MPs are set to debate whether a public enquiry should be held into the murder of James Bulger.
Robert Thompson and Jon Venables killed the two-year-old after they abducted him from Bootle’s The Strand shopping centre in February 1993.
Both served eight years for the horrific crime at a youth detention centre before being released on licence in 2001 under new, hidden identities.
But Venables has returned to prison on two occasions since then after being found in possession of thousands of indecent images of children.
James’ mother Denise Ferguson lobbied politicians to open an enquiry into the toddler’s murder as ‘a number of issues have been swept under the carpet’.
Her Government petition received more than 200,000 signatures, meaning it is now eligible for debate in the House of Commons should parliament see fit.
In 2018 the government said it was ‘not necessary’ to hold a public inquiry as Venable had received ‘robust and effective monitoring’ following his release.
But the Ministry of Justice has confirmed MPs will discuss the case for a public inquiry later this year after discussions between Ms Fergus and Dominic Raab.
The justice secretary said that the meeting had ‘strengthened my resolve to reform the Parole Board’ amid Venables’ upcoming bid to be released.
He has unsuccessfully applied for parole since being sentenced to 40 months in 2018 for having more than 1,000 indecent images of children.
However Venables is planning to launch another bid for freedom and could be free before the end of this year should that potential hearing be successful.