9
Mar

Slumping Nick Young struggles to find a place with the new-look Washington Wizards (Washington Post)

And Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee — who used to share spots near Young on the bench, hoping for more playing time — have suddenly moved into prominent roles as starters. Young, however, continues to sit and ponder his place with the team as the Wizards prepare to host the Houston Rockets on Tuesday.

Coach Flip Saunders has praised Blatche and McGee for their “serious attitude,” which was evident for most of the Wizards’ 86-83 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. The duo combined for 36 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocked shots.

Young, on the other hand, has been unable to discover a role on the new-look Wizards. Even with the roster turnover, Josh Howard’s season-ending knee surgery and the team being limited offensively, Young is slowly drifting into irrelevance as Saunders goes more with new arrival Quinton Ross as the first guard off the bench.

“He’s struggled,” Saunders said. “He’s had opportunities. He hasn’t had anything that’s clicked.”

Saunders has criticized Young for failing to influence games in ways that go beyond scoring. In his only notable performance since the all-star break, Young scored 12 points and played stellar defense against Denver point guard Chauncey Billups in the fourth quarter of the Wizards’ surprising 107-97 win over the Nuggets on Feb. 19.

But in the other nine games, Young is averaging just 3.2 points and shooting 24 percent (10 of 41). He is averaging just 11.8 minutes since the all-star break, and been limited to three points or fewer six times.

“I’m thinking out there, trying to do the right thing and I ain’t playing right,” said Young, who was averaging 7.7 points and shooting 40.5 percent in 17.6 minutes per game before the all-star break. “It’s been hard for me out there. My teammates are saying to me, ‘You just got to play your game.’ And that’s what I’m going to start doing from now on. Start playing like Nick. This ain’t working, apparently.”

Young has tried several different approaches this season, hoping that his next move could be the one to spark a turnaround.

He’s changed shoes, opting for several different color schemes and numbers with special meaning stitched along the side. And he’s repeatedly changed hairstyles, going with a Mohawk, a mini-Afro, having his hometown “L.A.” carved into the back of his head, to now, a closely shaved cut with a patch of hair on top. But the inconsistent looks have merely coincided with his erratic play in his third season.

Before the season, Young spoke of making a name for himself in the NBA, and possibly earning the starting shooting guard job. He spent the summer working out with Saunders and Sam Cassell, learning the nuances of the new system and how to score with limited extra dribbling. He has started 13 games, but he is putting up career lows in nearly every statistical category, including scoring (seven points) and field goal percentage (38.9 percent).

“It’s hard,” Young said. “We had such high hopes coming in and see how it’s going, to see teammates leaving, losing games, don’t know when you’re playing, it’s been a lot going on with me. I’m trying to stay in there, hang in there and keep going.”

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

 
8
Mar

Kim Rothstein shopped so much that it’s now all a blur (Sun-Sentinel)


As her husband’s billion-dollar fraud scheme was imploding last Halloween, Kim Rothstein went shopping for more shoes at Nordstrom.

She liked expensive shoes. And Louis Vuitton handbags. Gucci accessories. Evening dresses by Zola Keller. Shirts, sweaters and jeans from Cache Luxe. She could burn through thousands of dollars on a shopping outing, or drop nearly $5,000 buying from a chic Los Angeles boutique online.

“This happened to be a platform shoe that I liked and they had it in my size, which I can’t get very often. I would just buy several at one time so that I would just have them,” she said in sworn testimony two weeks ago, as lawyers grilled her about her spending habits and the torrents of Ponzi cash that powered her American Express account.

The 150-page deposition, a copy of which was obtained by the Sun Sentinel, provides Kim Rothstein’s version of life during her husband’s swindle, as it grew into the largest in South Florida history and then collapsed last fall. While she acknowledges her spendthrift ways in the document, it leaves many questions unanswered — she claims to have been in the dark about her husband’s secretive dealings and his relations with his biggest investors.

Under oath, Kim Rothstein said she spent so much, collected so much jewelry, brought home so many shopping bags that she can’t remember it all — it’s now a blur.

