Sad Story..please read

[BeautifulDisaster]

Hey..please sign ur name at the bottom..please read. Thank You.

 

 

Do you remember when a 3 yr. old was taken from a shopping mall in Liverpool

 

by two 10-year-old boys. Jamie Bulger walked away from his mother for only a

 

second and Jon Venables took his hand and led him out of the mall with his

 

friend Robert Thompson. They took Jamie on a walk for over 2 and a half miles,

 

along the way stopping every now and again to torture the poor little boy who ,

 

was crying constantly for his mommy. Finally they stopped at a railway track

 

where they brutally kicked him, threw stones at him, rubbed paint in his eyes

 

and pushed batteries up his anus. It was actually worse than this...What these

 

two boys did was so horrendous that Jamie's mother was forbidden to identify

 

his body. They then left his beaten small body on the tracks so a train could run

 

him over to hide the mess they had created. These two boys, even being boys,

 

understood what they did was wrong, hence trying to make It look like an

 

accident. This week Lady Justice Butler-Sloss has awarded the two boys

 

anonymity for the rest of their lives when they leave custody with new

 

identities. We cannot let this happen. They will also leave early this year only

 

serving just over half of their sentence. One paper even stated that Robert may

 

go on to University. They are getting away with their crime They disgustingly

 

and violently took Jamie's life away - in return they get a new life. Please read it

 

carefully... then add your name at the end and send it to everyone you can!

 

Please add your name and location to the list and send it to friends and family.

 

Please copy this e-mail (highlight text, right click, copy and paste into a new

 

email) instead of forwarding so we! do not get arrows at the beginning of the

 

sentences. If you are the 220th person to sign, please forward this e-mail to

 

[email protected] and attention it to: Lady Justice Butler-Sloss. Then

 

start the list over again and send to your friends and family. The Love-Bug virus

 

took less than 72 hours to reach the world. I hope this one does as well. We

 

need to protect our family and friends from creatures like Robert and Jon. One

 

day they may be living next to you and your small children, without your

 

knowledge. If Robert and Jon could be so evil at 10 years old, imagine what

 

they could do as adults!

 

[Edit by Admin: Removed list of names; please read reply for more information]

Edited December 21, 2004 by Wolfie

[Wolfie]

Please do NOT continue this chain letter. While it has been verified as being more or less true, some of the details are inaccurate AND the purpose of the petition is basically outdated as the boys are already free. My next reply or two will contain links and copied information from a couple of websites with further information.

[Wolfie]

Copied from: http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/bulger.html

 

Do you recall this incident - it had national news coverage:

 

On February 12, 1993 a small boy who was to turn three in March was taken from a shopping mall in Liverpool by two 10 year old boys. Jamie Bulger walked away from his mother for only a second and Jon Venables took his hand and led him out of the mall with his friend Robert Thompson. They took Jamie on a walk for over 2 and a half miles, along the way stopping every now and again to torture the poor little boy who was crying constantly for his mommy. Finally they stopped at a railway track where they brutally kicked him, threw stones at him, rubbed paint in his eyes and pushed batteries up his anus.

 

It was actually worse than this. What these two boys did was so horrendous that Jamie's mother was forbidden to identify his body. They then left his beaten small body on the tracks so a train could run him over to hide the mess they had created. These two boys, even being boys understood what they did was wrong, hence trying to make it look like an accident. This week Lady Justice Butler-Sloss has awarded the two boys anonymity for the rest of their lives when they leave custody with new identities. We cannot let this happen. They will also leave early this year only serving just over half of their sentence. One paper even stated that Robert may go on to University. They are getting away with their crime. They need to pay, and we have to do something to make them pay for their horrific crime. They took Jamie's life violently away, and in return they get a new life.

 

Please add your name and location to the list and forward to friends and family. Please copy this e-mail instead of forwarding so we do not get ">" at the beginning of sentences. If you are the 200th person to sign please forward this e-mail to: [email protected] (Attention it to Lady Justice Butler-Sloss) Then start the list over again and send to your friends and family.

 

The Love-Bug virus took less that 72 hours to reach the world. I hope this one does too. We need to protect our family and friends from creatures like Robert and Jon. One day they may be living next to you and your small children without your knowledge. If Robert and Jon could be so evil at 10, imagine what they could do as adults?

 

(Signatures Removed)

Sadly, the events described in the e-petition above are basically true. Ten-year-olds Jon Venables and Robert Thompson did, indeed, kidnap James Bulger and are responsible for his brutal torture and death (just weeks shy of James' third birthday). The murder sent a wave of shock and disgust throughout the UK. Despite authorities' attempts to keep publicity on the case to a minimum, the media fed an already hyperactive public rumor mill. While the basic story told above is true, it is peppered with rumors and exaggerations not supported by official accounts.

