Australia

James Bulger killer Venables back in jail for child porn

The 35-year-old arrested last week after officials make a routine visit to his home
'Sickening&..

Published

6 years ago

November 23, 2017

Europe Disk

The 35-year-old arrested last week after officials make a routine visit to his home
'Sickening' child porn images were found on a computer and police were alerted
Venables was jailed in 2010 after he was caught with a hoard of child sex photos
He and Robert Thompson jailed after torturing James Bulger, 2, to death in 1993
Denise Fergus says: 'Here we go again' – family say he should be jailed for life
She added: 'I'm absolutely fuming that once again I'm last to know'

By Martin Robinson, Uk Chief Reporter and Alexander Robertson For Mailonline

Published: 18:03 EST, 22 November 2017 | Updated: 03:22 EST, 23 November 2017

James Bulger's furious mother Denise has exploded with fury after her son's killer Jon Venables was put back in jail again after being caught with child porn and said: 'Once again I'm the last to know'.

Venables was arrested and put back behind bars a week ago – the second time since his release – but Ms Fergus was only told last night.

She told friends on Facebook: 'I'm absolutely fuming that once again I'm last to know, that this has happened a week ago and I only got informed just hours before it's hit the press. #JusticeForJames'.

35-year-old Venables was arrested last week after officials making a routine visit to his home discovered the 'sickening' images on his computer and alerted police.

It is the second time that the murderer has been put back behind bars for child porn offences, having been caught with a large hoard of child porn in 2010.

On hearing that Venables had reoffended once again, James's mother Denise Fergus tweeted: 'Here we go again' and later revealed she was kept in the dark.

His arrest has led to calls for him never to be released again if he is convicted of child sex offences and a source close to the family said: 'The question has now to be asked whether he has finally run out of chances'.

The killer's new identity is protected by a lifelong order and has been changed four times since his release in 2001, costing taxpayers £250,000 each time, and around £5million trying to rehabilitate him.

Scroll down for video

Jon Venables (pictured after he was arrested as a 10-year-old), one of the killers of James Bugler, is back in jail after being caught with child porn - the second time he's been recalled

Jon Venables (pictured after he was arrested as a 10-year-old), one of the killers of James Bugler, is back in jail after being caught with child porn – the second time he's been recalled

CCTV footage of child murderers Jon Venables and Robert Thompson before they grabbed James Venables and Thompson were both 10-years-old when they shocked Britain by abducting James (pictured), then just two-years-old

Venables and Thompson (left, in CCTV) were both 10-years-old when they shocked Britain by abducting toddler James (pictured), then just two-years-old in 1993

In CCTV footage that shocked a nation, Venables (seen holding the toddler's hand) and Thompson are seen leading James out of the shopping centre and towards his death

Denise Fergus, the mother of James Bulger leaves the Old Bailey after Jon Venables appears in court in 2010 over child porn

On hearing that Venables had reoffended once again, James's mother Denise Fergus tweeted: 'Here we go again' and said on Facebook: 'Once again I'm the last to know'

How Bulger killer Jon Venables is back in jail for the second time in seven years

Jon Venables is back in prison

Jon Venables was first released from prison in 2001, at the age of 18, and given a new identity to protect him from the risk of vigilante attacks – but he has been returned to jail twi

At the time, a psychiatrist ruled that he did not pose a danger to the public and was extremely unlikely to commit any further offences.

However, he developed drinking and drugs problems, and he compromised his identity at least twice by telling friends he was a convicted murderer.

When a probation officer visited his home in Cheshire in 2010 to discuss his fears that he could be in danger, he was attempting to destroy the hard drive of his computer.

The hard drive was later examined by police, who discovered that it contained dozens of indecent images of children.

Venables admitted that he had posed online as a 35-year-old woman who had abused her eight-year-old daughter, and was returned to prison.

The Sun reported that Venables was rushed to a maximum security prison, which cannot be identified for legal reasons.

A source told the newspaper: 'Every expense has been afforded him, every expert opinion offered, every opportunity given.

'And yet here we are again. If he is found to have committed a new offence, then why should the public continue to pay through the nose to protect his anonymity any longer?'

