Robert Thompson

Case overview

Robert Thompson (born 23 August 1982) abducted, tortured and murdered James Bulger, who was a two-year-old boy from Kirkby, Merseyside, England. Thompson and Jon Venables (born 13 August 1982) were both ten-year-old boys at the time of the offence.

James Bulger disappeared on 12 February 1993 from the New Strand Shopping Centre, Bootle, while accompanying his mother. Thompson and Venables were charged on 20 February 1993 with the abduction and murder. They were found guilty of the murder of Bulger on 24 November 1993.

Thompson and Venables were sentenced to custody until they reached adulthood, initially until the age of 18, and they were released on lifelong licence in June 2001.

Timeline

• 12 February 1993 — James Bulger disappeared from the New Strand Shopping Centre, Bootle.
• 14 February 1993 — Bulger’s mutilated body was found on a railway line in nearby Walton.
• 20 February 1993 — Thompson and Venables were charged with the abduction and murder.
• 22 February 1993 — Thompson and Venables appeared at South Sefton Youth Court and were remanded in custody to await trial.
• 1 November 1993 — The full trial opened at Preston Crown Court.
• 24 November 1993 — Thompson and Venables were found guilty of Bulger’s murder.
• June 2001 — Thompson and Venables were released on lifelong licence.
• March 2010 — Venables was returned to prison for an unspecified violation of the terms of his licence of release.

The offence

Abduction and movement around Liverpool

James Bulger, often called “Jamie” by the press, went with his mother Denise to the New Strand Shopping Centre, Bootle. While inside a butcher’s shop at around 3:40pm, Denise realised her son had disappeared. Bulger was left at the door of the shop while she placed an order, and he was spotted by Thompson and Venables.

They approached him and spoke to him before taking him by the hand and leading him out of the precinct. This moment was captured on CCTV at a timestamp of 15:42. The boys took Bulger on a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) walk across Liverpool, leading him to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal where Bulger was dropped on his head and suffered injuries to his face. The boys joked about pushing Bulger into the canal.

During the walk, the boys were seen by 38 people. Bulger had a bump on his forehead and was crying, but most bystanders did nothing to intervene, assuming Bulger was a younger brother. Two people challenged the older boys, but they claimed Bulger was a younger brother or that he was lost and they were taking him to the local police station.

At one point, Thompson and Venables took Bulger into a pet shop, from which they were ejected. They eventually led Bulger to a railway line near the disused Walton & Anfield railway station, close to Walton Lane police station and Anfield Cemetery.

Assault and killing on the railway line

At the trial it was established that, at this location, one of the boys threw blue Humbrol modelling paint into Bulger’s left eye. Bulger was kicked and hit with bricks, stones and a 22-pound (10.0 kg) iron bar, described in court as a railway fishplate.

The boys placed batteries in Bulger’s mouth. Bulger suffered ten skull fractures as a result of the iron bar striking his head. Alan Williams, the case’s pathologist, speculated that Bulger suffered so many injuries that none could be isolated as the fatal blow.

Police suspected there was a sexual element to the crime because Bulger’s shoes, stockings, trousers and underpants had been removed. The pathologist’s report read out in court stated that Bulger’s foreskin had been manipulated. When questioned about this aspect of the attack by detectives and child psychiatrist Eileen Vizard, Thompson and Venables were reluctant to give details.

Before they left him, Thompson and Venables laid Bulger across the railway tracks and weighted his head down with rubble, in the hope that a train would hit him and make his death appear to be an accident. After the killers left the scene, Bulger’s body was cut in half by a train. The severed body was discovered two days later, on 14 February.

A forensic pathologist testified that Bulger had died before he was struck by the train.

Investigation and arrest

Police quickly found low-resolution video images of Bulger’s abduction from the Strand Shopping Centre by two unidentified boys.

Tabloid newspapers denounced members of the public who had seen Bulger but had not intervened to aid him as he was being taken through the city, calling them the “Liverpool 38”.

