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British government denies reports that a child murderer will be sent to Canada

Sep 3, 2019 | 9:49 AM

The British government has denied media reports that it is considering sending a child murderer to Canada to live under a new identity.

Several British media reported last week that Jon Venables would be sent to Canada because of the high cost of keeping his real identity a secret in the U.K.

A spokesman for Britain’s Justice Ministry calls those reports “categorically untrue.”

In 1993, a two year-old boy was abducted from a shopping centre and beaten to death by Venables and Robert Thompson, who were both 10 years old at the time.

Thompson and Venables were convicted of murder and after spending eight years in youth custody were released in 2001 with new identities and a court order protecting their anonymity.

Conservative party Leader Andrew Scheer said in a tweet on Sunday that he found it “disturbing that this pedophile child killer might come to Canada.”

“As prime minister I won’t let him come here. Where does Trudeau stand?” the tweet read. “Our country should not be a dumping ground for murderers, terrorists, and perverts.”

The Canadian Press