Jon Venables, the man convicted of abducting and murdering two-year-old James Bulger in 1993, will have his latest parole application considered at a private oral hearing, despite a request from James’s mother for the proceedings to be held publicly. Venables, now 44, was convicted alongside Robert Thompson for the 1993 killing in Merseyside when both offenders were ten years old.

James Bulger’s mother, Denise Fergus, urged the Parole Board to conduct a public hearing, arguing that transparency would help address misinformation surrounding the case and reduce the retraumatizing impact the secrecy has had on her. Several media organizations also sought public access to the hearing. However, the Parole Board declined these requests, citing concerns for Venables’s safety and the potential difficulties he would face in providing evidence if the hearing were public.

Officials emphasized that public proceedings could increase the risk of Venables being identified by individuals who might seek to harm him. The board noted that Venables’s lifetime anonymity order, issued due to his age at the time of the crime, is intended to protect him from such threats. The parole review process typically takes place in private, though hearings can be made public “in the interests of justice,” a standard the board determined was not met in this case.

Venables was first released on licence in 2001 but has been recalled multiple times for breaches of his license related to possession of indecent images of children. His most recent appeal was rejected in 2023, with the Parole Board finding that he continued to pose a danger to children. Robert Thompson, Venables’s co-defendant, was released on license in 2001 and is not known to have reoffended since.

A spokeswoman for Denise Fergus confirmed that her application to observe the parole hearing was granted, although the session itself will not be open to the public or the media. The ongoing legal protections around Venables’s identity remain in place, reflecting the complexities of balancing victim family rights, public interest, and prisoner safety in high-profile cases.