James Bulger / As we see it

'NONE of us now has an excuse to ignore suspicions about how children are being treated in the house next door. None of us can just shrug if we see kids playing truant.'

The Sun

'THE Merseyside boys spent six hours in the Bootle shopping precinct before luring Jamie away . . . No one deemed it necessary to call the school. What has happened to the active citizen? . . . Then there was the last journey, in which 38 witnesses observed the toddler being yanked along. Does no one 'have a go' any more?'

The Guardian

'A CRIMINAL trial refutes the pernicious nonsense of our times that a personal sense of guilt or shame is no more than a curable neurosis. Perhaps for the first time in their lives, these two boys have been held personally accountable for their actions. Their trial has signified the mobilisation of one of society's most ancient defences, the criminal law, against the moral despair that news of this horrific crime had provoked.'

Daily Telegraph

'NO DOUBT . . . there will be attempts to analyse James's murder for the messages it may contain. Some will be sensible, some silly. They will all be guesses at best.'

Daily Express