Jon Venables will not face a public parole hearing despite James Bulger's mother's plea

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 09:37 EDT, 28 September 2026 | Updated: 10:05 EDT, 28 September 2026 Jon Venables will not face a public parole hearing despite the desperate plea from murdered toddler James Bulger's mother. Denise Fergus demanded that the upcoming parole hearing for her son's killer be held in public so he is forced to 'face up' to his crimes.But the murderer will have his latest parole bid heard in private, the Parole Board has decided. The 44-year-old, who tortured and murdered two-year-old James Bulger in 1993, will have his case heard by parole chiefs at an oral hearing more than two years after his last appeal. Parole Board hearings are usually held in private but they can be made public 'in the interests of justice'.A number of media organisations also applied for a public hearing.Ms Fergus had pleaded for the hearing to be held in public to also help combat 'misinformation' about the case which had a 'retraumatising impact' on her. The board noted that making the case public would increase 'the risk of identifying the prisoner and of sensationalising the case'. It added that 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. Jon Venables (pictured) was 10-years-old when he and Robert Thompson, also 10, tortured and killed the two-year-old after luring him away from his mother Denise Fergus as she was shopping in Bootle, Merseyside, on 12 February 1993 The murder of James Bulger (pictured) caused shockwaves nationally both due to the horrific details of the attack and the age of his killers Denise Fergus, the mother of murdered toddler James Bulger, outside the Old Bailey in London in 2018John 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.'Jon Venables was 10 when he and fellow schoolboy Robert Thompson , also 10, abducted, tortured and murdered two-year-old James after leading him away from his mother while she was shopping in Bootle, Merseyside, on February 12, 1993.Now 44, Venables was first released on licence in 2001 but has since twice been recalled to prison after being convicted of possessing indecent images of children in 2010 and again in 2017.His last attempt to secure release was rejected in 2023. However, Mrs Fergus was informed in January that he would be given another opportunity to put his case before the Parole Board.A spokeswoman for Ms Fergus previously said her application to observe the hearing had been granted.Victims have been able to attend parole hearings held in private under reforms rolled out nationally in April as part of efforts to boost confidence in the justice system.The rules began to change after a successful legal challenge over the decision to release black cab rapist Jon Worboys in 2018. The High Court later overturned that decision and also struck down the secrecy rules surrounding Parole Board decisions.The Government subsequently introduced rules allowing members of the public to apply for hearings to be held in public in certain circumstances, although the Parole Board can still refuse those applications.