The Sleep of Reason: The James Bulger Case (20 page)

Dale asks if Jon was at the Strand on Friday. No. Was he with Ryan? No. Then why did he say he was with Ryan? He doesn’t know, Robert told him to say it. Say what? Susan asks. That we were with Ryan. Susan says, but you were with Ryan in the morning. I know, says Jon, till half three. Dale asks if Jon is sure about this, because Ryan says he was in school. Jon says Ryan is lying. Susan tells Jon to be honest and asks, was Ryan with you? No. Robert said tell that Ryan was with us so that we can get him into trouble with us. But I never went to Bootle Strand.

The officers change the subject, and talk for a while about the clothes Jon and Bobby were wearing. Then Jon concedes that he has told two lies, about being with Ryan and being in the Everton area. He is reminded of the importance of telling the truth.

Dale.
You see, Robert says that he was with you, and that you were indeed in Bootle New Strand together.

Jon.
We wasn’t.

Dale.
Robert says you were.

Jon.
Yeah, we was, but we never saw any kids there. We never robbed any kids.

Dale.
So you were in Bootle New Strand.

Susan
.
(shouting)
Was you in Bootle Strand?

Jon.
Yeah, but we never got a kid mum, we never, we never, we never got a kid.
(He
is
crying
,
sobbing
,
getting
up
and
out
of
his
chair
,
distraught.)

Dale
.
Mrs Venables, would you, I must ask you not to get angry with him.

Jon.
But we never got a kid mum, we never. We saw those two lads together we did, we never got a kid mum, mum we never got a kid, you think we did, we never, mum we never.

The four adults in the room try to calm Jon. Lawrence Lee says it’s not a criminal offence to go to Bootle New Strand. Scott says they’re not saying he’s taken any children. They just want him to tell the truth. Susan warns him. He’d better carry on telling the truth. Jon continues to cry.

Dale tries to proceed, along a more innocuous line of questioning. Talking about the shops Jon and Robert went to, and what they did there – which, Jon says, was robbing. He begins crying again. His mum tries to hush him.

Jon.
If you knew that I went to Bootle Strand.

Susan.
I would have strangled you, yeah.

Jon.
And wouldn’t have you thought I’d killed a kid. I never, because.…

Susan.
Well, I wouldn’t think that.

Lee.
We don’t think that.

Jon.
Because, because, if you thought I went and I sagged off and you think that I killed him.…

Susan
.
I wouldn’t think you’d done that at all.

Jon.
Because, because, I would’ve told, because I thought you’d think I done it.

Susan.
If I would’ve known this all now, Jon, I would’ve had you down the police station right away, instead of them banging on my front door and making a show of me in the street …

Jon.
But I …

Susan
.… humiliation.

Jon
.… I thought you’d think that I killed him.

Jon sobs, and sobs. Lawrence Lee and the officers agree that it’s time to end the interview and let Jon calm down. Susan says she wants this over and done, because she’s livid now. George Scott says she should try not to get angry with Jon. Susan says she’s not going to. She just wishes he would’ve told her in the beginning, and saved a lot of time on her part.

Interview over, one minute past ten.

*

There would be no more interviews tonight, but the two teams of officers were expected back at Marsh Lane for a debriefing. A lot of people were waiting to hear what was happening.

The bosses were gathered in Geoff MacDonald’s office, where he and Jim Fitzsimmons were now encircled by Chief Superintendents, Superintendents, and sundry other managers. They had dozens of questions, and Phil Roberts could barely speak. He was bushed. He let Bob Jacobs do the talking. It was like that in the interviews too, even though they had never worked together before. A look from Roberts and Jacobs would step in. A sign from Jacobs and Roberts would take over. That was how it should be.

They were all exhausted. Jim Fitzsimmons had been pulled to one side earlier by one of the Superintendents, and told to get some rest. He looked as though he needed it. Today should have been his duty rest day. No one was taking their days off. There was anxiety and concern all round that they should close the case as quickly as possible. After the briefing, Phil Roberts went up to the bar, to see the
Crimewatch
update, but mostly to have a cigarette and a pint before trying to get some sleep.

Albert Kirby had been phoning in to Marsh Lane from the BBC at odd intervals throughout the afternoon. He wanted to hear how the interviews were going, naturally, but he had to be discreet about it. He didn’t want the
Crimewatch
team catching on before the arrests had been made public. He used the Vodaphone from his briefcase. Conversation was guarded. Any developments? Okay, good, speak to you later.

Mike One was waiting for him at the McAlpine’s headquarters in Hayes, not too far from Heathrow. Albert sped there from Shepherds Bush after the programme. He had never been in a bloody helicopter in his life. He had been feeling rough earlier, so much so that he had taken a stiffening drink to cope with being on live television. He certainly wasn’t feeling any better now.

The co-pilot, a police sergeant, strapped Albert in, and showed him what to do. If you feel bad, sir, there’s the bag. Shit, thought Albert, it’s going to be a hard night this.

They set off for Birmingham, where the helicopter was scheduled to refuel. The first half of the journey was harmless. At Birmingham they landed safely and sat on the tarmac waiting for a fuel tanker to appear, and when it did there was a problem. Something to do with credit clearance for fuel. The tanker couldn’t oblige. They waited a little longer, and longer still. Sitting there dwarfed by 747s and assorted aeroplanes, half two in the morning, and the wind’s blowing up. Albert wasn’t very happy.

Finally, the fuel problem was resolved, and they took off, into what now seemed to Albert like a hurricane force gale. Wedging himself into the corner of his seat, he thought he might die. He hoped he’d die having led a successful investigation into the killing of James Bulger.

