TOMORROW should have been the day James Bulger became a man, celebrating his 18th birthday. And now, to coincide with that rite of passage he was so brutally denied, the mother of the toddler murdered in 1993 has launched an appeal to build a permanent memorial to her son.
To date, the world has had little more than memories of the two-year-old. There are only two physical tributes to his short life; his headstone in Kirkdale cemetery and, beside it, on a nearby tree, a small metal sign which reads, "James's special pl
ace".
But in what would be the first proper memorial to her son, Denise Fergus is hoping to raise £1 million for the James Bulger House Appeal to build an educational refuge on Merseyside.
The circumstances of James's death shocked Britain. The boy was murdered in February 1993 by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, themselves only ten years old. The juveniles abducted the toddler from a shopping centre in Bootle before beating him to death on a railway line.
Ahead of tomorrow's anniversary, Ms Fergus, 38, has teamed up with children's rights campaigner Esther Rantzen, who came up with the idea of raising money to found James Bulger House as a learning centre run by the charity Red Balloon.
Describing the proposed facility as a "fitting tribute" to her son, she said that if it could help save even one child's life it would be worthwhile.
"Nothing can ever bring back James, and I have to live with that knowledge," she said. "His 18th birthday is going to be a particularly hard time for me and all our family, not having him with us.
"On 16 March, I should be celebrating with a party for him and buying him expensive gifts, but I can't do that. The most expensive thing I can get him is flowers on his grave."
Ms Fergus, who has three other sons, Michael, 14, Thomas, nine, and Leon, eight, added: "I will never forget my son and I still get messages of support from all over the world. So I was pleased when Esther explained her idea for a memorial to James. I want James's name to carry on long after I have gone.
"James was a child and although he didn't get the chance to go to school, I want to give these kids the chance to learn."
Andy Kelly, news editor of the Liverpool Echo newspaper, said he believed the entire city would welcome a lasting memorial to James. "In the Rhys Jones case (the 11-year-old shot dead in Liverpool last year], there are already plans for a community centre to be set up in his honour. There's never been anything like that with James Bulger.
"Obviously, there's still a lot of anger that the people who killed him are now free, but it will help to have a memorial like this, with an event which traumatised the city."
Speaking of James, Ms Rantzen added: "No life has been more cruelly cut short. It is extraordinary there is no memorial to him, no way for his family and his community to remember him with hope, to help other children in his name. Now there will be."
The Red Balloon charity already works with bullied children, who are referred by local authorities. Dr Carrie Herbert, the organisation's founder and director, said: "To be able to set up a Red Balloon in Liverpool in memory of James Bulger is the most important development yet in our ongoing work to help bullied children rebuild their lives."
THE 25-YEAR-OLD MEN STILL LIVING WITH GUILTJON Venables and Robert Thompson, the two schoolboys pictured in the infamous, chilling CCTV images leading James Bulger from the Strand shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, were convicted of abducting and murdering the two-year-old on 12 February, 1993.
In November of that year they were sentenced at Preston Crown Court to secure youth accommodation with a recommendation they serve at least eight years.
In June 2001, amid protests outside its headquarters in London, the parole board announced the pair were no longer a danger and recommended they be freed as soon as possible.
Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss had ruled in January 2001 that the new identities and residences of Venables and Thompson should remain secret as there was a "real possibility of serious physical harm and possibly death" to them.
The Manchester Evening News was found guilty of contempt of court and fined £30,000 over an article about the young men's whereabouts published a few hours after the parole board ruled they could be released.
The court order prohibiting publication of any information likely to lead to their identification will probably remain in place indefinitely to prevent vigilante attacks on the men, both of whom are now 25.
