Bulger killers granted right to a life of anonymity

11:30 AM

The new identities of the killers of James Bulger must remain secret for the rest of their lives, the High Court in England has ruled.

Lady Justice Butler-Sloss, president of the Family Division of the High Court, said she was convinced that the lives of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were "genuinely at risk" if their new identities "became public knowledge".

Lady Justice Butler-Sloss made her ruling despite opposition from media organisations, which claimed the public had an "overriding right to know" the identities of those who commit "serious and detestable crimes". She said: "I have come to the conclusion that I am compelled to take steps in the almost unique circumstances of this case to protect their lives and physical well-being."

The ruling means that no pictures of Venables and Thompson can be published after their release from custody, which is expected to be before their 19th birthdays in August. The ban also covers publication of any information that might compromise their new identities.

Denise Fergus, James's mother, said she was "extremely disappointed" by the ruling. "As children, one can understand them being given some protection, but what right have they got to be given special treatment as adults as well?" she said.

Penal affairs groups welcomed the judge's decision, but Detective Superintendent Albert Kirby, who led the investigation into James's murder, said he found it "bizarre" that they should be given "preferential treatment".

Thompson and Venables were both aged 10 when they beat two-year-old James to death on a railway line in Liverpool in February 1993.

The judge said the "horrific crime" had "caused much public concern and a widespread feeling of moral outrage".

During Thompson's and Venables' time in custody, an injunction banned the media from taking or publishing photographs of them or reporting on their progress or treatment. The injunctions restricting publicity came to an end when the boys reached theage of 18, whereupon their lawyers sought to make the bans indefinite.

Lady Justice Butler-Sloss said information she had received from the Home Office, press reports and judicial observations had convinced her "that these young men are uniquely notorious and are at serious risk of attacks from members of the public as well as from relatives and friends of the murdered child".

The judge said the manager of Thompson's secure unit had reported receiving hate mail which threatened: "To the vermin who killed Jamie Bulger, we don't forget, we will get the job done."

She also cited press reports in which Mrs Fergus was quoted as saying that "mothers like me will be after their blood", and James's father, Ralph Bulger, as saying: "I will do all I can to try my best to hunt them down."

Lady Justice Butler-Sloss said the sense of moral outrage over the crime had "not diminished" and some people continued to harbour a "serious desire for revenge".

The judge confirmed that the Home Office was preparing new identities for Venables and Thompson on their release. And she said: "In my judgment if any section of the media decided to give information leading to the identification of either young man, such publication would put his life at risk."

She said she was driven to the "inevitable conclusion" that sections of the press would "support and might even initiate efforts to find the claimants and to expose their identity and their addresses in their newspapers".The judge said she had acted on Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, now enshrined in domestic law, which grants the right to life.

The judgment raised the prospect of other offenders who faced revenge attacks demanding anonymity on their release, but the judge said she had made her ruling in the light of "the almost unique circumstances of this case".