Twitter troll targets mother of murdered toddler James Bulger
'They face no consequences - it's gutless' says husband
The mother of murdered toddler James Bulger has been targeted by a troll on Twitter.
Denise Fergus said she had seen a tweet which apparently blamed her for her son's death in 1993.
Mrs Fergus wrote on the social networking site: "Cant believe that some1 on here is still blamin me 4 my sons murder it took me a long time 2 stop blamin myself thanx 4 ruinin my evenin."
The tweet appears to have since been deleted, but the Daily Mirror reported it said: "(Denise) was to blame. She let go of James' hand."
Her husband Stuart described the incident as "gutless", telling the paper: "It affected Denise. Twitter have got to act against trolls. They face no consequences."
Critics have been calling for stronger measures to be taken against so-called trolls after 14-year-old Hannah Smith killed herself. Cyber bullying is believed to have contributed to her death after it was discovered the teenager had endured months of abuse on question-and answer site ask.fm.
James Bulger was abducted, tortured and killed by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson in February 1993.
The two boys were jailed for life but released on licence with new identities in 2001.
Venables and Thompson, who were aged just 10 at the time, abducted James from the Bootle Strand shopping centre in Liverpool before carrying out the murder.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies