GETTY Jon Venables was jailed for the killing of James Bulger

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And she only discovered Venables’ true identity when a photo of him was illegally circulated online after he as jailed for possessing more than 1,000 images of child pornography. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, described the paedophile as a manipulative, womaniser who scoured the internet on the hunt for sex. She said: “He used to catch the same bus as me and after a few weeks we got talking, and pretty quickly he made it clear he had a thing for me. “He was passionate about politics and was always going to gigs. He loved the same bands as me, so I liked his vibe. He was very confident, even obnoxious, and had a very dark sense of humour.” The woman said he asked her out for a drink down the pub.

She told the Metro: “He dressed smarter than I had seen him before and paid for all the drinks. He drank beer and we had about six each. “He was a bit older than me, nearly 10 years, but it was a bit like going out with a yob, he was a real know-it-all. "It was a Sunday night so we did not stay out, we kissed at the bus stop, and he left me there.” According to the woman, he then bombarded her with texts and threatened to tell her boyfriend about their rendezvous if she refused to pick Venables over him. But within days Vendables had a new girl on his arm.

Despite being with someone else, Venables still tried to exert control over the woman. She said: “He could be really argumentative, and he passionately hated Jeremy Corbyn, but that might have been because he knew I liked Corbyn, and just wanted an argument." Last week a mutual friend alerted her to an illegal snap of Venables on social media. When the penny dropped, they confronted Venables' girlfriend who admitted it was him.