Venables is now being held for breaching the life-long licence he and Robert Thompson were given after the brutal torture and murder of James Bulger in 1993.

Venables, who has not yet been charged with any offence, and Thompson were both 10-years-old when they shocked Britain by abducting James, then just two-years-old.

The crime made the boys the youngest killers in modern English history and public enemy number one with millions of Brits.

The duo snatched Bulger from outside a butcher's shop in Bootle, Merseyside, in 1993, while his mother popped into a store for just a few seconds.

The toddler's mutilated body was found on a railway line in Walton, Liverpool, two days later.

Venables and Thompson were found guilty of killing Bulger in November 1993 and were sentenced to custody until they reached 18.

They were freed in 2001 after serving eight years behind bars, but by 2010 Venables was back in prison for violating the terms of his release by possessing child porn.

It was revealed that he had downloaded and distributed more than 100 images of child abuse, some involving victims as young as two being raped.

In one instance he messaged another paedophile claiming to be a married mother who abused her eight-year-old daughter, and offered to sell access to the child.

He was freed from prison for the second time in 2013 after a recommendation from the Parole Board.

At the time, Denise and Ralph Bulger said they were 'filled with terror' by the decision to grant parole to Venables.

Mr Bulger said: 'It is only a matter of time before he caves in to his lust for young children again.

'Jon Venables is and always was a predatory sex killer who will never be changed. He will always be a danger to children which is why he must be locked up for life.'

After Venables's conviction for child porn, a review discovered he had regularly breached a condition of his original release that he must not go back to Merseyside.

Thompson known in court as Boy A, was found guilty of murder of toddler James Bulger. 1993. He was allowed to start a news Venables and Robert Thompson (pictured) were both 10-years-old when they shocked Britain by abducting James, then just two-years-old

The crime made Thompson (left) and Venables (right) the youngest killers in modern English history

Thompson and Venables became public enemy number one during the trial into James's death (an angry crowd are pictured remonstrating as the pair arrive at court)

The probe said he would 'certainly' have been returned to jail sooner if officials had known his movements – which could have been monitored by a satellite tag.

Secret new life of Venables' co-murderer Robert Thompson

During the highly-publicised trial in 1993, it was Robert Thompson who the prosecution painted as the ringleader.

In fact, a report by famed psychiatrist Sir Michael Rutter release said Venables posed a 'trivial risk' to the public should he be released.

But while Venables quickly reoffended after getting out of prison, Thompson set about starting a quiet life in the North West, having impressed prison officials with his talents in art.

He also took A-levels while behind bars and ended up in a stable relationship with another man.

The pair are banned from contacting each other under the terms of their release.

Thompson is thought to have stuck to the terms of the licence, so details of his new life have never been revealed in court.

Reports surfaced in 2005 that he was addicted to heroin, while a childhood friend claimed to have bumped into him while he was working as a steward at a major sporting event in the North West of England.

Under strict rules put in place following his release from prison, the murderer has lifelong anonymity, meaning anyone he speaks to online will not know about his past.

Only a tight-knit cabal operating under conditions of extreme secrecy are allowed to know who he really is.

Under the terms of his life-long licence, one or two senior probation officers regularly visit Venables to ensure he is adhering to the conditions of his release.

The terms include a ban on travelling to Merseyside, and he also faces restrictions on accessing the internet.

Venables was given his first new identity when he was jailed in 1993, and a second when he was released from a sentence of indefinite imprisonment in 2001 aged 18.

In May 2011, his name and background was changed once again after a 'serious breach' in the security of the identity he had been using.

In 2013, officials said they would not give him another identity because he could not be trusted to keep it secret.

But they were forced to change their minds amid mounting fears for his safety if he is ever outed.

Pictures purporting to be of Venables were circulated on the internet in 2013, despite an injunction granting him lifetime anonymity.

