Isn't it intersting how clever people can say the most insensitive (arguably stupid) things.
Dr Maggie Atkinson is, for the moment, England's "Childrens Commissioner".
If this quote, attributed to her, is accurate then one just has to wonder at her suitability for her role.
"What [Venables and Thompson] did was exceptionally unpleasant and the fact that a little boy ended up dead is not something the nation can easily forget, but they shouldn't have been tried in an adult court because they were still children."
So, we now understand that the torture and murder of a toddler is "exceptionally unpleasant" - not, as some of us may think, a barbaric atrocity.
I am also sure that many people will question her view on the rights and wrongs of 10 year olds being tried in adult courts.
Dr Atkinson's comments are incedibly insensitive and will have caused a great deal of hurt to the Bulger family.
The debate about the recall to prison of John Venables for, as yet, reasons unknown has opened up an interesting debate.
I don't consider myself to be qualified to objectively comment on the legal nicities of this matter.
However if Venables & Thompson had been kept in prison for their crimes, as many people believe should have happened, then the whole recall issue would be academic.
