I Let Him Go: The heartbreaking book from the mother of James Bulger- updated for the 30th anniversary, in memory of James: The heartbreaking book from the mother of James Bulger

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This book is not an easy read. The chapters surrounding the disappearance and subsequent discovery of James were especially hard to read and at times I had to put the book down because I was actually crying, it is a horrific story and it is impossible to imagine how Ralph, Denise and their family and friends felt at that time. Reading about the moment when Ralph found out his son was dead was just awful. It is incomprehensible how two children could do this to another child. I would reccommend not reading this book before bed as I struggled to sleep with all the thoughts and images in my mind. I know people have theories that perhaps it was their upbringing that made them kill, or the fact that they watched films such as Child's Play 3 but I firmly believe that Thompson and Venables were born evil. There are many people with bad upbringings who go on to live fantastic lives, and there are people from loving homes who go on to become evil people. These two vile individuals were born evil. Reading about what they did was just horrific. Well, I don’t say it’s easy to accept that human beings have such a slender grasp on basic morality as that, but it kinda looks that way. You pump up the propaganda enough and you can get results like Rwanda and Stalin’s purges and Democratic Kampuchea. The book is well written and despite the heavy, harrowing storyline I knew I had to keep reading, though at times I had to put it down. It was horrific reading the details of what actually happened to James, the poor little thing, and to imagine the last moments he lived. I felt my emotions on a roller coaster as his father Ralph described the legal battles undertaken over the years. I can feel and understand his anger when reading of the murderers' incarceration - their outings, allowances, luxuries when little James never even got to go to school, and understand the fear he felt at their release. Uncropped Mothercare CCTV still of the abduction, showing the timestamp at 15:42:32". Archived from the original on 6 March 2012 . Retrieved 15 January 2012.

All I can say is that James for me is a symbol of beauty, innocence & perfection. He encapsulates everything that I love about life when I see his smiling face, or read about his giggly & energetic character. Williams, Zoe. " Jon Venables: how attitudes towards criminality have changed and hardened." The Guardian. 5 July 2013. Lee, Susan (11 February 2013). "Twenty years after the murder of Liverpool toddler James Bulger, his mum Denise Fergus reflects on the past and the battles still to come". Liverpool Echo. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014 . Retrieved 8 November 2014. They were put on trial, found guilty, and became Britain’s youngest convicted murderers of the 20th century (the youngest for 300 years). Pavia, Will (8 March 2010). " 'It was like my son had been taken again' ". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010 . Retrieved 11 March 2010. {{ cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link)Osley, Richard (4 July 2013). "James Bulger killer Jon Venables to be freed". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013 . Retrieved 4 July 2013. Jon Venables is also 10. His parents divorced when he was three-years-old and together they share joint custody of him and his two siblings. When he appears at the top of the stairs, the police are astounded by his young age and small stature. The police are certain that the boys they’ve just arrested aren’t who they’re looking for. They strongly believe the children are just not capable of such a crime.

I simultaneously did and did not want to read this book. I wasn’t even alive when James Bulger was taken from his mother, but I have a child around the same age as he was. I felt like I owed - every mother - owes it to her to read her words. Police start to notice a pattern in Thompson’s chatter. Whenever he starts talking about James, his anxiety causes his legs to shuffle. By lunchtime on Friday 19 February, Thompson admits they had taken James to the railway line. During the investigation, there’s an eerie moment when Thompson imitates a wailing James asking for his mother. The investigating officers find it unnerving. Festival defends 'Bulger' play". BBC News. 6 August 2001. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022 . Retrieved 2 April 2021. One has to wonder why the rights of the horrifically tortured victim, James Bulger, were and are considered of less importance than the rights of two people who, when they were mere children, consciously and deliberately chose to do evil when they abducted James on that fateful day with the intent to kill. And still they show no remorse for their crime.

Seven 'sorry' for Bulger ad" (PDF). The Age. Australia. 31 August 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2010 . Retrieved 1 September 2009. this man has been suffering far too long. a parent never forgets the death of a child, but this is not just a death, its not even a murder, its also abuse physical and sexual to a little innocent toddler by kids, two boys of 10 years old. that has to be so difficult to come to terms with. I can't imagine for one moment what it feels like. What the police fail to realise is the two suspects they’re searching for are already in their custody. Read more: I wish the words I am going to write could do this book justice but they won't. It was one of the most difficult books I have ever read, but also one of the most inspiring. And any difficulties I had reading this or however upset it made me, that doesn't come close to how it must have felt to Ralph to have to relive the past 20 years all over again for this book. I hope it helped him writing this book.

Billington, Michael (9 May 2009). "Monsters". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014 . Retrieved 11 March 2010. On 22 June 2001, having served their eight years, both Thompson and Venables are released on a lifelong license. Both men are given new identities and moved to different parts of the country to maintain their safety. An injunction prevents the press from publishing any details about the two killers. I shouldn’t have let go of his hand,” she says in the film. “It’s hard for me to say, but it’s the truth.” But I think it should be stepped up for BEN Needham & AS Denise Fergus never really got the help either.Bates, Stephen (16 September 1999). "Bulger's mother puts her case". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015 . Retrieved 16 March 2010. MY JAMES can be informally divided into four sections: life with the happy toddler James; his abduction, murder and trial; the release of the two killers; and the return to prison of the one killer for Category Four child pornography. Bulger killers' trial ruled unfair". BBC News. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010 . Retrieved 15 April 2023. James Bulger killer Jon Venables to be freed". BBC News. 4 July 2013. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013 . Retrieved 4 July 2013. Sereny, Gitta (6 February 1994). "Re-examining the evidence". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010 . Retrieved 10 March 2010.