Do you think Robert Thompson is truly rehabilitated?

[Cheffymcchef]

As we all know, James Bulger was a two-year-old boy from the UK whose tragic abduction and murder in 1993 shocked the world. Taken from a shopping center by two ten-year-old boys, John Venables and Robert Thompson, his death became one of the most harrowing and widely known cases in modern British history. To this day, nearly everyone who hears his name knows the heartbreaking story and the profound impact it had on public consciousness and the justice system.
both boys were released after serving 8 years, when they turned eighteen. John Venables returned to prison twice for possessing CSAM. He is currently still in prison.
I personally think Venables is sick and can’t be “cured” of his attraction to kids. He will always reoffend imo, even if his devices etc are taken away. He needs to stay in prison. He’s also allegedly revealed his identity and needed several new identities costing the taxpayer even more. I know you get all this “stop it now” therapy- I just don’t think pedophiles can be cured. It’s like trying to do conversion therapy on a straight person.
I don’t know how I feel about Thompson- he committed a heinous murder, but did his time in custody. He’s never reoffended and now allegedly lives with a partner who knows who he is. Can’t remember if he has children. From studying this case, it always seems like he was deemed the ring leader, yet he is the one who has cleaned himself up and stayed out of trouble.
both boys allegedly came from abusive households.
I know poor James' mum will never get over his death. I cant imagine the mixed feelings she must have, she likely thinks it was wrong for either boy to be released so young.
I can’t say I’d be too thrilled about Thompson moving into my area if that’s the case, but truthfully I think if he’s done his time he needs to be left alone now to live his life . But that’s probably a wildly unpopular opinion- because James will never get to live his life.
what do you think?

posted in crime but moved here for traffic

This is exactly why I completed the NCTJ but never took journalism any further. I found these tales completely horrifying.

Poor man?? He was costing the prison service a fortune!

Surely not with kids?! You'd have thought ss would not agree to an adoption with a child murderer?

So what is the difference between JV/RT’s shitty upbringing and the shitty upbringing that so many other kids have?

Disadvantaged, yes. Exposed to violence, yes. Low income household, probably. Addiction in the family, probably.

But these factors are so common up and down the country. 4 year olds know right from wrong.

They had many people stop or interact with them as they dragged that poor boy, crying and injured, through the streets. 100 chances to stop. Abandon him on the pavement, tell someone in a shop they’d found him and play the hero. So many opportunities to stop. They chose not to, and I can’t personally find one ounce of compassion for them.

Maybe I could’ve before I had my own child. I certainly can’t find any now.

It is a case I studied in detail at school. Like most people i have read about it since, online, books and seen documentaries about it. I’m not sure where I said i researched it. I was simply saying that rehabilitation is a word often used for offenders.

I don't think you need to justify yourself. If people don't think you're posting in good faith they can report.

His name is James. Not Jamie.

Please be respectful of that.

It’s not necessarily an adoption, they could’ve had a private surrogate where he used his new identity OR like his partner she knew his story and agreed to help anyway.

I’ve already replied to someone who pointed this out.

Isn't that rehabilitation in itself though? He's developed robust enough consequential thinking and adequate skills to prevent him behaving in the same way again.

I have a child btw for those saying parents won't believe in rehabilitation.

I think Venables is a different kettle of fish, and the further offences also relating to children for be give an insight into the motivations for the original offence from his perspective.
I work in this area and unfortunately deal with serious violent and sexual crime every day. This piece caught the public attention because of how awful it was but also because of the age of the perpetrators. I think there would be free people here who could see what I see every day, it's hard not to believe that human beings are just inherently awful, luckily we get clinical supervision and a huge amount of training, but even in my field there are lots who won't work in the area I do.

I’ve often wondered if criminals afforded a new identity identify themselves because they struggle with being a “no one”.

Everyone knows who JV is. No one knows who Billy Jones is. Billy Jones doesn’t have a past to talk about or get attention with. JV does. Or whether it’s an element of they aren’t rehabilitated and are proud of what they did. Like a badge of honour - but that’s too disturbing to consider any more deeply.

Venables was being watched and decided to commit the crime anyway.

I agree.

Nothing wrong with this thread at all.

Just reading the Wikipedia article, he showed zero remorse throughout.

Although I knew the case well, wish I hadn't looked at the article as I just learnt of another horrific act they committed.

I believe the partner is a man? He is surely being monitored by some serivices so any private surrogacy should have been stopped. He's a child murderer.

