James Bulger (pictured) was murdered by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson in 1993
The father of murdered toddler James Bulger has spoken of his devastation that producers have released a film about his son’s killing without the family’s consent.
Ralph Bulger slammed the short film, which has been hotly-tipped for an Academy Award, for humanising Jon Venables and Robert Thompson who butchered his little boy.
The toddler was killed by Venables and Thompson, both aged 10, after they snatched him from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside in 1993.
Detainment is a 30-minute film is made up of almost entirely of verbatim quotes from interview transcripts and shows the two young killers crying and asking for their parents as detectives quiz them over the shocking death of James.
Mr Bulger, who claimed he found the film ‘offensive’, said that nobody behind the making of the drama contacted him or any one else in James’ family prior to the release of the film.
Although James’ father said he has seen many documentaries about the murder which happened 26 years ago he told the Mirror he has been left devastated by this latest portrayal.
He said: ‘I have never been so cut up and offended by something that shows so little compassion to James and his family.
The father of the murdered toddler, Ralph Bulger, has spoken of his devastation that producers have released a film about his son’s killing without the family’s consent
‘I accept this is a murder of such magnitude it will always be written about and featured in the news but to make a film so sympathetic to James’s killers is devastating.
He said that although he accepts the information surrounding the brutal killing is in the public domain, he could have at least run the idea by the family.
Mr Bugler added that it will be terrible if the film is critically acclaimed due to the lack of consideration shown to the family when making the drama.
The former police chief who ran the investigation into James’ death, Albert Kirby, said that the film lacks ‘any form of taste or decency’, and has been created without consideration for James’ mother Denise Fergus or anyone close to the case.
The filmmaker revealed that the movie was made without the consent of James’ mother Denise Fergus as she would have said ‘no’
The director of a new James Bulger film which ‘humanises’ the two killers has faced criticism after it was revealed he did not tell the toddler’s family about the movie.
Vincent Lambe appeared on Good Morning Britain to defend his right to make the short film, which has been shortlisted for an Oscar.
The filmmaker revealed that the movie was made without the consent of James’ mother Denise Fergus as she would have said ‘no’.
Mr Lambe was grilled by co-presenters Ben Shepherd and Kate Garraway over the decision, admitting that the film would be a ‘tough watch for them’.
Vincent Lambe appeared on Good Morning Britain to defend his right to make the short film Detainment, which has been shortlisted for an Academy Award
They asked him several times why he had failed to notify Denise of his attention to make the film.
Asked if he did not ask the family as he feared they would say not to make the film, he said: ‘Well it probably wouldn’t have been made if she’d have said “no”.’
He added: ‘The reason I made this film, people think they were evil and they were born evil and I don’t think it was as simple as that.
‘If people don’t see them as human, they won’t begin to understand.
Mr Lambe was grilled by co-presenters Ben Shepherd and Kate Garraway over the decision, admitting that the film would be a ‘tough watch for them’
Venables (left) and Thompson (right), played by child actors in the film, were both 10-years-old when they shocked Britain by abducting James, then just two-years-old
‘It is a short film, it is not a film I made to profit from financially, I was as surprised as anyone when it was shortlisted for the Oscars.’
Ben replied: ‘For them, the idea of you making this film, which is about what happened to their small child, is abhorrent, undoubtedly.
‘There argument will be that “you didn’t contact us, you didn’t ask us, you didn’t talk to us about it”.’
Mr Lambe said: ‘I have enormous sympathy for the Bulger family and when I think about what they’ve been through it breaks my heart.’
Pictured is a still from the film Detainment, showing young actor Ely Solan in his portrayal of Jon Venables
He added that the film ‘isn’t meant to bring anymore anguish’ to the family, causing Ben to retort: ‘You don’t think it will?’
‘Well I think it will be a very difficult watch for them. I hope they understand,’ replied Mr Lambe.
‘It’s still one of those cases that can cause public outrage. At the time, it was just unprecedented.
‘People couldn’t understand how ten year old boys could do this. If it was an adult who killed the child, people would have moved on.
The toddler’s mutilated body was found on a railway line in Walton, Liverpool, two days after he went missing
‘It was just so unusual and it’s so deeply ingrained in people’s memories.’
Good Morning Britain revealed that Denise had told them she was unhappy that the film was made without her consent and would appear on the show tomorrow.
Venables and Thompson, played by child actors in the film, were both 10-years-old when they shocked Britain by abducting James, then just two-years-old.
The crime made the boys the youngest killers in modern English history and public enemy number one with millions of Brits.
The duo snatched Bulger from outside a butcher’s shop in Bootle, Merseyside, in 1993, while his mother popped into a store for just a few seconds.
The toddler’s mutilated body was found on a railway line in Walton, Liverpool, two days later.
Venables and Thompson were found guilty of killing Bulger in November 1993 and were sentenced to custody until they reached 18.
They were freed in 2001 after serving eight years behind bars, but by 2010 Venables was back in prison for violating the terms of his release by possessing child porn.
It was revealed that he had downloaded and distributed more than 100 images of child abuse, some involving victims as young as two being raped.
In one instance he messaged another paedophile claiming to be a married mother who abused her eight-year-old daughter, and offered to sell access to the child.
He was freed from prison for the second time in 2013 after a recommendation from the Parole Board.
At the time, Denise and Ralph Bulger said they were ‘filled with terror’ by the decision to grant parole to Venables.