James Bulger killer Jon Venables could be murdered by vengeful vigilantes if his new identity is revealed, the judge who granted his anonymity has warned.
Both Baroness Butler-Sloss and Justice Secretary Jack Straw defended the need for secrecy amid growing public pressure and a direct appeal from the toddler's mother for more details about why Venables, 27, was sent back to jail.
Just hours earlier Denise Fergus accused the Government of treating the issue like a political football and of closing doors in her face.
Lady Butler-Sloss, the former president of the High Court's family division who granted Venables anonymity on his release from prison, stressed "the enormous importance of protecting his anonymity now and if he is released because those who wanted to kill him in 2001 are likely to be out there now".
I'd mercilessly kill the bastard if I ever came across him too.
That evil scummy parasitic twat ...and his equally verminous cretin chummy, should have been hung for what they did.
Still makes me shudder to this day reading and seeing all this stuff again.