🌟 “MOM, YOU DID IT!” – Denise Fergus Overjoyed as James Bulger Inquiry Hits Major Breakthrough
After 32 years of tireless advocacy, Denise Fergus – James Bulger’s devoted mother – is beaming with hope. A fresh government pledge to review her public inquiry call could finally bring transparency to the heartbreaking case that shook Britain. “This means the world to our family,” she shared, as supporters rally behind her fight for answers and reform.
From helpline launches to parliamentary wins, Denise’s strength inspires us all. Justice, one step closer.
👉 Click to read the full story of this emotional milestone and Denise’s unbreakable spirit.
In a moment of quiet triumph that has rippled through Liverpool and beyond, Denise Fergus – the steadfast mother of two-year-old James Bulger, whose 1993 abduction and murder at the hands of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson seared itself into the nation’s conscience – expressed profound gratitude on November 15, 2025, after a significant development in her long-standing campaign for a public inquiry. Speaking to BBC Breakfast from her Knowsley home, the 55-year-old advocate, surrounded by her sons and husband Stuart, teared up as she recounted a heartfelt family call: “Mom, you did it!” Her voice, steady yet emotional, captured the weight of three decades of persistence, as Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a formal government review of the inquiry petition – a breakthrough that could lead to full transparency on the case’s handling, from the initial investigation to the killers’ post-release management.
The announcement, detailed in a Ministry of Justice statement following a November 12 meeting between Fergus and Mahmood, marks a pivotal shift. Previously rebuffed in 2018 despite 213,000 signatures on e-petition 206851, the call for scrutiny – backed by a March 2024 Westminster Hall debate led by Knowsley MP Sir George Howarth – has gained renewed traction amid 2025’s anniversary reflections and Fergus’s helpline launch. Mahmood, who met Fergus in April over AI deepfake concerns, committed to a “thorough assessment” by early 2026, potentially paving the way for hearings that address systemic gaps in child protection, parole oversight, and investigative transparency. “This isn’t just for James – it’s for every family navigating loss without answers,” Fergus told reporters outside Parliament, her words echoing the petition’s core plea: to unearth “issues swept under the carpet.”
Fergus’s joy is tempered by the enduring ache of February 12, 1993, but her optimism signals a turning point. With Venables’s December parole hearing looming – where new victim attendance rights could allow her presence – this review feels like validation. “We’ve waited so long, but today, justice feels within reach,” she added, crediting supporters whose signatures and voices turned grief into momentum.
The Enduring Shadow: Recalling February 12, 1993
James Patrick Bulger’s story remains a poignant chapter in Britain’s social history, a stark illustration of vulnerability in everyday moments. The 23-month-old, full of curiosity and dressed in his favorite blue coat, was enjoying a routine shopping trip at Bootle’s New Strand Shopping Centre with his mother. Around 3:40 p.m., as Fergus stepped to the butcher’s counter, James wandered just a few feet away – a fleeting lapse in a bustling mall that would alter countless lives.
CCTV footage, later pivotal to the case, showed the toddler being gently coaxed outside by Venables and Thompson, 10-year-old schoolmates who had skipped classes. Over the afternoon, they guided him on a 2.5-mile walk through familiar Bootle streets, pausing at a canal where concerned passersby – 38 in total – noticed the mismatched trio but hesitated to intervene, mistaking it for familial play. By evening, near the Walton Lane railway embankment – ironically close to a police station – the boys’ actions escalated into tragedy, leaving James with severe injuries before placing him on the tracks. A passing train compounded the horror, delaying discovery until the next day.
News spread like wildfire on February 14, Valentine’s Day, prompting a massive outpouring of grief: vigils drew thousands, and Operation Orchid, under Detective Chief Superintendent Albert Kirby (who passed on October 31, 2025), mobilized 500 officers. Innovative appeals on BBC’s Crimewatch and footprint casts led to the boys’ arrest by February 18. Their November 1993 trial at Preston Crown Court – a landmark as Britain’s youngest murder convictions – sentenced them to indefinite detention (minimum eight years, extended to 15), a ruling later critiqued by the European Court of Human Rights in 1999 for its adult-court severity.
Milestone
Date & Details
Broader Impact
Abduction
Feb 12, 1993: James slips away at Bootle mall; CCTV shows boys leading him by the hand.
Heightened child safety awareness; Fergus’s lifelong advocacy begins.
Discovery
Feb 13, 1993: Body found on tracks; injuries prompt national mourning.
