James Bulger Killers Were Old Enough To Be Tried for Murder

Robert Thompson and Jon Venables - James Bulger's Killers - were old enough to know what they were doing and so it was right to try them for murder.

This is the response from the British Government to calls from Maggie Atkinson, the Children's Commissioner for England, who said yesterday that children under 12 should not be held criminally responsible.

Maggie Atkinson wants the age of criminal responsibility raised from 10 to 12 in the UK.

A Government spokesperson from the Ministry of Justice said:

"We are committed to tackling crime, and in particular intervening early with young people to prevent crime and antisocial behaviour.

"We believe that children aged 10 and over can differentiate between bad behaviour and serious wrongdoing. We do not intend to raise the age of criminal responsibility. It is not in the interests of justice, of victims, or the young people themselves, to prevent serious offending being challenged."