Jamie Bulger

[stevie1time]

I just wanted to remind people of how our government and society let this lovely little boy and his family down...His killers are free men,living normal lives with maybe there own families now,given jobs new identity's,money a home...Whilst us law abiding,honest hard working people of this great country get taxed even in Death...Who knows eh! they could be your new neighbours,maybe your daughters new boyfriend,maybe even your new boss....This is the injustice bestowed upon us...

[stevie1time]

Rehabilitation is just a word,same as wood rot really,you can fill it in,paint over it,but its allways there,inside,burning expanding,waiting for the time for it to show itself once again :)

[HJT40]

That is the nightmare, that you would not know who they are if they were your daughters new boyfriend etc, in fact she wouldn't even know who she was going out with. Their whole life would be a complete lie. Adult criminals have their convictions follow them around, these get the luxury of starting fresh, and again get to live a lie. If this had happened to one of their children would they agree to the people who did it living unknown amongst the community, having had their new lives set up by tax payers?

[Ethel]

They are not starting afresh - they are both out on life licence with all that entails, exactly as an adult offender.

[stevie1time]

Ethel,so you believe that we as law abiding,civil minded,respectable honest people do not have the right to know if our daughter is married to a child murderer,our grandchildren are the spawn of a child murderer and heaven forbid the information comes to light after this new life has begun...Imagine the stigma attached to your daughters,grandchildren's whole lives to come,to live a life with such a life!

[Jillius]

When they let these two monsters out of prison they should have been told that they wouldn't be protected or given a house, new identity etc and that if the little lad's family should happen to find them and get revenge then tough sh*t !

[Ethel]

stevie - Mary Bell seems to be a good mother.

[Ice.Maiden]

I agree Ethel - but would you want her as your babysitter?

[Lucy Thomas]

An improved version of this question.

I just wanted to remind people of how our government and society let this lovely little boy and his family down. His killers are free men, living normal lives with maybe their own families now, given jobs, new identities, money and a home. Whilst us law abiding, honest , hard working people of this great country get taxed even in death, who knows, eh! They could be your new neighbours, maybe your daughter's new boyfriend, maybe even your new boss. This is the injustice bestowed upon us.

[society]

That's life Lucy Thomas. Who say it was fair ...

[Louisa 69]

Lucy what is the point of coming on just to point out peoples spelling mistakes ?

Have you really nothing interesting to add yourself ?

[Ice.Maiden]

I think this is a fair comment Lucy. As far as I can ascertain, at least one of the boys's "settled down". I've since wondered whether his partner knows of her boyfriend's past - and if so, how she feels, knowing what he did? I was pretty young when all this happened, but the story still makes me shudder.

[stevie1time]

Thanks Lucy for pointing out my spelling mistakes..I am sure that you yourself,lets say after a few Jack Daniels and Coke,glass of Champers and a mind clouded by thoughts of one of the most heinous crimes ever to be commited,would spell to perfection,but alas then i suppose,thats what a boring life produces! Boring people..I am a �60000 a year Electrical Engineer,running my own Business,i guess a few spelling mistakes dont really matter...Did you know Lucy,that Winston Churchill failed English Literature??? :) Goodbye,and if your married,im sure one day he will leave you!

[stevie1time]

Lucy,i do apologise for being blunt and maybe a tad insulting...But this a subject close to many peoples heart and Louisa is right if you have nothing of worth to add,then why comment??....Anyway,i am happy that my question has refreshed the minds of many people to the unjust society we live in today.....But there have many differen opinion's...What would you want or wish to have had done...if Jamie was your son??

[Ethel]

Let's make one thing very clear - as adults these men will be entitled to no more and no less than anybody else. They will also pay their taxes 'even in death' if they work. If they don't they will get the same benefits as everyone else.

They are on life licence - which is not a doddle by any means.