CCTV footage shows the final moments of James Bulger's life, as he is led to a railway track by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson

The toddler's mutilated body was found on a railway line in Walton, Liverpool, two days after he was abducted

Ralph and Denise Bulger, parents of James, during an emotional police press conference in the aftermath of his death

The canal in Bootle, Merseyside, where it is thought Jon Venables and Robert Thompson threatened to throw James Bulger in as they toyed with how to torture him

The duo snatched Bulger from outside a butcher's shop (shown) in Bootle, Merseyside, in 1993, while his mother popped into a store for just a few seconds

James Bulger's funeral procession passes through Kirkby, Merseyside as neighbours watch on

Jamie Bulger, who was murdered in 1993. Denise and Ralph Bulger, James' bereft parents

The parents of James Bulger (left), Denise Fergus and Ralph Bulger (right, in 1996), said they were 'filled with terror' by the decision to grant parole to Venables in 2013

Timeline: Bulger's murder and the conviction of two killers

1993

February 12: Two-year-old James Bulger is snatched during a shopping trip to the Strand shopping centre, in Bootle, Merseyside.
February 14: The toddler's battered body is found by children playing on a freight railway line 200 yards from Walton Lane police station, Liverpool, and more than two miles from the Strand shopping centre.
February 18: Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, both 10-year-olds, are arrested in connection with the murder of James, and later charged. They are the youngest to be charged with murder in the 20th century.
February 22: There are violent scenes outside South Sefton Magistrates' Court in Bootle, when the two primary school pupils, then known as Child A and Child B, make their first appearance.
November 24: Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, now both aged 11, are convicted of James Bulger's murder following a 17-day trial at Preston Crown Court. They are ordered to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, the normal substitute sentence for life imprisonment when the offender is a juvenile.

1994

July: The eight year sentence tariff set by the trial judge, which has already been increased to 10 years by Lord Chief Justice Lord Taylor of Gosforth, is increased again to 15 years by the Home Secretary Michael Howard.

1997

June: The Law Lords rule by a majority that Mr Howard has acted illegally in raising the boys' tariff.

1999

March: The European Commission on Human Rights finds that Thompson and Venables were denied a fair trial and fair sentencing by an impartial and independent tribunal.

2000

March: Home Secretary Jack Straw says he will not set a date for Thompson and Venables' release.
October: Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf reinstates the trial judge's original tariff, paving the way for their release.

2001

January: James Bulger's killers win an unprecedented court order from High Court judge Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss which grants them anonymity for the rest of their lives.
June: Thompson and Venables are freed under new identities.

2008

September: Venables is arrested on suspicion of affray after he and another man become involved in a drunken street fight. He is given a formal warning by the Probation Service about breaching the good behaviour expected of him as a condition of his licence.
Later the same year he is cautioned for possession of cocaine after he was found with a small amount of the class A drug, which was said to be for personal use. The public remains unaware of both offences until 2010.

2010

March 2: Venables is returned to prison after breaching the terms of his release, the Ministry of Justice says. It kick-starts frenzied media speculation over the nature of the alleged breach.
April 16: Prosecutors handed a police file over the latest allegations.
June 21: A judge at the Old Bailey lifts media restrictions, allowing it to be reported that Venables has been charged with downloading and distributing child pornography.
July 23: Venables pleads guilty to the charges. He is sentenced to two years in prison. James Bulger's mother Denise Fergus attacks the length of sentence as 'simply not enough'.
July 30: A judge rules Venables' new identity must be kept secret because of the 'compelling evidence' of a threat to his safety, saying 'unpopular' defendants had as much right to protection from retribution as anyone else.

2013

April 26: Two users of social media who breached the injunction banning the revelation of the new identities of Venables and Thompson receive suspended jail sentences.
July 4: Sources reveal Venables has been granted parole.

Original Article

Daily Mail

Australia

Why Australia decided to quit its vaping habit

Published

2 weeks ago

May 28, 2023

Europe Disk

He’s talking about students in his class, teenagers, who can’t stop vaping.

He sees the effect of the candy-flavoured, nicotine-packed e-cigarettes on young minds every day, with children even vaping in class.

“The ones who are deepest into it will just get up out of their seat, or they’ll be fidgeting or nervous. The worst offenders will just walk out because they’re literally in withdrawal.”

Those who are most addicted need nicotine patches or rehabilitation, he says, talking about 13 and 14-year-olds.

is enough and introduced a range of new restrictions. Despite vapes already being illegal for many, under new legislation they will become available by prescription only.

