James Bulger’s father and uncle have lost their bid to lift the anonymity of one of his killers.
Ralph Bulger and his brother Jimmy attempted to overturn a worldwide order placed on preserving the new identity of Jon Venables.
Venables and Robert Thompson were released on license in 2001, eight years after abducting the toddler from The Strand shopping centre and murdering him.
Since leaving prison, Venables has returned to jail twice on charges related to indecent images from children, first in 2010 and again in 2018.
Last February he was sentenced to three years and four months for admitting to surfing the dark web for extreme child abuse images and possessing a “sickening” paedophile manual.
Ralph and Jimmy Bulger urged Sir Andrew McFarlane, the President of the Family Division, to consider lifting Venables’ anonymity in light of the charges.
They argued that information about his new identity was ‘common knowledge’ and should be made public without fear of prosecution under contempt of court.
But in Monday’s ruling at the High Court, Sir Andrew upheld the appeal and insisted that the injunction against details about Venables should be preserved.
He said: “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.
“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.”
James’ mother Denise Fergus did not support her ex-husband’s case when it was launched last year, expressing concerns that “it could lead to vigilante action”.