They were children.
I do not think that you can serve justice by punishing children in a civilised society.
Obviously something went very wrong with these children but it is our societies job to be protecting them. All 3 were victims.
Yes I think the parents of the perpetrators should have been held to account more.
And as for john venables you could argue that the trauma from the incident abd the way it was handled made it nigh on impossible for him to become anything but what he has become.
And the issue is this is what large swathes of the public seem to want. Not actual rehabilitation but revenge. They want to be justified in their anger at some kids.. they want the outcome to be that the person is unchanged and spends their whole life in jail.
But these were children!! Were their names never released i honestly think there'd have been a much higher chance of genuinely rehabilitating both of them.
Which would have cost the taxpayer less money.. stopped some of the abuse that venables went on to be part of.. maybe made both of them become actual productive members of society as adults.
If it had been my child who'd be murdered that's the justice I would have wanted to see. Not some sad parade of another two kids lives ruined and people sat in their living rooms getting to express the worst parts of their nature. And I'd have wanted to know why it happened in the first place. What was going on with those kids.. what the fuck were their parents doing.. what were social services doing?? I'd want to know that lessons were learned and that nothing like that would happen again.

John cried throughout, Thompson showed no remorse. It’s interesting as John has been the one to reoffend over and over. I don’t think we can necessarily go by their initial responses.

I agree with all this, I always presume they would change their identities anyway as locals knew who the boys were and probably would’ve told people.

I think that even after release they are subject being quietly watched, maybe for the rest of their lives.

We live in a liberal lovey society where apparently you can be ‘rehabilitated.’ Pp’s saying there’s much more dangerous criminals. They never even released the details of what they did to James. They tortured him. That evil never leaves you. It’s who you are

Who cares about those monsters? They both should never have seen the light of day again. 10 years is old enough to know exactly what they were doing. It was a premeditated attack. Abusive backgrounds are no excuse for the sheer depravity and cruelty inflicted on poor little James. Just awful that they get to live.

It’s good to hear or rather read about someone not pussy footing around these evil monsters and I have no issues about calling them evil and wicked.
They knew exactly what they were doing. Not that it would be any less heart breaking for Denise but it’s not like it was a childish prank that went too far. They walked that poor little baby was it 3 miles while he was crying for his mummy and then did the most unimaginable wicked things to him.

Hard agree @CareerChange24

I have thought about this, if they had been young adults then it would be a no , but ten is so young, so I think of how little they were, but it was also such a terrible, terrible thing to do, it’s hard to imagine the cruelty and lack of empathy. Years ago near me a gang of boys were killing young birds, geese in particular. It was absolutely horrible and disgusting, but the shocking thing was that there was one obvious ringleader who seemed very dangerous, aged 13 or 14 , and the rest of the boys probably one on one would have been ok, but they got caught up in the behaviour. Similarly there was a gang rape in London in the 90s where young teens raped an adult woman, a tourist who they lured into the towpath. Again there was a ringleader, but I wonder what happened to the other boys; there is something about groups of young boys and men which can be so dangerous. That egging each other on to extremes. On the other hand I remember reading an article about a Norwegian village where a girl had been murdered by another child, a boy, and the way the village dealt with it. I wonder how it worked out long term as it was a totally different approach because he was a child, a similar age to Thomson and Venables. They believed in redemption and rehabilitation and everything was centred around that rather than punishment.
I do think some people are born without empathy though, or are damaged as small children and don’t develop empathy at all.

From 2018 -
One of the killers of Merseyside toddler James Bulger has claimed he had a "better life" in prison as a result of the murder.
Robert Thompson said he had become "a better person" behind bars as he apologised for the killing in a statement to the parole board in 2001.
In the statement, obtained for a Channel 5 documentary, Thompson, now 36, said he was "desperately sorry".
The parole board said it was not able to comment on the statement.

The motive for the murder has always remained unclear and now, 25 years after the verdict, the Channel 5 documentary examined exactly what led two young boys to kill an innocent child.
It included details of Thompson's statement to the parole board, in which he said: "I do feel aware that I am now a better person and have had a better life and a better education than if I had not committed the murder.
"There is obviously an irony to this but it is part of my remorseful feelings as well."

Thompson told the Parole Board he had lied about his involvement after being overwhelmed by the public reaction to the crime.
He said: "I am deeply ashamed of what I did, and of having played a part in this horrible murder."
He also detailed his traumatic childhood before the crime, stating that at the time he was "completely out of control".
He added: "I was out of control because my life on the streets was better for me than my life at home."
In 2001, the pair were released - with new identities - under licence. This means they can be recalled at any time.
Venables was jailed in 2010 for having child abuse images on his computer.
He was also imprisoned earlier this year for the same offence.

……………..

We will never know if what he said is genuine or just what the parole board wanted to hear.

When I look at Denise’s face, I don’t think he should have been able to go on and lead a normal life after robbing James of his.

However, he was having a terrible upbringing and it makes you wonder if the parents should have had some form of accountability.