Children Who Kill
Running head: CHILDREN WHO KILL
Jon Venables and Robert Thompson:
Children who kill
Letia Bland
Tiffin University
Assignment #1
Dr. Joyce Hall-Yates
The Juvenile justice system has changed over the years. Before the first establishment of this system, courts and judges treated juveniles as adults and sometimes received the same punishment as adults. For many years, there were debates on if children before the age of 21 were responsible for their actions seeing as they aren’t fully capable of understanding their actions. This murder of Jamie Bulger created an uproar all over the world on children at such a young age know right from wrong and also violence. Backgrounds, and family upbringing and violence in the media had played a major role in this murder case. Robert Thompson and Joe Venables were two ten year old boys from England who were convicted of the murder of two year old James Bulger on November 24 1993, which made them the youngest convicted murderers in modern English history. Their names were not released to the public until after the trial by the judge because the nature of the murder and the public’s reaction.
On February 24 1993 at New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, video evidence showed the two boys observing other children, which police believe they were finding a target that day. The day of the murder, Thompson and Venables skipped school to go to the mall which they did frequently. Throughout the day before the murder the two were seen stealing a variety of items which included candy and some batteries and a can of blue paint, and a couple of these items were found at the murder scene. That same afternoon, James Bulger went to the mall with his mother Denise. While the mother was inside a butcher’s shop, she realized that her son had gone missing. She had left him at the door while placing her order at the shop where Thompson and Venables spotted James. The two boys took James and left the mall.
Thompson and Venables
Jon Venables and Robert Thompson:
Children who kill
Letia Bland
Tiffin University
Assignment #1
Dr. Joyce Hall-Yates
The Juvenile justice system has changed over the years. Before the first establishment of this system, courts and judges treated juveniles as adults and sometimes received the same punishment as adults. For many years, there were debates on if children before the age of 21 were responsible for their actions seeing as they aren’t fully capable of understanding their actions. This murder of Jamie Bulger created an uproar all over the world on children at such a young age know right from wrong and also violence. Backgrounds, and family upbringing and violence in the media had played a major role in this murder case. Robert Thompson and Joe Venables were two ten year old boys from England who were convicted of the murder of two year old James Bulger on November 24 1993, which made them the youngest convicted murderers in modern English history. Their names were not released to the public until after the trial by the judge because the nature of the murder and the public’s reaction.
On February 24 1993 at New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, video evidence showed the two boys observing other children, which police believe they were finding a target that day. The day of the murder, Thompson and Venables skipped school to go to the mall which they did frequently. Throughout the day before the murder the two were seen stealing a variety of items which included candy and some batteries and a can of blue paint, and a couple of these items were found at the murder scene. That same afternoon, James Bulger went to the mall with his mother Denise. While the mother was inside a butcher’s shop, she realized that her son had gone missing. She had left him at the door while placing her order at the shop where Thompson and Venables spotted James. The two boys took James and left the mall.
Thompson and Venables
References: "Baby Bulger Killed by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson." Family Counseling & Coaching. Web. 03 Feb. 2011. <http://karisable.com/mbulg.htm>. "Did Bad Parenting Turn Thompson and Venables into Killers? | UK News | The Guardian." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. Web. 03 Feb. 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2000/nov/01/bulger.familyandrelationships>. "Murder of James Bulger." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 03 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger>.