2001 June 25
Article for the Liverpool Echo
Why I'm praying for James' family, and his killers
A young mum with children the age of James Bulger said to me, "If any of us had our own child murdered we would find it hard to forgive. If, on the other hand, any of us had a child who murdered another child we would hope that the world would give them a chance to make amends and start again." That's how torn many of us feel over the release of James Bulger's killers.
The reaction on Merseyside is to side with Ralph Bulger and Denise Fergus and James' family. It's one of the strengths of our community that we stand by those who need us. It's the way we reacted to Hillsborough and to the Alder Hey enquiry. We feel for James' parents as they daily relive the agony of his murder. The release of Robert Thompson and John Venables feels like salt poured into an open wound.
Anger is a part of grief. And James' parents understandably still feel angry. You can urge people to forgive too soon. It's right to be angry when bad things happen. But I pray that in time the anger can be assuaged because if it remains pent up it can eat away at us like a cancer.
But in order to forgive someone who has hurt you badly you need to see and hear them say sorry. That's why I support Denise in wanting to meet with Robert Thompson and John Venables. It would be a very difficult meeting. But in the right circumstances it could help Denise and Ralph to move forward. Even though the young men are forbidden to make contact with the family, I believe the Probation Service could still arrange something at the request of James' family. We cannot expect parents of a murdered child to forgive his killers when they have never had a chance to meet and question them.
At this moment it's difficult for us on Merseyside because we are having to trust decisions made by other people such as the Parole Board whose members we don't know. Three issues are of the greatest importance. Is it safe for the young men to be free - safe for them, safe for the community? Are they really sorry for what they've done - a crime of appalling cruelty - have they changed, have they been reformed? Is the sentence they served a just punishment?
Those in charge of them are convinced that they are sorry and have changed and are no longer a threat. We don't have the evidence to examine and have to take it on trust. If there could be a meeting with Denise and Ralph it would go someway to assuring them and the community of the young men's sorrow, remorse and repentance.
During the trial I was struck by two aspects. Firstly, the details of terrifying cruelty. Secondly, the fact that Thompson and Venables were the victims of a bad upbringing as well as being perpetrators of a terrible crime.
I have visited secure units for young people - the sort that Thompson and Venables have been held in. I have met the staff and seen the regimes that are able to turn some young criminals into responsible adults.
The Parole Board have satisfied themselves and the Home Secretary that Robert Thompson and John Venables have changed.
One of the concerns I have is the way some of the media are fuelling the furore over the release, which seems to be encouraging people to take the law into their own hands. We are all interested in what is happening and the media have a duty to investigate and report. I favour a free press - and a responsible press.
But there are really important questions that are being ignored through some of the media hysteria. How do we prevent more and more children committing crime? How do we get parents to take responsibility for the nurture of their children? How do we help parents become effective parents? How do we deal with criminal children? How do we give children long custodial sentences without exposing them to the bad influences they would come under in prison? How do we create a justice system that takes full account of the needs of the close relatives of murdered children? How do we help and support these victims to see and feel that justice has been done? These are just some of the questions we need to face.
I pray that Robert Thompson and John Venables will seek God's forgiveness and the forgiveness of James' family. I pray that they will never do anything so hideously criminal again. I pray for James' family that they will know the comfort of God in their continuing grief. I pray that the media are restrained and responsible. I pray that we will all work together for a better world in which children are nurtured with love and where justice and mercy go hand in hand.