One of James Bulger’s killers has lost his latest appeal for freedom.
Jon Venables was 10 years old when he and Robert Thompson murdered the Bootle toddler after luring him away from the Strand Shopping Centre in 1993.
The pair, who walked James several miles and brutally tortured him on a railway line, were released after eight years in young offenders’ institutes.
But Venables has returned to prison twice as an adult in 2010 and 2017 for possession of child abuse images which were discovered on his computer.
The now 44-year-old’s case for being released from prison in a behind-closed-doors hearing with the Parole Board on Monday (November 9).
Evidence from probation officers, three psychologists and a psychiatrist were taken into account by the panel when assessing Venables’ latest appeal.
However it was confirmed Venables, whose new identity is protected from the public, told the panel he would not be actively pursuing grounds for release.
A statement read: “At the outset of the hearing, Mr Venables submitted an opening statement to the effect that he accepted the need to undertake further offending work in custody and so was not seeking release.”
Panel members voiced reservations about how ‘open and honest’ Venables would be under supervision from probation staff if he was released.
They raised concerns of ‘a need for further work in custody to address his sexual interests’ and were ‘not satisfied’ that he met a threshold for release.