James Bulger killer Jon Venables to stand trial over indecent images of children

Jon Venables, who as a boy, pictured, killed toddler James Bulger, will have his trial over possession of child abuse images heard in private. Photo / File

One of the killers of toddler James Bulger has been charged over indecent images of children and his trial is to be held in private at an unnamed Crown Court, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.

Jon Venables was returned to prison in November after he was allegedly caught with child abuse images.

The CPS released a statement on Friday revealing that he had been charged and was to face trial.

The statement said: "The man formerly known as Jon Venables has been charged with offences relating to indecent images of children and will appear in the Crown Court.

"In order that justice can be done, no further details are being released at this stage and the proceedings are subject to reporting restrictions."

Venables and his friend Robert Thompson tortured and killed two-year-old James in Liverpool in 1993 when they were both aged 10.

After serving eight-year sentences, they were granted lifelong anonymity that saw them released under new identities in 2001.

Following his arrest in November, the Attorney General launched an investigation into claims his identity had been revealed on social media.

In 2013, two men who posted images they claimed to be of Venables and Thompson were given nine-month sentences, suspended for 15 months.

Breaking the injunction on identifying them carries a punishment of up to two years in prison.

James's father Ralph Bulger has previously called for Venables to be stripped of his anonymity.

When news of his latest arrest emerged, James's mother Denise Fergus said: "Venables has now proved beyond any doubt what a vile, perverted psychopath he has always been."

Secret trials are extremely controversial as they run counter to the principle that for justice to be done it must be seen to be done.

The only other secret trial in recent memory was that of two men who were charged in 2014 with serious terrorism offences were kept anonymous and the press and public were excluded from their trial.

At the time MPs and civil rights campaigners said it was an "outrageous assault" on the principles of open justice and set a "very dangerous precedent".

It is the second time Venables has been recalled to prison over child abuse images.

In 2010, Venables was sent back to jail for two years after pleading guilty to charges of downloading and distributing child pornography.

In September 2008, he was arrested on suspicion of affray after a drunken brawl and was given a formal warning by the probation service for breaching the good behaviour terms of his licence.

Later the same year he was cautioned for possession of cocaine after he was found with a small amount of the class A drug.

The murder of James Bulger is regarded as one of the defining crimes of the late 20th century, with the CCTV images of the young toddler being led away from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle by Venables and Thompson imprinted on the memory of those who followed the traumatic case.

James had a bump on his forehead and was crying, but most bystanders did not intervene

His mutilated body was found on a railway line two-and-a-half miles away in Walton, Liverpool, two days after his murder.

The killing sparked a widespread debate about the age of criminal responsibility and how the justice system should treat under age offenders.