The number of vaping teenagers in Australia has soared in recent years and authorities say it is the “number one behavioural issue” in schools across the country.

And they blame disposable vapes – which some experts say could be more addictive than heroin and cocaine – but for now are available in Australia in every convenience store, next to the chocolate bars at the counter.

For concerned teachers like Chris, their hands have been tied.

“If we suspect they have a vape, all we can really do is tell them to go to the principal’s office.

“At my old school, my head teacher told me he wanted to install vape detector alarms in the toilet, but apparently we weren’t allowed to because that would be an invasion of privacy.”

E-cigarettes have been sold as a safer alternative to tobacco, as they do not produce tar – the primary cause of lung cancer.

Some countries continue to promote them with public health initiatives to help cigarette smokers switch to a less deadly habit.

Last month, the UK government announced plans to hand out free vaping starter kits to one million smokers in England to get smoking rates below 5% by 2030.

But Australia’s government says that evidence that e-cigarettes help smokers quit is insufficient for now. Instead, research shows it may push young vapers into taking up smoking later in life.

‘Generation Vape’

Vapes, or e-cigarettes, are lithium battery-powered devices that have cartridges filled with liquids containing nicotine, artificial flavourings, and other chemicals.

The liquid is heated and turned into a vapour and inhaled into the user’s lungs.

Vaping took off from the mid-2000s and there were some 81 million vapers worldwide in 2021, according to the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction group.

Fuelling the rise is the mushrooming popularity of flavoured vapes designed to appeal to the young.

These products can contain far higher volumes of nicotine than regular cigarettes, while some devices sold as ‘nicotine-free’ can actually hold large amounts.

The chemical cocktail also contains formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde – which have been linked to lung disease, heart disease, and cancer.

There’s also a suggestion of an increased risk of stroke, respiratory infection, and impaired lung function.

Experts warn not enough is known about the long-term health effects. But some alarming data has already been drawn out.

In 2020, US health authorities identified more than 2,800 cases of e-cigarette or vaping-related lung injury. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 68 deaths attributed to that injury.

In Australia, a major study by leading charity The Cancer Council found more than half of all children who had ever vaped had used an e-cigarette they knew contained nicotine and thought that vaping was a socially acceptable behaviour.

School-age children were being supplied with e-cigarettes through friends or “dealers” inside and outside school, or from convenience stores and tobacconists, the report said.

Teens also reported purchasing vapes through social media, websites and at pop-up vape stores, the Generation Vape project found.

“Whichever way teenagers obtain e-cigarettes, they are all illegal, yet it’s happening under the noses of federal and state authorities”, report author and Cancer Council chair Anita Dessaix said.

“All Australian governments say they’re committed to ensuring e-cigarettes are only accessed by smokers with a prescription trying to quit – yet a crisis in youth e-cigarette use is unfolding in plain view.”

In addition to the government’s move to ban the import of all non-pharmaceutical vaping products – meaning they can now only be bought with a prescription – all single-use disposable vapes will be made illegal.

The volume and concentration of nicotine in e-cigarettes will also be restricted, and both flavours and packaging must be plain and carrying warning labels.

But these new measures are not actually all that drastic, says public health physician Professor Emily Banks from the Australian National University.

“Australia is not an outlier. It is unique to have a prescription-only model, but other places actually ban them completely, and that includes almost all of Latin America, India, Thailand and Japan.”

‘We have been duped’

Health Minister Mark Butler said the new vaping regulations will close the “biggest loophole in Australian healthcare history”.

“Just like they did with smoking… ‘Big Tobacco’ has taken another addictive product, wrapped it in shiny packaging and added sweet flavours to create a new generation of nicotine addicts.”

“We have been duped”, he said.

Medical experts agree. Prof Banks argues that the promotion of e-cigarettes as a “healthier” alternative was a classic “sleight-of-hand” from the tobacco industry.

As such vaping has become “normalised” in Australia, and in the UK too.

“There’s over 17,000 flavours, and the majority of use is not for smoking cessation”, she tells the BBC.

