Tina Malone - Television Stills

An actress from the hit series Shameless is facing contempt of court proceedings over a post on social media purporting to show images of Jon Venables, the killer of James Bulger.

Tina Malone, 55, was sent a High Court summons for allegedly breaching a global ban on publishing material that could reveal the identities of Jamie's killers.

The Attorney General's Office said it was irrelevant whether the image tweeted by Malone was of Venables or not - because circulating a photographed of a different man could lead to an innocent person being attacked by vigilantes.

Malone, from Liverpool, made public her summons on Facebook. She wrote: "I need a lawyer asap!!!! Iv been committed to the high court!!!"

In another post she wrote: "Iv had a wonderful day till i opened my front door 5mins ago!!! The high court have served me!!"

Mugshots of the killers

Venables and Robert Thompson were given new identities following their release from jail after being convicted of the kidnap, torture and murder of Jamie, then aged two, in 1993. Venables and Thompson were 10 at the time.

Venables has subsequently been returned to jail on two occasions, for possession of child pornography.

Anybody found guilty of breaching the ban could face up to two years in jail and an unlimited fine.

Malone is accused of retweeting an image said to be of Venables last year, prompting a police inquiry. The actress then gave an interview to a tabloid newspaper in which she is reported to have said: "The police are only doing their job and if they're going to caution me, arrest me, pull me in, or give me a slap on the wrist, I get that.

"They'd better be going for the two million other people who have shared Venables' picture.

"Here I am posting a picture of a self-confessed paedo child-killer... yet I'm the one being threatened and vilified and possibly going to prison. You know what, do the crime, do the time."

Tina Malone

The Attorney General's Office said Malone, who has 23,000 followers on Twitter, was the only person summonsed for circulating the photograph on Twitter.

A spokesman said: "The Law Officers will review contempt of court allegations made to them, but they cannot comment on the nature of any investigations.

"The Law Officers remind everyone that an injunction is in place which prevents publication of any images or information claiming to identify anyone as Jon Venables or Robert Thompson."