A 78-year-old man from Kirkby was arrested this weekend after the grave of James Bulger was vandalised for the second time in six weeks. The disturbing incident took place at Kirkdale Cemetery in Liverpool, where the heads of two marble cherub statues were brutally “scythed off” and stolen.
These cherubs had only recently been repaired following an earlier attack in February, with the restoration funded by public donations. In addition to the damage to the statues, a teddy bear was also taken from James Bulger’s gravesite.
Denise Fergus, James’s mother, made a heartfelt plea on social media, asking for the return of the stolen cherub heads.
James Bulger was just two years old when he was abducted in 1993 from The New Strand shopping centre in Bootle by two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. The boys led James on a 2.5-mile walk across Liverpool to Walton’s railway line, where they attacked him with bricks, stones, and a 10kg iron bar.
They left his battered body on the railway tracks, hoping that a passing train would conceal the crime. Forensic evidence later revealed that James had died from the assault before the train struck him.
The pathologist’s report detailed horrific injuries including 10 skull fractures from the iron bar, severe brain damage and internal bleeding, bruising and deep marks from kicks, blue modelling paint thrown into his eye, batteries shoved into his mouth, and his body severed in two by the train after death.
Despite the passage of 30 years, James’s family continues to endure pain as his grave remains a target for vandals. The motive behind the recent attack is unclear, but mental health issues are suspected given the nature of the crime.
Jon Venables is currently incarcerated again. After his release in 2001 under a new identity, he was recalled twice for possessing child abuse images—in 2010 and 2017—and has repeatedly failed parole hearings since. Robert Thompson, who was released in 2001 at age 18, remains free. Disturbingly, he has stated that killing James “gave him a better life.”
The tragic saga of James Bulger remains one of the darkest chapters in British criminal history, with the pain and indignities continuing decades later.
Originally published by UKNIP.