“They’re being heavily marketed towards children and adolescents. People who are smoking and using e-cigarettes – that’s the most common pattern of use, dual use.”

Professor Banks says authorities need to “de-normalise” vaping among teenagers and make vapes much harder to get hold of.

“Kids are interpreting the fact that they can very easily get hold of [vapes] as evidence [they’re safe], and they’re actually saying, ‘well, if they were that unsafe, I wouldn’t be able to buy one at the coffee shop’.

But could stricter controls make it harder for people who do turn to vapes hoping to quit or cut down on tobacco?

“It is important to bear in mind that for some people, e-cigarettes have really helped. But we shouldn’t say ‘this is great for smokers to quit’, says Prof Banks.

“We know from

Australia, from the US, from Europe, that two-thirds to three-quarters of people who quit smoking successfully, do so unaided.”

“You’re trying to bring these [vapes] in saying they’re a great way to quit smoking, but actually we’ve got bubble gum flavoured vapes being used by 13-year-olds in the school toilets. That is not what the community signed up for.”

Read from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-65522841

Australia

Australia: Scott Morrison saga casts scrutiny on Queen’s representative

Published

9 months ago

August 27, 2022

Europe Disk

In the past fortnight, Australia has been gripped by revelations that former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to several additional ministries.

The move has been labelled a “power grab” by his successor as prime minister, and Mr Morrison has been scolded by many – even his own colleagues.

But the scandal has also dragged Australia’s governor-general into the fray – sparking one of the biggest controversies involving the Queen’s representative in Australia in 50 years.

So does Governor-General David Hurley have questions to answer, or is he just collateral damage?

‘Just paperwork’

Governors-general have fulfilled the practical duties as Australia’s head of state since the country’s 1901 federation.

Candidates for the role were initially chosen by the monarch but are now recommended by the Australian government.

The job is largely ceremonial – a governor-general in almost every circumstance must act on the advice of the government of the day. But conventions allow them the right to “encourage” and “warn” politicians.

Key duties include signing bills into law, issuing writs for elections, and swearing in ministers.

Mr Hurley has run into trouble on the latter. At Mr Morrison’s request, he swore the prime minister in as joint minister for health in March 2020, in case the existing minister became incapacitated by Covid.

Over the next 14 months, he also signed off Mr Morrison as an additional minister in the finance, treasury, home affairs and resources portfolios.

Mr Morrison already had ministerial powers, so Mr Hurley was basically just giving him authority over extra departments.

It’s a request the governor-general “would not have any kind of power to override or reject”, constitutional law professor Anne Twomey tells the BBC.

“This wasn’t even a meeting between the prime minister and the governor-general, it was just paperwork.”

But Mr Morrison’s appointments were not publicly announced, disclosed to the parliament, or even communicated to most of the ministers he was job-sharing with.

Australia’s solicitor-general found Mr Morrison’s actions were not illegal but had “fundamentally undermined” responsible government.

But the governor-general had done the right thing, the solicitor-general said in his advice this week.

It would have been “a clear breach” for him to refuse the prime minister, regardless of whether he knew the appointments would be kept secret, Stephen Donaghue said.

Critics push for investigation

Ultimately, Mr Hurley had to sign off on Mr Morrison’s requests, but critics say he could have counselled him against it and he could have publicised it himself.

But representatives for the governor-general say these types of appointments – giving ministers the right to administer other departments – are not unusual.

And it falls to the government of the day to decide if they should be announced to the public. They often opt not to.

Mr Hurley himself announcing the appointments would be unprecedented. He had “no reason to believe that appointments would not be communicated”, his spokesperson said.

Emeritus professor Jenny Hocking finds the suggestion Mr Hurley didn’t know the ministries had been kept secret “ridiculous”.

“The last of these bizarre, duplicated ministry appointments… were made more than a year after the first, so clearly by then the governor-general did know that they weren’t being made public,” she says.

“I don’t agree for a moment that the governor-general has a lot of things on his plate and might not have noticed.”

The historian says it’s one of the biggest controversies surrounding a governor-general since John Kerr caused a constitutional crisis by sacking Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975.

