The Bulger killers: was justice done?

[WannaBeWonderWoman]

Following on from previous thread which was filled.

What would have been the correct way to deal with these little boys who subjected a tiny two year old to protracted agony and unimaginable suffering then?

Interested to know what all the bleeding hearts on here believe should have happened? Whether they attended an adult court and were convicted of murder which they confessed to anyway, was this crueller to them than what they put that child through? They were well treated and even when they were serving their 'sentence' they were protected and given all they wanted (more than they would have got if they'd been in their own homes probably) and had all the help and therapy it was possible to give them. Did they suffer? You could actually argue that they benefitted from killing. They have to live with what they've done, yes, but if they did I find it hard to comprehend that Thompson especially (who came across as the leader in the interviews) can.

The Norwegian case which is often compared to this is nowhere similar IMO. The perpetrators were a similar age to their victim. They were 6 which is almost half the age V&T were and they wouldn't have been tried here anyway. Most importantly that crime was not premeditated or drawn out for hours like the many horrors inflicted on James.

He was the only victim here.

I really wonder if T has done better as he actually is the one who is a sociopath or psychopath and isn't plagued by what he did, it's just something that happened

I read something recently which suggested this could be the case too. That he’s all about self preservation which is why he hasn’t got into bother again (as far as we know).

I don’t care about anyone else but if my 2yr old child had been taken was raped abused stripped paint thrown over him all the while he was crying for me I would wont the book thrown at the 10 yr old perpetrators especially them being tried as adults

Oh no doubt I would feel exactly the same and I have limitless sympathy for Ralph and Denise. But this is why we need the legal system to be able to deal with matters objectively - whilst of course being sympathetic to the victims

Thanks Aridane.

Thanks ladyinparis hope you feel better soon and sorry for my own “fucking idiotic” comment. I shouldn’t have said it even though I disagreed with the post I was quoting.

Thans beans, me too, my eyes aer killing me, all runny and gross. Meds and bed and il report posts ti delete tomorrow. No need to be sorry. Sleep welll :)

Apologies if this has been covered but would the conditions of Thompsons licence mean that him and his partner would automatically not be allowed to adopt DC?

I don’t know but I would think it would be hugely unlikely that either of them would be permitted access to a child they had fathered or to adopt. I’d hope so anyway. It’s too much of a risk to permit them to be parents.

Trouble is sometimes the media have been printing stories about these two over the years that are bullshit. One one hand I heard that Thompson was in a relationship with a woman who he had a child with, then it was a gay relationship,
Then in around 2002 it was reported that Thompson was going to join the British Army. Well I was serving at that time and I felt that it was an insult to all of us serving.
I very much doubt that either of them could ever have joined the Army. Firstly they would have access to guns, secondly, they are on life license. A convicted child killer on life probation couldn’t exist in the Army, it just couldn’t happen.

So stop insulting the Army by saying he allegedly joined up.

The problem is they will keep speculating and printing rumours about them because they sell papers.

I should imagine that the Government was so keen for the 'rehabilitation' of the perpetrators, of such a high profile case that caused national outrage, to succeed that anything is possible what with them having new identities. I should imagine if one of them wanted to go abroad, there would probably be an 'I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine' policy between countries. No one could question it because the public wouldn't be allowed to know.

Venables outer himself to workmates back in 2010. Apparently he was drunk on a night out and confessed, possibly due to the guilt. He also seems not to bothered about being locked up again ,with his recent charge. I get the impression he kind of wants to be in custody.
Thompson apparently was very matter of fact about the murder whilst in detention .He didn’t want to talk about it and was rather dismissive about it.
I fully believe Thompson was the ringleader and Venables being easily lead , went along. If Thompson really wanted to hurt a kid, he had the opportunity with younger siblings. But no, he abducted an unknown toddler.
Thompson is probably not stupid enough to get himself into trouble again, or just not get caught. But even if he hasn’t broken the law since his release, I still don’t think he was punished enough given the notoriety of the case. I doubt any of us would feel comfortable having Thompson living next door to us.

user I agree with everything you said.

This is such an interesting article - www.google.co.uk/amp/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-end-of-innocence-inside-britains-child-prisons-1874053.html%3famp

It talks about life inside the young offenders secure units (like the ones T and V were placed in) and how they operate.

I think we need to be very careful about taking an anonymous daily mail article as gospel..

wonderwoman, the government were not at all keen on rehabilitation. Hence why the Home Secretary increased the minimum sentence to 15years before the House of Lords moved it back to 8 years because the HS had no justifiable reason (beyond sating public appetite for retribution) to do that.

User I also think some people are too disgusting to ever be allowed back into society, both of these included.

I think they should have transferred to adult prison at 18, and served time there. To release them from secure homes at 18 after just 8 years was an insult to James , his family and the public. But it was fine for the Home office to let these two into an unsuspecting public.
Maybe if there had of been more protests about this then the Government may have overturned this. Shame on the Government of the day.

There I've said my peace, now who's gunna bitch about what I've said..*

Lol

I certainly bloody hope so Janey.

Was justice done?

No it wasn’t

Hth

Maybe if there had of been more protests about this then the Government may have overturned this. Shame on the Government of the day.

Independence of the judiciary is an important part of maintaining the rule of law. Governments can’t (or shouldn’t) intervene in the decisions of the courts.

Why doesn't Britain bring back capital punishment? Life for life and all that! I don't care that they were 10/11 at the time, they knew they were doing wrong!

Yeah, even the most barbaric regimes across the world that have capital punishment tend to draw the line at executing children. You need to go back about 200 years in time and then you will find plenty of people who agree with your views of killing 10 year olds.

Justice? From the moment they committed such a heinous premeditated act against an innocent little boy, the society's main concern should've been to make sure they are never in the position to be able to endanger another child. They were instead given the chance to spend most of their lives as free men even after all the horror they inflicted, psychopaths that they are, already crossed the line once and now they're a ticking time bomb again.

I’m shocked to see pp’s complaining about them being tried in an Adult Court. Presumption of innocence is only part of the determining factors in court proceedings, another significant factor that determines how the courts will deal with it is the seriousness of the crime being tried for.
There is nothing anyone could have done that would have served justice for that poor little boy, but the lack of severity in the sentencing shows what a joke our judicial system is in this country. How has their ‘punishment’ acted as a deterrent in any way for any other would-be murderers?!

I’m shocked to see pp’s complaining about them being tried in an Adult Court. Presumption of innocence is only part of the determining factors in court proceedings, another significant factor that determines how the courts will deal with it is the seriousness of the crime being tried for.

Sentencing for murder is fixed. They'd have been detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure, with a fixed tariff for parole consideration, if they'd been tried in the youth court.