The Sleep of Reason: The James Bulger Case

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Sharratt, Tom (2 November 1993). "James Bulger murder". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013.

Duffy, Tom (12 October 2016). "Web troll who targeted James Bulger's mum has sentence reduced on appeal". Liverpool Echo. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016 . Retrieved 26 October 2016. James Bulger murder". guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022 . Retrieved 25 April 2005. Bulger killers 'face dangers' ". 24 June 2001. Archived from the original on 9 April 2004 . Retrieved 15 April 2023. Reading this book broke my heart. I had to put the book down on a few occasions to gather myself. I was very young when this happened but I remember his name and my mum being even more protective as a result. Thompson and Venables took James to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, where he was dropped on his head and suffered facial injuries. Thirty-eight people saw the three boys together, but most did nothing to intervene, or left after Thompson and Venables claimed they were all brothers. CCTV footage showed James being abducted from the shopping centre by the two boys (Photo: Getty)James Bulger killer Jon Venables to be freed". BBC News. 4 July 2013. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013 . Retrieved 4 July 2013. James Bulger killer Jon Venables denied parole over child abuse images". BBC News. 29 September 2020. Archived from the original on 4 October 2020 . Retrieved 30 September 2020. a b c d Scott, Shirley (29 August 2009). "Death of James Bulger: Pt 4, Ten-Year-Old Suspects". truTV.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2008 . Retrieved 4 March 2010. As we know, the jury did ultimately find both Thompson and Venables guilty, yet neither has ever spent a single day in jail for this crime. Rather, they've enjoyed years of state-funded education and training, free housing and care, shopping trips, and new identities (3 or 4 times now for their protection) at considerable taxpayer expense. They and their families also received significant governmental help and support while Ralph Bulger, Denise Fergus, and James’s other surviving family members have received next to none (see "My James" by Ralph Bulger). The entire situation is one of the most outrageous and grossest miscarriages of justice I’ve ever seen—particularly when Venables has been a repeat offender found in possession of drugs and 1160 files of child abuse images and videos, including 400 categorized as “depraved.”

It came down to the simple fact that I have heard about James Bulger all my life as a fear mongering tactic to stay close when out with my own parents. I didn't know enough about the crime even though I've grown up listening to this tragedy, besides the heartbreak of the crime reading this book allowed me to know the real facts, not the rumours I had been led to believe were true about certain parts of this case.Two admit posting 'Bulger killer photos' ". BBC. 31 January 2019. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019 . Retrieved 31 January 2019. The case against them was based largely on 20 hours of video interviews conducted by police – the boys did not speak during the trial. Don't bother applying' – PM's message to Jon Venables, killer of two-year-old James Bulger". 1 News. 24 June 2019. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019 . Retrieved 24 June 2019. This book is a cry of pain from a father who has stared into the gruesome face of pure evil and,even worse, has been betrayed by the judicial system that should have eradicated that evil without compunction. As Ralph says, "It was always about Thompson and Venables - their treatment, their recovery, their progress, their education and their human rights. I think that, morally speaking, they gave up their human rights the day they battered and murdered my son."

Towards the end of this book the author tries to fathom intent. Surely this is the heart of the matter. When they lured James away what was their intention? Smith says : Jamieson, Alastair (7 March 2010). "James Bulger killer Jon Venables 'accused of child porn offences' ". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 March 2010 . Retrieved 7 March 2010. a b Scott, Shirley (29 August 2009). "Death of James Bulger: Pt 1, The Video Tape". truTV.com. Archived from the original on 21 January 2009 . Retrieved 29 August 2009. Smith's book starts out ok, but derails in that it gets bogged down in the details and there's a lot of repetition. I found myself skimming parts. The portraits of the police and inspectors that he draws up are in-congruent with the rest of the story and frankly dull. I would have rather heard more about the boys and James Bulger and his family.Bunyan, Nigel (25 October 2016). "Man jailed for stalking mother of murdered toddler James Bulger". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016 . Retrieved 26 October 2016. Recollections from key people involved in the Bulger trial, ten years on. The Guardian, 6 February 2003.

a b "New sentencing rules: Key cases". BBC. 7 May 2003. Archived from the original on 30 July 2004 . Retrieved 11 March 2010.Largely this book is a recollection of events from the day that two year old James Bulger was abducted and killed by two ten year olds, Jon Venables and Bobby Thompson, starting with the two older boys 'sagging' school and ending with them returning home in the evening, their crime undetected. Details of the discovery of James, the investigation and the trial follow. These details will be familiar to anyone who has seen media coverage of the case. I can only do this review as a segmented piece, because to be honest, my inclination is to go on a massive rant on my feelings about the legal system, the two killers and just a long emotional wail on "how could anyone..."