Bulger killers' identities to be protected

The President of the Family Division, Lady Justice Butler-Sloss, said: "I have come to the conclusion that I am compelled to …

The killers of British toddler James Bulger today won a court order protecting their anonymity once they are freed with new identities.

The President of the Family Division, Lady Justice Butler-Sloss, said: "I have come to the conclusion that I am compelled to take steps in the almost unique circumstances of this case to protect their lives and physical wellbeing."

Bulger
James Bulger

Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who killed the child when they were aged 10, have now both turned 18. They hope to win parole early this year following a ruling by Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf they had served the minimum tariff necessary under their life sentences.

The pair beat two-year-old James to death on a railway line in Liverpool in February 1993. They are unlikely to be sent to a young offenders' institution or adult prison.

PA

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