Jamie Bulger, Would you buy the book??? (Young Offenders - What Should The Law Do With Them?)

Name: wishywalshy

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Product:	Young Offenders - What Should The Law Do With Them?
Date:	15/01/01 (254 review reads)
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In light of the recent revelations regarding the attempt to strangle another "inmate" by one of the Jamie Bulger child killers (Thompson), I have bitten my tongue for many days regarding this controversial topic of debate, but as I listened to the news less than 5 minutes ago I truly felt my blood begin to boil.

I have stayed out of this sometimes heated and emotional debate for the very reasons that I will outline during my opinion, but with a combination of the Tonight with Trevor Macdonald featuring Jamie’s family and the recent news release regarding the behaviour of the toddlers killers whilst incarcerated, I can bite my tongue no longer.
So here goes…

8 years ago, a small boy was shopping with his mother, we’ll call him Jamie, he was only a little boy, a toddler. In the seconds that his mother’s back was turned two older kids approached him, only 7 years older than himself, and maybe he though that they were going to be friends.
They held his hand and led him not far away, only they know what they were going to do.
They played torture games where there was no one to hear his cries.
Those very same bigger boys Venables and Thompson abducted, tortured and killed him, and wouldn’t even admit it!!!.

Is this familiar tale?

We know that it is, and we now know the truth, this was real.
Theses were real boys, killing a real child, yet they appear to have had the life of Riley.
They were “clever” enough to know that they should deny all knowledge of the crime during the Police interviews, they adamantly denied ”Taking a kid”, lied to their parents and to the Police,” We never got a kid” they said, whilst promising their parents.
So did they know it was wrong?
Of course they did!!

Bringing up the issue of what to do with young offenders has been foremost in my mind.
NO housing estate is without their Artful Dodger
s, probably well known to the local constabulary for minor offences, most with a couple of cautions under their belts, but killers, surely that has a department all of their own.

The admissions and trial are history, and I have to say, at the time, when the Judge found them guilty, I too was fooled into thinking that Life meant life.
But this callous decision to contemplate release for these animals sometime this year is another infringement on the rights of what in essence was a baby.

Jamie Bulger was denied the one thing that Venables and Thompson had and still have, the right to live and breathe, and they took that right away.

How can the government possibly fund a change of identity for these boys when they know full well what their twisted minds are capable of?

They have spent 8 years, in what is, effectively a children’s home, away from the glare of the publicity, away from the normal problems of a teenager, and have been looked after hand over foot at the taxpayer’s expense.
What punishment is that?

However, I do not believe that capital punishment is the correct approach either, but I fail to see how 8 years in a children’s home will have taught the intended lesson.
They would have served their sentence without ever setting foot in prison.
Surely a more amicable arrangement would have been to imprison for 18 years, in effect a childhood, not that I am implying that is “all” Jamie’s life was worth, but they would be in with the big boys for 10 years or so, that ‘ll sort em out a bit.

There is no denying that they are despicable human beings, but we have no right to take an eye for an eye, neither do we have the right to incarcerate for ever, but had an adult committed this hideous crime the sentence would have to have been at least life.
Are we giving signals to our own children that to take a life will slightly disrupt your families’ lif
e until you are an adult, and then the powers that be will ensure that your sordid history is never revealed?

If Venables and Thompson are released into this present climate it could possibly all end in tears again.
Only today reports were being shown about Thompson attempting to strangle a 15 year old with a dressing gown cord whilst under supervision because he had taunted him regarding the killing

Are they the actions of a reformed character?
How can somebody as volatile and unpredictable be released back into society?
Are they really safe to be living alongside other small children?
If this secondary offence had been committed in an ordinary prison, by and ordinary member ofd the criminal system, his remission would not only have been revoked, a further custodial sentence would be the norm
.
I cannot imagine the turmoil of Jamie’s parents, whose marriage split shortly after his death.
How would I feel if my Childs killers were released back into society so quickly after being sentenced to life?
Pretty bitter I would think.
Can anyone blame any of Jamie’s family for their feelings of hatred towards these boys, only they are not boys anymore, they are men, and they should be punished as so.(IMHO).

None of this is going to help little Jamie Bulger whose battered body was the starting point of this discussion.

But, if sensibleness prevails, the killers would remain in prison, not just for others safety, but their owm.

No matter where the go, what they do, how they try to disguise their identity, and what they say, someone will remember Jamie.

So surely you cannot punish a person twice for the same crime?
Punish, punish, these boys have had an 8 year holiday; they have no idea of what Prison means, nor what punishment is all about.

In an ideal world, this monstrous crime would not have happened, but unfortunately it did.

My ideas for young offen
ders are as follows.
You cannot punish the parents, I have no disregard for either of the killers family, but utter disgust for their sons.
In effect the killers have-not been punished, but their families have, and will continue to be.
For “minor” offences I would be inclined to commit the offenders to work within the community, in an attempt to repay society. Not that I would expect much initial success, it is a long way from cautions and fines, but who pays the fines, The parent.

The Americans seem to have a good system forcing offenders into boot camps, which again society pays for, but justice is “seen” to be being done.

As for more serious offences, I personally believe that a criminals history be tattooed onto their body with signs on their faces relating to the crime that they have committed, at least people would “know” who this person is, and what their history is hiding. Children could be educated to recognize these signs.
I know it is a bit drastic, but if it would save the life of one child then it has to be worth it ……doesn’t it?

Will the Government carry on moving their families around when their true identities are revealed?…….
Because one day, it will
Personally, I hope that they will spend their whole lives looking over their shoulders.

In today’s society when more and more people are refusing to take early release(Parole) from prison because they are innocent of the crimes that they were convicted of, it seems ludicrous, that people like this will be released back into society, when they are so obviously guilty, and have actually admitted to the offence, without being under duress.

I actually expect these sordid characters to write a book or a documentary on their hideous crime.
Personally I would like to see a law brought into place to prevent criminals from profiting from their crimes, either during th
eir period of incarceration or after their release.

UPDATE
Okay, okay so that was a bit harsh really and allowing my emotions to run away with me is not going to provide a fair argument for this debate.

Scotsgirl, thanks for reminding me that rehabilitation does play a large part in the youth offenders system, and can be a suitable option for many.
In this type of system offenders are re-educated, and taught social and life skills in the hope that it will give them an alternative focus to a life of crime, away from the criminal elements that have led them there.
It can, and does work, but only after a trail of cautions and fines and habit forming criminal behaviour happen in order to need rehabilitating.
As you also reminded me, incarceration is not always for criminal reasons.

There are other options other than criminal incarceration, hopefully deterrents may be more effective in the future for that span of society.

Imprisonment can not to be seen as revenge or retribution, but in this case, for their own safety the Bulger killers need to remain in custody of some description, as I am not sure living amongst society in the present climate would be safe.

I can honestly say that I do not feel sorry for them, but I do pity them.
In the eyes of the law they were children, and I accept that fully, but the consequences were so so tragic that as a parent, personal feelings overrun all thoughts of rationality.

They were kids.

They destroyed their own, their families and the lives of the Bulgers family.

But I still think 18 years imprisonment is a viable option for the safety of the offender and the public, whether adult or “Child” offender.

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