Tuesday 9 March 2010

Gunning for John Doe

Public enemy number one? Probably any twenty-something Scouser starting a jail sentence in British in the last few weeks.

Except Jon Venables by now probably speaks the Queen's English with a Home Counties' accent and may be furnishing a clutch of A-Levels for all anyone knows.

The problem with any release of accurate information about Mr Venables' recent return to prison, 17 years after his release with a new identity, is that it would render any future trial impossible. The rage since James Bulger's murder in 1993 has not diminished: any mob vengeance against Mr Venables would muddy the morality of the case and bring society down to the level of gangster anarchy.

Meanwhile, newspapers seem to be printing what they like. The moment an editor goes to jail in the instant the public will know truth from rampant speculation.



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