving costly treatment and rehabilitation at secure units in the North West before finally being released in 2001.
Partner in crime has a new life
FOR years, experts wrote off Robert Thompson as the Bulger killer who could never be reformed. While Venables had watched his parents divorce, Thompson had seen his alcoholic dad beat his wife and children before walking out on them altogether.
At trial in 1993, Thompson was painted as the ringleader, leading Venables on at every turn. And even by 2000, top child psychiatrist Sir Michael Rutter claimed the risk posed by Venables on his release was "trivial".
But when Venables was recalled to jail in 2010, it emerged the experts had been wrong all along. It emerged Thompson had done well at Barton Moss secure unit, in Eccles, Lancs, showing a growing interest and talent in art.
He had passed five GCSEs, taken A-levels and enjoyed trips to the Lake District and even to the theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. In 2006, reports claimed Thompson was in a stable gay relationship and had settled well into his local community in the North West.
It is unlikely though that Thompson has ever compared notes with Venables since their release in 2001. Under the strict terms of their life licence, both were banned from ever contacting each other again.