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Original poster

C4 now - the James Bulger case **Trigger Warning - Contains Info about the case** (Title edited by MNHQ)

999 replies

Hairgician · 05/02/2018 21:36

Sat watching this now.

I do not accept the view that those 2 boys were treated unfairly. They murdered that poor little boy and they knew what they were doing and that it was wrong.

They should be rotting in jail. Aibu to say justice not served??

OP posts:
Queenoftheblitz · 07/02/2018 14:52

I think the abused childhoods was a red herring.
I'm old enough to remember the case and at the time there was a lot of coverage about these boys having access to violent 18+ videos and video games.
This viewing desensitised them to violence and they lacked empathy.

RoseWhiteTips · 07/02/2018 14:55

Yes, of course, I will correct. I meant to say pornography featuring child victims.

ShatnersWig · 07/02/2018 14:58

Rose You don't use the word pornography at all

Eltonjohnssyrup · 07/02/2018 15:02

blueheel that article is very interesting because of the angle that Thomson was dominant. There seems to have been a rush to do that and they were very reluctant to question Venables about the sexual angle because it 'upset' him. As Venables was the more articulate of the two what he was saying was accepted and Thompson didn't appear to be able to rebut it. I think now there should be big questions about the rush to blame Thompson and bury the sexual angle.

Along with the Worboys case, I think it raises questions about a system which is too weighted towards the offender in serious cases where reoffending in the same vein has huge repercussions.

Sympathy in the case of offenders over the victim is fine for drugs and shoplifting. Not for rape and murder.

Oblomov18 · 07/02/2018 15:07

I disagree. I don't see why my post was deleted. People need to be reminded what an awful case it was.

JaneyEJones · 07/02/2018 15:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MissEliza · 07/02/2018 15:10

Chaos her name is Denise Fergus not Denise Lewis.

ShatnersWig · 07/02/2018 15:11

Oblomov Then you're a bit stupid. We're discussing a thread about a C4 programme. We're discussing one of the most hideous crimes of the last 30 years. It is totally and utterly unnecessary to list all the injuries or details; no one needs reminding. I can't even imagine stopping to type that list out as you did. Added to which you didn't even know if what you were typing was even accurate! If I hadn't seen you on normal threads for years I'd say you were being deliberately obtuse and showing a serious lack of sensitivity and empathy.

NotASingleFuckToGive · 07/02/2018 15:16

People need to be reminded what an awful case it was.

Why? What purpose does obsessing over the exact nature of the incident 25 years later serve?

There's a big difference between reflecting on the case years later, and (as a PP said earlier in the thread) having an outrage wank.

NotASingleFuckToGive · 07/02/2018 15:19

*injuries, not incident.

RedHelenB · 07/02/2018 15:22

It's Denise I feel so sorry for. Every time something like this progamme ripping open the wounds. I have never wanted to read the full account, bad enough that it happened. As to the punishment, I'm not sure adult prison would have made much difference and as I understand it wasnt a legal option.

Elendon · 07/02/2018 15:23

Every murder of a child is an awful case, especially for the parents.

What upset me a lot about the Channel 4 programme was the vile Kelvin McKenzie's presence in all of this.

Yes, that Kelvin McKenzie who was editor of The Sun when it printed a front page that included the following in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster:

*Some fans picked pockets of victims

*Some fans urinated on the brave cops

*Some fans beat up PC who gave kiss of life

Under a banner headline of THE TRUTH

crunchymint · 07/02/2018 15:24

Someone typed out all the injuries to James! Sorry but that is sick.

Morphene · 07/02/2018 15:26

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

ShatnersWig · 07/02/2018 15:26

crunchy And doesn't understand why that post was deleted. Probably because I reported and MNHQ agreed it was sick. I bet I wasn't the only one who reported either and I'm pleased MNHQ got shot of it as quickly as they did.

Springiscoming123 · 07/02/2018 15:28

maybe they typed the incidents as some MN's were young/not born and dont know the truly awful things were done

not everybody will know the case well

Elendon · 07/02/2018 15:28

Why is it hideous though? Is it because it was done by children? That they were male children killing a male child?

If the answer is yes then is it okay for a child to be murdered horrifically by an adult, 98% of them male; because there have been hundreds of those incidents in the last 25 years.

ShatnersWig · 07/02/2018 15:29

Morphene Change hideous to shocking if you prefer. I didn't realise it was a competition as what counts as hideous or not. It doesn't "devalue" other appalling incidents such as you mention.

DeloresJaneUmbridge · 07/02/2018 15:30

Awful case

And I am glad we have a legal system to deal with these type of cases.

Jon Venables won't ever be safe for release I don't think ...I suspect he will always reoffend.

Robert Thomson though has not (as far as I know) ever reoffended.

crunchymint · 07/02/2018 15:30

There have been much more horrific cases. Terrible cases, but I am not going to type out details.

ShatnersWig · 07/02/2018 15:31

Elendon Any murder is hideous. But I think the notion that two young children could not only murder a toddler but in the most exceptionally horrific way is somehow more shocking I suppose. That's in my opinion of course. I quite accept others might feel differently.

Elendon · 07/02/2018 15:34

I don't know the full incidents, and this is because that information was not totally released to the press.

I was expecting my first child at that time. I purposely didn't let it filter into my brain, even after their identity was revealed. I refused to take part in the 'finer details' of the case in work. I left the room. I found the whole thing utterly disturbing and horrifying.

A decade later I read the book on Mary Bell. Cries Unheard by Gita Sereny. I have no idea why my reaction was as it was. But Sereny's book helped me a lot.

It's only now I can bring myself to get the 'finer details'. Personally, I wasn't there in the court room.

crunchymint · 07/02/2018 15:36

There are cases of serial murderers, including of children, where the details are far more horrific. Things I wish I had never read.
I am glad that children are given a chance to be rehabilitated.

ZanyMobster · 07/02/2018 15:37

Of course it is one of the most hideous crimes in the last 30 years, it's not a bloody competition though, the list of things they did to that poor baby is horrendous, i think it would have been even worse if it was an adult inflicting that on a 2 year old TBH.

RoseWhiteTips · 07/02/2018 15:37

I agree that not everyone will know the harrowing details. What on earth is so wrong about someone listing those for the benefit of people who do not know? Why is it “sick”?
There is such a thing as free speech and I thought the concept was alive and well on Mumsnet. I may have been wrong.

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