The toddler in the photo is James Bulger. He is being led away from his mother by one of the two 10-year-old boys who abducted and would later murder him. At the trial it was established that at this location, one of the boys threw blue Humbrol modelling paint, which they had shoplifted earlier, into Bulger’s left eye. They kicked and stomped on him, and threw bricks and stones at him. Batteries were placed in Bulger’s mouth. Police believed some batteries may have been also been inserted into his anus. Finally, a 22-pound iron bar, described in court as a railway fish plate, was dropped on him. Bulger suffered ten skull fractures as a result of the iron bar striking his head. Dr. Alan Williams, the case’s pathologist, stated that Bulger suffered so many injuries that none could be isolated as the fatal blow.
