intheworldmetwith
widespreadcondemnationlast
weekasAussiestooktosocial
mediatoexpresstheiroutrage.
WhenVenablesandThompson
committedtheirevilact,the
worldspenttwolongdays
hopingandprayingthatJames,
whowouldhavecelebrated his
thirdbirthdayjusta monthlater,
wouldbefoundaliveandwell.
A picturetakenfromCCTV
footageshowingthetoddler
beingtakenbythehandbythe
boysandledoutofthebusy
shoppingcentreinBootle,
Merseyside,becamea definingimage in a case that gripped
the world.HORRIFIC ACT
It later emerged that the two
schoolboys snatched James
while his mum was in a butcher’s
shop. They led the distressed
toddler four kilometres away- with at least 38 people later
reporting seeing them. Some
witnesses said they saw James
crying and upset, but did not
act because they assumed the
two boys with him were relatives.
The pair took James to a
railway line where they poured
paint into his eyes, stoned him,
clubbed him with bricks and
dropped a heavy iron bar on
him, before laying him across
the railway line where his body
was hit by a train – to make it
look like an accident. James
suffered 42 injuries.
“I’ve dealt with many
murders but I’ve never seen the
extent of the injuries that were
inflicted on someone incapable
of defending himself,” said
former head of the Merseyside
Police Serious Crime Squad
Albert Kirby. “You couldn’t think
the person responsible for this
was a child.”thehighchancehecouldbe
harmedorkilled.
Thereweresuchstrong
rumoursthatThompsonhad
beenrelocatedtoPerthwith
hisgaypartnerin 2006 that
Australiangovernmentofficials
wereforcedtospecificallydeny
it toeasepublicconcerns.
Nowit’sbeingmootedthat
hisevilaccomplicecouldbe
relocatedtoanothercountry- againtoprotectVenables’
anonymity.NewZealandPrime
MinisterJacindaArdernsaid
lastweekhewasn’twelcome
there,butAustralianofficials
haverefusedtocommenton
thesecretplan.
ThesuggestionthatAustralia
couldbecomehometooneof
themostnotoriouschildkillers
Thetwo-year-old
wasbrutally
beatentodeath.’S MOST
KILLER
TRALIA?
Words: Phillip Koch.