Bulger killers 'rewarded' for their crime - Mother

The mother of murdered toddler James Bulger has hit out over reports that her son’s killers are receiving preferential treatment at their secure homes.

Denise Fergus said she had always felt Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, both from Merseyside, were rewarded for their crime.

Her comments follow newspaper reports that Venables, now 18, was released from his secure unit to watch Manchester United play.

Mrs Fergus said: ‘‘I am not surprised that social workers are prepared to do almost anything Venables wants.

‘‘Both Thompson and Venables have always been mollycoddled and given special privileges.

‘‘It makes me very angry because it shows that they have never been punished - all they have ever had is rewards for murdering my son.

‘‘They have had the best of everything and it has all been coaching in how to behave to try and convince the parole board they should be let out early.’’

Her solicitor Sean Sexton added: ‘‘They had Game Boys at the trial and now this. The boys get taken to a game that decent young people cannot get tickets for.’’

Venables has also visited shopping centres and had taken part in five-a-side football matches under his new identity.

Mr Sexton continued: ‘‘This is one of the problems with this whole business about them being given a new identity.

‘‘No one else knows who they are dealing with. If they are released he could be playing football or drinking next to you in a pub. That’s the frightening thing.’’

Mr Sexton said Mrs Fergus had raised fears that the killers were being given special treatment on a number of occasions.

He said: ‘‘She believes they have been rewarded through the enormity of their crime. If they had simply been car thieves or joyriders they won’t have had this sort of treatment.’’

James Bulger was abducted by Venables and Thompson from a shopping centre and murdered in 1993.

Earlier this year it was revealed that Thompson had also made supervised visits to shopping centres.

Venables’ solicitor, John Dickenson, said: ‘‘In any child who is detained for a lengthy period of time then, subject to risk assessment, rehabilitation includes leaving the unit.’’

He said he could not comment whether his client had been taken to watch football games.