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Child commissioner sorry for 'hurt' to James Bulger's mother

12 April 2012

The Children's Commissioner today said she had apologised to the mother of James Bulger following her comment about raising the age of criminal responsibility.

Dr Maggie Atkinson said she had sent a letter to Denise Fergus to express sorrow for the "hurt" that resulted from her remarks.

At the weekend, Dr Atkinson described James's killing as "exceptionally unpleasant", but said it was wrong that Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who were 10 in 1993 when they were charged with the murder, were tried in an adult court. Venables is now back in prison, after being recalled for breaking the terms of his release.

During an interview on Radio 4's Woman's Hour today, she said: "There's a letter of apology from me going to Denise Fergus for the hurt that was caused by the comments."

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