Venables report clears agencies over monitoring

Sir David Omand's report into the Government's supervision of the killer of toddler James Bulger found its focus had been on "controlling his behaviour and keeping his identity secret, rather than the effect on his emotional state" – increasing the chances of him re-offending.

But Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke said the review also showed that the overall supervision of Venables was conducted appropriately following his release, and that he alone was responsible for the child porn offences for which he was convicted earlier this year.

Mr Clarke said: "Sir David has concluded Jon Venables was properly supervised at an appropriate level with suitable frequency of contact, having regard to particular circumstances in this case.

"Sir David also concluded that Venables alone is responsible for his further offence and it could not have been prevented or predicted by any reasonable supervision.

"The review identifies a number of potential opportunities that might have opened up had circumstances been different and that might have made the further offences less likely.... He has identified learning points for the future management of this and any similar cases."

Venables and his friend Robert Thompson were just 10 years old when they killed James on railway tracks in Bootle, Merseyside in 1993, becoming national figures of hate. They were jailed for life and given new identities when released on licence in 2001.

Extensive measures were taken to protect the pair from vigilantes and help them lead a normal life but after several years Venables descended into a spiral of drug and alcohol abuse.

In February, Venables, now 27, was arrested and recalled over child pornography allegations.

Evidence later emerged that he had an "extensive history of searching for and downloading indecent images of children using the internet". He was jailed for two years for the offence.

In his report, Sir David said information had been available showing Venables was "in a low-paid job with no prospects, living a stressful assumed life under a new identity with no ambitions and little or no prospect of satisfactory intimate relationships".

Sir David said: "If he had been prepared to co-operate, then more could have been done at an earlier stage to try to get him into a job with better prospects and rekindle his original optimism about a career.

"The Home Office could, for example, have approached national employers (such as British Telecom or BAE Systems) at a senior level to see if a local position as an apprentice technician could have been found."

But the review also found that only round-the-clock surveillance could have stopped Venables from returning to Liverpool against the terms of his licence and re-offending persistently.

Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of probation union Napo, said: "The only way his drinking, his trips to Liverpool and his accumulation of child pornography could have been prevented would have been through 24-hour surveillance, which would have been expensive and implausible.

"There are a number of criticisms that are made with the benefit of hindsight – for example, he could have received more therapy, and more could have been done to enhance his employment prospects.

"But the same criticism could be made of all people on probation's books – and there's no guarantee that additional therapy would have been helpful."