The murder of James Bulger

On 12th February 1993 Denise Bulger, James bulger (aged 2) and Denise's brothers girlfriend Nicola ( not every source mentions she was there others say it was only Denise and James) went to the New Strand shopping centre in Bootle. Nicola went to TJ Hughes to exchange some clothes, Denise waited near by watching the children ( there is only one source I've found that states that there were "children" implying that James was not the only child with them that day). For a moment James went out of sight, he was becoming agitated and made a fuss of having been in the pushchair, James then wondered off only to soon find himself alone and cry out . Denise picked James up and left to buy the "children" as snack in the hopes it would calm James down. A source states that someone who saw James said that he was full of energy, at a clothing shop he was throwing clothes around and in another store grabbed sweets and juice from the shelves before his mother could stop him.

Denise decided to go to the butcher shop located on the lower floor the shopping centre the next bit differs slightly depending on what source you read but one says that she entered the shop with James, temporarily distracted by something she then turned around to realise James was gone. Another source says that Denise entered the butchers shop alone leaving James by the outside door because she noticed there was no queue and thought she would only be a minute and that James would be fine on this own for such a small amount of time but was longer than expected. This source says that Nicola had seen James playing outside the butchers door with a cigarette butt. when Denise had finished she came out of the shop to find that James was no where in sight. Denise was completely panicked and was directed to the security office where she gave them a complete description of James, She said he was wearing a blue anorak and grey sweat suit, his t-shirt had the word "noddy" on it and a blue wool scarf that had a white cat face. Security wasn't that alarmed as they routinely have to announce children's names and descriptions who have accidentally wandered of from there families, no one responded to the call out. 
Denise and Nicola (depending what source you look at because some say Denise was on her own with James) went and searched through the shopping centre but could not find James so they went back to the security office where at around 4.15pm they called the police and reported James missing.

James' disappearance made the evening news and calls came pouring in many believed they had seen the toddler in Walton. After reports of seeing James down by the canal, investigators planned to drag the canal first thing in the morning.
Police interviewed Denise and her husband Ralph, retracing her steps through the shopping centre. (As with most child abductions the parents are suspects but with so many leads being delivered to the police their focus shifted off of the Bulgers.)  After midnight (the very early hours of the next day) police watched through CCTV footage of the shopping centre hoping to get a glimpse of james' abductor. The were interested in an older man with a ponytail after reports that he was seen approaching children throughout the time James was present in the shopping centre. Eventually the police came across a blurry, jumpy images of James but he was not with the pony tailed man but two boys. As the police watched in confusion they realised that they weren't dealing with a paedophile but two young boys, just children themselves. There was no way to identify the boys as the CCTV quality was low but the toddler's clothing matched the description giving by Denise Bulger. The situation seemed incomprehensible to police as they watched in horror the CCTV over and over trying to understand why two children would take another child.

The next morning underwater teams searched the canal while other searches were organised on land. Police released video stills of the boys to the media, which appeared on TV and in papers hoping someone would recognise the boys but because the image was so fuzzy it could have been any children.

On Sunday morning a train engineer noticed something on the tracks that looked like a doll, it didn't strike him as odd as the neighbourhood kids would routinely put things on the tracks but after he thought about the missing boy later on he called the police in the evening.

On Sunday afternoon four boys found James' body when they went to the train tracks to look for footballs. To begin with the boys thought he was a cat, then a doll pulled into two. His upper body was hidden within his coat and his lower body was further down the tracks completely undressed. He had suffered 42 injuries most to his face and head, it was determined that he had not died during the attack but some time before the train hit him. Investigators stopped all approaching trains and led by detective Albert Kirby, roped off the tracks and shielded the scene from bystanders and reporters. James' body looked as if there was two bodies at the scene as there was a substantial distance between the upper and lower parts of his body.  At first his upper body appeared to be nothing more than a bundle of clothing, however his lower half was completely naked. Police determined that James had been laid with his waist on the track rail with his upper body inside the tracks. The clothing that had been removed from james' lower half was laid near his head, with his underwear soaked in blood. Nearby the police found a two feet iron bar with bloodstains on and bricks and stones with blood on. There were also 3 AA batteries near the body which intrigued investigators who were suspicious about there placement. A tin of blue paint was also found nearby.

James' had been beaten severely around the head and neck. There were fractures, cuts,bruises and severe bleeding caused by blows from heavy blunt objects. Although there was no conclusive evidence indicating a sexual assault, forensic specialists believed that some of the injuries below the waist were suspicious and sexual in nature.

At this time Denise Bulger who had been at the police station since her son's disappearance sensed something was going on. She became horribly distressed when she heard a body had be found, there was nothing she could do but wait for the terrible confirmation that the body found was in fact James.

