Justice for Jamie

Justice for Jamie is a hoax email that has been passed around the internet since 2000, becoming a popular forwarded email after 2001. Although a computer is safe from the contents of this email regardless if it has up to date antivirus software, what makes this email dangerous is it refers to a real crime that unfolded in the UK.

On February 12, 1993, two ten-year-old boys called Jon Venables and Robert Thompson abducted a toddler called Jamie Bulgar from a shopping mall and brutally murdered her. Almost ten years later, in January of 2001, the justice system in the UK decided that the two boys, who had both served their entire eight-year sentences, should not have to be identified as murderers and gave them anonymity for the rest of their lives. This was done to prevent people from carrying out one of the many death threats that the two criminals had received during their incarceration.

The Justice for Jamie email recounts the events of the kidnapping in exaggerated detail. Many of the things that are listed in the email are not true, and are probably included to increase the recipients’ outrage.

The email urges the recipients to sign the bottom of the email, forward it to others to gather 200 signatures, and to then send it to the court official’s email address to bar the child criminals from receiving anonymity for their crimes after serving only half their sentences. Of course this is a fabrication, since the boys fully served their eight-year sentences.

One reason this email is a hoax is the fact that the criminals were released in 2001, and an online petition can't reverse a ruling that happened more than a decade ago. Even if it could, it has been reported that many of these emails have an incorrect court official's email address. So even if the email did succeed in gathering 200 signatures, it still wouldn't be seen by anyone who could make a difference in the case.

Another reason not to forward this email is the fact that your email address will be attached to it as it makes its way around the internet. Forwarded emails make email-address harvester's jobs easier. All they have to do is copy and paste the email addresses that are attached to the forwarded message.

Since the Jamie Bulgar case, other Justice for Jamie campaigns have arisen, such as the campaign for Jamie Farrar, a handicapped girl who was allegedly physically abused by her dentist in 1994, or the case of Jamie Cockayne who was killed in 2007. These cases shouldn't be confused with the Jamie Bulgar case or the hoax emails. They are not related, other than the fact that they both include the acts of violence toward girls called Jamie.

If you receive this email forward, remember that it is riddled with inaccuracies and outdated information. You should delete the email instead of forwarding it as it requests. If the email does have 200 signatures, do not email it to the address listed. After all this time, there is little chance that the email address is still valid.

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