February 12 marks 30 years since the murder of James Bulger. Today, on the eve of the anniversary, crime reporter Jonathan Humphries reflects on a crime which shocked Merseyside. Tomorrow James's mum Denise Fergus shares her memories of the fun, loving little boy she knew, and reporter Elliot Ryder speaks to the people of Bootle about the impact of the murder in 1993 and the effect on the community in the three decades since.
As journalists gathered for a briefing at Marsh Lane police station on a Saturday afternoon in February 1993, something different and something dark was unfolding.
Less than 24 hours earlier, no-one outside his loving family and friends knew two-year-old James Bulger's name. From the moment he vanished from his mum's side at around 3.40pm at the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, James was the centre of an escalating horror story that would make headlines around the entire world.
