Britons face jail terms for unmasking Bulger killers on internet
Britain's attorney general has launched contempt proceedings against internet users who circulated photographs purporting to be contemporary images of the notorious killers of two-year-old James Bulger.
Britain's attorney general has launched contempt proceedings against internet users who circulated photographs purporting to be contemporary images of the notorious killers of two-year-old James Bulger.
Jon Venables and Robert Thompson have not been seen in public since they were jailed for the sadistic 1993 murder of the toddler, which they carried out when they were just 10 years old.
Such was the public outrage at the killing that when the pair were released on parole in 2001, they were given secret new identities for their own safety, protected by a court order. However, photographs have appeared online in recent days purporting to show Venables and Thompson as they are now, aged 30.
Attorney General Dominic Grieve said these images, whether or not they were pictures of the two killers, constituted an offence punishable by a fine or jail.
"The attorney general has today decided to institute contempt proceedings against a number of individuals who have been identified as having posted online photographs purporting to be of Jon Venables or Robert Thompson," his office said.
The attorney general has today decided to institute contempt proceedings against a number of individuals who have been identified as having posted online photographs purporting to be of Jon Venables or Robert Thompson
It is thought to be the first time such an action has been brought against users of social media.