As circumstances surrounding the death became clear, forensic tests confirmed that both boys had the same blue paint on their clothing as found on Bulger’s body. Both boys had blood on their shoes; blood on Thompson’s shoe was matched to Bulger through DNA tests.

The breakthrough came when a woman, upon seeing slightly enhanced images of the two boys on national television, recognised Venables, whom she knew had played truant with Thompson that day. She contacted police and the boys were arrested.

Police suspected early that Bulger’s abduction involved “two youths” because the ages of the boys were difficult to ascertain from the CCTV images. The fact that the boys were so young shocked investigating officers headed by Detective Superintendent Albert Kirby of Merseyside Police.

Thompson and Venables were charged with Bulger’s murder on 20 February 1993 and appeared at South Sefton Youth Court on 22 February 1993, when they were remanded in custody to await trial.

Trial

Trial conduct and identity

In the aftermath of their arrest, and throughout media accounts, the boys were referred to as “Child A” (Thompson) and “Child B” (Venables). At the close of the trial, the judge ruled their names should be released due to the nature of the murder and public reaction, and they were identified alongside lengthy descriptions of their lives and backgrounds.

Public shock was compounded by the release, after the trial, of mug shots taken during questioning by police.

Five hundred protesters gathered at South Sefton Magistrates’ Court during the boys’ initial court appearances. The parents of the accused were moved to different parts of the country and assumed new identities following death threats from vigilantes.

Court proceedings

The trial opened at Preston Crown Court on 1 November 1993, conducted as an adult trial with the accused in the dock away from their parents.

Thompson and Venables denied the charges of murder, abduction and attempted abduction. The attempted abduction charge related to an incident at the New Strand Shopping Centre earlier on 12 February 1993. Thompson and Venables had attempted to lead away another two-year-old boy, but had been prevented by the boy’s mother.

Each boy sat in view of the court on raised chairs so they could see out of the dock designed for adults, accompanied by two social workers. They were within touching distance when their families attended the trial.

News stories reported the demeanour of the defendants. Later, the European Court of Human Rights criticised aspects of this and ruled in 1999 that they had not received a fair trial by being tried in public in an adult court.

Prosecution evidence and legal issues

At the trial, lead prosecution counsel Richard Henriques QC rebutted the principle of doli incapax.

Dr. Eileen Vizard, who interviewed Thompson before the trial, was asked in court whether Thompson would know the difference between right and wrong, that it was wrong to take a young child away from his mother, and that it was wrong to cause injury to a child. Vizard replied:

"If the issue is on the balance of probabilities, I think I can answer with certainty"

Vizard also said that Thompson was suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder after the attack on Bulger.

Dr. Susan Bailey, the Home Office forensic psychiatrist who interviewed Venables, said unequivocally that Venables knew the difference between right and wrong. Thompson and Venables did not speak during the trial.

The case against them was based to a large extent on more than 20 hours of tape-recorded police interviews with the boys, which were played back in court.

Verdict

Thompson and Venables, by then aged 11, were found guilty of Bulger’s murder at Preston Crown Court on 24 November 1993. The judge, Mr. Justice Morland, told Thompson and Venables that they had committed a crime of “unparalleled evil and barbarity... In my judgment, your conduct was both cunning and very wicked.”

Sentencing

Thompson and Venables were sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure, with a recommendation that they should be kept in custody for “very, very many years to come,” recommending a minimum term of eight years.

Shortly after the trial, Lord Taylor of Gosforth, the Lord Chief Justice, ordered that both boys should serve a minimum of ten years.

In July 1994, Home Secretary Michael Howard announced that the boys would be kept in custody for a minimum of fifteen years, meaning they would not be considered for release until February 2008. Lord Donaldson criticised Howard’s intervention, describing the increased tariff as:

"institutionalised vengeance ... [by] a politician playing to the gallery"

The increased minimum term was overturned in 1997 by the House of Lords, which ruled that it was “unlawful” for the Home Secretary to decide on minimum sentences for offenders aged under 18.

Subsequently, the High Court and European Court of Human Rights ruled that, while parliament may set minimum and maximum terms for categories of crime, it was the responsibility of the trial judge to determine the minimum term in individual cases.

