“What they did was exceptionally unpleasant and the fact that a little boy ended up dead is not something that the nation can easily forget, writes our Dudley man Mark Mudie.

“But they shouldn’t have been tried in an adult court because they were still children.”

So says children’s commissioner Maggie Atkinson. The ‘little boy’ to whom she refers is of course James Bulger, the two-year-old abducted, tortured and murdered by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson. They were 10 at the time they carried out the ‘exceptionally unpleasant’ killing.

Atkinson’s comments have provoked no little debate, her unwise words prompting calls for her resignation from James Bulger’s mother. Denise Fergus branded her comments “twisted and insensitive” – and who can blame her.

Arguably more troubling, however, are the deep-seated attitudes which lie beneath Atkinson’s clumsily expressed opinions.

Her assertion that a little boy ‘ended up dead’ is disturbing in that it removes all responsibility for the act from the boys – Venables and Thompson – who committed it. This is exactly what she seeks to do when she suggests the age of criminal responsibility should rise to 12; a 10-year-old murderer would not be accountable in the courts if Atkinson had her way.

Her opinions betray an ignorance of established psychological studies and deliver a damning indictment on society.

Several studies suggest children have developed the ability to empathise by the age of four, meaning even at that age we have the ability to understand the effect of our actions on another. When the actions are as horrific as those perpetrated by Venables and Thompson, the realisation should be that much more stark.

Moreover Atkinson’s statement that she is “far more a believer in nurture than nature” conveniently fails to recognise work which suggests a strong (albeit not 100 per cent) correlation between genetics and a pre-disposition to criminal activity.

The clear inference which I draw from her views is that children are not aware of the consequences of their actions by the age of 10. Thus they cannot be held responsible for what they do, no matter how awful, in a court of law. The day society accepts that position is the day the country goes to the dogs.

“My constant song is ‘listen to the children and young people,’” Atkinson says. How terribly misguided. The voice of victims like Denise Fergus should always drown out those of depraved youngsters like Venables and Thompson.

*****

Despite the drizzle, they came to say their goodbyes. More than 50 hardy souls bade a fond farewell to Coseley baths, assembling near the rubble which remains vowing never to forget and, you sense, never to forgive. They have fought a brave fight, and you just get the feeling Dudley Council may find itself up against a formidable foe in months to come.

*****

The election campaign is gathering pace – and how inspiring that it is happening on our doorsteps in Dudley (as predicted in this column). First Gordon Brown visited, then Nick Clegg and this weekend, David Cameron will be in the borough. It really is the place to be.