Venables parole hearing to remain private, with victim attendance distinct from public access
The Parole Board will hear Jon Venables’ latest parole bid in private. BBC UK reports that the board cited concerns for his safety if he gave evidence in a public hearing; Denise Fergus sought a public hearing to address misinformation and its retraumatising impact. Victims can attend private hearings under national reforms, and Fergus’s spokeswoman previously said her application to observe had been granted.
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BBC UK reports that Jon Venables’ latest parole case will be heard at an oral hearing in private, more than two years after his last appeal. The Parole Board said a public hearing could make it difficult for him to give evidence, citing the risk that people might listen to obtain information to kill him. Denise Fergus, James Bulger’s mother, had sought a public hearing to help combat misinformation that she said had a retraumatising impact on her.
Private hearings do not necessarily exclude victims. Parole Board hearings are usually private, though the board can make them public in the interests of justice. Reforms rolled out nationally in April allow victims to attend private hearings; a spokeswoman for Fergus previously said her application to observe the hearing had been granted.
The case follows a parole rejection in 2023, when the board found Venables still posed a danger to children and could offend again. He was released on licence in July 2001 and recalled in February 2010 after indecent images of children were found on his computer. Freed again in August 2013, he was recalled in November 2017 for the same offence. Parole judges considered his case again in September 2020.
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