His recent imprisonment, the reasons for which remain undisclosed (it may be for a criminal offence, but it could also be for breach of conditions attached to his life licence), has provided the media with a renewed opportunity to show the mugshot of his 10-year-old self and the CCTV footage of him walking away hand in hand with his victim James Bulger in 1993. The story was plastered over the front page of every red-top newspaper.
On subsequent days, media commentary split into two completely opposing camps. There has been the predictable reporting that sustains the retributive principle of justice: Venables is back where he belongs and where he should have been all the time. And there has been the reporting that points to the fact that - according to British law - Venables has served his sentence for the atrocious murder he committed as a child himself, earned the right to be released on licence and, hitherto, has been an example of successful rehabilitation.
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