The James Bulger Case Criminology Essay

The James Bulger Case Criminology EssayBoth Attard and off.co.uk introduce the case by saying that on the 12th of February, Denise Bulger took her son, Jamie, to her local shopping centre in Bootle,Liverpool at around 3.30 p.m. nightspot minutes later she realised that her son was non next to her eachmore and started to look for him. She went to security , jurisprudence were called on the spot and to signher they watched CCTV cameras of the shopping centre to try and determine what happened to the boy. Jamie was seen expiration the premises aboard two other boys and the law approximation puny of it as no single could concur invariably made out the horrific flushts that followed so they set out to search for him and the two boys. A bridge of days later , slightly children were playing next to a train railway and saw what they thought was a doll or something similar. When they got close to the presumed doll , they saw the most haunting im season one could imagine a t scratchylers bole cut in half.Police were again called on the spot and initial indications showed that the body belonged to Jamie Bulger.After this horrendous find , police deepened its investigation even using the media as a mean to get to the bottom of all of it with the children seen accomp any(prenominal)ing him in the tape being the prime suspects. A tip came in on who the boys might be, and two boys both aged 10 Jon Venables and Robert Thompson (their identity was only revealed after the sentencing) were brought in for questioning. Both boys were sent to court and tried with the murder of Jamie Bulger. The trial began in November of 1993, and the horrific events of this macabre murder were revealed to shock not unspoiled the nation but the whole world. After leaving the premises unneurotic with Jamie Bulger , Jon Venables and Robert Thompson took him on a 2.5 mile trip beating him along the way until they reached the railway. Once there, Jamie was further beaten, throw sto nes and paint at, and had his trousers and shoes removed implying perhaps a sexual assault (never proven.)In accession to this, Jamie was hit with an straighten out rod for around 30 times , leading to his death. Afterwards, the boys put Jamie on the railway amply knowledgeable that a train would come soon to try and shroud their terrible actions by perhaps implying that Jamie would reserve walked there on his own, fell , and hit by a train. This shows the full wittiness of the boys and that they knew exactly what they were up to. Both Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were imbed guilty and sent to at least 8 years imprisonment in a detention centre.B)Background Of CaseThe forensic evidence presented in James Bulgers case proved to be very strong and lead to the boys being make guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. rhetorical scientists such as Graham Jackson , Andy Mulley and Philip Rydeard managed to conclude that blood form on the suspects matched that of the victims but not just this , Rydeard to a fault managed to prove that the shoe characteristics of one of the boys was found on the victim. A number of paint-marks were found both on the victims and the suspects clothes. These marks , light-blue in colour , established that this paint was used during or before the murder. This athletic supportered to further strengthen the evidence brought forward against Jon Venables and Robert Thompson. http//www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/james-bulger/trial.htmlThe number of blows that James suffered from the boys were so numerous that no forensic scientist was able to determine which blow was the fatal one. http//www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/bulger/6.htmlVideotape recordings of the boys interrogations were shown in court as evidence by the prosecution. A pathologist , Alan Williams, utilised in the case reason out that James Bulgers foreskin had been manipulated with. Thus , this might imply that there was a sexual elemen t in the murder , a notion that was never proven as the evidence was inconclusive. http//www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/reexamining-the-evidence-a-year-ago-this-week-james-bulger-was-murdered-by-two-11yearold-boys-the-crime-shook-the-nation-the-boys-were-tried-convicted-and-locked-away-but-what-do-we-know-about-them-do-we-know- wherefore-they-did-it-after-months-of-research-including-interviews-with-parents-of-both-boys-we-publish-in-two-parts-the-story-that-has-not-been-told-1392400.html This evidence was perhaps the weakest presented in court against the young defendants.In addition to this , the shopping centres CCTV tapes , the numerous weapons such as 27 bricks , stones and the 22lb iron rod were all presented in court to further remove all possibilities of the boys innocence. http//www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/james-bulger-suffered-multiple-fractures-pathologist-reveals-twoyearold-had-42-injuries-including-fractured-skull-jonathan-foster-reports-1503297.html38 witne sses also took the stand all saying that they saw Bulger accompanying Venables and Thompson on Bulgers fatal journey to the railway.A woman testified that she even stopped them and was going to take Bulger to the police station herself but withdrew from doing so and trusted the boys with the quest , humble knowing what they were up to.http//www.murderuk.com/child_killers_thompson_venables.htmlThe evidence presented in the case is both strong and unique , the blood found on the victim was matched with that of the suspect, the paint was also equal on both the victim and the suspects , whilst the shoeprint of one of the suspects was found on the victims body.In addition to this , CCTV cameras played a key role in this case as they showed the boys leaving the shopping premises whilst other CCTV cameras of premises leading to the railway also showed Bulger