Jon Venables was quizzed by cops just WEEKS after being freed for killing Jamie Bulger

EVIL Jon Venables was secretly hauled before cops weeks after being freed from his James Bulger murder sentence.

He was quizzed over a public order offence in 2001 despite being under police protection costing taxpayers £23,000 a month, documents obtained by The Sun show.

The allegation against Venables, now 35, was never made public until today and James’s family are also understood never to have been told.
It remains unclear if any further action was ever taken against him.

But the revelation sparks fears that the monster’s behaviour may have been covered up by officials years before his recall to jail in 2010 for having child abuse images.

And we can also disclose for the first time that Venables tried to sue police in 2003 for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment. The secrecy surrounding the paedo, jailed again this month over indecent images of children, means it is not known if he ever won compensation.

And it is not clear if the case centred on another allegation against him.

A source close to the case told The Sun last night: “Huge amounts of time and public money were lavished upon him. Was the public ever being told the truth about how its money was being spent?”

Venables and pal Robert Thompson abducted, tortured and murdered two-year-old James in Liverpool in 1993.

Both boys, aged just ten at the time of the killing, were granted lifelong anonymity and a staggering level of police protection after their release from custody eight years later.

• GOT a story? Ring The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or email exclusive@the-sun.co.uk.