Search: Jon Venables Fergus
The Children's Commissioner has apologised for the "hurt" she caused James Bulger's mother but insisted there should be a "serious conversation" about raising the age of criminal responsibility.
Dr Maggie Atkinson angered Denise Fergus by suggesting Jon Venables and Robert Thompson should not have been tried in an adult court.
The pair were 10 when they killed two-year-old James in Bootle, Merseyside in 1993.
At the weekend, Dr Atkinson described James's killing as "exceptionally unpleasant" but said children under the age of 12 were too young to understand the full consequences of their criminal actions.
The remarks were condemned by Mrs Fergus as "twisted and insensitive".
In an interview on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour today, Dr Atkinson said: "There's a private letter of apology from me going to Denise Fergus for the hurt that was caused by the comments."
But she stood by her claim, made in an interview with The Times on Saturday, that the age of criminal responsibility should be raised from 10 to 12.
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
She told the BBC show: "You may know the difference between right and wrong. Some 10-year-olds don't - depends how well developed they are. You are unlikely to understand the consequences to the rest of your life if you do something horrific, which is what those two young men, now 27-year-olds, did when they killed James."
She said the pair should have been tried in a "juvenile setting" but stressed children under the age of 12 should not avoid prosecution for crimes.
"I am not saying that if a child, even under a raised age of criminal responsibility, commits an offence they shouldn't be punished," she said.
