Award for 'Bulger killers' book

A novel based on the lives of James Bulger’s killers tonight won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for young writers.

Jonathan Trigell’s book, Boy A, tells the story of Jack, a young man released into society after serving time for murder.

He and a friend killed a 10-year-old girl when they were just children themselves.

Jack is released to begin life under a new identity – as happened with Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, the boys convicted of killing James Bulger in 1993.

Trigell, 31, received a prize-winning cheque for £5,000 at a ceremony held in Westminster, central London.

The former ski instructor completed a masters degree in creative writing from Manchester University in 2002 and this is his debut novel.

The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize is awarded to British or Commonwealth writers aged 35 or under.

The judges said: “Boy A impressed us on many levels – as a compelling narrative, a beautifully structured piece of writing, and as a thought-provoking novel of ideas. It is a wonderful debut.”

In a past interview, Trigell discussed the parallels between his novel and the James Bulger case.

“Boy A is very specifically not about that case, particularly in relation to the victim, but it does deliberately mirror some of the things that happened to Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, the two boys who murdered James,” he said.

“The idea came to me in a late night chat with some friends and it just felt like something important that needed writing. This idea of someone appearing in the world as an adult, but with absolute innocence of the fundamental things of life and having to live in fear of their past catching up.

“I wanted to ask a lot of the reader, to see if they can examine their own moral certitudes sufficiently to feel for someone who has apparently done something so terrible.”