Bulger sentence 'justified'

The Home Secretary, Michael Howard, acted "well within his discretion" when he decided that the schoolboy killers of James Bulger should be detained for at least 15 years, the High Court was told yesterday.

David Pannick QC, for the minister, said he had been "well justified" in using his discretionary powers to increase the minimum sentence after concluding that the two-year-old's murder was an "exceptionally cruel, sadistic offence."

Mr Howard is accused of misusing those powers by imposing a "tariff" for retribution Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who were both 10 when they kidnapped and murdered James, two, in Bootle, Merseyside, in 1993.

Their lawyers were applying for judicial review of the case.