The murder of James Bulger is one of the most famous and shocking crimes in UK history, which occurred on February 12, 1993 in Walton, on the outskirts of Liverpool. The victim was a less than three-year-old boy, James Bulger, kidnapped and murdered by two ten-year-olds, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables.
James Bulger. Victim of murderous 10-year-olds
James Bulger was born on 16 March 1990 and lived in Kirkby. He was the only child of his parents who cared very much about him after their first daughter died earlier. James was a healthy, vibrant and joyful child who loved Michael Jackson's music.
The Children Who Killed
Robert Thompson was born on 23 August 1982. At the time of the crime, he was 10 years old. He lived near Liverpool and came from an environment with educational problems. He was described as a boy who was able to appear innocent and sleepy as during his arrest, but at the same time showed cold premeditation in his actions. During the trial, psychiatrists stated that he was aware of the evil of his actions and acted with the intention of tasking the victim with suffering, did not interrupt the kidnapping despite many occasions.
Jon Venables He was also 10 at the time of the crime and came from a similar environment as Thompson. During the killing, he was equally involved in the brutal abuse of James Bulger, showing cruelty and cold calculation. Psychiatrists assessed that Venables was aware of the seriousness of the act, and the motivation was to want to dominate and dislike showing weakness before Thompson.
Unimaginable torture. Crime course
On February 12, 1993, while walking his mother with James at the Walton mall, the boy was briefly left unattended. At the time, two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, abducted him from downtown.. The initial video from the store cameras showed that three children were seen by 38 witnesses who did not intervene, assuming that older boys tend to younger siblings.
After the boy was kidnapped, they took a four-mile walk to the Walton railway tracks.. Initially, they were going to put James on the tracks and let the train run over him, but the child refused to lie down, stood up, which caused the boys' anger and caused violent torture. Robert Thompson and Jon Venables beat James with metal rods, threw bricks, poured blue paint into his eye, put batteries in his mouth, kicked him and jumped on the body, and also ripped him off was part of his clothes and his foreskin.. Finally, one of them hit him with a head piece of metal used to connect the rails, weighing about 10 kilograms.
James suffered 42 different injuries, including 22 serious head injuries and 10 skull fractures. The autopsy showed that the boy could only survive a few minutes after being left by the torturers. His body was partially obscured on the tracks, probably to make it look like a railroad accident.
Family reaction
James' family immediately after reported missing began a search, which was intensified after finding a body on the railway tracks on 14 February. Police quickly identified the perpetrators after reporting a woman who recognized Jon Venables on a surveillance video.. The boys were arrested on February 18 and after initial denial they confessed to kidnapping and murder.
The trial began on November 24, 1993, and the case aroused huge emotions in society. During the trial, 20 hours of interrogation recordings were played, at which the boys explained in detail what they had done. The evidence of guilt included blood on the shoes, paint marks, and surveillance footage..
Childhood and subsequent years in a penal institution
Both perpetrators were found guilty, even though they were only 10 years old, making them one of the youngest murderers in UK history. In 2001, after spending many years in a detention facility, they went free, receiving new identities to avoid revenge. Jon Venables was again convicted in 2010 for having material related to child abuse and re-incarcerated. After serving his sentence, he received another fictional identity. In 2017, he again went to prison for similar crimes, after which he was sentenced to 40 months.
Based on the case described, a story-inspired feature film with the title "Playing Square" directed by Bartosz Kowalski was created.