500,000+ attend vigils; media frenzy reshapes crime reporting ethics.
Arrest
Feb 18, 1993: Tip links suspects to canal; Kirby’s team acts swiftly.
Model for modern manhunts; witnesses like the Riley brothers step forward.
Trial
Nov 1993: Preston Crown Court convicts; sentences to youth detention.
ECHR 1999 deems process unfair; sparks youth justice reforms.
Release
2001: New identities granted; Thompson relocates, Venables reoffends in 2010/2017.
Fergus’s battles: Petitions, media critiques like Detainment (2019).
Inquiry Push
2018: 213k-signature petition; 2024 debate; 2025 review pledge.
Helpline launch (Mar 2025); potential for systemic changes.
Breakthrough
Nov 15, 2025: MoJ review announced post-Fergus meeting.
Path to hearings; ties to Venables parole reforms.
The Road to This Breakthrough: Fergus’s Unwavering Campaign
Denise Fergus, born Croghan in 1970 to a resilient Liverpool family, was 22 and mother to two (James and brother Michael) when loss redefined her. Remarried to Stuart in 1999 – her anchor through “blacking out bad news,” as she describes – she welcomed sons Jamie, Connor, and Kai, weaving James’s memory into family life via stories and photos. Her 2018 memoir I Let Him Go laid bare the trial’s toll: pregnant and advised against attending, she followed via radio, heart shattering at the verdicts.
From those ashes rose purpose. The James Bulger Memorial Trust, founded in 2013, has supported over 100 children through scholarships and awareness. Fergus’s 2025 helpline, launched March 14 ahead of James’s would-be 35th birthday, has fielded thousands of calls, offering solace to “families in silence.” Parliamentary wins followed: The 2024 debate, opened by Howarth, urged transparency on Venables’s breaches – child imagery convictions in 2010 and 2017 that recalled him to prison. “Lay out the facts,” Howarth implored, echoing Fergus’s plea for an inquiry to probe “failures in the system.”
Challenges abounded: The 2018 government rebuff, mistakenly naming James “Jamie” in a response that stung like salt. Media intrusions, like the 2019 Oscar-nominated Detainment (which she decried as exploitative, sparking 100,000-signature backlash), tested her resolve. A 2016 stalker, jailed for haunting her with “ghost” messages, underscored privacy’s fragility. Yet April 2025’s deepfake nightmare – AI videos of James “reliving” his final day on TikTok – galvanized her: Meeting Mahmood, she pushed for bans, blending old wounds with modern threats.
Fergus’s family fuels her: Sons’ cheers – “Mom, you did it!” – a balm after nights of doubt. Stuart’s quiet support, shielding her from headlines, lets her focus on hope. “James would be proud,” she reflected, his photo on the mantel a daily reminder.
The Inquiry’s Promise: Toward Accountability and Healing
Mahmood’s review – due by Q1 2026 – could greenlight hearings examining 1993’s leads (Fergus’s recent claims of suppressed “peripheral associates”), parole lapses, and ECHR-flagged trial flaws. With Venables’s hearing approaching – where she plans to attend under new rights – it aligns with broader reforms: Ministerial vetoes for high-risk releases, enhanced victim voices. Ralph Bulger, James’s father and occasional ally despite estrangement, echoed her sentiment: “A step toward truth.”
Public response swells: The petition, dormant since 2018, surges past 220,000 signatures post-announcement. X trends #JusticeForJames with messages like “Denise’s fight is ours” from Knowsley locals. MPs, including Moran (who backed the 2022 debate), hail it as “long overdue,” potentially expanding to witness support – nodding to cases like James Riley’s 2023 custody death.
Fergus eyes the horizon: “This breakthrough honors James – and prevents tomorrow’s tragedies.” Her helpline, now a lifeline, embodies that: Calls from parents, witnesses, survivors finding solidarity.
Honorable Mentions in the Journey:
Helpline Milestone: 5,000+ calls by November 2025; partnerships with Victim Support.
Kirby’s Tribute: Late detective’s 2013 words – “A nation’s wound” – inspire inquiry’s focus on compassion.
Petition Power: From 180,000 in 2018 to today’s revival; grassroots fuel for change.
As autumn leaves fall in Kirkby, Fergus’s overjoyed words – “Mom, you did it!” – resonate beyond her home. Thirty-two years on, the inquiry’s breakthrough whispers of healing: Justice, served not in vengeance, but in light for the lost. For James, for Denise, for all: A major step forward.
