I Let Him Go

On 12th February 1993, Denise Fergus life changed forever. As she was running errands at New Strand Shopping Gentre, she let go of her two-year-old son’s hand for a few seconds to take out her purse. Denise never saw her son again.

For the first time since that moment 25 years ago, Denise tells her extraordinary story in this heart-wrenching book. What if she had never taken James shopping? What if she had turned right coming out of the butcher’s, instead of left? Denise’s initial hope after seeing her son on CCTV with other children quickly turned to devastation when, two days later, James’ body was found. His killers became the youngest ever convicted murderers in UK legal history. Four minutes is all it took for them to lead James away to his death.

This is a mother’s tale of finding a way through the despair to remember the happiness that James brought his family. Above all, Denise doesn’t want her son to be remembered as a murdered child, and with this beautifully written book, she does just that.