James Bulger: tabloids bring up the body to attack Robert Thompson and stir Blair’s mob
The 1993 killing of James Bulger continues to occupy minds in the tabloids. Bulger, 2, was killed by children, ten-year-olds Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. The latter has been in the news for years (see Anorak passim). But we’ve heard very little of Thompson. And we still haven’t. The news on the Star’s 11 page is is old. We read that when aged 18, Thompson told the parole board he was “desperately sorry” for his crime. Said Thompson;
“I do feel aware that I am a better person and I have had a better life and better education than if I had not committed the murder. There is obviously an irony in this. But it is part of my remorseful feeling as well. I personally wish Mr and Mrs Bulger and their families to know that I am desperately sorry for what I did and aware of the enormity of it…
“I am deeply ashamed of having played a part in this horrible murder.”
So how does the Star report this news, triggered by yet another TV show on the crime? Is it by saluting the system that appears to work. Thompson has committed no crime since that heinous act. This is what the Government says are the aims of the law and justice system:
The legal system must uphold fairness in society: both in business and for individuals. We want to ensure justice for victims of crime and better rehabilitation for criminals, with a reduction in the rate of reoffending. The justice system must punish the guilty, protect our liberties and rehabilitate offenders.
Rehabilitation works, then. Or as the Star puts it: “KILLING JAMES ‘MADE ME A BETTER MAN’.” And in the Sun: “MURDERING BULGER GAVE ME BETTER LIFE – KILLER’S ASTONISHING BOAST.” Wrong. Badly wrong. And cruel on James Bulger and his parents.
Daily Star
The Sun
Tony Blair milked the crime. His role was pivotal in turning a horrendous and blessedly rare crime into a warning to us all. He turned a dead child into a symbol of what we had all become. The judge at the boys’ trial called the crime an act of “unparalleled evil”. The crime became a moral cudgel.
As the tabloids continue to fans the flames, let’s hark back to Blair’s hideous opportunism. Blair was shadow home secretary when he took political advantage of the killing. He hijacked a murder for his own ends. He said:
“The news bulletins have been like hammer blows struck against the sleeping conscience of the country, urging us to wake up and look unflinchingly at what we see. We hear of crimes so horrific they provoke anger and disbelief in equal proportions. The headlines shock, but what shocks us more is our knowledge that in almost any city, town or village more minor versions of the same events are becoming an almost everyday part of our lives. These are ugly manifestations of a society that is becoming unworthy of that name…
“We cannot exist in a moral vacuum. If we do not learn and then teach the value of what is right and what is wrong, then the result is simply moral chaos which engulfs us all.”
One crime said nothing more than the fact: children murder child. Now hear again the words of Robert Thompson:
“One Christmas we had chocolate decorations on the tree and one night they went… After a while he [his father] told me to get undressed at the bottom of the stairs. And as I stood there naked he walked up to me with a pair of scissors.”
His father threatened to mutilate him.
He was a persistent truant. He was one of seven children living with a violent father and the who’d lost control. And Blair whipped up the crowd. He stole James Bulger’s corpse and repurposed it. It worked. Thompson:
“On my first appearance in magistrates court, a man ran in front of the van I was in to stop it. I was frightened the mob would get me. I wanted to say what had happened but was too frightened to accept the blame.”
…
“The courtroom was totally packed with reporters. I didn’t feel it was possible to make an admission of my involvement.”
The killers were treated well? Fairly? Justice was served. Conniving political ambition drove the mob. Media fanned the flames. The Bulgers should be allied to move on. They should not have their pain used to sell a story. That’s cruel. Horribly cruel.
Posted: 14th, November 2018 | In: Key Posts, News Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
