I'm just wondering why these latest 2 cases involving teen murderers (3 cases if you also include the kidnapping) have allowed the perps to remain anonymous.Or should I say, why Venables and Thompson were named despite being even younger at just 10 years old?
What's changed? Maybe it's just that lessons were learned in that case; it's been difficult keeping their new identities secret since their names and faces were all over the press. Must have cost the country £millions over the years.
EDIT just Wiki'd the James Bulger case and it was 23 years ago! I must have had some kind of weird time lapse.... I guess a lot has changed in the world since then.
I think it's because of the Jamie Bulger case that the identities of young offenders are kept private nowadays - Venables and Thompson were hounded by the press for years, and still come up in the media if publishers are having a slow news day. The whole 'name and shame' thing smacks of irrational mob mentality, and family members are likely to catch a lot of flack for being even remotely linked to a murderer. Especially with children who commit violent crimes, protecting their identities may offer them a chance at redemption that Venables and Thompson and the like never had.