Jon Venables, one of the two boys convicted of killing toddler James Bulger, will remain in prison after telling a Parole Board panel he did not want to be released.
During his latest parole review, held in private, Venables informed parole staff that he was not seeking to leave custody.
A published summary of the panel’s conclusions 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 weighed evidence from probation officers working both inside the prison and in the community, along with assessments from three psychologists and a psychiatrist. All but one of those providing evidence concluded he should stay behind bars.
Two-year-old James Bulger was murdered in 1993
James Bulger, who was two, was tortured and murdered in 1993 after being taken from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside. Venables and Robert Thompson were both 10 at the time.
Venables was first released on licence in July 2001, but was recalled to prison in February 2010 after indecent images of children were discovered on his computer.
He was released again in August 2013 and then recalled once more in November 2017 for the same offence. Parole judges reviewed his case again in September 2020.
