James Bulger's killer Jon Venables loses latest bid to be freed from prison after Parole Board panel was 'not satisfied' he was suitable for release

Published: 08:57 EST, 9 November 2026 | Updated: 09:18 EST, 9 November 2026 James Bulger's killer Jon Venables has lost his latest bid to be freed from prison after the Parole Board said a panel was 'not satisfied' he was suitable for release.Venables told parole staff dealing with his latest review, which took place in private, that he was not seeking release.A summary of the panel's findings, published today, said: 'At the outset of the hearing, Mr Venables submitted an opening statement to the effect that he accepted the need to undertake further offending work in custody and so was not seeking release.'The panel considered evidence from probation officers based in the prison and in the community, three psychologists, and a psychiatrist, and all bar one found that he should remain in prison.Venables tortured and murdered two-year-old James in 1993 after he and Robert Thompson, both then aged 10, snatched him from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside.Since his initial release on licence in July 2001, he has returned to prison multiple times.In February 2010 he was recalled to prison after indecent images of children we found on his computer. Jon Venables has been denied his latest bid for freedom after a Parole Board panel was 'not satisfied' he was suitable for release The murder of James Bulger caused shockwaves across the nation 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. At a parole hearing in 2023 the board rejected his bid for freedom, finding he still posed a danger to children and could go on to offend again. Now, the parole board has once again found he was not suitable for release. James Bulger's family had criticised the decision to hold the latest hearings in private, calling it an 'insult'. The parole board had insisted that making the hearing private would increase 'the risk of identifying the prisoner and of sensationalising the case'.James's father Ralph Bulger, 59, described himself as 'absolutely raging' at the decision.His mother, Denise Fergus, previously said a public hearing could improve people's understanding of the parole process and make her 'finally feel listened to'.