 

On February 12, 1993, Venables and Thompson skipped school and went to the Bootle Strand Shopping Centre in Merseyside, U.K. That morning, they attempted to kidnap a two-year-old boy while his mother shopped, only to fail when the mother missed the child and called him back. Undeterred, Venables and and Thompson tried again that afternoon, this time successfully leading James Bulger away from his mother and the shopping centre. They embarked on a two-and-a-half mile trek during which they dropped, kicked and beat the toddler. No fewer than 38 witnesses saw the boys and noticed James' injuries. While some approached the boys to see what was going on, none interceded on James' behalf, being placated by the older boys' assertions that the younger was their brother and they were seeing to his well-being. This lack of action by more than three dozen people would later spark its own media-fueled outrage.

 

When the three arrived at isolated railway tracks near Walton, Merseyside, Thompson and Venables threw blue modeling paint in Bulger's face and beat him with bricks, stones and a 22 lb iron bar. He was sexually assaulted, but not anally penetrated (official reports claim that batteries were inserted in the boy's mouth, not anus, as the chain letter claims). Venables and Thompson then laid the boy's body across the tracks and weighed his head down with stones in hopes that a train strike would hide the evidence of their actions. James' body was found two days later, having been run over by a train, though pathologists report that the boy was dead long before.

 

Public outrage at the murder was instant and severe, fed by tabloid media that pushed - and often broke - the law to report details on the case. After the boys' names and mugshots were made public, their families had to be moved to different parts of the country and have their identities changed to protect them from death threats.

 

During the trial, the boys offered no defense and were subsequently found guilty and sentenced to a young offenders institution. Their sentence was at "Her Majesty's Pleasure" - a British legal term for an indefinite sentence often used as a substitute to life sentencing for minors. The sentence is reviewed by the Government from time-to-time, and the trial judge set the minimum sentence at eight years. It was later increased to ten years on appeal. Then, Home Secretary Michael Howard increased the sentence to 15 years. However, Howard's move was harshly criticized as being politically motivated and was overturned in 1997. In 2000, citing good behavior during their detention, Thompson's and Venables' sentences were reduced by two years, effectively restoring the original eight-year term.

 

Two possible motivators of the boys' actions were heatedly discussed, both in the courtroom as well as in public discourse and the media: video violence and domestic violence. Venables and Thompson had access to a collection of violent films, though no testimony that the boys had been watching them was presented at their trial. The media, however, printed a list of such films (including Child's Play 3, in which a possessed doll kills children), which they alleged may have motivated the boys and which were subsequently banned and voluntarily removed by several video rental chains.

 

Both of the killers came from difficult family backgrounds and grew up in a community hard-hit by a floundering economy and sky-high unemployment. Thompson was one of seven children being raised by an alcoholic single mother. The children were brutal to each other, with a history of violence, assault and attempted suicide. Venables' background was less tragic. The boy lived in shared custody of his mother and father, who lived near each other. His two siblings had significant learning disabilities and his mother was severely depressed and suicidal. Jon was hyperactive and was prone to violence.

 

In June, 2001, after a six-month review of their case, the parole board determined the boys were no longer a public threat and made them eligible for release since their minimum sentence of eight years had expired (the chain letter above appears to be referencing the artificially inflated 15-year term imposed by Howard when it claims that only half of the boys' sentence was served). The boys were released that summer on a life license, which means that, at any point in their lives, if they are determined to be a danger to public safety, they will be returned to incarceration. They were given new identities and relocated to different parts of the country. It was feared at the time that the boys' new identities and locations would soon be become public. However, as of this writing in 2004, no such information has been published and no retaliation has been reported.

 

The e-petition above, though noble in the attempt, has long outlived its usefulness. It calls for the prevention of Venables' and Thompson's release, which is now in the past and irrevokable. Yet, the chain letter's sensational retelling of the tragic case and lack of crucial details have caused it to thrive, despite the facts. Many folks have contacted me to tell me that they don't care that the petition is outdated - they were going to forward it, anyway, in hopes that knowledge of the case may prevent a future tragedy. However, BreakTheChain.org recommends against participating in or propagating any e-mail petition because they are relatively ineffective and rife with problems, as illustrated by the Seven Tests of Armchair Activism:

 

1. Expiration - FAILED - Venables and Thompson were granted lifelong anonymity by the High Court of England in January, 2001 and released in the summer of that year. Yet, since this petition lacks this information, it continues to circulate.

