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American Morning

Britain: Two Teens Convicted of Murder of 2-Year-Old Released on Parole

Aired June 22, 2001 - 09:15   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: Getting back now to our breaking news story out of England, the two schoolboy killers of James Bulger have been ordered free.

Let's get more now from our Sheila MacVicar who is standing by in London -- Sheila.

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, the National Parole Board has reached a decision that these two boys, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who are now 18 years old, have served eight years in -- have been incarcerated for eight years, can now be released. They're going to be released on parole -- what's called a license for life. That means that they will be on probation for life and will be obliged to report to a probation officer.

Now, this case was a terribly, terribly shocking case. You had the horrific murder of a 2-year-old child and then, of course, it was learned that the two -- that the two who had carried out that murder were themselves children.

The image of the two young boys, of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, at the age of 10 is the last image we have of them. And under very unusual circumstances here, the boys are being given new identities. When they walk out of the secure accommodation where they have been held, they will walk out with new names, new passports, completely new identities. The hope here is that it will protect them -- protect them from people in the community who have said that they don't believe that they have been punished sufficiently. It will protect them from journalists. And the hope is that it may help them to live some kind of some normal life -- Daryn.

KAGAN: A couple of questions for you here, Sheila. So much protection has been given for the two boys who were convicted of murder, what about the family that lost their son?

MACVICAR: The family is very angry. They did not believe that eight years was sufficient time in prison. In part, this decision to conclude that they had served sufficient time has arisen because, at the age of 18, they would have had to go into the adult prison population and there was a view that that would not perhaps be the best thing for them.

But the family is very deeply angered. They would want them to spend more time in prison. They do not think that justice has been done. The father of young Jamie Bulger, the 2-year-old who was so brutally murdered, has said that he would like to track these two down. It is a very, very difficult time for them and clearly something that they did not want to see happen.

KAGAN: And the question for the parole board here was not necessarily whether enough punishment had been served but whether or not these two boys continue to be a danger to the public?

MACVICAR: The courts had already said that the minimum sentence they must serve was eight years and that at the conclusion of that eight years they were eligible, as they did do, to apply for parole. It was up to the parole board. And in this instance, it would have been a very senior police officer, a very senior parole officer and perhaps someone like a judge sitting in each of these cases who make the decision. And the only thing that they could consider was whether or not they thought these boys -- or the most important thing they would consider is whether or not they thought these boys represented a risk to the pubic.

They were all -- there were other issues. Did they show genuine remorse? Had they made progress? Would they continue to cooperate in their rehabilitation and, of course, the view of the family of Jamie Bulger. But the most important thing -- the most important test they had to meet was were they a risk to the public? In this case, the parole board has apparently concluded they do not represent a risk to the public and they can be released.

KAGAN: Sheila MacVicar in London. Sheila, thank you for the latest on that story.

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