Over thirty years have passed since the tragic murder of James Bulger, yet the names Robert Thompson and Jon Venables remain almost as recognizable as James himself. Despite the lifetime anonymity order, the public’s curiosity about their whereabouts persists.

Recently, a new theory has suggested that Robert Thompson and a notorious Liverpool criminal are the same person. While the origin of this rumor is unclear and remains wholly unsupported by evidence, it’s gained enough attention on social media for the implicated gangster, Sam Walker, to vehemently deny it.

Since his release in 2001 after serving eight years for the murder of James at a youth offenders’ facility, Thompson, now 43, has kept a low profile. Reports suggest he pursued education, developed a passion for art, and is in a long-term relationship, with his partner being aware of his history.

In contrast, 42-year-old Sam Walker, with over 400,000 TikTok followers, often flaunts his illicit activities online. Described as both prolific and enigmatic, Walker has a record that includes more than 45 convictions and connections to about 130 crimes.

His criminal record boasts a four-and-a-half-year sentence in 2008 for distributing heroin and crack cocaine in Cheshire’s towns of Widnes and Runcorn. His operation reportedly generated up to £2,500 daily before being dismantled by police, resulting in the confiscation of £12 million worth of drugs, alongside luxury items.

Walker gained further notoriety in 2014 for publicly threatening footballer Ross Barkley over a personal dispute, warning him to provide contact details with the ultimatum that failing to do so could end his football career.

Walker was at the centre of further controversy in 2019 when it emerged he was running his own YouTube channel from behind bars. Last year he was given a suspended sentence after being caught live-streaming the proceedings in a Dublin court, where he was being sentenced for motoring offences.

He previously became known for his courtroom outbursts, referring to sentences being imposed as a ‘stitch-up’ and describing one hearing as a ‘kangaroo court’. Perhaps more surprisingly, he appeared in a video – filmed by himself apparently – showing him surrounded by cheering locals after he oversaw the installation of a water supply system in a slum in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.

Throughout the marathon journey – which took him through Belgium, Spain, Morocco and the Sahara desert – he taunted the authorities back home on social media posts. ‘Better luck trying to catch me when I go out of the country next, Merseyside Police,’ said one.

(It later emerged that he wasn’t even wanted by the force at the time, although police in neighbouring Cheshire were looking for him after he missed a court hearing over allegedly driving while disqualified.)

Yet somewhere along the way, the whispers linking Walker and Thompson – despite the slight difference in their ages – took root. One individual posted on social media: ‘The noses are similar, the mole! There’s something not right about Sam Walker!’

Others were less convinced, however. One person remarked that ‘having a bit of banter is all well and good’, but that linking Walker and Thompson ‘purely out of hatred’ was ‘way across the line’.

For his part, Walker was sufficiently concerned by the rumours to issue a recorded denial – a move undoubtedly prompted by the strong feeling about the February 1993 murder.

Thompson and Venables – who is currently in prison again having been jailed twice for possessing images of children being sexually abused – abducted James from a shopping centre in Bootle, Merseyside, before torturing and killing him.

In a video captioned as ‘a message’ to those accusing him of being involved ‘with the James Bulger thing’, a clearly furious Walker warns that he is ‘itching to get hold of the trolls’.

He says: ‘Every Scouser in Liverpool, and further afield, still feels a lot about James Bulger losing his life… it was a bad time in everyone’s life.’

Addressing his accusers directly, he adds: ‘I don’t give a f*** who’s in your house – every single one of youse will be targeted. Not by me, it’s out of my hands, I’ll be sat at home.

‘So just for the record, in case any police arrest me after it happens to youse, it’s nothing to do with me.’

Strong words, indeed. Such fighting talk clearly echoes the revulsion that continues to be felt over one of the most unspeakable crimes in British criminal history. But it also hints at the fear felt by a lowlife thug at being mistaken for one of the murderous pair who perpetrated it.