But her life of luxury was lonely, hectic even, with all the social events, charity balls and public-appearance demands. She had her hands full just serving as one of her husband’s many handlers — he was frenetic, unmanageable, a whirlwind.

Scott Rothstein, 47, pleaded guilty in January to five counts of racketeering, money laundering and fraud and faces up to 100 years in prison when he is sentenced May 6. There is a sweeping federal investigation under way that is expected to ensnare co-conspirators.

Kim Rothstein spent about three hours on Feb. 18 in a Fort Lauderdale conference room with an array of lawyers who are dissecting her husband’s fraudulent scheme to sell non-existent legal settlements to investors. The attorneys are hunting for any assets they can claw back to repay Scott Rothstein’s cheated investors.

She answered questions about her lifestyle, her finances, the many homes the couple owned, what she knew about her husband’s business ventures, the enormous political contributions made in her name and her prolific shoe-buying. She said she had no inkling her husband was running a massive scam.

Kim Rothstein repeatedly referred to Scott Rothstein as “him” or “he,” and to clarify, the attorneys had to ask several times if she meant her husband.

The lawyers were armed with her American Express charge card records dating to 2005, which they used to refresh her memory about her purchasing sprees that totaled nearly a quarter of a million dollars. The questioning began with some basics: She met Scott Rothstein at a barbecue in 2003 and started dating him two years later, she said. The couple married on Jan. 26, 2008, in a lavish weekend-long affair attended by Gov. Charlie Crist at the Versace mansion on South Beach.

Kim Rothstein, who turns 36 next month, said her education consisted of “almost an associate’s degree from Broward Community College.” She tended bar at Blue Martini, an upscale watering hole at The Galleria, and dabbled in real estate sales, but the sales were not highly lucrative for her. She said her personal savings, which she said she is now using to pay her living expenses, amounted to about $100,000 last fall.

The questioning about her spending began with Zola Keller, a high-end clothier on Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale. “She does custom dresses, gowns, gala clothing, that sort of thing,” Kim Rothstein said, adding she shopped there “per his [her husband's] instructions.” She spent $42,000 at the shop over the years, according to the American Express records cited by the attorneys.

The lawyers asked about her purchases at Shop 603, another Las Olas retailer, where she spent more than $12,000 on gifts for family and friends. Next up were the Louis Vuitton purchases at Neiman Marcus: $23,000 worth of handbags.

“I just went in there really when I was on a mission for gifts, that sort of thing,” Kim Rothstein said. “Some of them were for me, personally.”

As the questioning about the luxury leather goods went on, Scott Rothstein’s criminal defense attorney, Marc Nurik, piped up: “All the women are salivating at this table,” the transcript of the deposition relates.

Then she was asked about $21,000 in shoe purchases over the years, and the trip to Nordstrom on Halloween last year. Her husband had mysteriously fled to Morocco that week as investors clamored for their missing money, and she consoled herself with some new shoes.

The week before, the five-foot blonde spent $4,700 online buying footwear from XTC on Melrose, a Los Angeles store that advertises that its clients include Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears.

“I have very small feet; I have to special order,” Kim Rothstein explained.

Apparently astonished at the volume of the purchases, Theresa Van Vliet, the former federal prosecutor asking the questions, remarked, “I like shoes — that’s a lot of shoes.”

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

 
8
Mar

Make way! Thousands of visitors expected to stay, spend this weekend (The Bakersfield Californian)

Make way! Thousands of visitors expected to stay, spend this weekend

BY JOHN COX, Californian staff writer

jcox@bakersfield.com

| Tuesday, Mar 02 2010 06:23 PM

Last Updated Tuesday, Mar 02 2010 06:31 PM

GETTING TICKETS

52nd annual March Meet drag race

March 5-7 at Auto Club Famoso Raceway

Super 3-Day Passes can be purchased for $75 online at autoclubfamosoraceway.com

Day tickets are available at the track. Prices range from $25 to $30.

37th CIF State Wrestling Championships

March 5-6 at Rabobank Arena

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or at the arena box office.

AYSO Soccer Section 10 All Star games

March 6-7 at Kern County Soccer Park

No charge for watching soccer, but there is a $10 parking fee.


