Jack Straw hints he may give more detail on Jon Venables case

Justice secretary Jack Straw has hinted that he may reveal more details about why Jon Venables has been recalled to prison.

Media speculation has been rife since Venables was taken back to prison last week for breaching terms of his 2001 release on licence. Yesterday the Sunday Mirror ran a story claiming the killer of two-year-old James Bulger had been taken back into custody on suspicion of child pornography offences. Straw has not confirmed this.

However, on the Today programme this morning, he defended his decision to say no more than Venables had been accused of “extremely serious allegations”. When pressed by presenter John Humphrey’s about the public interest in the case he said: “I understand your point and I will give further consideration to it during the day,”

“I think it’s pretty well known that my over-riding instinct in public life is to give as much information as possible as early as possible. It’s not to sit on things… so there has to be a good reason for doing what I am doing at the moment.”

Venables, now 27, was charged along with Robert Thompson, with killing toddler James Bulger after abducting him from a shopping centre on Merseyside in 1993.

Straw said his reluctance to publicise more information was to ensure further criminal proceedings would not be prejudiced.

Listen to the full interview

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