The government is right not to reveal the reason why Jon Venables, one of the killers of the toddler James Bulger in Merseyside in 1993, has been returned to prison. The risk that publishing details of Venables's alleged latest offence could prejudice a trial must be placed above all others. Nor should his new identity be revealed.
But what cannot be denied is that ministers have handled this case with huge incompetence. First, the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, said that the public had a "right to know" why Venables had been returned to custody for breaking the terms of his parole, only to be contradicted by the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw. Then Mr Straw needlessly tantalised the tabloids, saying that Venables had committed an "extremely serious" offence. Finally - unforgivably - he got the name of James's mother, Denise Fergus, wrong. Mr Straw, a lawyer by trade, should have been less populist and said as little as possible.