In June 2001, after a six month review, the parole board ruled the boys were no longer a threat to public safety and could be released as their minimum tariff had expired. The Home Secretary David Blunkett approved the decision, and Thompson and Venables were released a few weeks later on a life licence after serving eight years.

Appeals and European Court of Human Rights ruling

In 1999, lawyers for Thompson and Venables appealed to the European Court of Human Rights that the boys’ trial had not been impartial because they were too young to follow proceedings and understand an adult court.

The European Court dismissed their claim that the trial was inhuman and degrading treatment, but upheld their claim they were denied a fair hearing by the nature of the court proceedings. The European Court also held that Michael Howard’s intervention had led to a “highly charged atmosphere,” resulting in an unfair judgment.

On 15 March 1999, the court in Strasbourg ruled by 14 votes to 5 that there had been a violation of Article 6 regarding the fairness of the trial. The court stated:

"The public trial process in an adult court must be regarded in the case of an 11-year-old child as a severely intimidating procedure"

In September 1999, Bulger’s parents applied to the European Court of Human Rights but failed to persuade the court that a victim has the right to be involved in determining the sentence of the perpetrator.

In October 2000, Lord Woolf recommended the tariff be reduced from ten to eight years, adding that young offenders’ institutions were a “corrosive atmosphere” for juveniles.

Outcome

Thompson and Venables were released on lifelong licence in June 2001 after serving eight years following review of their minimum tariff.

Conditions of release and related restraints

Their release terms included:

• they were not allowed to contact each other or Bulger’s family;
• they were prohibited from visiting the Merseyside region;
• curfews may be imposed and they must report to probation officers;
• breach of the rules could result in being returned to prison;
• if they were deemed a risk to the public, they would be returned to prison.

An injunction was imposed on the news media after the trial, preventing publication of details about the boys. The injunction was kept in force following their release so their new identities and locations could not be published.

In 2001, David Blunkett stated:

"The injunction was granted because there was a real and strong possibility that their lives would be at risk if their identities became known.

Other details

Media and public reaction

The murder CCTV evidence from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle taken on 12 February 1993 showed Thompson and Venables observing children and apparently selecting a target.

Throughout the day, Thompson and Venables were seen stealing items including sweets, a troll doll, some batteries and a can of blue paint, some of which were found at the murder scene.

A memorial garden in Bulger’s memory was created in Sacred Heart Primary School in Kirkby. Bulger’s parents Ralph and Denise divorced in 1995, and Denise married Stuart Fergus in 1998.

In March 2010, a call was made to raise the age of criminal responsibility in England from 10 to 12. Children's commissioner Maggie Atkinson said the killers of James Bulger should have undergone “programmes” to help turn their lives around rather than being prosecuted. The Ministry of Justice rejected the call, saying children over the age of 10 knew the difference “between bad behaviour and serious wrongdoing”.

Publication risks and later reports

The Manchester Evening News named secure institutions in which the pair were housed, in possible breach of the injunction, and in December the paper was fined £30,000 for contempt of court and ordered to pay costs of £120,000.

The Guardian revealed that both boys had passed A-levels during their sentences.

A psychiatric report prepared in 2000 prior to Venables’ release described Venables as posing a “trivial” risk to the public and unlikely to reoffend, with rehabilitation chances described as “very high”.

Bulger’s mother Denise reported receiving a tip-off in 2004 from an anonymous source that helped her locate Thompson, and she said she was “paralysed with hatred” and unable to confront him.

In April 2007, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act confirmed that the Home Office spent £13,000 on an injunction to prevent a foreign magazine from revealing the new identities of Thompson and Venables.

On 14 March 2008, an appeal to set up a Red Balloon Learner Centre in Merseyside in memory of James Bulger was launched by Denise Fergus and Esther Rantzen.

2010 imprisonment of Venables

In March 2010, Jon Venables was returned to prison for an unspecified violation of the terms of his licence of release. Justice Secretary Jack Straw stated that Venables was returned to prison because of “extremely serious allegations” and said it was not in the public interest to reveal further details.