Images:

HICKS OF CENTENNIAL BEAT JOHNSON OF DEL ORO

Casey Christie / The Californian

Seth Hicks of Centennial, top, and Corey Johnson, of Del Oro, had a good match, Friday, at Rabobank Arena during the 2009 CIF state wrestling championships. Hicks of Centennial won the match.

March Meet

CoCo Walters / Californian file

Drag racers at March Meet 2008 line up for their qualifying runs at Auto Club Famoso Raceway.

This weekend is going to be big for local hotels. As in, big the way Christmas is for retailers. Big the way Halloween is for candymakers.

In other words, if you need a hotel room this weekend, and you haven’t booked it yet, good luck finding a place near Bakersfield.

On Tuesday a guy e-mailed the organizer of one of three big events coming to town this weekend. He’d tried to find his family a room and couldn’t, so he’s bringing the motor home, organizer Donna Nelson said.

“It’s wild and crazy,” said Nelson, whose AYSO all-star soccer tournament at the Kern County Soccer Park is expected to attract 96 teams.

Her event alone is expected to bring in about 10,000 people. And that’s not counting the 17,000 planning to attend the state high school wrestling championship at Rabobank Arena, or the 30,000 or so spectators heading to the March Meet drag race at Auto Club Famoso Raceway.

This is all wonderful news not just for hotels but restaurants and gas stations — any business that caters to out-of-towners. Official estimates put the drag race’s economic impact at more than $3 million, and the wrestling tournament at more than $1 million.

Funny thing is, it’s all a coincidence. Only October gives this weekend any competition in terms of big local gatherings happening at the same time, Bakersfield hospitality executive Don Cohen said.

He’s not complaining.

“We are so thrilled. I mean, this is what we live for,” said Cohen, manager of the Bakersfield Convention & Visitors Bureau. “So we are in our glory on a week like this.”

The general manager of the Bakersfield Marriott at the Convention Center, Carlos Navarro, expects to be full up this weekend. Over at the Courtyard by Marriott, general manager Jenny Gatlin said anyone without a reservation will have to look for somewhere to stay near the bottom of the Grapevine, in Buttonwillow or even Visalia.

Nobody on her staff better ask for the day off.

“We’re gonna need all hands on deck for a weekend like this,” Gatlin said.

Bakersfield hotels can certainly use the business. Data provided by Smith Travel Research show that hotels in the city took in $117.3 million last year, about 10 percent less than they did in 2008.

Over the same period, average hotel occupancy rates in Bakersfield slipped from about 58 percent to about 53 percent, Smith Travel Research reported.

There’s a slight downside: Locals might want to brace themselves. County tourism leader Rick Davis said wives and children of some drag racing enthusiasts tend to take a break at some points to stretch their legs at local museums and such.

“All of our attractions will get some increased activity,” said Davis, executive director of Kern’s Board of Trade, the county tourism agency.

Not a problem. Nelson, at AYSO, said part of the reason Bakersfield hosts the annual tournament is because locals know how to behave themselves.

“We are considered to be very hospitable as a city,” she said, “not only as a soccer destination.”

‘);
}
else {
$(’dsq-authenticate’).update(’

Please sign in or register to comment.

‘);
}
}
else if ($$(’.dsq-badge-bakersfield’).length != 0) {
$$(’a.dsq-request-user-logout’).each(function(item) { item.setAttribute(’href’, ‘http://people.bakersfield.com/disqus.php?action=logout’); });

Dsq.Events.addHandler(Dsq.Events.REPLY_IFRAME_TOGGLED, function(data) {
$$(’a.dsq-request-user-logout’).each(function(item) { item.setAttribute(’href’, ‘http://people.bakersfield.com/disqus.php?action=logout’); });
});

new Insertion.Top(’dsq-form-area’, ‘

As a member of the Bakersfield.com community, please keep your comments smart, civil, and on topic. Profanity, vulgarity, racial slurs, harassment, and personal attacks won\’t be allowed. If you wouldn\’t say it in person, don\’t say it online. Click here for our full Terms of Use.’);
}
};
–>

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

 
8
Mar

Halloween Safety Tips : General Halloween Safety Tips Summary

Get a summary of expert Halloween safety tips in this free Halloween video clip. Expert: Karina Fraley Contact: www.mommywood.com Bio: Karina Fraley is a safety expert and the official mom for mommywood.com. Filmmaker: Karina Fraley

 
8
Mar

Clown and out (New York Post)




A Queens woman shed tears of a clown after toppling over in her big, plastic shoes, a lawsuit says.

