Overview
- Venables remains imprisoned and will appear before a parole panel next month after officials moved his case from written submissions to an oral hearing.
- Denise Fergus has been approved to observe the hearing with special measures, seeing the proceedings but not Venables’ face to protect his identity.
- Parole officials notified the family this week, and Fergus’ spokesperson described the move as reopening trauma despite the access granted to her.
- Venables was released on licence in 2001 with a new identity but was recalled in 2010 and jailed again in 2018 for possessing child sexual abuse images, including a 2010 recall triggered after he revealed his identity to acquaintances and police found illegal material on his computer.
- A 2023 parole panel that proceeded without Venables present found he remained a danger to children, while co-defendant Robert Thompson has not been reported to reoffend since his 2001 release.