Jon Venables loses latest parole bid to leave prison

Jon Venables, one of the killers of two-year-old James Bulger, will remain behind bars after losing his latest bid for release from prison. The Daily Mail, Sky News, the BBC, The Independent, LBC, and Metro.co.uk all reported on 9 November 2026 that the Parole Board decided Venables should stay in prison. The Daily Mail and LBC both report that the panel was not satisfied that Venables was suitable for release. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Sky News reported that the Parole Board found Venables remains a risk to children. The Daily Mail and Metro.co.uk both reported that Venables told parole staff he was not seeking release during the private review. According to the Daily Mail, a published summary of the findings showed Venables submitted an opening statement accepting the need to complete further work on his offending behavior. [1][2][6]

In February 1993, 10-year-old boys Jon Venables and Robert Thompson abducted, tortured, and murdered two-year-old James Bulger in Merseyside, England. The two boys led Bulger away from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle before his body was discovered on a railway line in Walton, Liverpool. As FTMQ News reported earlier, Bulger's family had previously threatened legal action after being barred from attending the private parole hearing. [7][9]