Sherri Perper, 56, dressed up as a Bozo for Halloween 2008, wearing a pair of red, Forum Novelties shoes.

The Bayside woman fell over while wearing the footwear, which she claims are defective and dangerous.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

 
8
Mar

Kim Rothstein shopped so much that it’s now all a blur (Sun-Sentinel)


As her husband’s billion-dollar fraud scheme was imploding last Halloween, Kim Rothstein went shopping for more shoes at Nordstrom.

She liked expensive shoes. And Louis Vuitton handbags. Gucci accessories. Evening dresses by Zola Keller. Shirts, sweaters and jeans from Cache Luxe. She could burn through thousands of dollars on a shopping outing, or drop nearly $5,000 buying from a chic Los Angeles boutique online.

“This happened to be a platform shoe that I liked and they had it in my size, which I can’t get very often. I would just buy several at one time so that I would just have them,” she said in sworn testimony two weeks ago, as lawyers grilled her about her spending habits and the torrents of Ponzi cash that powered her American Express account.

The 150-page deposition, a copy of which was obtained by the Sun Sentinel, provides Kim Rothstein’s version of life during her husband’s swindle, as it grew into the largest in South Florida history and then collapsed last fall. While she acknowledges her spendthrift ways in the document, it leaves many questions unanswered — she claims to have been in the dark about her husband’s secretive dealings and his relations with his biggest investors.

Under oath, Kim Rothstein said she spent so much, collected so much jewelry, brought home so many shopping bags that she can’t remember it all — it’s now a blur.

But her life of luxury was lonely, hectic even, with all the social events, charity balls and public-appearance demands. She had her hands full just serving as one of her husband’s many handlers — he was frenetic, unmanageable, a whirlwind.

Scott Rothstein, 47, pleaded guilty in January to five counts of racketeering, money laundering and fraud and faces up to 100 years in prison when he is sentenced May 6. There is a sweeping federal investigation under way that is expected to ensnare co-conspirators.

Kim Rothstein spent about three hours on Feb. 18 in a Fort Lauderdale conference room with an array of lawyers who are dissecting her husband’s fraudulent scheme to sell non-existent legal settlements to investors. The attorneys are hunting for any assets they can claw back to repay Scott Rothstein’s cheated investors.

She answered questions about her lifestyle, her finances, the many homes the couple owned, what she knew about her husband’s business ventures, the enormous political contributions made in her name and her prolific shoe-buying. She said she had no inkling her husband was running a massive scam.

Kim Rothstein repeatedly referred to Scott Rothstein as “him” or “he,” and to clarify, the attorneys had to ask several times if she meant her husband.

The lawyers were armed with her American Express charge card records dating to 2005, which they used to refresh her memory about her purchasing sprees that totaled nearly a quarter of a million dollars. The questioning began with some basics: She met Scott Rothstein at a barbecue in 2003 and started dating him two years later, she said. The couple married on Jan. 26, 2008, in a lavish weekend-long affair attended by Gov. Charlie Crist at the Versace mansion on South Beach.

Kim Rothstein, who turns 36 next month, said her education consisted of “almost an associate’s degree from Broward Community College.” She tended bar at Blue Martini, an upscale watering hole at The Galleria, and dabbled in real estate sales, but the sales were not highly lucrative for her. She said her personal savings, which she said she is now using to pay her living expenses, amounted to about $100,000 last fall.

The questioning about her spending began with Zola Keller, a high-end clothier on Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale. “She does custom dresses, gowns, gala clothing, that sort of thing,” Kim Rothstein said, adding she shopped there “per his [her husband's] instructions.” She spent $42,000 at the shop over the years, according to the American Express records cited by the attorneys.

