James Bulger killer Jon Venables will be given a new identity, costing taxpayers £250,000, when he is released from prison, it was reported today.

Venables was jailed for two years yesterday for downloading and distributing pornographic images of children as young as two — the same age as James when he was murdered in 1993.

But the 27-year-old, who battered and murdered the toddler along with Robert Thompson when they were just 10, could be out in a year.

The indecent images came to light after Venables contacted his probation officer because he feared his identity had been discovered.

It has now been reported his identity will be changed again to protect him when he is released.

The cost of providing him with a new birth certificate, national insurance number and other identity documents is put at £250,000, with close supervision from probation officers on his release costing another £1 million-a-year.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said it was not “inevitable” he would be given a new identity. She said: “Such a change of identity is extremely rare.”