No Justice for Venables
In order for Jon Venables to receive justice, it was essential for him to remain anonymous and to be tried for any new crime without his identity being revealed. Why do we even know, at this stage, that he might have re-offended?
It seems to me that the very release of the information that he is back in prison is itself a criminal act and not in the public interest. It has increased the likelihood of his jury knowing who he is, which will then prevent a trial at all, since his lawyers will rightly argue that he cannot be tried without his previous crime being known. This is being handled extremely badly.
In any case, it was decided that this 10-year-old killer should be given a second chance at life – but now we are reneging on that decision. Of course being in a young offenders prison will not have been the best rehabilitation anyone could receive, but is regrettably the only one available.
The press are guilty of stirring up the potential lynch mob here. We see interviews with Jamie Bulger’s mother, who of course is totally distraught. But I am sorry, she has no more right to know what is happening than any of us do. If we believe in the criminal justice system, then its decisions need to be followed through and not flouted by a blood thirsty press. Yes, justice must be seen to be done, but let justice be done first. The debate about how we treat a killer who was still at primary school can come afterwards.
You have it completely wrong. Venables is now an adult who has offended yet again. He was given a chance to turn his life around and he fell far short. All the legal experts state that Venables would not have been recalled for a minor infraction, since it would be a logistical nightmare for the legal system in terms of his anonymity. This being the case, Venables must now be treated like the man he is and with no further special treatment at taxpayer expense. Denise, like everyone else in the UK has a right to know because Venables, Thompson and company are being supported on taxpayer’s money. Furthermore, Denise is a direct victim of Venables and had been assured that she would be told if anything occurred concerning the murderers. She is calling the authorities on their promise to her and she has every right to do so. Every taxpayer in the UK who wants to know what Venables has done this time, has a right to know and had it been anyone else, the details would have been made public long ago. Venables is owed nothing anymore. When you’re a man, you do as a man does. Now it’s his turn to grow a spine and in general, to grow up. If he has downloaded child porn, then he is a danger to the public and this must not be covered up. It could have been a relative of yours naked on his computer and then what would you have said?
The whole point is that by revealing his previous identity, he may escape trial altogether. If he has committed a crime, then he must be tried and punished for that, as anyone else would be and rightly so. By insisting that his identiy be revealed, however, his lawyers will claim that he cannot have a fair trial, and then he will escape proper justice.