Private parole hearing for James Bulger's killer Jon Venables is 'an insult' and like 'trampling on my son's grave', toddler's father says

Published: 07:20 EDT, 4 October 2026 | Updated: 07:22 EDT, 4 October 2026 The father of murdered toddler James Bulger has said the decision to hold his killer's parole hearing in private is 'an insult' and like 'trampling over' his son's grave.Two-year-old James was tortured and murdered by child killer Jon Venables and his accomplice Robert Thompson at a shopping centre near Liverpool in 1993.Venables is set to have his latest bid for freedom heard in private, more than two years on from his last appeal.James's family had asked for the hearing to be held in public to help combat 'misinformation' about the case.But the parole board insisted this would increase 'the risk of identifying the prisoner and of sensationalising the case'.James's father Ralph Bulger, 59, has now said he is 'absolutely raging' at the decision.'Our feelings and emotions don't matter to faceless parole chiefs although we were given assurances we could attend.'It's an insult and like trampling over James's grave. Jon Venables (pictured) was ten when he and Robert Thompson abducted, tortured and killed two-year-old James Bulger The murder of James Bulger caused shockwaves nationally both due to the horrific details of the attack and the age of his killers'Once again it's all about looking after child killer and paedophile Venables while James's family are tossed aside like the rubbish,' he told the Sun on Sunday.James's mother, Denise Fergus, previously said a public hearing could improve people's understanding of the parole process and make her 'finally feel listened to'.Calling Venables a 'coward' and 'danger to children,' Mr Bulger urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to 'step in and block his release' if the board 'buckles'.At Venables’s previous parole hearing in 2023, the board rejected his bid for freedom and found he still posed a danger to children and could go on to offend again.Venables was jailed alongside Robert Thompson after the pair of ten-year-olds snatched James from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, in February 1993.He was released on licence in July 2001 and recalled to prison in February 2010 after indecent images of children were found on his computer.In August 2013, he was freed again – but then called back in November 2017 for the same offence, with parole judges considering his case again in September 2020.A spokeswoman for Ms Fergus previously said her application to observe the hearing had been granted. Denise Fergus, the mother of murdered toddler James Bulger, outside the Old Bailey in London in 2018Victims have been able to attend parole hearings held in private under reforms rolled out nationally in April amid efforts to boost confidence in the justice system.But the board said a public hearing would make it 'very difficult for Jon Venables to give evidence' because he could be 'being listened to by people who are seeking to get information so that they can kill him'.Venables was given lifetime anonymity because he committed the crime as a child.John Saunders, on behalf of the parole board, wrote on the decision: 'I note that a high bar has been set for a public hearing to be in the interests of justice and I have decided that this high bar is not met in this case.'