So much news and so much crap being written at the moment, mostly in favour of the public majority's opinion to inflict the worst on the murderer of James Bulger as a kind of retrospective vigilante revenge for his recent transgression. What has he done? The public has a right to know! cry the upholders of morality and retributative justice. As Will Self asked recently on Question Time, "What will you do with that knowledge?" Exactly. Apart from satisfying a voyeristic urge to know what he has done in order to vent our anger, there really isn't any reason to know what crime he is alleged to have committed.
However, it has transpired recetly that he has been downloading pornographic images of children. This, according to Jack Straw, is the most serious offence.
But the public knew that Venables had the propensity to take advantage of the helpless. The public should now ask what rehabilitation has taken place in prison. He was 10-years old when he committed the crime. Of course, he wasn't individually to blame, having been brought up in a house with a violent mother who couldn't cope and an absent father. But what steps were taken to ensure that he really was rehabilitated?
The witch-hunt whipped up by the media should cease. There are far more important issues to be dealt with, such as MPs expenses, the Chiltern inquiry and not least, the economy. Ultimately, the baying for blood and the jogging for justice will rapidly recede until the next 'scandal' surfaces.
