SOFT JUSTICE FEARS — Denise Fergus breaks her silence again, revealing the fear that never left her: that her son James Bulger’s killer could walk free.
In a system marked by release blunders, she says every review feels like reliving 1993 — the year that stole everything.
Venables was already freed once under a new identity… and the thought it could happen again still “petrifies” her.

********

James Bulger’s mum ‘petrified’ her son’s killer will be freed after series of jail release blunders

Venables was freed with a new name in 2001 after just eight years in a youth prison

THE mum of James Bulger is “petrified” gaffe-prone justice chiefs will release her son’s killer amid a climate of soft justice.

The Sun can reveal Denise Fergus has “all-time low confidence” in Justice Secretary David Lammy and his department after recent blunders.

Jon Venables mugshot from February 20, 1993.
Killer Jon Venables will refuse to attend his parole hearing if James Bulger’s family are thereCredit: Getty Images – Getty
 

James Bulger smiling.
James’s separated parents Denise Fergus and Ralph Bulger won the right to attend the hearing last month, pictured murdered JamesCredit: PA:Press Association
 

Denise Fergus, mother of murdered toddler James Bulger, outside the Old Bailey.
James Bulger’s mother Denise Fergus is ‘worried sick’ that killer Venables could be releasedCredit: PA:Press Association
Killer Jon Venables has a parole hearing next month and a source close to Denise said she “is petrified and worried sick” after watching a number of early jail releases recently, as well as cases of lags released in error.

They added: “The lack of contact from the Government and justice chiefs has left her really concerned.

“She has lost all faith in this government’s justice system.”

Venables and Robert Thompson, then both ten, murdered James, two, in Bootle, Merseyside, in 1993.

Both were released in 2001 but Venables, now 43, has been recalled twice.

The Ministry of Justice said he will be freed only “if the Parole Board, which is independent of government, directs it after a full assessment”.

We told how Denise and her ex-husband Ralph Bulger, 59, had successfully applied to attend the new parole hearing and read out impact statements.

Venables, now 43, is “unlikely” to attend in person amid his fears of facing James’ family.