Brother of James Bulger says he will never forgive killers 30 years on

The brother of murdered two-year-old James Bulger has said after three decades that he will never forgive the killers.

Speaking ahead of the 30th anniversary of the tragedy on Sunday, Michael Fergus said he wants “justice for James” in the form of murderer Jon Venables remaining behind bars.

James was tortured and killed by the men formerly known as Venables and Robert Thompson – who were then both aged 10 – after they snatched him from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, on February 12 1993.

The pair were jailed for life but released on licence with new identities in 2001.

Venables, 40, was sent back to prison in 2010 and 2017, the latter for possessing indecent images of children, and was turned down for parole in 2020.

Mr Fergus was born eight months after his brother’s murder, and though he never got to meet him, he has grown up with the effects of the tragedy.

“They took away my older brother who I never got to meet. I would have loved to have looked up to him, asked him questions, talked to him about exams, cars, going to bars, normal stuff.

“But because of those two I never got the chance. They robbed me of my childhood, in a nutshell.”

He added that “justice for James” meant “keeping Venables behind bars” to provide “peace of mind” for the family, particularly their mother.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, who is also deputy prime minister, will “do everything in his power” to keep dangerous offenders in jail.

A spokesperson said: “The Deputy Prime Minister will do everything in his power to keep dangerous offenders behind bars and has set out plans to overhaul the parole process and put victims at the heart of the process.”