Bulger killer returned to jail ‘for workplace assault’

There are fears today that the determination of the tabloids to push to the limits their reporting of the Jon Venables case will lead to his new identity being revealed.

Venables was of one of two ten-year-olds convicted in 1993 for the infamous murder of toddler James Bulger. He was released from jail in 2001, after serving eight years, and - at considerable expense to the taxpayer - given a new identity.

As the Ministry of Justice made clear again this week, a worldwide injunction prohibits any reporting that could identify him or his location.

But this week's twist to the story – that Venables has been returned to jail after breaking one of the conditions of his release – has led to the biggest spike in media interest since his controversial release.

According to today's Daily Mirror, Venables - or whatever he is now called - has been living alone in a bedsit in the north of England. A music-lover, he has attended Glastonbury and the V festival and has also struggled with a coke habit.

The Mirror claims Venables was suspended from his minimum wage job after "flipping out" and grappling with a colleague. He was recalled to custody after the colleague made an official complaint.

The Ministry of Justice has refused to divulge the details of Venables's return to custody. But the terms of his release were strict: he was not allowed to return to Merseyside, where Bulger was murdered, or contact the victim's family. Any criminal offence may also be taken as a breach.

If that is the case, Venables was lucky not to have been recalled earlier. According to the anonymous source, the 27-year-old has already had brushes with the law. In December 2008 he is said to have been arrested after being caught snorting cocaine down an alley outside a nightclub, but was let off with a caution.

In another incident, Venables, a regular on his local clubbing scene, was arrested for affray after being punched in the face by a man outside a nightclub.

Venables can appeal against his recall within 28 days. If that fails, he faces spending the rest of his life behind bars - and, because today's report in the Mirror is unlikely to be the last - the possible divulging of his new identity. ·