Should killer’s ID remain a secret?

ONE of James Bulger’s killers, Jon Venables, has been locked up amid wild speculations about new crimes. The Government refuses to comment on the reasons behind the decision to recall Venables (27) to custody for fear of compromising an investigation, as well as any future trial.

The issue has caused a public storm, some backing James’s mother in her claim that Venables should lose his anonymity, others accepting the new identities should remain secret.

Marina Berry asked people in Oldham if they, like James’s mother, believed the rules protecting killers who reoffend should be scrapped.

Irene Knights, of Greenacres, said Venables is entitled to anonymity. She said: “People know what he has done and he would have no life if they knew who he was, he should be protected from the mob.

Pensioner Bryan Cunnane, of Lees, had no sympathy for anonymity. He said: “They should have been hung at the time.

“I knew what I was doing at 10 and they did too. Another 10 years and I was fighting a war. It’s heinous. They didn’t think about poor little James when they dropped a brick on his head, why should they remain anonymous.?”

Sonia O’Brien said it was an incredibly complex issue to manage.

She said she had sympathy with James Bulger’s mother, who must have been shocked to find out from a third party that Venables was back in custody, and said: “She should have been kept informed every step of the way.”

But, she predicted, revealing his identity would result in people taking their law into their own hands and it becoming an “unmanageable situation.”

Christine Lawley, of Chadderton, said she was undecided over the question of anonymity, and feared vigilantes would strike if Venables’s identity was unveiled.

She said: “I’m in a quandary. I don’t like the idea of people taking the law into their own hands, but my personal opinion is those two boys were extremely wicked and evil. At 10 they are old enough to know the difference between right and wrong.”

Chadderton mum Jodie Tinker is the same age as Venables and has a two-year-old daughter. She said: “He should never have got out of prison in the first place.

“Someone who can do such a bad thing has something wrong in their head and there’s nothing to say he won’t do it again. People should know who he is.”

Shaw man Michael Horsfield, said: “They should have locked them up and thrown away the key.

“Their identities should not have been changed. I have a young lad myself and I wouldn’t want someone like that living near by without me knowing who they were.”

Wilfred Lenegan, from Springhead, had a similar opinion: “They shouldn’t have been let out in the first place, and they shouldn’t have had anonymity. When children go to prison at that age they are bound to pick things up,” he said.