Jon Venables: Bulger killer anonymity breach complaint Published duration 4 December 2017 Related Topics Murder of James Bulger

image copyright Merseyside Police image caption Jon Venables was 10 when he and Robert Thompson killed James Bulger

A potential breach of a court order which prevents the identification of one of James Bulger's killers is being investigated, the Attorney General's Office has confirmed.

Jon Venables, now 35, was convicted of killing two-year-old James in Merseyside in 1993, along with Robert Thompson.

The pair were released in 2001.

There is a worldwide ban on publishing anything revealing their current identities.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said: "We have received a complaint that the anonymity order has been breached and we are investigating."

A High Court injunction prohibits the publication of any images or information claiming to identify or locate the pair- even if it is not actually them.

The order also covers material published on the internet.

In 2013 two men who published photographs on Twitter and Facebook said to show the killers of James Bulger received suspended jail sentences for being in contempt of court.

Venables was recalled to prison last month after being suspected of having child abuse images on his computer.

It is the second time he has been sent back to jail for the same suspected offence.

He was first recalled in 2010, following his release in 2001 after serving eight years for the murder of James, aged two, in 1993.

image copyright PA image caption James Bulger was two when he was abducted and killed in 1993

On 12 February 1993, James - just a few weeks before his third birthday - was reported missing by his mother from outside a butcher's shop in the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Merseyside.

CCTV images revealed he had been lured away by Venables and Thompson, both then aged 10.

His body was found two days later on a railway line.

Thompson and Venables were arrested and charged within days. They were both convicted at Preston Crown Court of James's murder, in November 1993.

In 2001, the pair were released - with new identities - from secure children's homes on life licence, meaning they can be recalled at any time.