The James Bulger case, a shocking and distressing abduction in England, remains deeply ingrained in the collective memory as one of the most horrifying incidents. It occurred on Friday afternoon, February 12, 1993, at a shopping center near Liverpool in Bootle when two-year-old James Patrick Bulger was reported missing. Despite exhaustive efforts to locate him, the outcome was tragically unimaginable. This brutal murder sparked an unparalleled surge of fury across Britain that continues to resonate within the nation.
Denise Bulger and her son James were downtown in Bootle with a family friend. Denise frequently visited this area because her bus stopped right outside the shopping center. When they went inside a butcher shop in Bootle, Denise was holding hands with her son. However, she was preoccupied with gathering her money to pay for her meat and wasn’t paying attention. In just a matter of seconds, James Bulger vanished from sight. This was the moment that drastically altered Denise Bulger’s life.
If a child goes missing in a shopping center and does not reappear, the police are immediately notified and arrive at the scene. Denise reported that she and James were at the butchers when he ran off and vanished. Despite extensive efforts to find him, he could not be located. The intensified search for the young boy made Denise panic as every second was crucial. The search expanded to cover both the shopping center and Bootel’s surrounding area, including busy roads where James might potentially be found. It was unforeseen that he would be kidnapped.
In an effort to locate the young boy, the officers expand their search to canals and scrap yards. Due to Bootel’s high population density, finding something lost for a considerable duration is comparable to searching for a needle in a haystack. Meanwhile, Denise is brought to the police station where she is presented with numerous pairs of child’s shoes discovered by the officers.
James has been missing for a full day and it is uncertain when he will be found. Meanwhile, his parents anxiously wait at the police station as a whole day is quite long for a young child to be lost in the city. The police have made progress in their investigation: they have obtained a short video clip from a CCTV camera showing three children, two of whom are holding hands with a young boy. It is believed that the two boys are aged between thirteen and fourteen years old. However, due to the presence of many young toddlers, their parents, and other children walking around the shopping center on that particular day, the quality of the video recording is not very clear.
Although the mother found solace in James being with other children and believed that they wouldn’t harm her toddler, a surveillance video only showed James leaving the butcher shop with the two boys. However, the footage was blurry, making it challenging to confirm. The police turned to the media and asked for public assistance, but another day went by without any new leads. This left the Buglers anxiously waiting and hoping for James’s safe return.
Despite receiving help from locals and conducting police searches, the authorities specifically focused on boys between the ages of ten and eighteen, with a particular emphasis on fourteen-year-olds. The following day brought disturbing news as children playing near a railway embankment stumbled upon the lifeless body of a young boy. To assist in locating the two missing boys, law enforcement sought assistance from the media. Eventually, James Bulger, who had strayed from his mother at Bootle shopping center, was located 48 hours later.
James, who was almost three years old, was found with severe injuries inflicted by his murderers. The toddler suffered a total of 42 injuries, including multiple fractures to his skull. The Coroner’s examination revealed that James had 22 bruises, splits, and grazes on his face and head, along with 20 wounds on his body. His attackers used bricks and an iron bar to strike him more than 30 times. Despite enduring this brutal assault, James managed to survive briefly before succumbing to his injuries. During the trial, Dr Williams testified that James may have only lived for a few minutes after being attacked. Tragically, James was already deceased when he was struck by an approaching train.
The victim sustained severe injuries such as deep bruising, a forehead cut that exposed the skull, and damage to the back of the head. These injuries suggested that the assailants had used bricks and an iron bar during the attack. In addition, one of them poured paint into his eyes and inserted batteries into his anus.
Prior to this, the court presented several pieces of evidence found near the victim’s body:
- Exhibit 17: a box containing 27 bricks
- Exhibit 19: a blood-stained stone found close to a child’s scarf
- Exhibit 28: the victim’s underpants
- Exhibit 34: an iron bar measuring 20 inches in length, weighing 22 pounds, slightly rusted, and shaped like a railway fishplate.
According to the prosecution, the murderers stripped off the victim’s clothes from the waist, resulting in multiple leg injuries. They also assert that a disturbing and forceful act of indecency was perpetrated against James by retracting his foreskin. Some injuries were small, covering an area less than one square inch, while others were more significant. Dr. Williams meticulously traced the fracture lines on the skull using his left hand, mapping out the path of the attack from the jaw to forehead and spanning almost the entire skull. The extent of brain damage was severe, including a hemorrhage at the center of James’s brain. It is believed that a single weapon caused all of James’s suffering.
Injury number 13 involved the right cheek and ear, resulting from a severe blow. Dr Williams described it as a grooved mark, potentially caused by stamping or kicking. During that time, the police lacked the technology to enhance the video footage of the faces of the two young boys for further investigation. However, the media possessed this capability. The distance between where James was taken and where his body was discovered on the railway tracks in Bootel was nearly three miles. The media had access to various sources of information, all of which pointed towards Jon Venables and Robert Thompson as the suspects.
The police initially arrived at Robert Thompson’s residence where his mother greeted them with confusion. They proceeded to have a conversation with Robert, explaining the reason for their visit. This news caused Robert to burst into tears; however, his tears were not of sadness, but of empathy. Consequently, both boys were taken to separate police stations for interrogation. During Robert Thompson’s second interview, he disclosed that Jon Venables was the one responsible for leading James astray. In an attempt to protect himself, Robert claimed that Jon had initially influenced him to accompany them but then denied being involved.