The lawyers asked about her purchases at Shop 603, another Las Olas retailer, where she spent more than $12,000 on gifts for family and friends. Next up were the Louis Vuitton purchases at Neiman Marcus: $23,000 worth of handbags.

“I just went in there really when I was on a mission for gifts, that sort of thing,” Kim Rothstein said. “Some of them were for me, personally.”

As the questioning about the luxury leather goods went on, Scott Rothstein’s criminal defense attorney, Marc Nurik, piped up: “All the women are salivating at this table,” the transcript of the deposition relates.

Then she was asked about $21,000 in shoe purchases over the years, and the trip to Nordstrom on Halloween last year. Her husband had mysteriously fled to Morocco that week as investors clamored for their missing money, and she consoled herself with some new shoes.

The week before, the five-foot blonde spent $4,700 online buying footwear from XTC on Melrose, a Los Angeles store that advertises that its clients include Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears.

“I have very small feet; I have to special order,” Kim Rothstein explained.

Apparently astonished at the volume of the purchases, Theresa Van Vliet, the former federal prosecutor asking the questions, remarked, “I like shoes — that’s a lot of shoes.”

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

 
8
Mar

Revealed: The horror image drawn by Jon Venables just weeks before he killed James Bulger (Daily Mail: World News)

By
Stephen Wright and Paul Sims
Last updated at 1:33 AM on 08th March 2010

 

At first sight, it appears to be a child’s attempt at illustrating a terrible nightmare.

But what makes this image so horrifying is that it was a violent fantasy, inspired by the 18-rated horror movie Halloween, and that the ten-year-old artist was close to committing a deadly act of his own in real life.

Jon Venables drew the stick-men style picture weeks before he and Robert Thompson abducted and murdered James Bulger in 1993.

Nightmare drawing: Jon Venables drew this horrific image only weeks before he and Robert Thompson murdered two-year-old James Bulger, right

Nightmare drawing: Jon Venables drew this horrific image only weeks before he and Robert Thompson murdered two-year-old James Bulger

The release of the image came as it was revealed that Venables will be charged with a criminal offence and faces the prospect of a court case over the possession of child pornography.

The dramatic development means Venables will have to appear in a public arena for the first time since his conviction for murder in November 1993.

The never-seen-before drawing by Venables is believed to have been unused evidence prepared for his murder trial.

The image shows an attacker with enormous knives,
slashing two individuals who are prostrate with blood gushing out of
their bodies.

It gives an insight into the deeply disturbed mind of a boy
who was brought up in a dysfunctional home and, despite his tender
years, routinely watched sick horror movies.

Child killer: Jon Venables is expected to be charged with possession of child pornography

Child killer: Jon Venables is expected to be charged with possession of child pornography

It was found at his father Neil’s home.

Venables, who was said to have been subjected to regular beatings by his mother Susan, titled the drawing ‘My Dads house’.

Words with the drawing, full of spelling mistakes and grammatical
errors, make little sense apart from illustrating the story of the
1970s slasher movie Halloween.

Venables wrote: ‘In my dads I saw howowen is when you a girl
and this man and he kiled people especial girls and he has got a mask
on that he robed knifes out the shop and the police that it was pice
but it was not it was the man.’

Author Blake Morrison, who describes seeing the drawing in his
book on the Bulger case, As If, said: ‘The drawing suggests how seeing
Halloween deeply disturbed an already deeply disturbed little boy.

Did
something else happen at home to disturb Jon? Was he frightened by
Susan’s physical chastisings? The knife wielder in his drawing has
breasts.’

For his upcoming trial, Venables is expected to appear under the identity he has used since his release from custody nine years ago.

The case is likely to be held amid unprecedented secrecy to protect his new identity from leaking out.

Venables, now 27, was given a new name at huge expense on his release from a secure unit in 2001.

While there is no significant public clamour for Venables’s identity to
be disclosed, the decision to withhold from the public the exact nature
of the offence – which carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail
and has seen him recalled to prison – has prompted outrage.

James’s father Ralph Bulger, 43, told the Daily Mail: ‘If the
Government has got nothing to hide then it should tell us the truth
now. For the past week we have had nothing but rumours and innuendo and
this is even more dangerous than knowing the truth.

