James Bulger killer Jon Venables’ parole bid rejected by parol chiefs

The decision was made following a two-day hearing

Venables was just 10-years-old when he and Robert Thompson, also 10, tortured and killed two-year-old James Bulger in 1993.

Both were handed life sentences for the killing but were released on license with new identities in 2001.

But since then, Venables, now 41, has returned to prison twice.

He was sent back to jail in 2010 after indecent images of children were found on his computer and served another three years before being recalled again in 2017 for the same offence.

Following a two-day hearing behind closed doors, a panel has decided to reject his bid for parole.

"The panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public," the Parole Board said.

After their release in 2001, a legal order was made giving both Venables and Thompson lifetime anonymity and banning the public identification of either of them.

Because of this, Caroline Corby, the chair of the Parole Board for England and Wales, deciding that the parole hearing should take place in private.

This meant that Bulger's family were not allowed to attend the hearing, although victim impact statements were considered, Sky News reports.

Venables and Thompson kidnapped, tortured and killed two-year-old James Bulger in 1993, leaving his body by a railway line in Liverpool.

The toddler had been beaten to death with bricks and a metal bar.

After they were found guilty of murder, Venables and Thompson became the youngest convicted murderers in British history.