James Bulger's mother demands right to find freed killers

[suzywong]

as reported in the \link{http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/story_pages/news/news1.shtml\news of the world.

Should she have the right?

Discuss

here here

Message withdrawn

What do people want to have happened? Bread and water? Ritual flogging? Perhaps they ought to have been publicly crucified?

not flogging but far less privelges

Why? To punish them? Being incarcerated is a punishment - I don't think they had a brilliant time as teenagers, do you? Frankly I don't think they'll have much of a life now either.

No, but I think if we can understand why it happened, and were given some details about why the authorities feel that the boys have been rehabilitated, then I think that people would feel much more secure that a. it is less likly to happen again , and b. that the boys have truly accepted responsibility for what they did and seek to have reformed life.

i agree hmn that the causes are important and should be looked at and learnt from.
What do people think would have been a more suitable punishment for two ten year old boys? Should they have been beaten regularly? Starved?

Is not been locked away for the rest of their childhood enough?

Adult prisoners have some level of civilization in their incarceration - why should children be treated worse?

jesus! they were 10 and their lives totally destroyed! there were away from their families and friends from then on. they were 10!!!!

and they have to live with the fact of having tortured and killed a little boy for the rest of their lives. imagine if one of them has children? imagine the absolute horror and guilt they must feel as adults that have had long term intensive therapy? their lives are their punishment for what they did.

well said sophable

Good point Turquoise. And Hercules, are you me?!

I think that one of the things that worries me is that the boys may seek to excuse their behaviour by not fully accepting responsibility for what they did. ( and I think this is also true of their parents) Because unless they do this, how can they learn better and move on to a better life?

No, Hercules is me

How do you know they've not accepted responsibility?

why is it that these boys have been totally and utterly demonised but all the thousands of adults that abuse, hurt and murder each other every day are not? why is it that no husband that has beaten his wife to death has been demonised by the british press to this extent? it makes no sense at all to me.

Isn't the issue of acceptance and recognition of the act usually one of the conditions of early release? And a sign of successfull rehabilitation?

I totally agree Sophable. NOTW and its ilk has a lot to do with it.

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I don't know, but I worry that them may not. While it is true that there may be a vast range of reasons that heped to 'drive' them to their actions, none is an excuse. While we must all have comassion for the condtions that they were placed it, they chose their actions and must accept responsibility, and then move on.

Society has far too many people trying to justify their actions.

No, I dont believe in 'an eye for an eye' and all that. And I doubt that if someone did get hold of those boys and beat them to death, James's mother would feel better.It's not going to bring her son back is it?.But surely if they'd gone to a prison where they'd had less privlidges and more time locked up-they did less than 10yrs for torturing a 2yr old!!She'd feel some sense of justice??

they did 10 years from the age of ten. half of their lives. and i truly believe that is only because of the furore surrounding the press coverage of this tragic case.

No they didnt do ten years. They were arressted in 1993 and released in 2001

I'm definitely not trying to justify their actions, but nor am I interested in condemning them utterly. I believe in rehabilitation, because that's the only way to have any hope in society.

There can be no justice for a mother who loses her child like that. But in a decent society, the best outcome of such a tragedy is that the children responsible can be rehabilitated and reintegrated into that society, surely? Or else we are still in the dark ages of an eye for an eye.

They have bodyguards not only to protect them, but also to protect those who might be vigilantes. They'd be murderers too, remember.