Despite Thompson’s denial, both boys were seen by multiple witnesses on their way to the railway station, and these witnesses provided statements to the police, strengthening the case against them. Highly trained officers conducted extensive questioning sessions with both boys. Shortly after, the nation received the shocking news that two ten-year-old boys, Thompson and Venables, were responsible for the murder of James Bulger.
Jon and Robert, the killers, forcefully dragged James through the streets. When questioned by people passing by, the boys confidently stated, “He’s our brother.” As a group of thirty-eight individuals confronted them, the boys were prepared with a fabricated explanation for James’ distress: “He fell over, and we’re taking him back to mom.” Shockingly, the injuries James displayed to the public were the exact cuts and bruises caused by the boys themselves.
It is unsettling to learn that the individuals who crafted the tale possessed considerable cunning and awareness of their intentions towards James, who was subsequently murdered mere hours later. The boys placed James’s lifeless body on the railroad tracks, where it was noticed by a train engineer. At first, the engineer believed it to be a deceased cat until he observed the legs, but by then it was too late. James’s motionless body had been severed in two. The train engineer erroneously believed he was responsible for James’s demise, until a group of children stumbled upon the discovered remains.
Jon and Robert had planned to make their murder appear as an accident, but what they didn’t know was that the forensics of 1993 would uncover the truth behind their actions against James. Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were charged with abducting and murdering James Bulger, acting together to cause him harm and take his life. The boys made multiple attempts on James’ life, trying to push him into a canal and in front of a van on the street. The trial for the boys took place in mid-February, which stirred up rage across the nation upon learning about their actions.
After James’s death, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson appeared in the magistrate’s court in Bootle just ten days later, where their trial date was set for later that year. During the trial, Jon Venables mentioned that it was half term and he was responsible for taking care of the school’s gerbils. He was looking forward to going to the school to pick them up when he unexpectedly met Robert Thompson, who suggested they go “robbing,” which meant going to the strand to mess around. At that moment, Jon had no clue that he would become a murderer that day.
The boys had to return by seven o’clock as Jon’s mother planned to visit a DVD store. From that moment, they grew bored and Robert proposed the idea of “capturing a child.” They selected James and spent hours walking with him. Eventually, they brought him to the train tracks where they committed unspeakable acts against him. The trial lasted seventeen days and concluded with a guilty verdict, leaving the boys in tears. Surprisingly, the judge made an unprecedented decision to disclose the boys’ names and backgrounds, unlike any previous occurrence in British legal history.
In the future, the boys receive new names. James’s family had to wait to learn the verdict on the boys’ sentences. Eventually, the judge ruled that they would serve eight years, sparking extensive political debates and public unrest that continues to this day. Many individuals advocated for a ten-year sentence, leading to a review of their sentences by the lord chief justice just ten days after the trial. The lord chief justice then increased their sentences to ten years, but the public was unsatisfied and demanded an even longer sentence.
A petition was signed by hundreds of thousands of people to increase the time that the boys, Robert and Jon, were going to spend. The petition succeeded and they were sentenced to fifteen years without freedom. However, the boys requested a hearing at the European court to challenge this sentence. The court deemed the fifteen-year sentence unlawful and reduced the time. They were then given the appropriate sentence along with rehabilitation and placement in detention centers. These detention centers were luxurious compared to what many less fortunate children had, causing them to feel jealous.
It cost £200,000 per year per inmate. In 1999, the boys, who are now sixteen years old, receive news that the trial in 1993 was biased. This sparks nationwide rage and anger and prolongs the boys’ path to release. Despite undergoing rehabilitation, Thompson writes a letter to his friends expressing his belief that it is all a joke and confesses an obsession with sex. He views himself as simply exploiting the system.
In 2001, two boys received new identities at the cost of a quarter of a million pounds each and were reintroduced into society at the age of 18. Having never been incarcerated in an adult facility, they are currently subject to stringent guidelines and constant surveillance. However, in 2010, Jon Venables is arrested again for possessing child pornography on his laptop. This news quickly spreads, compelling the government to disclose the information. Jon had violated his probation terms by frequenting pubs near James’s mother and revealing his true identity.
Venables has encountered legal problems on numerous occasions, which encompass arrests for acts of violence and drug possession. Additionally, he assumed the identity of a mother attempting to sell a seven-year-old child via the internet. Venables faced charges related to possessing and disseminating child pornography, leading to a two-year imprisonment. All of these incidents are linked to the heartbreaking murder of James Patrick Bulger, who was deeply cherished by his family. According to his mother’s account, Venables and his associate were undeniably monstrous individuals.
The level of longing I have for him is beyond words. He occupies my thoughts every day without fail. When I wake up in the morning, he is the first thing on my mind. As a child, he was full of energy and always kept me on my toes. Reading was his passion, and he even read books aloud to me. From the moment he opened his eyes until he closed them, he radiated with liveliness.
Source: BBC. Documentary-Bulger Case, Aired, April 15th 2012 Ben Rankin . The Mirror. 25 Feb 2013 16:30 Dr Williams. The Bulger Injures. Wednesday 10 November 1993
