Vigilantes vow to get at child killers

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JUNE 24. Fears over the safety of child-killers, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, who are to be set free with secret identities, were growing by the hour as vigilantes renewed threats to track them down, and the media scoured for clues to their whereabouts. One newspaper quoted an official source as saying that ``this may happen any day'' while the mother of Jon Venables told a tabloid that she believed it could be a matter of weeks before someone got to her son. Foreign magazines were reported to be offering upto œ 50,000 for information that might put them on their trail.

Eight years ago, when they were just 10, Thompson and Venables lured a two-year-old baby, James Bulger, from a shopping complex in Bootle, Liverpool, and killed him, causing national outrage and prompting calls for ``death to Jamie's killers''. The decision of a parole board on Friday to release them on the ground that they are now sufficiently reformed not to pose a danger to society has been greeted with widespread anger, particularly by the Bulger family, their neighbours and friends.

Passions were running high and on Saturday James Bulger's mother, Mrs Denise Fergus, led a protest through the streets of Kirby, where she now lives. ``Once a murderer, always a murderer'', declared one banner while Bulger's mother said: ``Those two are both very evil killers and I don't believe they have changed.'' Earlier, she had said Thompson and Venables might think they were safe but ``someone out there is waiting'' for them.

British newspapers today were dominated by stories relating to the threat to the lives of ``Bulger killers'', nicknamed the ``evil pair'' by tabloids. Despite a court injunction barring the British media from publishing anything that might compromise their safety, the curiosity was palpable.

A recent photograph of Thompson apparently taken from a CCTV during an outing was reported to be in circulation, and there were fears that protesters might post it on the Net. The Manchester Evening News is already in trouble for allegedly publishing information in breach of the injunction though the newspaper has denied it. One newspaper reported that Venables was so frightened at the prospect of leaving the security of his detention centre that he wept and begged not to be released.

The safety precautions surrounding the boys - both of whom are now 18 - are unprecedented. The moment they are released, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables would cease to exist and start their new lives - unknown to each other - in complete anonymity, their fictitious identities not known even to their families.

``They have new names, passports and NHS and national insurance documents. Venables and Thompson will exist to only a handful of police officers, probation staff, senior Whitehall officials and their lawyers'', The Times said. Technically, the two have not been released, but let out on ``licence'' which means that they would be under constant watch and can be recalled if they are seen to be a danger.

Experts fear that the sheer pressure of masquerading under assumed identities might prove to be their undoing. Other circumstances in which they could blow up their identity include close relationships such as marriage. Mary Bell, the only other child-killer who was rehabilitated under a false identity, went through a traumatic time adjusting herself to her new life.

Meanwhile, as fears about their safety increased, the Home Secretary, Mr. David Blunkett, called for restraint and appealed to the people to let the two boys return to the community.

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Section  : International
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