What should a society do With young people who commit murder?

In 1993, a toddler went missing in a shopping centre in Liverpool His name was Jamie Bulger He was 2

CCTV images showed him being led away

Everyone suspected an adult paedophile But a closer look at the CCTV showed that his abductors were younger than that

Jon Venables & Robert Thompson were 10 when they killed Jamie The newspapers screamed about evil Their parents were blamed for their bad parenting Crowds gathered at the court-room to scream abuse The behaviour of the mob was almost as shocking as the murder

The judge said The killing of James Bulger was an act of unparalleled evil and barbarity.

You will be securely detained for very, very many years, until the Home Secretary is satisfied that you have matured and are fully rehabilitated and until you are no longer a danger.”

They were detained until they were 18 When they were released, they were given false Identities to protect them Many people, especially in Liverpool believe that their punishment was far too light 12 years after Jamie’s death, there is still a great deal of rage that his killers haven’t suffered enough

Jamie’s Mum, Denise Has fought to have them imprisoned for longer And also to be told where they are living under their new identities

Several newspapers have tried to ‘hunt them down’

1994 in Trondheim, Norway…a year after the Bulger murder

In a quiet community which hardly has any crime 2 6yr old boys kicked & beat a 5yr old friend called Silje They stripped her & left her unconscious in the snow Where she died

Horrifyingly similar But the reaction could not be more different The boys have never been named & they didn’t go to court Within a couple of weeks, they returned to school They’ve been treated as victims rather than killers

When Sillje’s mother is asked whether she hates the boys She is astonished by the question Should they have been punished, locked up? "No, they were punished enough by what they did. They have to live with that. I think everybody has got to be treated like a human being. The children had to be educated, had to learn how to treat other people so they could get back into society."

A psychologist in the case says… "I don't think making them suffer is the way to make them realise what had happened. When you are continually punished for something you can't undo you have to do something to protect yourself so you begin to imagine it's not really you who did it. You develop a split personality."

2 very different approaches to children who have killed What is your reaction? Do you think the treatment of the killers in either case is too harsh, too lenient or just right? It is worth noting that the age of criminal responsibility in Norway is 15 In the UK it is 10