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A parole board called for the release of Jon Venables, one of Britain's most notorious murderers, who killed a two-year-old boy when he was aged just 10 and was jailed again in 2010 for accessing child pornography.
Venables, now 29, was originally imprisoned for life along with 10-year-old friend Robert Thompson for the 1993 murder of James Bulger in Liverpool.
The pair were released on licence in 2001 and given secret new identities for their own safety, but Venables returned to jail in July 2010 after pleading guilty to three charges in relation to child pornography.
A parole board statement said: "We've had confirmation that all parties have been told and we can confirm that it was a release decision. He will be released."
Responding to the announcement, Denise Fergus, mother of the murdered boy, tweeted: "Venables is getting released. Just don't believe what I've got to go through again."

	The authorities have already experimented with Venables living a lie and it did not work

	Robin Makin, Solicitor
The boy's father Ralph said he was "disappointed and dismayed" by the news.
The father's solicitor, Robin Makin, said: "For Ralph and his family the living nightmare continues and is exacerbated by the problems now created by the reckless decision to free Jon Venables without any publicly disclosed safeguards.
"Jon Venables is a sex offender who has murdered once and made it clear when posing as the mother of a child that an 'ultimate thrill' for him was the sexual abuse of a child.
"The authorities have already experimented with Jon Venables living a lie and it did not work," he said.
Venables admitted downloading 57 pornographic pictures of children on to his computer and distributing indecent photos of children.
The sadistic torture and murder of Bulger caused horror across Britain and fears about attacks on the two killers continue. Bulger was lured away from a shopping centre by Thompson and Venables, before they tortured and beat him to death with bricks and iron bars. They dumped his body on a railway line where it was cut in half by a train.
The Ministry of Justice declined to comment on Venables' parole, but said rerelease of offenders is ordered by the parole board once it is satisfied they can be safely managed in the community.
Additional reporting by Associated Press


James Bulger killer Jon Venables to be released from jail in Britain

Jon Venables at the age of 10

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Family of two-year-old victim James Bulger disappointed killer will be free again


A parole board called for the release of Jon Venables, one of Britain's most notorious murderers, who killed a two-year-old boy when he was aged just 10 and was jailed again in 2010 for accessing child pornography.


James Bulger killer Jon Venables to be released from jail in Britain

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Family of two-year-old victim James Bulger disappointed killer will be free again

Family of two-year-old victim James Bulger disappointed killer will be free again