They would have been pretty sure that he committed an offence before they charged him, given the amount of media attention this case will accrue

Yep, innocent until proven guilty.
However, given the furore that charging him has caused (and the authorities knowing that all hell would be let loose when the story broke) I have to say that I think he is guilty because I can't see them risking his new id unless they were sure.
But he is entitled to a fair trial the same as all of us.
Btw, many people are not aware that there was a sexual element to the assault on Jamie Bulger which was not widely covered at the time.

I had no idea that there was a sexual nature to the assult.

It wasn't mentioned by a lot of press but some did print in detail.

It was awful Veggie, I still hate to hear and see things about it. I suppose we try and blank it out of our minds, don't think about and delude yourself something like that could never happen.

I'm assuming because it's peer to peer, the police must be very confident of a verdict against him.

I know ...........if the whole thing wasn't horrific enough there was indeed a sexual element. Ten years old FGS - what must they have experienced in life to turn out that way? And - if he does turn out to be guilty after all the rehab ......how awful that children's lives can be so horribly tainted and warped by ten years old.

Good lord,That beggars belief, Venables was only 10 years old at the time,

I've said on here many times Soozy that in cases such as this I would charge the parents/primary caregivers with negligence in the very least.

We seem to be intent on punishing deliquent kids while protecting the delinquent parents whose behaviour is the largest contributory factor to the way these kids are.

This is a detailed report of the crime - be warned that it isn't light reading
http://www.trutv.com/library/c.../young/bulger/5.html

I read in the book "the sleep of reason" (I think) that when one of the boys, in a recorded police interview, was asked if they had touched James sexually, The boy Punched his father who was sitting next to him.

Well, of course.