A call to the police station reported that they had a friend Susan Venables who had a son named Jon who resembles on of the boys on the video and who had skipped school on that Friday and had blue paint on his jacket sleeve. The caller also named Jon's friend Robert Thompson saying that he had also skipped school that Friday. With no other leads, investigators decided that the boys should be brought in for questioning. At 7.30am on Thursday February 18th four police officers went to the Thompson home with a warrant,when Robert realised he was a suspect he began to cry, they rounded up Robert's clothes and immediately noticed that there was blood on his shoes.
When the police arrived at the Venables home Jon's mother opened the door and said " I knew you'd be here. I told him you'd want to see him for bunking off of school on Friday". She mentioned that Jon had "came home on Friday with his coat covered in paint". The police promptly asked for Jon's mustard yellow  which was indeed splattered with blue paint, it even appeared that there was a small hand print on the sleeve. Jon sobbed grabbing hold of his mother saying "I don't want to go prison, mum. I didn't kill the baby", he cried hysterically "it's that Robert Thompson. He always gets me into trouble". In tears Jon told police to speak to Robert. As the police drove Jon to the police station he continued to ask about Robert, if they had arrested him yet and where they would take him.

Despite the boys distressed reactions to being arrested, the police did not immediately suspect that they were the killers, they were just following a tip and there were other boys in the area who had violent records, they thought the boys in the CCTV looked around 13-14 years old and Jon and Robert were small, still little kids themselves.
Following procedure police interviewed Jon at the Lower Lane police station and Robert at the Walton Lane police station, (which wasn't far from where James was killed) the boys especially Jon was both terrified and fascinated by police procedure. As they took Jon's fingerprints he asked how fingerprints worked, "Do you leave these on whatever you touch?" he asked, "if you touch someones skin does it leave a fingerprint? If you drag someone really hard, do you leave your nails in his skin?". He wanted to know if they were taking Robert's fingerprints too, police took blood, hair,and fingernail samples from both boys.

In the meantime, a shopkeeper called the police as he thought that the boys from the CCTV footage might have been into his shop on the day James disappeared, so police went down and took fingerprints. Jon's were a match.

During the interviews that followed both boys denied everything, but as the week went on, and they became more distraught, they started to admit bits and pieces, but claim they other was the instigator.  Robert claimed Jon said, “Let’s get a kid, I haven’t hit one for ages.” But Jon blamed Robert. “Let’s get this kid lost,” he quoted Robert as saying, “let’s get him lost outside so when he goes into the road he’ll get knocked over.”
 By the end of the week police had enough evidence to go for a conviction of the boys jointly.
On February 22nd both boys were charged with the murder of James Bulger, they were the youngest people to be charged with murder in England during the 20th century. Both boys were detained until their trial, undergoing psychiatric evaluations and further interviews. While the court system had to try to prepare accommodations for the two young defendants.

 On May 14th 1993, Robert and Jon appeared at Liverpool Crown Court to enter their pleas of not guilty. Jon hyperventilated during the hearing and could not participate in the police line-up, both the prosecution and the defence became worried about his ability to participate in his own defence. It was decided that the case would be tried in Preston which was close to the secure units where the boys where detained.

 A woman came forward to say that on the day James disappeared while in TJ Hughes she noticed her three-year-old daughter and two-year-old son were playing with a couple of older boys. The boys,she identified as Jon and Robert, were kneeling down, opening purses and snapping them shut, attracting the kids’ attention. She called them back, but they strayed off again. After she paid for her item, she found her daughter and asked her where her baby brother was. “Gone outside with the boys,” she said. She raced outside and yelled her child’s name. She saw Jon and Robert, motioning to her son to come along. He had already followed them this far. But when Jon saw her, they froze. “Go back to your mum,” they said, and the two boys quickly disappeared.


On November 1st 1993 the trial began with the trial hours emulating school hours, from 10.30am - 3.30pm. And it was decided that the boys would tried together, the presiding judge ruled that the boys would be known as child A and child B. Although the defendants were supposedly anonymous by name, everyone was able to see both boys clearly and able watch their behaviour closely. (A raised platform was installed for the boys to sit on during the trial so they could see.) Robert sat there staring ahead, or up at the ceiling, kicked off his shoes and yawned, showing little emotion. None of his family were present and he sat grimly next to his social worker. Jon seemed more contrite, anxious, constantly looking at his mother for support. The prosecution presented their case, contending that both boys participated in James Bulger's death.
As both defendants were under 14 years old the prosecution had to prove that they both knew that their actions were severely wrong. " You can properly be satisfied that each of them knew it was seriously wrong to take a young child from his mother, to try to do so, and to use such extreme violence on a child of tender years". The jury were presented with files, which included photos of the crime (all jurors were visibly moved by the photos).

