Why I Wrote Looking for JJ

Why do children kill? As a writer this was a question I wanted to explore.

When a child is killed or murdered there is a collective gasp among all parents. We simply cannot bear it. We cling to the television news and search out the details in the newspaper. We empathize with the mother and father, holding our breath as they appear on the television screen in our living room. They are there, in front of us, unwelcome guests; our worst nightmare. They sit whey faced and blink at the cameras while stuttering out an appeal that is most probably falling on dead ears. If the killer is caught then we have someone to hate. There is a sense of grim resignation. We know that such people exist. They are monsters in disguise who live among us.

But when the killer of a child is another child then we are thrown into turmoil. How can this be? Who can explain it? Children are innocent. They are the victims not the predators.

Even now the names of Mary Bell and the boys who killed James Bulger, Robert Thomson and Jon Venables, are regularly in the news. Whether it is in reference to their original crimes or reporting the fact that they, all three, are now free, living a normal life, under assumed names. Maybe one of them lives next door to me, or works in the petrol station up the road; possibly one of them has served me in a shop or brushed past me on Oxford Street.

Their crimes were dark and incomprehensible. They inflicted pain and took life away with astounding casualness. They covered up and lied about what they’d done often pointing the finger at others. At the same time they were children just like those they’d killed. I wanted to hate them for what they’d done but it was hard to see evil in their chubby faces, their neat fringes and glowing eyes.

Why did they do it? There have been articles about them hypothesizing on what might have led to their crimes. Gitta Sereny’s excellent book, ‘Cries Unheard’ digs deep and has Mary Bell’s own words attempting to explain her actions.

There is no neat cause and effect though. Family problems, low self esteem, learning difficulties, possible abuse. These things are all offered as possible solutions and yet what of the many other children who suffer these things day by day in appalling conditions? They do not kill. They struggle through and some of them make a decent sort of life for themselves.

But these children and others do kill. Why?

I can’t give a true answer. Only the children themselves could do that. And what if they were articulate and rational enough to provide us with an exposition of the circumstances which led them to do what they did? Wouldn’t that mean that weren’t the sort of people to be drawn into that situation in the first place? Mary Bell’s own account is wandering and confused and gives the impression of a woman who doesn’t really know why she acted in the way she did. Why would she know? How many of us can fully explain the mistakes we have made in our lives? Infidelity? Alcoholism? Desertion? Poor Parenting? Bankruptcy?

These explanations are often the stuff of fiction. Writers can imagine what led to these situations. This is our job. We imagine people and the things that happen to them. Sometimes by doing this we can offer an explanation of sorts ourselves.

This is why I wrote Looking for JJ. I wanted to imagine a child killing another child. Through that I wanted to try and find reasons.

I can’t answer for Mary Bell or the boys who killed James Bulger. I can only speak for my own character. Jennifer Jones carries many ghosts around with her and no matter how many times she changes her name or starts her life afresh she will never forget what she did. Neither will a lot of other people. They will always be Looking for JJ.

April 2005