James Bulger’s mother is ‘over the moon’ after MPs will debate holding a public inquiry into her two-year-old son’s death.
Denise Fergus has long called for the inquiry into how her child’s murderers, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, were sentenced.
The pair abducted James in 1993 from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, by Venables and Thompson, both aged ten. The toddler’s body was found two miles away on a railway line in Liverpool.
The pair served eight years before being released on licence in 2001, aged 18, and they were given new identities.
Almost six years ago, she started an online petition which was backed by more than 200,000 people.
Now, it has been granted a 90-minute House of Commons debate. Ms Fergus, 56, told the Mirror: ‘This is a momentous move forward for us. We are over the moon.
‘For years we have needed answers around what happened in the handling of James’ case and the decision to only give the killers sentences where they served less than eight years in youth offenders institutes – not an adult jail.’
The mother said the family had lived with ‘injustices for more than 30 years’ and that this inquiry was ‘huge’ for them.
Ms Fergus is expected to attend the debate and it will be opened by Labour’s George Howarth, the MP for Knowsley.
She urged MPs to take the inquiry ‘seriously’ and said it would ‘not bring James back,’ but could help save other families from ‘going through what I have.’
Venables has since been returned to prison twice for possessing indecent images of children, most recently in 2017.
The Parole Board said it was concerned Venables has ‘continuing issues of sexual preoccupation’ and were ‘not satisfied’ he was safe to be back on the streets.
A source told The Sun in December that Venables ‘lost the plot’ when told his bid for freedom had been rejected, adding: ‘He went mad, shouting and screaming.’
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
