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Bulger mother thanks supporters | Bulger mother thanks supporters |
(about 3 hours later) | |
The mother of murdered two-year-old James Bulger has thanked people for their support after one of her son's killers was recalled to prison. | The mother of murdered two-year-old James Bulger has thanked people for their support after one of her son's killers was recalled to prison. |
Denise Fergus posted the message on her Twitter account. | Denise Fergus posted the message on her Twitter account. |
She said: "I've always said that there are more good people than bad in this world, and the messages I'm still receiving proves it." | |
Jon Venables, who with Robert Thompson killed James on Merseyside in 1993, is back in prison for a licence breach. | |
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said he believed the public did have a right to know how Venables breached his parole nine years after he was released. | |
What matters here is that the justice system is allowed to run its course and that justice is done, whatever wrongs are committed Prime Minister Gordon Brown | |
But Justice Secretary Jack Straw said secrecy was in the public interest. | |
Today, the Prime Minister sided with Mr Straw, saying that although he understood the public "outrage", the government would not comment on individual cases. | |
Mr Brown said: "What we are talking about is a totally abhorrent crime that happened some years ago but that still, rightly so, disgusts and offends the British people and I can rightly understand the public outrage, even after so many years." | |
He added: "But the public know that we cannot comment on individual cases that are going through the system and I think the justice secretary explained the particular constraints in this case. | |
Venables was released from custody in 2001 and given a new identity Q and A: Bulger killer's licence | |
"But I want to be absolutely clear that what matters here is that the justice system is allowed to run its course and that justice is done, whatever wrongs are committed. | |
"The justice system must be allowed to take the action that is necessary. That is what people would expect and that is what is going to happen." | |
James was abducted by Venables and Thompson while at the Strand shopping centre in Bootle. | |
His battered body was found by children playing on a freight railway line more than two miles from the shopping centre. | |
The killers were given life sentences, but released in 2001 with new identities and under certain licence conditions. | |
A court order prevents details being published which could reveal their whereabouts. | |
Venables will appear before a hearing of the Parole Board which will consider the reason for his recall to prison. | |
The outcome of such hearings are not usually made public but a spokesman for the Parole Board said it was likely the result would be released because of the high profile nature of the case. |
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