Critics believe the cover-up has been ordered to prevent any
further embarrassment for ministers over the Home Office’s supervision
of one of Britain’s most notorious killers.

But despite ministers’ refusal to come clean:

•    On Thursday it was revealed he has had drink and drugs problems since his release from a secure unit in 2001.

•     On Saturday he was accused of a serious sex offence and it was revealed he had previously worked as a nightclub bouncer.

•     Yesterday it was claimed he had been caught with child pornography and had even disclosed his real identity to strangers.

RULES THAT KEPT HIS IDENTITY A SECRET

Since the release of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables in 2001, a
court order has been in place banning the identification of the killers
or their whereabouts.

The aim was to give them the best possible chance of rehabilitation without fear of vigilante attacks or harassment.

Both were given new identities and the Press is formally barred from making inquiries that could lead to their identification.

The restrictions imposed by the court order, which still remains in place today, include:

•    A ban on publishing any image or description of either of
the pair including details of their voices or accents since February
18, 1993 (the time of their arrest).

•    No information published or solicited that could identify Thompson or Venables.

•     No information published or solicited that could identify their whereabouts.

•     No information to be published detailing their medical treatment or any therapy received.

Probation officers and police are trying to establish what
contact he has had with children since his release from a secure unit
in 2001 and how Venables came to be in possession of the appalling
images.

Their worst fears are he could be part of an internet
paedophile ring which traded sick images of children ‘to order’.

Last
night sources close to the inquiry suggested that Venables will be charged with criminal offences ‘imminently’.

But there are already fears that because of sensitivities around the case, in particular his ’secret’ new identity, any trial could be subjected to unprecedented reporting restrictions, meaning the public may never know precisely what happened and whether the authorities could have monitored him more closely.

The terms of his parole imposed strict conditions on his contact with youngsters but there are fears that Venables may have deceived his probation handlers.

If that is the case, it would constitute a major supervision scandal which could engulf those who supported his release from custody nine years ago and the Home Office unit which had responsibility for over-seeing his ‘rehabilitation’.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw has refused to detail how Venables breached his licence terms, saying only that he faces ‘extremely serious allegations’.

James’s father Ralph said: ‘If they don’t let the British people know then we can only assume that politicians have got something to hide and their silence is protecting not just the killers of my son but the politicians themselves.’

James’s mother Denise Fergus, 42, said: ‘If he is accused of a crime he must be subject to the law like everyone else.’

She has demanded to know why Venables was put back in jail, and is meeting Mr Straw to discuss the matter.

Albert Kirby, the retired police chief who led the Bulger murder inquiry, said: ‘I can see no reason why they can’t release a brief statement, outlining what he is accused of, but stressing that nothing more can be said because of an on-going police investigation.’

Venables was recalled to prison about two weeks ago for breaching the good behaviour clause in his life licence after police discovered he was in possession of child porn.

As part of the investigation, Venables had his computer seized and on it officers found indecent images of young children.

‘The police are investigating an alleged child porn ring and he was swept up in that,’ said a source. ‘When officers seized his laptop computer they discovered the images and arrested him.

The parents of James Bulger, pictured, have called on the government to end the secrecy over Jon Venables' latest crime

The parents of James Bulger, pictured, have called on the government to end the secrecy over Jon Venables’ latest crime

‘As soon as the images were found those who knew his true identity did a recall to prison. They felt there was no alternative.’

It is believed that Venables, who is said to deny any wrongdoing, could be charged in the next few weeks. This could involve prosecuting him under a second false name and even altering his age.

Sources said Venables was ‘psychologically stressed’ before he was recalled to prison, to such an extent that he began revealing his true name to people.

It was claimed that he descended into a ‘persistent state of self-disclosure’ in which he felt compelled to tell others that he was one of Britain’s most notorious murderers.

Ian Cumming, a consultant forensic psychiatrist who has worked with serious offenders in the prison system, said ‘the national demonisation of an individual was a heavy burden’ that could explain why someone would find it difficult to keep their past hidden for ever.

