The murder of James Bulger was a brutal crime that shocked Britain.
Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were both 10 years old on February 12, 1993, when they kidnapped the two-year-old before brutally torturing and killing him.
The crime made the boys the youngest murderers in modern English history.
The duo kidnapped James from outside a butcher’s shop in Bootle, Merseyside, in 1993, while his mother walked into a shop for just a few seconds.
Two-year-old James Bulger, pictured, was tortured and left for dead in February 1993
He was kidnapped by 10-year-old Jon Venables (left) and Robert Thompson
James’ mutilated body was found two days later on a railway line in Walton, Liverpool.
The boys skipped school and CCTV footage showed them observing local children at the shopping centre, who appeared to be ‘selecting a target’.
They were then captured on camera taking the boy at 3.42pm, before taking him on a two-and-a-half mile walk through Liverpool to the village of Walton.
Venables and Thompson were seen by 38 people during the walk and were challenged twice by bystanders because James was crying and had a bump on his forehead.
CCTV footage, pictured, captured the moment Venables and Thompson took James from the shopping center in Bootle
But they convinced the concerned people that James was their little brother and continued on their way.
They led James to a railway line near the disused Walton & Anfield train station, where they began torturing him – including throwing paint in his eye, pelting him with stones and bricks and dropping an iron bar on his head .
After the body was found, police launched an appeal showing the boy’s low-resolution CCTV footage.
The breakthrough came when a woman recognized Venables, who she knew had skipped school that day with Thompson, and contacted police.
They were charged with murder on February 20 and forensic tests confirmed they had the same paint on their clothes as on James’ body.
James’ death shocked the nation and large numbers of floral tributes were left at his funeral, see photo
About 500 protesters showed up for the magistrates’ first hearing amid public outrage against the crime.
During the subsequent trial at Preston Crown Court, the boys were deemed ‘mature enough’ to know they were doing something ‘seriously wrong’.
Venables and Thompson were found guilty on November 24, 1993, with the judge describing them as ‘cunning and evil’.
Reporting restrictions on their names were also lifted as this was deemed to be in the public interest.
Their parents were moved to different parts of the country and also given new identities due to death threats against them.