John Venables- do we have a right to know???

[onebadbaby]

Do we really have the right to know if and when the killers of James Bulger re-offend?

I am inclined to say we don't. If they have been given a new identity and life then what is the point and benefit of the general public having knowledge. In my opinion, any re-offences should remain in his new name.

Obviously members of the press behold certain information on the new lives of the two killers, but I really don't see the benefit of this being public knowledge.

Also- do you remember how you thought and behaved at ten? I certainly do and in a way I don't think ten years old is under the age when responsibility for such an horrific crime has to be considered.

Opinions??

I have tried to understand how anyone would benefit from knowing who this person now is. I cannot for the life of me think of one reason, other than to kill him- why anyone would need this information.

What does it gain? (seriously- Im asking a serious question)

Hopefully he gets a long sentence for this new crime that he has commited, I cant see how that can happen if we all know who it is.

I haven't looked at fb today but if this info is accurate then he won't get a fair trial. If his new identity is known then the next sentence he gets might be a life saver providing he is kept safe in prison.

Then I suppose he will get a new identity when due for release.

Agree with you entirely Clarissimo

but abouteve surely if he can't get a fair trial then he won't get any sentence so won't have to return to prison, although I'm not sure the terms of his release so possibly a short stint but if they can't prove the breach of his release conditions then surely they can't imprison him for any significant amount of time. So he won't even have to wait that long, he'd most likely be kept in prison for as long as his case was processed to the point of trial and then if a judge decided a fair trial was impossible he'd be released without trial with a new identity.

confuzled - I agree with everthing you say. Secondcoming - ditto.

The savage herd mentality as demonstrated by some posters on MN (only a few, luckily) and the latest BBC reports on the lunatic facebook group illustrate so clearly why it serves no purpose whatsoever in revealing the identity of Jon Venables. I am still waiting for someone - anyone - to state a good, clear reason which demonstrates how lifting the anonymity will serve the public usefully. I haven't seen one yet.

It would serve a purpose for me knowing who he is incase I knew him, I wouldnt want to know him, regardless if he had been rehabilitated, someone who would do a crime like that would never be "normal".

What if you found out he was dating/married to you? or a family member? Would that not freak you out?! It certainly would freak me out.

If I found out that he was the father of my children, I would be suicidal. (me and my DP are quite happy and I can categorically say he's not!)

So yes I do think the public should know who he is, but not until he has had the trial and been found guilty. Even if he wont be found guilty I would still like to know the whereabouts of him rather then his full identity so I can stay the hell away!

Treat with caution the alleged 'new name' of Venables - if it is DC, this is a poor bloke who about 5 years ago as 'identified' - he went through hell, had to have police protection, have panic buttons installed, and ended up having to prove his identity by providing photographs of himself with his family between the ages of 10 and 18.

There is absolutely no reason why the public need to know who he is, or even where he is.

"I would still
like to know the whereabouts of him rather then his full identity so I can stay the hell away!" And that would be possible how exactly. I'm sure there are probably convicted murderers living in your area, but how can you stay away from them if you don't know who they are?

As for a partner/other family, I would imagine that they either already know, or will be told at some point depending on any outcome. It's worth bearing in mind though that many people do fall in love with and marry convicted criminals while in full knowledge of what they have done.

Steve Bell got it right, I guess

wannaBe - There are not that many people out there roaming the streets who have commited a sadistic murder like the 2 boys did?! (im talking the UK)

you're right people fall in love with prisoners but they know what they're getting themselves into.

The woman who may have got involved with either men, wont know who they are because its against their licence to reveal who they are.

well according to reports Robert Thompson is in a gay relationship with a partner who is aware of his past.

There have also been reports that JV had revealed his identity to people, so for all we know he could have revealed it to any partner with whom he was in a serious relationship.

I understand the idea i'd liker to know so i can stay away

who woudln'r?

but at the potential cost of a life? nah. The chances of me and mine ebing near him and suffering from him are miniscule cmpared to the fact some fuckwit vigilante woudl find venables and arrange their own justice

omg imagine if they have children.
and the children one day find out who thier father is..........

Yep 2shoes pretty awful for tyhem

if though, we don't klnow he has

Just a thougt but if peopole are passing on, or even allowing names to be viewd on their prtofiles then they are actively invovoewd in the first viral marketing lynch mob if anything happens; morally culpable of murder.

Which some if not me would say was OK if it is venables, but how can you know for sure?

So quite likely to be involved in a case of murder by mistaken identoty

How anyone van go all moralabout what Vernables did and then risk involvement in that is quite beyond me.

thats the thing, some poor bloke could ened up dead and be tottally innocent.
have you seen the yucky fb groups as well.
I was shocked that nice people were joining a "keep JV in prison for life" group.
even though i wish they would, what is the point of joining a group?

If he has committed another offence I bloody well hope he stays behind bars for life; one chance is decent, two is stupidity.

But I ahven't seen the groups as I have a feeling some people In know will have put names up and I am too cowardly to deal with that (will do later, getting nerve togetehr- these epopela re very lynch mob at the best of times).

There isn't a point in joining a group either like you say- I mean ???? Do we want the Government to have the power to change alws retrospectively? god no! How scary would that be?

i understand peoples anger though.
these murderers were never punished or treated like murderers, they got rewarded rather than punished.
how wierd though that other peoples lives have been put at risk(like the man mentioned) but the safety of these murderers are still deemed more important than innocent people.

I don't agree they were rewarded, butb we already know we disagree on that side of it.

Not worth risking anym lives over though, any, lynch mobs are nasty and evil full stop

actually I don't understand peoples' anger over this. I understand the victims' anger when a perpitrator gets what to them seems like a lenient sentence, but in all honesty what happens to criminals does not affect the majority of us, and while we may feel morally outraged, the reality is that we are not justified in being personally angry over something that does not affect us directly, iyswim.

so you think it fine that murderers arn't punished.
(strange how the "oh those poor boys" seem to be the people throwing arround abuse on this thread)

Ahem- some?

Please

I think ten year olds know exactly what they're doing - this wasn't a casual crime but a sustained period of torture visited on little more than a baby. Either one could have walked away. They were fully responsible. But that is not to say they were beyond redemption and I for one was fully supportive of two children getting rehabilitated and a new ID and the chance to start again. IMO the biggest mistake was for the judge to name them in the first place.

But if JV has offended seriously then I think the public clearly has a right to know that this rehab failed and why that might be - lessons to be learnt etc. If is it is really really serious and he is found guilty and I assume gets a long prison sentence then I think he has lost his chance. If it is relatively minor then of course he must remain anonymous.

I really hope it is the latter.

no, I didn't say that murderers shouldn't be punished. But in reality we cannot know that they weren't. We can be of the opinion that eight years in confinement was not a punishment that fit the crime, but whatever punishment we felt was fit there would always be someone who felt that it wasn't, and that is why justice is handed out by those qualified to do so, based on the potential for rehabilitation, and taking into account remorse expressed etc, rather than on the basis of peoples' emotional feelings about the situation, iyswim.

And I havent abused anyone, apart from perhaps one or two members of the "hang 'em and flog 'em" brigade.