JAMES Bulger was tortured and killed by schoolboys in a brutal crime nearly 30 years ago which rocked Britain.
The two-year-old’s brothers have now spoken out for the first time and revealed what life was like growing up after his tragic murder in Merseyside in 1993.
In a new documentary, James’ three brothers open up about the impact the killing has had on their lives.
Lost Boy: The Killing of James Bulger will see James’ brother Michael, 27, and half-brothers Thomas, 22, and Leon, 21, open up for the first time about the impact his horrific murder had on their lives.
James was snatched from the Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Merseyside, on February 12, 1993 by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables.
The pair took James to a railway line and tortured, beat and sexually assaulted him.
Michael was born nine months after James’ murder.
James and Michael’s mum, Denise Fergus, split from husband Ralph in 1993, shortly after having Michael.
She later married Stuart Fergus and had two children, Thomas and Leon.
In November, 2020, Denise became “the proudest grandparent” to a little girl called Payton by Michael and his partner Leanne McPadden.
“Becoming a dad, seeing it from my mum’s eyes, it’s going to make me more protective and hold the baby closer than I think anyone could,” Michael said, speaking in the documentary.
Michael changed his surname to his stepfather’s when he was 13 to match Thomas and Leon.
Thomas has spoken out for the first time about the impact of James’ death on family life.
He describes his brother’s murder as “sickening” and worried that the same thing could happen again to another toddler.
According to the Guardian, Thomas and his brother Michael are landscape gardeners.
Leon – the youngest of the three brothers – has also spoken out about his brother’s death for the first time.
The 21-year-old said he still doesn’t fully understand what happened to his brother and he doesn’t want to know all the details of the brutal killing.
According to Leon’s LinkedIn profile, he studied computer programming at college in Liverpool and now works as a freelance graphic designer.
On his public profile on The Dots, he writes: “I am an aspiring graphic designer and have sought after a job in this field since I was in secondary school.”
His profile says he has worked with the James Bulger Memorial Trust.
The brothers have spoken for the first time since James’ death in a new Channel 5 documentary.
Michael reveals: “We have a spare chair around the Christmas table, it’s always been empty.
“My mum likes to see James as not sitting there but being there present with us while we’re having Christmas dinner.”
He added: “Being James’ brother is not a weird thing.
“We have always grown up knowing he was there, what he was like, his character. In the household, we talk about James a lot.
“My mum will give us little stories and insights about what he was like.
“He has always been a character we wanted to know more about, wishing he was there, rather than someone who was in the background all the time.
“You do think about him. What them two did to James was – it’s unimaginable.”
Leon says: “Still now I can’t fathom exactly what happened – I don’t really want to know all the details about it.”
Michael said the family is closer because of what happened and they “do spend more time together than some other families”.
He says their mum, Denise, would always walk behind them in shops so she had a constant eye on them.
Michael recalls: “Going through school I wasn’t allowed on school trips or to go to the shops with my mates.
“The only place I was allowed was either in the front garden or literally outside the gate with my mates, but I would have to be in view of the window, so if I went out of sight, mum would be straight out.”
Thomas added: “And obviously, it’s scary to think that it could – it could have happened again.
“You’re gonna be over-protective aren’t you when something like that happens in your life, I think.
“What happened, it is sickening isn’t it? To my own brother.”
Lost Boy: The Killing of James Bulger, airs on March 10 and 11, 2021, at 9pm on Channel 5.