‘Double lives are a burden for people,’ Mr Cumming said. ‘Just juggling two relationships is stressful and the secrecy takes its toll. People are not necessarily well equipped to do this sort of thing; it’s not their natural state.’

Some senior politicians yesterday lined up to support the Government’s refusal to reveal what Venables has been accused of.

Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Harman said that disclosure of the alleged offence could prejudice a fair trial – even though no media outlet is allowed to publish Venables’ new identity.

And asked whether he felt Venables had spent long enough in custody for James’s murder, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls told Sky News: ‘A society where politicians make those kinds of decisions would be the wrong kind of society. It is rightly a matter for judges and courts and juries.’

THE EXTREME STRESS OF LIVING LIFE AS A LIE

By PROFESSOR DAVID WILSON at Birmingham City University

Venables has been described as an 'attention seeker' and reportedly revealed his true identity to strangers

Venables has been described as an ‘attention seeker’ and reportedly revealed his true identity to strangers

The speculation about the behaviour of Jon Venables continues to intensify.

But whatever the truth about the actions that have landed him in prison again, this episode demonstrates the severe pressures of living under an assumed identity, especially for someone who is already profoundly disturbed.

It is perhaps telling that Venables’ fellow killer, Robert Thompson, seems to have adjusted to his new life more successfully.

According to what we know of the two boys’ troubled histories, Thompson was always the harder, colder figure, hence his role in instigating the murder of James Bulger.

In contrast, Venables was more of an attention-seeker.

At his primary school, he would hang upside down like a bat from wall pegs in his classroom, or howl maniacally to force his teachers to confront him.

It has been reported that in recent months he has been compulsively revealing his true identity, even to complete strangers – yet another form of desperate attention-seeking.

It must be near impossible for a pathological attention-seeker to live a secret life.

Venables and Thompson are two of only four criminals in British history who have been given new identities.

The other two are Maxine Carr, the former girlfriend of Soham child murderer Ian Huntley, and Mary Bell, who, as a girl, strangled two boys to death in 1968.

The long-term experience of Bell, who is now a grandmother, shows that it is possible to cope with a new identity. But it is extremely difficult.

I have seen this for myself as a criminologist and former prison governor, work that gave me an insight into the Witness Protection Scheme.

There are no fewer than 3,000 people on this programme, and most are individuals who have put themselves at risk by giving vital evidence against serious criminals.

Because of Hollywood films and TV dramas, there is an assumption that an assumed identity leads to a glamorous life. But nothing could be further from the truth.

People on the Witness Protection Scheme lead extremely routine, humdrum lives precisely so that they will not be noticed. They have to blend in with the ordinary people around them. The banality is part of their cover.

But there is nothing banal about having to live a fictional life. It puts the individual under immense psychological pressure.

The strain comes partly from the ever-present threat of being exposed. Danielle Cable, for example, was given a new identity after she heroically gave evidence in court against notorious underworld gangster Kenneth Noye, who stabbed her boyfriend Steven Cameron to death in front of her on the M25 in 1996.

She once said: ‘Every day I live in fear of a contract killer or the assassin’s bullet. That is the reality of a new life.’

Venables and Roberts, meanwhile, must live in fear of vigilantes.

But further psychological pressure comes from erasing your past. Those on the Witness Protection scheme are not only given new birth certificates, bank accounts, driving licences and passports, but they also have to avoid any contact with people from their previous lives.

Some can no longer even communicate with their families.

Because we tend to define ourselves by our past deeds, memories and relationships, such a drastic step is extremely hard to handle – even for an emotionally robust person.

Effectively, the individual is being asked to live a permanent lie.

And for someone as broken as Venables, this has obviously proved impossible.

Share this article:

Here’s what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

A lot of children have been brought up in dysfunctional homes, but not many children have killed other children because of it. Too much sympathy was placed on these boys because of their upbringing, but they did go to school and they did mingle with other children and were able to learn right from wrong outside the home if not inside. Watching horror movies, a normal child would at worst end up with nightmares, but they would be able to know the difference between real life and fiction. These two boys, especially venables had a twisted mind to start with, and alarm bells should have rung when these pictures were found at the time that there was more going on in his head than a bad upbringing. These two should have had more time locked up. The public knew it then, but the experts only seem to realise it now. Using one person -Mary Bell, as a yard stick is not good enough, one swallow does not a summer make.

