James Bulger killer Jon Venables granted parole hearing

One of James Bulger’s killers Jon Venables has been granted a rare two-day parole hearing, it has been confirmed.

The hearing was due to take place in October 2022 but due to being postponed, will now be held on November 14th and 15th this year, the Parole Board have said.

Venables and Robert Thompson were both 10 years old when they killed two-year-old James Bulger in 1993, after they abducted him from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside.

Venables and Thompson were given life sentences but were freed on licence and given new identities in 2001.

Venables was sent back to prison in both 2010 and 2017 for possessing indecent images of children on his laptop. He had an application to be freed rejected in 2020 following an assessment of his case.

A Parole Board spokesperson confirmed the hearing saying the panel will ‘carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change’.

They said the panel will also explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

The spokesperson said: “Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

“Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing.

“The prisoner and witnesses are then questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more.

“Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.”

Following a parole hearing, a decision on whether prisoners can be released is usually made within 14 days.