 

2. Focus - FAILED - The petition lack a clear statement of intent. Instead of outlining the exact actions the person in authority is desired to take, it devotes almost all of its text to convincing people to sign it - a common shortcoming of amateurish e-petitions.

 

3. Integrity - FAILED - It asks you to send completed petitions directly to the party whose actions you are trying to influence. This is also a common shortcoming among e-mail petitions - and one that typically renders them incredibly ineffective. Compiling the throngs of "signatures" that these things can generate (and weeding out the thousands of duplicate, invalid and fake entries) is a Herculean task. Expecting the Lady Justice and her staff to do so is foolhardy, at best. Now three years after the killers' release, it's unlikely that Butler-Sloss is paying much attention to these e-mails.

 

4. Privacy - FAILED - No e-mail is private. Once you sign and forward an e-mail petition, you have no control over where it goes and what others do with it and the information it contains (including your name and e-mail address). The originators of the petition offer no alternative way to sign.

 

5. Reliability - FAILED - There is no coordinated effort behind this petition and, as stated above, it relies too heavily on the the target party to compile "signatures" and determine its effectiveness.

 

6. Sponsorship - FAILED - The author does not identify himself or herself, nor has anyone taken responsibility for it. Several campaigns have advocated against the killers' release, but none have claimed ownership of this chain letter and all have offered more effective alternatives (e.g., letter writing campaigns, demonstrations, etc.).

 

7. Validity - UNDETERMINED - Despite exaggerations and incomplete information, the basic claims are true. Unfortunately, the author did not see fit to provide any references nor explain his or her credentials as an expert on the case, so we are to assume that the information is based on his or her recollection of media reports - a shaky premise at best.

 

As Venables' and Thompson's parole neared, James' mother established a Web site (www.jamiebulger.org) to support her "Justice for James" campaign. Though it, too, is now out-of-date, it asked you to take more effective action than just adding your name to an e-mail and sending it on. Break this Chain.

[Wolfie]

Copied from: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blbulger.htm

 

Subject: FW: Please read and respond. If you have a small child, you will get angry at our legal system.

 

On February 12, 1993, a small boy who was to turn three in March was taken from a shopping mall in Liverpool by two 10 year old boys.

 

Jamie Bulger walked away from his mother for only a second and Jon Venables took his hand and led him out of the mall with his friend Robert Thompson. They took Jamie on a walk for over 2 and a half miles, along the way stopping every now and again to torture the poor little boy who was crying constantly for his mummy. Finally they stopped at a railway track where they brutally kicked him and threw stones at him and rubbed paint in his eyes and pushed batteries up his anus. They then left his beaten small body on the tracks so a train could run him over to hide the mess they had created. These two boys, even being boys understood what they did was wrong, hence trying to make it look like an accident. This week Lady Justice Butler-Sloss has awarded the two boys anonymity for the rest of their lives when they leave custody with new identities. We cannot let this happen. They will also leave early this year only serving just over half of their sentence. One paper even stated that Robert may go on to University. They are getting away with their crime. They need to pay, and we have to do something to make them pay for their horrific crime. They took Jamie's life violently away, and in return they get a new life.

 

Please add your name and location to the list and forward to friends and family. Please copy this email instead of forwarding so we do not get > at the beginning of sentences.

 

If you are the 200th person to sign please forward this email to [email protected]

Comments: Regardless of how much outrage it may inspire in you, don't bother forwarding this outdated message. Child murderers Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were released from prison in June 2001, hammering the last nail in the coffin of this already useless email petition.

 

The above description of the horrid crime perpetrated by these youths is mostly accurate (see Bill Bickel's article, "The Child Killers of James Bulger," for further details and follow-up links). As noted, the killers were given new identities upon their release and are now living anonymously in different parts of England.

 

(Note: The link for "The Child Killers of James Bulger" is no longer valid)

[Wolfie]

Other links on the internet continue to verify the story with more facts and all verify that the two guilty boys have already been released.

 

A search on Google.Com with the terms "Jamie Bulger" "Robert Thompson" yield several reliable links on the first page of results.

 

If anyone should send you an email on the same matter, reply to the sender and inform them that while the overall circumstances are true, some of the details are inaccurate and the boys have already been released, making the e-petition pointless.

[Pretender]

I'll get back to you when I've finished reading..

 

*Sigh*

[HiLLiE]

wow.. o_O mmk..um..yeah..

-Becky-

[Shortie]

u got to admit that is sad

[BeautifulDisaster]

hahaha WOW..i dont even remember putting that on the forums....But yeah it is sad.

[Shortie]

..ya

 

Wolfie u write too much for a lot of posts