Row breaks out over supervision of Bulger killer. Ben Rossington reports

ONLY round-the-clock supervision would have stopped James Bulger’s killer, Jon Venables, from reoffending, probation chiefs said last night.

James’s mother, Denise Fergus, said she felt betrayed by Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke as she criticised the findings of an inquiry into the supervision of her son’s killer as a “classic cover-up”.

A report from Sir David Omand said only 24-hour surveillance could have stopped Venables offending again.

The killer was jailed for two years in July, after being caught with sickening images of children on his computer.

The Omand report cleared various agencies of failing to properly supervise Venables and said he alone was responsible for his further offence of collecting child pornography.

But Mrs Fergus said the report was a “cover-up based on cover-ups written in the past and that’s a fatal mistake”.

She said Mr Clarke was “making a big mistake trying to brush this under the carpet” and called for childkillers and sex offenders to be tightly monitored and restricted in the future.

“The fact is that they have bent over backwards, did everything possible to support Venables and feathered him with a new life and the best of everything,” she said.

“The truth is Venables is devious, cunning and dangerous. He cannot be trusted and that is what they need to remember.

“If he ever gets out on parole again, they are going to need to keep him on a very short leash.”

Mrs Fergus said she received a letter from Mr Clarke earlier in the year saying he would no longer be dealing with her directly, and asking her to speak to the probation service.