Jamie Bulger killer Jon Venables appears in court to answer child porn charges

• Jon Venables (pictured in 1993) appeared in court to answer child porn charges today

Jon Venables is accused of downloading onto his computer 57 indecent photographs of youngsters between February, last year and February this year.

He is also charged with distributing seven indecent images of children between February 1 and 23 this year.

Venables and Robert Thompson were jailed for life for the 1993 murder of two-year-old James, who was led away from a shopping centre in Liverpool by the then ten-year-olds.

They were jailed for life but released on licence in 2001.

Venables was recalled to prison in February following the new allegations.

But the criminal charges could not be reported until today when a judge at the Old Bailey lifted some reporting restrictions.