Jon Venables, one of the two individuals convicted of murdering two-year-old James Bulger in 1993, will have his upcoming parole hearing conducted in private rather than public, despite a plea from the victim's mother to make it open. The Parole Board decided that a public hearing would risk identifying the prisoner and sensationalising the case, citing Venables' lifetime anonymity granted because he was a child when the crime was committed. This decision marks a significant point of contention between the board's confidentiality concerns and the victim's family's desire for transparency and accountability.

Venables was 10 years old when he and Robert Thompson abducted, tortured and murdered James on 12 February 1993 in Merseyside. Now aged 44, Venables was initially released on licence in 2001 but has been recalled to prison twice—in 2010 and 2017—after being convicted of possessing indecent images of children. His previous application for parole was rejected in 2023, and he is now being afforded another opportunity to present his case before the Parole Board.