The mother of murdered toddler, James Bulger, has accused the authorities of trying to cover up news that one of her son's killer has been returned to prison after allegedly being caught with child abuse images.

Jon Venables, 35, was arrested last week after probation officers, who have been monitoring him closely, reportedly discovered indecent material stored on a device at his home.

It is the second time he has been accused of the offence since being released from prison for torturing and murdering two-year-old James in 1993.

But James's mother, Denise Fergus, accused the probation service of trying to cover up the fact.

She said: "Venables has now proved beyond any doubt what a vile, perverted psychopath he has always been.

"But what hurts me most is the way the probation service has tried to cover this up.

"Venables was taken back into custody a week ago, yet I was only informed hours before it hit the press.

"But it's clear that they were trying to keep this quiet, until they got a call from the media."

Mrs Fergus said she was called at 8.40pm on Wednesday and simply told that Venables, who now has a new identity, had breached the terms of his licence and been returned to prison.