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British Toddler Killers Released
LONDON, June 22 (News Agencies) - The teenage killers of British toddler James Bulger, whose murder eight years ago was one of the most infamous crimes of recent British history, were released from prison on Friday, but face a very uncertain future.
For Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, now 18, freedom will be tainted by the knowledge that many people believe they have not been adequately punished and want them dead.
According to experts in resettling offenders, the pair, who at the age of 10 beat two-year-old Bulger to death with bricks, will be given new identities and helped to settle in secret locations.
They are expected to take their first steps back into society by living in hostels under close supervision.
Some newspapers reported on Friday that the boys and their families would be also be given 24-hour police surveillance for their own protection.
The families of the pair already have new identities and addresses after vigilantes targeted them soon after the boys' arrest.
Under the terms of the life licenses on which Thompson and Venables are to be released, they are liable to be recalled to custody at any time if there is any evidence that they present a risk to the public.
The licenses include conditions that prohibit them from contacting or attempting to contact each other or James Bulger's family.
They will also be prohibited from entering the area around Liverpool, scene of the murder and their childhood home, without prior written consent of their supervising officers.
Harry Fletcher of the National Association of Probation Officers, whose members will supervise the pair's progress, said the release of Venables and Thompson would be "a massive challenge for the Probation Service and common sense decrees that lots of things can go wrong."
"But probation officers will do their utmost to ensure the public are protected."
"The Probation Service has virtually no experience in relocating people in these circumstances," he said.
"There are numerous pit-falls and dangers - for example if they are spotted by someone else, or are indiscreet themselves."
His colleagues would not envy the probation officer appointed the task of supervising them, likely to be someone from a very senior rank in whichever area they are re-settled, said Fletcher.
In January, the high court ruled the pair's new identities should remain secret for the rest of their lives because they were "uniquely notorious", but recent photographs of one of them are already in circulation.
Jamie Bulger's mother, Denise Fergus, said earlier this week that Thompson and Venables had not been adequately punished.
She predicted that if they were released from the secure accommodation where they have been detained, their identities would soon become public.
"It doesn't matter how much the authorities spend trying to protect [them], it will be impossible for them to keep their identities a secret from girlfriends they meet in the future or drinking friends," she said.
"In a moment of weakness they will want to tell someone what they have done. These people will take the first opportunity to ensure that the killers are identified and their photographs are taken."
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