Bulger killer in court on child porn charges

KILLER Jon Venables is due to appear via videolink at the Old Bailey today to face allegations of downloading child pornography.

Venables, who was just 10 when he and Robert Thompson murdered toddler James Bulger, is expected to enter pleas to the two charges.

It is claimed he downloaded 57 indecent photographs of children and in the process made seven images available to others on the internet.

The offences are alleged to have taken place between February last year and February this year.

Venables and Thompson were jailed for life in 1994 for the murder of two-year-old James Bulger in Bootle, Merseyside, the previous year.

They were released on licence in 2001 and given new identities.

Venables, now 27, was recalled to prison in February this year when the new allegations came to light.

The Ministry of Justice said the 27-year-old had been returned to custody “following a breach of licence conditions”, adding: “There is a worldwide injunction in place that prohibits any reporting, including reporting on the internet, that could identify him or his location.”

The Government faced growing calls to provide more information, including from the toddler’s mother, Denise Fergus.

It later emerged a psychiatric assessment of Venables compiled prior to his release said he posed only a “trivial” risk to the public.

It was not until June 21, after a judge at the Old Bailey lifted media restrictions, that it could be reported Venables had been charged with downloading and distributing child pornography.