AN East Lancashire man has been blasted by a high court judge for sharing pictures online of James Bulger's killer Jon Venables.

Richard McKeag, 28, breached a worldwide ban on revealing Venables' identity by posting pictures and other details.

McKeag, who lives in Bacup, was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to the breach.

He was in dock alongside Natalie Barker, 36, from Kidderminster, who was given an eight-month suspended sentence for the same offence.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, sitting with Mr Justice Warby, said that, were it not for their personal circumstances, they would have been sent to prison immediately for their "serious" breaches of the injunction protecting Venables' identity.

The judge told the court there was a risk of someone being "killed or seriously injured", including anyone who was wrongly identified as one of the Liverpool boy's killers.

He said the "haunting images" of James Bulger being led to his death, aged two, by Venables and Robert Thompson, would "remain forever in the minds of anyone who saw them".

The judge added: "The murder shocked the nation, indeed it resulted in much soul-searching.

"How was it that two boys, still at primary school, could be capable of such a wicked crime?"

The court heard McKeag admitted three breaches after posting an article on his website freeandfearless.org.uk entitled "Jon Venables Pictured - Killer's Identity Revealed" in November 2017.

The article contained photographs, said to be of Venables, and purported to reveal his new identity and place of work.

He was "well aware" of the injunction and wrote about risking legal action, as well as encouraging people to share the article widely in a bid to "defeat the legal system by mass publication", the court heard.

McKeag's lawyers told the court he suffered serious mental and physical health problems and was unwell when he posted the article.

They said he was unable to attend the hearing as he was admitted to hospital on Wednesday, but had written a letter in which he sincerely apologised and said he realised it was for the courts to "serve justice".

Barker, a single mother-of-three, previously admitted five breaches of the injunction.

In February and March 2018, she posted a picture which purported to be of Venables and his fiance on her Twitter account, which had 649 followers.

The image was retweeted 24 times and received a number of likes, and she persisted even after receiving warnings from Twitter and the police.

A court order was made in 2001, legally binding worldwide, which bans the publication of anything that reveals the identities of Venables and Robert Thompson.

They have been living anonymously with new identities since being released from a life sentence for the kidnap, torture and murder of James in 1993, when they were aged 10.

Jonathan Hall QC, representing Attorney General Geoffrey Cox QC, told the court there continue to be significant breaches of the order, which often correspond with "spikes in media interest" in the case - including the 25th anniversary of James' murder in February last year.

He told the court: "There are potential consequences not only to Venables and Thompson but to persons who might be mistakenly identified as them.

"There are still those who seek to set themselves above the law and put individuals at risk of death or serious injury by taking it upon themselves to breach the injunction."

The court heard one man mistaken for Venables had "endured five years of danger" and he and his family had been forced to flee for their lives.

Mr Cox, who instigated contempt proceedings against McKeag and Barker last year, said after the hearing: "These are both serious examples of contempt of court and I instigated these proceedings as it was in the wider public interest to do so.

"The injunction protects the identities of the offenders, but also innocent individuals who may be wrongly identified as being one of the two men and placed in danger as a result.

"I will review any further contempt of court allegations made to me, and hope this sends a message to anyone tempted to do the same thing.

"Posting this material online is a crime."