Prof Hocking famously fought for transparency around that matter – waging a lengthy and costly legal battle that culminated in the release of Mr Kerr’s correspondence with the Queen.

And she says the same transparency is needed here.

The Australian public need to know whether Mr Hurley counselled the prime minister against the moves, and why he didn’t disclose them

The government has already announced an inquiry into Mr Morrison’s actions, but she wants it to look at the governor-general and his office too.

“If the inquiry is to find out what happened in order to fix what happened, it would be extremely problematic to leave out a key part of that equation.”

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull – Mr Morrison’s predecessor – has also voiced support for an inquiry.

“Something has gone seriously wrong at Government House,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“It is the passive compliance along the chain… that did undermine our constitution and our democracy… that troubles me the most. This is how tyranny gets under way.”

PM defends governor-general

Prof Twomey says the criticism of Mr Hurley is unfair – there’s was no “conspiracy” on his part to keep things secret.

“I don’t think it’s reasonable for anyone to expect that he could have guessed that the prime minister was keeping things secret from his own ministers, for example.

“Nobody really thought that was a possibility until about two weeks ago.”

Even if he had taken the unprecedented step to publicise the appointments or to reject Mr Morrison’s request, he’d have been criticised, she says.

“There’d be even more people saying ‘how outrageous!'” she says. “The role of governor-general is awkward because people are going to attack you either way.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also defended Mr Hurley, saying he was just doing his job.

“I have no intention of undertaking any criticism of [him].”

A role fit for purpose?

Prof Hocking says it’s a timely moment to look at the role of the governor-general more broadly.

She points out it’s possible the Queen may have been informed about Mr Morrison’s extra ministries when Australia’s parliament and people were not.

“It does raise questions about whether this is fit for purpose, as we have for decades been a fully independent nation, but we still have… ‘the relics of colonialism’ alive and well.”

Momentum for a fresh referendum on an Australian republic has been growing and advocates have seized on the controversy.

“The idea that the Queen and her representative can be relied upon to uphold our system of government has been debunked once and for all,” the Australian Republic Movement’s Sandy Biar says.

“It’s time we had an Australian head of state, chosen by Australians and accountable to them to safeguard and uphold Australia’s constitution.”

But Prof Twomey says republicans are “clutching at straws” – under their proposals, the head of state would also have been bound to follow the prime minister’s advice.

“It wouldn’t result in any changes that would have made one iota of difference.”

Read from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-62683210

Australia

Australia election: PM Morrison’s security team in car crash in Tasmania

Published

1 year ago

April 16, 2022

Europe Disk

A car carrying the Australian prime minister’s security team has crashed in Tasmania during an election campaign visit.

Four police officers were taken to hospital with “non-life threatening injuries” after the car and another vehicle collided, authorities said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison was not in the car, but the accident prompted him to cancel the rest of his campaign events on Thursday.

The other driver involved was not hurt.

Tasmania Police said initial investigations suggested the second car had “collided with the rear of the police vehicle, while attempting to merge”. It caused the unmarked security vehicle to roll off the road.

The two Tasmania Police officers and two Australian Federal Police officers were conscious when taken to hospital for medical assessment, the prime minister’s office said.

“Family members of the officers have been contacted and are being kept informed of their condition,” a statement said.

“The PM is always extremely grateful for the protection provided by his security team and extends his best wishes for their recovery and to their families.”

Australians go to the polls on 21 May. Mr Morrison – prime minister since 2018 – is hoping to win his conservative coalition’s fourth term in office.

Polls suggest the opposition Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese, is favoured to win. However, Mr Morrison defied similar polling to claim victory at the last election in 2019.

Mr Morrison’s Liberal-National coalition holds 76 seats in the House of Representatives – the minimum needed to retain power.

Political observers say the cost of living, climate change, trust in political leaders, and national security will be among key issues in the campaign.

In recent weeks, the prime minister has faced accusations of being a bully and once sabotaging a rival’s career by suggesting the man’s Lebanese heritage made him less electable. Mr Morrison has denied the allegations.

Mr Albanese stumbled into his own controversy this week when he failed to recall the nation’s unemployment or interest rates.

Read from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-61103987