James Bulger’s killer Jon Venables WON’T be unmasked after murdered toddler’s father and uncle lose High Court battle to reveal his new identity
- James Bulger’s father and uncle said Venables’ new identity should be revealed
- But a High Court judge today rejected their bid to have a court order overturned
- Judge found that revealing Venables’ new identity could lead to him being killed
The father and uncle of murdered toddler James Bulger have lost a High Court bid to reveal the new identity of killer Jon Venables.
James’s father and paternal uncle, Ralph and Jimmy Bulger, had challenged a worldwide ban, made in 2001, on revealing the murderer’s identity.
But, rejecting their case today, President of the High Court’s Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane said: ‘My decision is in no way a reflection on the applicants themselves, for whom there is a profoundest sympathy.
‘The reality is that the case for varying the injunction has simply not been made.’
Ralph Bulger has lost a bid to make public details of his son’s killer’s new identity
The judge said the injunction was designed to protect Venables from ‘being put to death’.
He added: ‘(Venables) is ‘uniquely notorious’ and there is a strong possibility, if not a probability, that if his identity were known he would be pursued resulting in grave and possibly fatal consequences.
‘This is, therefore, a wholly exceptional case and the evidence in 2019 is more than sufficient to sustain the conclusion that there continues to be a real risk of very substantial harm to (Venables).’
Anyone who breaches the wide-ranging injunction faces prosecution for contempt of court.
Speaking outside court after the ruling, solicitor advocate Robin Makin, for the Bulgers, said: ‘The authorities seem to be hell-bent on protecting (Venables) regardless of the risk to others and this has been a primary driving force behind Ralph and Jimmy’s application.’
The judge refused permission to appeal against the ruling but Mr Makin said the Bulgers may consider pursuing a challenge at the Court of Appeal.
Venables, pictured in 1993, was granted lifelong anonymity by a High Court judge and has lived under new identities since his initial release from custody
Venables’ lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald QC, previously said he is at risk of being attacked and even killed should his current identity be made public.
Two-year-old James was murdered by Venables and Robert Thompson, both 10, after they snatched him from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, in 1993.
Venables, now 36, has been living anonymously under a new identity since his release from prison but was convicted of having child abuse images in 2010 and again in 2018.
He remains in jail after receiving a sentence of three years and four months in February 2018 for possessing the images.
Robin Makin, acting on behalf of the Bulgers, argued that personal details and photos of Venables as an adult have been accessible on the internet for years, but the killer has suffered no damage or targeted threats as a result.
Footage from the day of James’ murder showed him being led away by the two schoolboys
Mr Makin claimed that authorities are using the anonymity order to avoid scrutiny for failing to keep Venables from re-offending following his release from prison.
The idea behind the lifetime anonymity order for Venables and Thompson, made by Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, was that it would aid the rehabilitation of the killers, who were just ten when they murdered the toddler.
But while Thompson has not re-offended, Venables has twice been convicted of child abuse image offences.
James’ mother, Denise Fergus, is not involved in the case at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.