Neither of the boys participated in the trial, they did not take the stand at any time and were rarely addressed by the court as they were incapable of understanding the court procedures. Denise Bulger was not present at any time but her statement was read out to the jury.
They watched as the evidence clearly pointed to their guilt : the CCTV from the shopping centre, blood-splattered bricks, stones, clothing, a tin of blue paint, and a heavy iron bar. Forensic scientists gave assessments of James' injuries which were so numerous that they couldn't identify which caused his death. One imprint which found on james' cheek was conclusively linked to Robert's bloody shoe, indicating that he was an indisputable participant. 
An important issue for the prosecution was the question "did the boys know the difference between right and wrong?". The Victorian concept of "doli incapax" which was established to protect innocent (and ignorant) children from corporal punishment. In earlier era's, wild street children were executed for their crimes, "doli incapax" meant that children were incapable of wrongdoing because they could not grasp the consequences of their actions. To this point, the boys teachers testified, psychiatrists took the stand to say they believe that both boys knew the consequences of their crime. The court played the recorded police interviews, which also revealed that they understood their charges.

Jon's hysterical, high-pitched crying affected many who heard it. It was at this point that both boys started paying close attention, each interested in what the other had said and indignantly listened as they accused each other of James' murder. Robert who had appeared cool and tough throughout the trial was upset when he heard Jon say that he was like a girl because he played with dolls. Jon watched Robert's reactions when he accused him of beating James. While waiting Robert knitted gloves for his baby brother and said that he knew he was going to be found guilty.

 

 

The verdict came in that afternoon and for the first time Denise and Ralph Bulger set foot in court. As expected both boys were found guilty, Jon sobbed while Robert sat motionless.

 The Judge, Mr Justice Morland,  addressed the boys: “The killing of James Bulger was an act of unparallelled evil and barbarity. This child of two was taken from his mother on a journey of over two miles and then, on the railway line, was battered to death without mercy. Then his body was placed across the railway line so it would be run over by a train in an attempt to conceal his murder. In my judgement your conduct was both cunning and very wicked.”
“This sentence that I pass upon you both is that you should be detained during Her Majesty’s pleasure, in such a place and under such conditions as the Secretary of State may now decide. You will be securely detained for very, very many years, until the Home Secretary is satisfied that you have matured and are fully rehabilitated and until you are no longer a danger.” The judge also allowed the media to publish the boy's names

  

The judge, set their minimum period of imprisonment to eight years. This was increased to 10 years on appeal  by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Taylor of Gosforth.

Later it was increased to 15 years by the Home Secretary, Michael Howard, on the grounds that he was "acting in the public interest". This decision was then overturned in 1997 by the Law Lords.

In October 2000 Lord Chief Justice Harry Woolf reduced their minimum sentence by two years in recognition of their good behaviour and remorse shown while in detention, effectively restoring the original trial judge's eight-year recommended minimum.

 

In June 2001, the parole board ruled that the boys were no longer a threat to public safety and could now be released as their minimum tariff had expired, on life licence.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to write this as James was so young and his murder was so brutal and sever considering the ages of his murderers. I was born in 1994 so this happened before I was born so the first time I became aware of this case was in 2010 when it was on the news after Jon was returned to custody and charged with possession and distribution of indecent images of children. In 2010 I was 16 years old and I remember thinking how could two children under 14 years old could commit such a violent murder. One of the thoughts that I had then and still have now is what makes a child commit murder, what have they seen, heard or been exposed to that murder could enter a child's head. I can understand a child accidentally hurting someone e.g tripping someone up who bangs their head on a wall or something that results in their death, I can also understand that some children aren't fully in control of their feelings, wanting to hurt someone when their angry and might get carried away during the moment and accidentally hurt someone. I as a child when my brothers where winding me up thought things like "I want to hit them" or said to them "god I want to kill you" but never once ever did any of our fights result in one of us being hurt (except when we where like 4 and would hit each other) I knew it was wrong and now thinking back on it I don't think it ever registered what the phrase "god I want to kill you" really meant it was just something we said to each other to let the other person know they were irritating us.
 Children killing children is a hard topic for me I don't really know where I stand with it (obviously I think its severely wrong), whether it's environmental, something within the child itself or whether it's the growing violence culture of today.  
One of the reason I did do this post is that I feel that especially in this case people remember the offenders names but never the victims names and I don't think that should ever be the case.

This post was researched from various sources, I apologise profusely if any of the information is wrong or if you are offended or upset by this post. If you have information about this case that I haven't covered please let me know.

James Bulger photo: http://forjames.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/mpm-Bulger_Stock1.jpg