Ben Griffiths

Denise Fergus and her husband Stuart have applied for Jon Venables’ forthcoming parole hearing to be held in public, arguing that the case is of significant public interest and that greater transparency could counter misinformation and help the family feel heard. Fergus says Venables remains a serious danger and points to his later convictions for possessing child abuse images as evidence that the case is exceptional. Venables and Robert Thompson murdered two-year-old James Bulger in 1993. Venables has since been released and recalled to prison several times, most recently after convictions involving child abuse material, and parole was denied in 2020 and 2023 because the Parole Board judged that release would not yet be safe.