James Bulger's mother reveals Jon Venables may never be free under new parole plan

James Bulger's mother has revealed that one of his killers, Jon Venables, may never be free under a planned parole overhaul.

Denise Fergus says Justice Secretary Dominic Raab promised her his reform bill would keep Venables, who has twice reoffended, in jail. She said, "That would be historic."

While spending yet another heartbreaking Christmas without her son, Denise was comforted by the government's plan and the words of a police forensic psychologist.

Professor Paul Britton, who was on the case in 1993, had recently shared details Denise had never heard before, revealing to her for the first time that he did not believe the attack on Venables and Two-year-old Robert Thompson vs. James was sexually motivated.

Professor Britton also told him that their age - both were 10 at the time of the murder - was no excuse. They were murderers, plain and simple.

It was Denise's first conversation with Professor Britton since her son's murder and, in an exclusive interview with the Mirror, she said: "For 30 years there have been many details about the death from James that I wanted to avoid, but finally felt strong enough to hear it.

A video of 2-year-old James Bulger being led away by his two killers (

Picture:

PENNSYLVANIA)

It was clear that once Venables and Thompson were named as possible suspects, in the frame, he knew very quickly that they were guilty.

"And while others were blindsided and distracted by the fact that they were physically such small children, which some said meant there was no way they could have committed such a crime, his brain quickly defined them as murderers.

"Just hearing this fact, I felt something fundamental change in me.

"It's been such a blocker over the years. The excuse that they themselves were 'only children' who didn't deserve the adult labels of 'murderers' has always been hard for me to support.

"Hearing it from a trained and unbiased person was an important and soothing moment.

"He also told me unequivocally that Venables and Thompson had "no proper sexual relationship with James".

He said James was "injured in all sorts of different ways and although he may have been injured in a way that would have included, if you will, his whole body, there wasn't what you would call a sexual adult attacking it'."

Venables was sent back to prison twice for possessing child sexual abuse images, and Denise said: "Although I have no doubt that Venables is now a sexual deviant and a huge danger to society , it was a great peace of mind to know that the murder of James was not motivated by sex."