KILLERS ON OUR STREETS

WOMAN'S OWN

December 25, 2023

After Jon Venables' latest parole hearing, are Britain's murderers safe to be released?

He became one of the youngest child killers in British history for the torture and murder of two-year-old James Bulger. Jon Venables was just 10 when he committed the terrible crime along with his friend Robert Thompson in 1993. The pair were released on licence in 2001, but Venables has been recalled to prison twice – once in 2010 and again in 2017 – for possessing indecent images of children.

Six years on, Venables faced a fresh parole hearing last month, with the decision not yet made public. James Bulger’s parents were left devastated and furious. ‘Deep in my heart, I know he will abuse and kill another innocent child like my son,’ said Ralph Bulger, James’ dad.

Every year, around 300 people are handed a life sentence for murder in England and Wales, with the majority serving an average of 16.5 years in prison before being released on license. Yet one in five murders carried

out in England and Wales are by prisoners released on parole. People have asked if some of these people are ready to rejoin society. Woman’s Own looks at some of the killers released onto our streets, and what happened next.

Harry Roberts

Harry Roberts already led a life of crime before his involvement in the deaths of three London police officers in 1966. Afraid that the police would discover guns intended for use in a robbery, Roberts killed two officers, DS Christopher Head, 30, and DC David

Wombwell, 25, while his accomplice shot dead a third. Sentenced to a minimum of 30 years, Roberts ended up serving 48.