Venables - one of the James Bulger killers - back in jail

[LadyBlaBlah]

here

Not a good advertisement for the rehabilitation programme they went on. I did hear that it was in Ireland and he tried to strangle a girlfriend..........but obviously that is not based on any factual evidence, just internet gossip.

Anyhow, difficult difficult difficult

(HeartOfCrystal good luck)

Thankyou 2shoes, i have my fingers crossed this time is the real deal

My post about the success or otherwise of their rehabilitation was based on Lord Chief Justice Woolf's findings in 2000, when he reduced their sentence by 2 years on the progress of their rehab to date, their good behaviour and remorse shown.

Obviously none of us know any facts about anything that has occurred since their release, nor am I speculating about that.
However, 9 years later RT is still free and presumably living within the conditions of his licence, which I would imagine could mean his rehabilitation has been relatively successful.

HeartofCrystal - good luck with the baby !

I don't want to be drawn into this argument. It depresses the hell out of me the way this story is being covered (on screen and print), and the speculation is pointless.

I agree with Peach and More Crack. Will now hide this thread.

CoteDAzur - yes I think it is possible, in the right circumstances for people to be able to change the way that they think.

Hah, in this debate, I carry my pitchfork high and proud.

ugh.

From what i've heard this buisness about the possibility of this monster being recalled for something insignificant is rubbish. Experienced police officers have stated that it would most likely be for something serious or a culmination of events. Either way i'm glad that he's back behind bars - hope he rots there so at least Jamie and his mom can at last have some justice. These men are evil and have no place in society.

very helpful enlightened comments

TheShriekingHarpy well said

Emotional, angry responses to terrible crimes are normal and understandable but they don't bring a solution which help us to move forward as a society. It's not about 'everyone' being a victim. The issue has to do with a judicial system that allows for people to be rehabilitated so that something good can eventually prevail in the face of something so bad...and not be made worse by those who are (understandably) angry.

Look, I don't want to sound like Pollyanna. How a society deals with criminals says a lot about its mentality and I want one that is a good example for my children to observe.

Theshriekingharpy

I'm not entirely sure that harsher sentencing does act as a deterrent in these types of crimes. In Texas, for example, where they execute more prisoners than any other state, do we see a significantly lower rate of serious crime such as murder or rape? I don't think RT and JV committed this horrific act with any thought of the consequences. I am sure they didn't think "we may as well do it, we will only get 8 years'

"Society is founded on the principle that the guilty will be wholly accountable for their actions and they will bear the full weight of their actions...."

Whilst I agree with this in the context of a crime committed by an adult, I am not sure that a child who commits a crime can be held accountable in the same way. I don't think primary age children can be held fully accountable for their actions, in the same way they are not given the same responsibilities as an adult. We surely can't acknowledge their inability to be responsible in some areas, having sex, voting etc, and then hold them fully responsible in others.

I find the argument, "Plenty of children have been abused and they don't grow up to become abusers/killers or whatever. These boys therefore must be sociopaths/psychopaths/born evil" utterly puerile.

We never seem to see children from 'good' homes doing these deeds, do we? Homes where parents do care and give their kids time not drugs, beltings when they don't sleep and neglect.

And I think it's very important we start to give a fuck about kids like Venables and Thompson because if we don't, there'll be more James Bulgers.

Plenty of kids know the difference between right and wrong but it's whether they care about it is the problem. And they grow up in environments where they're exposed to a lot of mess and horror and a horrible vicious result can be seen. It happens over and over again.

I'm starting to think that children like Venables and Thompson are a hopeless case, can never be treated and rehabilitated. So many cases of closing the gate after the horse has bolted..........

But you DO sound like a hand wringing Pollyanna....
No, but I have met 2 individuals,not much older than JV and RT, but who came from very normal, very caring and loving homes, yet who were intrinsically evil. I will spare you the details, much too horrific and there's no need for any more of it around these pages. I believe it does exist. I believe some people are beyond redemption and can not be rehabilitated. They will always pose threat to society.
I also believe that anyone who could commit such demonic acts as the 'heroes' of this thread, belong to this category.

PS. never read DM

Yes, I know TSH - I was referring to the importance of rehabilitation, not what people's responses on this thread should be.

Capable of violence to the same extent as Thompson and Venables and those Doncaster boys? I've never seen it reported.

By 'good' homes, I mean homes that don't have abuse as a feature.

But not neglected abused children that go on to abuse themselves it seems.