- Anne, clackmannanshire, 08/3/2010 01:53

Report abuse

DM reports “The case is likely to be held amid unprecedented secrecy to protect his new identity from leaking out. ”

Why the hell should the taxpayer fund this nonsense? Answer: we shouldn’t! This appalling individual has exhausted all channels of help from the taxpayer and must now take his chances in public like anybody else.

- WeAreAngry, England, forever England, 08/3/2010 01:51

Report abuse

This is why I believe in the death penalty. Unspeakable crimes will be repeated by these offenders and those who didn’t stop them when they had the chance have blood on their hands.

- Karina, Canada, 08/3/2010 01:44

Report abuse

The press-release should’ve either been full or not at all. Informing the British public that a murderer responsible for one of the most attention-grabbing headlines of the last few decades has been put back behind bars is wrong, if you aren’t at least going to give a reason.

The unknowing in itself has created a media frenzy, and perhaps a witch hunt so to speak. The Government has created its own downfall here; they could’ve curtailed the search for information by just stating the facts; after all, we all know there is an injunction protecting the identity of the perpetrators, but not charges or information relating to the case, as would be the norm if you were to read about it if this case was ‘normal’.

Either tell us or don’t. It’s frustrating. I’m not sure I want to know the identity of these two guys. I’m certainly not in the eye-for-an-eye camp anyway. What I do want to know is what Venables has done, and whether he poses a threat to society should he be released, again.

- David Everest, Great Yarmouth, 08/3/2010 01:31

Report abuse

Stop this killer before he kills again. Protect society!

- Becky, London/Denver, 08/3/2010 01:23

Report abuse

Clearly Venables is insane and should have been locked away, in hindsight before he murdered James Bulger but after the murder he should never have been released.. His eyes are empty, hollow and evil.

Who knows what crimes he has committed and gotten away with since.

- Sheriff, Worcester, England, 08/3/2010 01:13

Report abuse

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

 
7
Mar

13 Halloween Tips – Tip Nine

13 Halloween Safety Tips – Tip #09 – “Don’t Pee on Graveyards.” This series will teach you 13 things you need to know in order to be safe on the spookiest day of the year…. HALLOWEEN!

 
5
Mar

Boulder settles with ‘04 Halloween riot victim for $230,000 (Denver Post)

BOULDER — A former Boulder man who was hit in the eye with a police pepper ball during a 2004 Halloween block party that turned into a riot will receive $230,000 from the city.

The Boulder City Council late Tuesday night unanimously agreed to settle a federal lawsuit filed by former University of Colorado student Jonathan Lemery.

Lemery, who recently moved to San Diego, sued the city and police for using excessive force and permanently damaging his eyesight. The suit claims he lost depth perception and peripheral vision in his right eye and continues to have double vision.

Councilman Ken Wilson said his house on University Hill is only three blocks from where the riot happened the night Lemery was injured.

“Riots cause people to get hurt,” Wilson said. “I appreciate that we have not had a riot in a number of years, and I hope that we can keep that up.”

Get more Boulder County news at DailyCamera.com.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

 
5
Mar

Boulder settles with ‘04 Halloween riot victim for $230,000 (Denver Post)

BOULDER — A former Boulder man who was hit in the eye with a police pepper ball during a 2004 Halloween block party that turned into a riot will receive $230,000 from the city.

The Boulder City Council late Tuesday night unanimously agreed to settle a federal lawsuit filed by former University of Colorado student Jonathan Lemery.

Lemery, who recently moved to San Diego, sued the city and police for using excessive force and permanently damaging his eyesight. The suit claims he lost depth perception and peripheral vision in his right eye and continues to have double vision.

Councilman Ken Wilson said his house on University Hill is only three blocks from where the riot happened the night Lemery was injured.

“Riots cause people to get hurt,” Wilson said. “I appreciate that we have not had a riot in a number of years, and I hope that we can keep that up.”

Get more Boulder County news at DailyCamera.com.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.