Mob Threatens Boys Accused of Slaying Tot

An enraged crowd outside a courthouse in Liverpool tried Monday to attack two 10-year-old boys accused in the brutal killing of 2-year-old James Bulger--a crime that has stunned and outraged Britain.

Six persons were arrested when members of the crowd of 300 screamed profanities and rushed two police vans taking the boys back to a detention center after the youngsters appeared in court. Onlookers hurled rocks and eggs at the windowless vans outside Bootle Magistrate’s Court as the vehicles pulled away.

Police arrested some of those who stormed the vans, but the rest of those in the mob raised their fists and chanted: “Let them go! Let them go!”

After the vans disappeared, police withdrew and the crowd dispersed.

Authorities had sought to take precautions to avoid Monday’s disturbance. Amid tight security, they moved the two suspects to the court early Monday--more than three hours before their hearing--to try to avert trouble.

The boys appeared for just six minutes before magistrates. The youngsters, during the closed court session, gave only their names and ages. They then were jailed until a March 3 hearing.

In the British justice system, juveniles ages 10 to 14 who are accused of major crimes must be shown to be aware of the seriousness of the offense before they can be convicted.

Besides two probable charges of murder, the court clerk indicated that the defendants may be charged with attempting to abduct another youngster one day before they seized Bulger, who was abducted 11 days ago from a busy shopping center while his mother made a purchase at a butcher shop. The tot was badly beaten, then tossed onto a railroad track where his body was run over by a train, police said.

Meanwhile, controversy swirled around another onetime suspect held earlier by police: Jonathan Green, 12, who was taken last week from his home in the middle of the night by police who arrived in half a dozen vehicles a few days after the crime was discovered. Green was held for 23 hours and questioned while neighbors vented their rage at his home, breaking windows and driving his family from the neighborhood.

The boy was later released and eliminated from the inquiry. But the experience is said to have had a devastating effect on him and his family. They reportedly are hiding in the Liverpool area.

Green said Monday that he was on the verge of falsely confessing to the crime because of his befuddlement under persistent questioning by police.