Jon Venables, one of two men convicted of killing Liverpool two-year-old Jamie Bulger, has today pleaded guilty to downloading and sending child pornography.
Venables (27) gave his plea via video link from prison at a hearing in London's Old Bailey criminal court. He pleaded to one charge of making indecent image of a child and two charges of distributing images.
The first offence involved downloading 57 pornographic pictures of children onto his computer between February 2009 and February 2010. The second involved distributing indecent photographs in February this year, while the third related to distributing 42 images in February 2008.
After the sentence was passed, in a statement to the media by his solicitor, Venables said he had thought about Jamie's death "every day" since 1993 and has accepted responsibility for it.
But Jamie's mother Denise Fergus, who was in court today said in a statement that justice had not been done. "These were very serious offences, and two years is simply not enough to meet the gravity of what this person did," her spokesman told reporters.
Venables was taken to prison last February for breaching the terms of his licence following a raid on his home by social workers and police.
Severe reporting restrictions were imposed by the courts to ensure that nothing emerges to reveal the identity of Venables. A Crown Court injunction was enforced on May 21st banning any media reporting of the charges, but this was lifted on June 22nd following an application by a number of media organisations.
The indecent images were found on Venables's computer after he alerted his probation officer when he feared his new identity was in danger of being revealed. Venables confessed to police he was aroused by images of children being abused, the court heard. He knew it was "breaking the last taboo" but remained disgusted at his actions.
Prosecutor Louis Mably said Venables admitted trying to format the hard drive on his laptop and then attempting to remove it to hide its contents.
The judge, Mr Justice Bean, told the court he could only sentence Venables for the child pornography charges.
However, Venables will likely remain in prison for longer than two years because he had been released on a life licence when he committed the latest crimes. After two years, he will have to convince a parole board that it is safe to release him into the community.
Venables and his friend Robert Thompson killed James Bulger in 1993 when they were 10 years old. They abducted him from a shopping centre in Liverpool before torturing and killing him.
The murder shocked Britain and was widely reported around the world. A security camera picture showing the killers leading the toddler away from the Bootle shopping centre became a haunting image of the case. Venables and Thompson were given life sentences but were released on licence in 2001 after being given new identities.
In March this year, Venables was recalled to prison for breaching his licence conditions.
For nearly four months, former justice secretary Jack Straw refused to say why Venables had been recalled, other than that it was a "serious offence."
A judge lifted reporting restrictions on the media last month, allowing it to detail Venables's charges.
Agencies