Why the UK's age of criminal responsibility is one of the lowest in the world

In 1993, 10-year-olds Jon Venables and Robert Thompson

kidnapped 2-year-old James Bulger from a shopping center

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(CCTV footage of them holding James Bulger's hand as they leave the shopping center)

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The two boys then brutally assaulted and killed the toddler at a railway track and left his body on the rails to make it look like an accident.

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The perpetrators were sentenced to indefinite detention with a minimum of 8 years. However, rather than keeping them locked up, the UK courts—pressured by the European Court of Human Rights and a push to rehabilitate them into society—released them after about 8 years. This horrific case sent shockwaves through the UK, ending leniency for juvenile offenders and leading politicians to push for strict punishment and accountability. That's why the UK insists on 10 as the age of criminal responsibility, despite the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child's recommendation of at least 14.

But there was another shocking case in the UK even before this.

The Mary Bell case in 1968, where a 10-year-old murdered two children.