The mother of James Bulger has expressed her disgust, as a film about her son's killers was nominated for an Oscar.
The film Detainment, written and directed by Irish filmmaker covers the 1993 killing of the English toddler in Liverpool, with the central characters depicting the two killers, Robert Thompson and John Venables, both 10-year olds.
Nominated for the best live-action short film at this year's Academy Awards next month, Detained is among five contenders in line for the award, leading to James Bulger's mother Denise Fergus calling for it to be dropped from the shortlist.
"Seeing the images of actors playing especially James .. .I just can’t just get that image out of my head again of him (James) being led away, Ms Fergus told ITV's This Morning, referring to CCTV footage of James walking with Thompson and Venables before he was killed.
An online petition for the film to be removed from the Oscars has received nearly 100,00 signatures, with Ms Fergus also taking to social media to air her views.
"It's one thing making a film like this without contacting or getting permission from James's family but another to have a child re-enact the final hours of James's life before he was brutally murdered and making myself and my family have to relive this all over again!" Ms Fergus posted on Twitter.
"After everything I've said about this so-called film and asking for it to be removed [from the shortlist], it's still been nominated for an Oscar even though over 90,000 people have signed a petition which has now been ignored just like my feelings by the Academy ... I just hope the film doesn't win its category in the Oscars."
The two killers were released from prison in 2001, before Venables was arrested in 2010 for child pornography offences.
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