Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

In London, Parole Hearing Held for Prisoner Convicted of Killing Two-Year-Old

Aired June 20, 2001 - 11:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: In London, a notorious murder case from the early 1990s is back in the legal spotlight this week. A parole hearing is being held today for one of the two boys convicted of killing a two-year-old boy. The other teen's hearing got under way on Monday.

Our Sheila MacVicar joins us from London, with the latest.

Sheila -- hello.

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

The 10-year-old boys, as they were in 1993, when they were convicted, are now 18-year-old young men. They have served the length of time that they have been told they must stay in jail. The issue before the parole board now is whether or not they have been rehabilitated and are fit to be released. These hearings are taking place at a secret location, and they are being held behind closed doors.

The decision, we believe, will probably be made public at some stage in the future, after the young men themselves have been informed -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Sheila, as I understand it, this works very differently than it would here in the United States. One is the secrecy that's involved. Second is what kind of consideration is being given to the family of the boy who died?

MACVICAR: The secrecy is quite extreme. There has been an injunction issue by the courts that has banned all media here in the United Kingdom from ever at any time publishing any information about these young men and their new identities. If the parole boards decide they as individuals can be released, they will leave their secure residences, where they have been held over the course of the last eight years, under new names. They will reenter the world with completely new identities.

And it is that that has greatly angered the family of young Jamie Bulger, the two year old that they ritually tortured to death. They say that there is no reason they should have the protection of secrecy. The community should know where they are. In fact, the father, at one point, was completely outraged with the notion that they could be released and was threatening to track them down himself -- Daryn.

KAGAN: His frustration is very understandable.

How and when will we know what the decision is? And if, in fact, they are not released, since they're 18 years old now, what happens to them?

MACVICAR: Well, theoretically, if the decision is made is that either one of them cannot be released because they have not been rehabilitated, they would go from accommodation that is suitable for juveniles into a more adult environment. That was one of the things, one of the reasons that was given, for restricting their period of time in custody to eight years. They have not yet been exposed to an environment where there is a lot of, say, drug use and drug users in the environment. They wanted to avoid that.

So if they did have to remain in custody, they would go into some further, more adult environment. We believe that the process will be that they will be informed in writing of the parole board's decision, perhaps within a few days, and that at some time after that, there will be some paperwork to complete, they will have to make sure that the new identities are in place, and that everything is ready to support them on the outside, as it were -- they will leave.

We're not sure when we will find out what the parole board decides, but it could be anytime over the course of the next few days or few weeks.

KAGAN: Sheila MacVicar, in London -- Sheila, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com