Man who discovered James Bulger's body dies in police custody
29.03.2023 - 13:51
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A man who discovered James Bulger's body when he was a teenager has died in police custody. James Riley, 44, found the murdered toddler's body with brother Terence Riley on a railway line in Liverpool in 1993, when he was just 14, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Mr Riley was taken into custody at St Anne Street Police Station in Liverpool at around 9.45pm on March 14.
He remained in a cell overnight, but at around 5pm the following day police staff were made aware he was on the floor and required medical attention.
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Paramedics were called and Mr Riley was taken to hospital, where he was confirmed dead. Mr Riley led a life of crime, being convicted over 40 times for a range of offences.
His family said this was a result of trauma caused by the discovery of James' body. The two-year-old was tortured and murdered by 10-year-old boys Jon Venables and Robert Thompson in a crime that shook the UK.
In February 1993, grainy CCTV images showed two-year-old James being led out of Bootle's Strand shopping centre by the schoolboys. They led him to the disused Walton & Anfield railway station, near Walton Lane police station, where they tortured and murdered him.
In May 2017, James Riley was sentenced to two years and four months behind bars after admitting a spate of commercial burglaries. Sarah Holt, defending him in that case, said: "He has been a drug addict for a considerable period of time – all his adult life and in fact most of his adolescence.
"His problems can be traced back to when he was 14, when he experienced a very traumatic event. It was an event I suggest that meant he is suffering from PTSD, though not diagnosed. He never sought