being accompanied by Venables and Thompson. .http//www.murderuk.com/child_killers_thompson_venables.htmlC(investigation)After the s uspects were brought in for questioning, the police started to suspect that the involvement of Venables and Thompson in the murder was almost certain , hitherto they had to prove this and the fact that the suspects were both 10 years old did not help them all. Since the boys were under the age of 14 , a specific set of questions were asked by the police so that they can determine whether the suspects knew estimable from wrong and this would help to destroy the notion of doli incapax in court. The boys differ in their reaction to interrogation, Venables is terrified of the topic of going to prison , Thompson on the other hand , keeps his composure and stays cool despite fully knowing the consequences.They both start to slowly give details of the case with Venables stating that he was at the field of force but never at the shopping centre , Thompson on the other hand gives a pictural description of Bulger including the outfit Bulger was wearing the day of the murder.The police fi nally notice that Thompson can not conceal his nervousness whenever Bulger is mentioned until finally he breaks and admits that they had taken him to the railway.On the 20th of February 1993 , after managning to collect enough evidence , the police were finally able to charge both Venables and Thompson with the kidnapping and manslaughter of Bulger. http//www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/james-bulger/trial.htmlDespite the fact that the investigation was handled logically healthy given the tender age of the suspects , personally I still believe that it could have been handled better. First of all, I would have brought in the witnesses infront of the suspects to see the suspects reaction to them and perhaps get the confession out of them faster. In addition to this , I would have tried to put the fact that the suspects were mere boys aside as much as possible and fought for not just a confession but perhaps for an explanation as to why they committed the horrific murder. T his would have been very helpful in court, not just to show the consciousness that the boys had of the nature of the crime they committed, but to further establish whether these boys were a threat to society or whether this was just something that happened without any possible explanation. The pressure the police had from both the media and the whole nation certainly did not help them in their investigation and perhaps this is why the police were looking for a confession as bustling as possible. Since the media was portraying the suspects as monsters it must have been very hard for the police to sympathize with the suspects as they could not understand why these boys had committed this murder.This would be where my investigation would differ, as I wouldve be geniused the suspects , hard as it would have been , in order to try to get the truth perhaps by doing what you would with do any kid offering them a reward for their cooperation. This , I believe , would have played a polar role in getting a confession out of the boys.D) Why it Happened?(Criminological theories)A number of criminological theories could be put into question in James Bulgers case but perhaps the most debatable one could be applied in this case Cesare Lombrosos Born- Criminal theory.This criminological theory is inarguably the most stark one as it gives no logical explanation as the criminals themselves can not explain why they commit certain crimes and no one can recognise these crimininals except for their special characteristics or their odd behaviour according to Lombroso. http//roxbury.net/images/pdfs/ct4ssg.pdfThis theory could be applied in this case as the boys never gave any real explanation to why they committed the crime, which might have been due to the fact that they did not accept any logical explanation which even if not entirely, it backs the Born-Criminal theory.This notion of being born criminal is also backed by the detectives who handled this case as they could fin d no other possible justification why children could murder children alike. On the other hand , in the case of Robert Thompson , the criminogenic family he was raised in could have played an important factor in his behaviour. His mother and his siblings were all mercilessly beaten by his tiro Robert Thompson senior who eventually abandoned his family. After this, his mother turned to drinking and violent behaviour became a habit if her aswell. This shows that Thompson was not immune to violent behaviour , which may in turn give some insight about his criminal behaviour. Jon Venables also showed a rather odd behaviour even if not entirely criminal at school after his parents split up.He demanded to have everything he wanted, and violence was his main(prenominal) amusement . In addition to this, when Jon Venables went to spend a few days with his father, he was exposed to some incredibly gruesome videos or pornographic ones which were certainly not suitable for his young age.One of this videos , Childs Play 3 contained a horrific murder which was very close in resemblance to the one he and his friend Thompson committed. http//www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1257614/The-police-sure-James-Bulgers-year-old-killers-simply-wicked-But-parents-dock.htmlCriminology is the study of criminal behaviour but in this case society seemed to deter from trying to understand these young boys , rather they enjoyed condemning them blaming everything from violent video games to problems in society such as divorce and theft amongst other things.This lead to society accepting the notion put forward by then Prime Minister John Major that society should try to understand a little less and rather condemn a little more. http//www.independent.co.uk/news/major-on-crime-condemn-more-understand-less-1474470.html