Should James Bulgers killers have been released?
N.B. This is just my opinion. Please read the whole writeup before voting. In February 1993, James Bulger was abducted from a busy shopping centre by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson. Together they lured away the two year old, subjecting him to four hours of torture before bludgeoning him with an iron bar and leaving him to be cut up by a train. It was something that shocked the entire country; something for which many believe no amount of punishment or penitence will be adequate. If James Bulger’s murder had taken place a just few months earlier, neither of the boys could have been charged with any criminal offence. Because they had recently passed the age of criminal responsibility, however, they were sentenced accordingly. Few people would argue that Venables and Thompson are unaccountable for their actions, but their young age has raised difficult dilemmas. Our society accepts that children are not as responsible for their actions as adults are. Their minds, their sense of morality
