The father and uncle of the murdered toddler James Bulger have launched a legal attempt to lift the cloak of anonymity protecting one of his killers, Jon Venables.



The claim by Ralph and Jimmy Bulger was heard for the first time at the high court in London on Tuesday, reigniting public debate over one of the UK’s most notorious child murders.

James’s mother, Denise Fergus, however, has distanced herself from the application, fearing “it could lead to vigilante action”.

Before their release on parole, Venables and Robert Thompson – who were convicted of killing James in 1993 – were given new identities, which are supposed to be protected by a court order.

The original injunction made in 2001 prevents the media or anyone anywhere in the world from publishing photographs of them or information that could lead to their being identified, or soliciting such information.

There have been repeated attempts on social media to publish details that would lead to Venables being pictured. Last year, the attorney general’s office launched an investigation into social media messages that may have breached the worldwide legal injunction.

The case was heard in the high court on Tuesday by Sir James Munby, the most senior family judge in England and Wales.

James’s father and uncle are represented by the solicitor-advocate Robin Makin, who told the judge he needed material relating to the proceedings dating back 18 or 19 years to prepare his case properly.

Munby questioned the relevance of that material to the application, but Makin said it was because the injunction was granted on the basis that Venables was rehabilitated and would not reoffend.

The situation, the court was told, had changed since Venables had been convicted on two separate occasions, most recently in February.

During the proceedings, Munby pressed Makin to explain exactly what he was seeking in the application – whether it was a variation of the order or a discharge.

James was murdered by the then 10-year-olds Venables and Thompson after they snatched him from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, in February 1993.

Since their release, they have lived under new identities, but Venables has since been sent back to prison over indecent images of children.

In February, he was jailed for three years and four months after admitting surfing the darkweb for extreme child abuse images and possessing a “sickening” paedophile manual.

He was charged after police found more than 1,000 indecent images on his computer. It was the second time he had been caught with such images and when he was arrested, he told police he was plagued by “stupid urges”.

Fergus said in a statement: “I understand the motivation for the application, but my concern is that if Venables were known by his own name, it could lead to vigilante action and innocent people being hurt. Beyond that, I have no further comment to make.”

Munby has given lawyers for Bulger’s father and uncle until 4 June to formulate the extent to which the injunction was sought to be either discharged or varied.

Makin had said he needed time as Venables had a legal aid certificate to cover the proceedings, but he did “not have the benefit of those resources”.