James Bulger (pictured) was murdered when he was just two years old
The mother of murdered toddler James Bulger has said she is ‘fuming’ at a ‘one-sided’ documentary about her son’s killers.
Channel 5’s James Bulger: New Revelations aired last night and explored the potential motives of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, promising ‘startling new evidence’.
At the age of 10, the children kidnapped two-year-old James from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, before torturing him to death.
Denise Fergus branded the documentary ‘disgusting’ as she took to Twitter to air her fury directly at the broadcaster and production company.
‘I’ve had to watch the disgusting channel5_tv caravan__media documentary, to know what I’m having to deal with,’ she wrote. ‘I can honestly say I’m upset, fuming with the one-sided sympathy with the evil killers of my beautiful son who was only two.’
The schoolboys abducted James in 1993 and walked him two-and-a-half miles before killing him. Their motive has always been a mystery as neither boy gave evidence at trial and their legal team offered no defence.
The show revealed a statement from Robert Thompson, who detailed his ‘shame and revulsion’ in an appeal to the parole board in 2001.
‘I am deeply ashamed of what I did, and of having played a part in this horrible murder,’ he said.
Denise (pictured with her son, James) slammed the documentary as ‘disgusting’ as it explored the motivations of her child’s killers
The killer said he was ‘desperately sorry’, adding that Denise and James’s father, Ralph, would suspect his remorse was false.
That year Thompson and Venables, who were then 18, were released on life-long licence and given new identities.
Thompson said that he ‘became aware Jon Venables had a little boy with him’ when they left the Strand shopping centre.
He said CCTV images of the youngster being led away make him ‘very much regret that I did nothing to stop it at this time’, adding: ‘The sight of those photographs fills me with shame and revulsion.’
Thompson denied that he and Venables sexually assaulted the toddler before killing him.
‘Jon Venables and I did not speak to each other at all, as I remember, during the attack,’ he said. ‘And we didn’t speak about it after we left James Bulger on the railway line.’
The documentary aired on Channel 5 and explored the motive of Jon Venables (left) and Robert Thompson (right)
His statement added: ‘At that time of my life, I was completely out of control and spending time with a group of friends whose main occupation was committing crime and causing trouble.
‘I was out of control because my life on the streets was better for me than my life at home – there was nothing for me at home.’
As he appealed to the board for freedom, he said: ‘I do feel aware that I am now a better person and have had a better life and a better education than if I had not committed the murder.
‘There is obviously an irony to this, but it is part of my remorseful feelings as well. I, personally, wish Mr and Mrs Bulger and their families to know that I am desperately sorry for what I did, and aware of the enormity of what I did.
‘Mr and Mrs Bulger have made statements in the press indicating that they would view any statement of remorse by me as a cynical manoeuvre to secure my release. It is difficult, given that, to see how I could ever communicate my remorse in an effective way.’
The documentary also claimed that Thompson was subjected to violence in his home life. It used ‘new interviews and testimony from those directly involved in the case’.
Little is known about Thompson’s post-prison life since he was released at the age of 18.
But Venables, now aged 36, was jailed for a second time for possessing images of child abuse and is now serving a 40-month sentence.
Little is known of Thompson’s life since he was released on license when he was 18. In February, Venables, 36, was jailed for the second time for possessing child abuse images.
MailOnline has contacted Channel 5 for comment.