Real Crime

James Bulger - A Mother's Story (7x13)

Air date: Dec 11, 2008

The killing of two-year-old James Bulger in February 1993 still provokes a sense of horror. Ten-year-olds John Venables and Robert Thompson abducted James from a shopping centre in Merseyside, took him on a three-mile walk, then murdered him on a railway line. Real Crime looks in detail at how the police investigation and trial unfolded. It also interviews James's mother, Denise, who reflects on the impact of the murder. There are chilling details: referring to James's injuries, one police officer notes that "sometimes it's best not to know exactly what happened". He also recalls that during questioning, Thompson's legs would waggle under his chair when he was lying. At first, nobody could believe such young children had done what they did deliberately, but gradually the truth emerged. It's a story that has been told and re-told, but it retains its power to disturb and fascinate