It has just been reported that one of the boys responsible for killing James Bulger has been arrested for breaching the terms of his licence. It sounds so salacious when the press refer to them as the 'Bulger killers', and it's morally wrong that these young men should carry the weight of a terrible act carried out in childhood for the rest of their lives.
I couldn't help but feel revulsion at this news extract:
Trial judge Mr Justice Morland told the pair they had committed a crime of "unparalleled evil and barbarity".
Appalling though these youngsters' crimes were, they clearly had no insight into what they were doing. Pompous judges are always portrayed as the levelling voice of reason, calm and rationality, but to describe the young boys' actions as 'unparalleled evil and brutality' smacks of hysterical hyperbole. Their actions were horrifying precisely because they were carried out by 10 year olds. But what a low point the justice system sunk to by demonising these poor disturbed kids. Now we have ASBOs and curfews in place to demonise the young, as adults now run scared from kids.
It would be a good thing if it were possible for Thompson and Venables to talk as adults about what happened and how they see their actions now, but that is not even a possibility today in our victim-centred culture. Neither these young men, nor the Bulger family will ever have closure in this matter.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
"Neither these young men, nor the Bulger family will ever have closure in this matter."
ReplyDeleteAmen to that. The media are of course delighted, just as they are with parallels presented by the recent 'torture brothers' case.