They cannot live like you and me. They cannot see their own parents and siblings. They have to deny who they are. If they marry (there are rumours that one of them is) their wives and in-laws cannot know their true identities.

I am not saying they deserve any better - but I do wish people would stop stating they have some kind of preferential treatment and are living the high life. They are subject to the same income tax and benefit rules as everyone else.

Maybe they should still be in prison - I honestly don't know. I can only go by examples that I am aware of, of killers making a successful life after prison. Mary Bell, Leslie Grantham are two who seem to be standing on their own two feet and contributing to society.

[Pippa68]

...and if they put a foot wrong they will back inside.

How I would feel if Jamie were my son is irrelevant really ~ however I would have to go along with the judicial system wouldn't I?

Likewise if the killer/s were my children.

The law can be an ass, but it is there for a reason. You may think it is ok to have the death penalty, stevie ~ but I don't. I have also said that if we did have the death penalty I don't consider it ok to wait until a person is above the age of majority to be executed.

Rehabilitation does work. Ok, sometimes it doesn't...but it works enough times for it to still be recognised and validated.

[123everton]

I live in the city and remember when Jamie Bulger was snatched (I was actually working in Bootle Strand that day) it's such an emotive issue that it makes it difficult to have a reasoned debate in this city.
All murderers are wicked, my problem with Thompson and Venables (I used to work with his uncle, really nice bloke) is that they refused to do the sentence they were given, they said they were sorry but obviously they were'nt that sorry.
I don't know what this country's coming to when a judge can rule that prison is no place for a murderer.

[aims1202]

stevie1time, you said in one of your replies that your son would never commit a crime such as this because you have brought him up with integrity , knowledge, respect and love.
That would imply that you think these boys were not brought up in this way, right? and that maybe why they did do this terrible thing. So if that is the case then how would it be right to harm them or kill them for doing it?
What happened was so tragic but we all know that for children to behave in such a way they must have been seriously disturbed which would mean that they must have been treated badly themselves or seen and experienced adults being violent to each other. maybe even all through childhood.
I believe there should be consequences for what they did, and they have done their time. It is right to allow them to now live their lives, they were children and they may now be completely changed people and could even be doing great things, maybe even helping others in need, you never know.
These men will have to live with what they did as children for life. If they are rehabilitated then that is a punishment itself. They also live in fear of being discovered by someone with views like some of these on here, that cannot be a 'normal' life.

[123everton]

I fear that Thompson and Venables were indicative of the way society was heading, I deal with about 1200 people a week from all walks of life and from all over town and sadly (wrongly?) you can see the kids who've got a chance and the ones who have'nt.
Kids are killing kids, almost as reguarly as kids are molesting kids or at least having sex with them. With the exception of the last part of that statement, no-one could convince me "that it's always been like that".
In relation to the Bulger killing there were scenes I found harrowing (namely outside the Marsh Lane Police Station) football style chanting was unwarranted. But I wonder if the public feel that it's worse that this innocent child was murdered by two guilty children rather than two guilty adults.
P.S. I seem to remeber that the film that was supposed to have inspired them was Channel 5 the other week, how times change. I thought they were going to ban it.

[jno]

amazing number of people ready to spell out their bloodthirsty revenge fantasies for a couple of kids who were 10 years old. But most murders are committed by adults, even when children are the victims. How come nobody comes onto AB to explain how they're going to pluck their eyes out and roast them over a slow fire? Serious question - why just the kids?

And another serious question - why is everyone so sorry for Jamie's parents yet hates the McCanns? What's the difference?

[baileybird]

i agree with the above post

there was for more to this case than is being discussed here.

all 3 boys were let down by society. at the age of 10 the parents, schools and social services should take a share of the responsibility so who do you hang.

i hope the boys CAN be rehabilitated but i am not sure iwould feel the same if it were my child. luckily i can be impartial as i had no involvement other than reading the highlights in the sun, as we all did. I was not sat in the court room when the details were discussed, as non of you were either.