He survived the flight and arrived home at half four, vowing that wild horses would not drag him back into a helicopter.

20

Jim Fitzsimmons was unaware of Albert Kirby’s late-night adventure when he arrived at Albert’s home at seven thirty on Friday morning to pick him up for work, as they had arranged yesterday afternoon. Albert had only been home for three hours, and he was still in bed.

Susan Kirby admitted Jim to the house and sent him upstairs, where he sat at the foot of the senior investigating officer’s bed, drinking a cup of tea.

‘What do you think?’ Albert asked.

‘Yeah,’ said Jim.

They were talking about the two boys, of course.

‘Are you sure?’

‘No, I’m not sure.’

Jim left Albert to get ready and make his own way to Marsh Lane, and went in ahead of him for the morning briefing. He decided they should make some changes to the interviewing teams.

It seemed to be a problem that Phil Roberts and Bob Jacobs were not familiar with the area, and Jim wanted somebody in there who knew the locations they hoped Bobby would mention as he described the route taken with James. Jim knew the area well and thought again about taking the interview himself. But no, that would be wrong. The best alternative was John Forrest from the back-up team, who also knew Walton.

With Jon’s interviews, Jim felt that a woman officer might be an advantage. Michelle Bennett, on Mark Dale’s back-up team, had experience of interviewing children, particularly in sensitive child abuse cases, and she might bring something extra to what was clearly a very difficult process.

By nine o’clock Albert had arrived and the senior officers and the interview teams sat down in a corner of the bar to discuss the changes. Albert was feeling terrible, and looked it. He didn’t know how he was going to survive the day, but suspected that adrenalin would see him through.

Phil Roberts and Bob Jacobs were not keen to alter their team. They were working well together, and had made good progress over a relatively short period of time. They’d got hold of a map which they would use with Bobby in the interviews, and this would overcome their lack of local knowledge.
Jim Fitzsimmons relented. Let’s see how it goes then, and keep John Forrest on stand-by.

Michelle Bennett wasn’t happy going in cold. She felt unprepared, but if she could read up the notes on yesterday’s interviews during the morning, she’d be ready to take over.

What they really needed was the Downstream Monitoring equipment, so that Michelle Bennett could listen in and get a proper feel for the interviews. Unfortunately, the facility was still in use elsewhere. Jim Fitzsimmons was annoyed, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Albert now briefed the teams on the injuries that James had suffered. Officially it was the first time they had been told, though in practice they were already familiar with many of the details. Albert also had some tips from his offender profiler, Paul Britton, who suggested, among other things, that the boys would be highly unlikely to admit any sexual assault of James, whether it had taken place or not.

*

Susan Venables had stayed the night with Jon in the juvenile detention room at Lower Lane, and in the morning they had a cooked breakfast and a change of clothes, brought in by Jon’s father.

The fourth interview begins not long after eleven o’clock, with Jon agreeing that he had told a lie before, about not being at the Strand, then admitting that he had been there, messing around, but had not seen any kids. He had seen kids, waiting outside shops but he never saw any kids with two boys or nothing because he wouldn’t go near any kids.

The officers steer Jon through a description of his activities at the Strand, and Jon gives a selectively truthful account of the roaming in and out of shops and the robbing. He didn’t go into a card shop to look at trolls. He enjoyed looking at the Thunderbirds figures in Woolworths. Jon likes Thunderbirds and his favourite character is Lady Penelope, because she’s rich. Dale asks if Jon is going to get himself a rich girlfriend. Susan says she hopes so.

Jon remembers being in Tandy twice, and says there was nothing to pinch in the shop. He is not asked about the theft of a packet of batteries. He mentions being in a sports shop, and says he’s hoping to be given a Liverpool kit for his birthday. His mum says they’ll have to wait and see how he behaves. Jon says he wants a Blackburn Rovers shirt now.

He and Bobby were at a charity stall, tapping the old woman on the back and running away. How would you like it if you were splattered on your back, she says, and runs round after them with a walking stick.

How about the toyshop, Toymaster, did he go in there? No, the woman
chased them out because they weren’t with their parents.

Jon thinks it was about half three when they left Stanley Road and started making their way up to Walton. They went along County Road and into Fads where they nicked a tin of blue paint and some borders. Round the corner, on Olney Street, Robert tried to open the tin, and as he was banging it the lid opened quick and the paint went all over Jon.

Dale says Jon’s jumped forward suddenly, and he wants to go back to half three at the Strand. Jon says he didn’t know the time exactly but Robert said they should leave because it was getting dark. Then he says they were looking at the big clock at the front and it said four o’clock.

The interview ends, after 44 minutes, just as Jon begins to describe the route he and Bobby took on their walk back to Walton.

*

Ann Thompson had not wanted to leave baby Ben and Ryan overnight, and had felt it would not be safe, staying in the Village. Social Services had put them up at the Gladstone Hotel in the city centre, while Bobby stayed at the police station, under the watchful eye of the custody officer and a duty social worker.

On Friday morning Ann was back at Walton Lane in time for Bobby’s 24-hour custody review, which Phil Roberts attended, before going on to Marsh Lane.

Bobby’s fourth interview began at 11.35. He had already told the officers he had something new to say. He and Jon had sagged off, and Ryan had gone to school.

Bobby
.
Then we went to the Strand and we picked little James up …

Roberts.
Yeah.

Bobby
.… and took him out of the Strand.

Roberts
.
Yeah.

Bobby
.
Well he, Jon did.

Roberts.
Right.