the McCanns

[sadoldgit]

SOG - both CB Fry and Tim have confirmed they are parents.

 

Really? Interesting.

[CB Saint]

You lot have lost the plot.

[aintforever]

Really, when did they say that?

 

just a quick scan;

 

 

10pm

He said she shouted: "They've taken her, they've taken her, they've taken our little girl."

Mr McCann and the friends then ran to the apartment and began searching.

 

 

According to Kate, the bedroom window was open and the shutter up, yet they had been closed and down when Gerry checked at 9pm. Kate searched the apartment and the area immediately outside.

 

Estimated time 10.30 pm: Kate McCann was just panicking, frightened for Madeleine and wondering what happened to her, according to a statement from Fiona Payne. She described to police what she saw, when she returned to the McCann apartment, after searching the area around Ocean Club, with other members of the group of friends, for five to ten minutes, following the alert that Madeleine was missing.

 

0.10 am*police start operation and call PSP, PJ, Border and Immigration Services and Faro Airport.

 

'Silvia Batisa, head of administration at the complex, helped to comfort the family and interpret their interviews with the police: "The parents were devastated, in a panic. They wanted more police and dogs immediately. Kate said all the time, 'Please find my daughter' and 'Madeleine is beautiful'."

*

There was substantial searching involving tourists and locals for some hours. Kate remained in the apartment hoping for news, while Gerry went out and looked.

 

 

 

The PJ arrived at 1am, according to the McCanns. There was substantial searching involving tourists and locals for some hours. Kate remained in the apartment hoping for news, while Gerry went out and looked.

 

 

JOHN McCANN (Gerry McCanns' brother): He was walking the streets of Praia da Luz at half past three. I think most of the search party had disbanded by then and he was still crying his eyes out.

 

By 3.30am the police had packed it in for the night. The searching was pretty much over. Gerry and Kate were frustrated and desperate.

04:00

Gerry went out at about 4am with David Payne, another of their group, hoping to find something.

 

 

Later, at about 6am, the McCanns went out alone and walked around the scrubland on the outskirts of the village, holding hands and calling Madeleine's name. There was nobody else around and they felt utterly alone.

???

They got up at first light and went to search alone on the open scrubland beyond the resort, wandering around, calling Madeleine's name. It was cold and lonely – there was no answer.*

[CB Fry]

Ok, so why not stop with the infantile responses and answer my question?

Because I was thoroughly enjoying the inferred moral superiority from you every time you asked the question.

[sadoldgit]

Ah now I get why you are so sympathetic towards the McCanns - it is the narcissist thing! Makes sense. Okay C B Fry, I have had it with your patronising, puerile, aggressive posts and I am sure anyone reading this thread is done with the constant bickering, so I'll leave you to it for now. See if you can find someone else to pick on.

[hypochondriac]

Ah now I get why you are so sympathetic towards the McCanns - it is the narcissist thing! Makes sense. Okay C B Fry, I have had it with your patronising, puerile, aggressive posts and I am sure anyone reading this thread is done with the constant bickering, so I'll leave you to it for now. See if you can find someone else to pick on.

 

Running away is a classic tactic when you've lost the argument.

[CB Fry]

Ah now I get why you are so sympathetic towards the McCanns - it is the narcissist thing! Makes sense. Okay C B Fry, I have had it with your patronising, puerile, aggressive posts and I am sure anyone reading this thread is done with the constant bickering, so I'll leave you to it for now. See if you can find someone else to pick on.

Someone posts up info about Kate and Gerry searching for their daughter on the night she went missing and whoosh, SOG is gone.

 

That, and your snide little "you're not a parent, you don't understand" routine has also been trampled into the dust too. You've had an absolute blinder, you really have.

 

Maybe tomorrow you can yet again pretend that John Stalker agrees with you, and maybe yet again post up that interview. We'd all love to see it.

Edited 21 October, 2014 by CB Fry

[pap]

Running away is a classic tactic when you've lost the argument.

 

Sticking the knife in after everyone else has had a go is one of yours, isn't it?

 

I say fair play to SOG. This regular pack of bullies that arrives to defend the official narrative of any disputed event isn't easy to deal with the first time around. He has conducted himself with infinitely more dignity than these would-be anonymous trolls have done.

 

Their input has been frequently abusive, accusatory and amateur.

 

A fine demonstration of their works, in other words.

[hypochondriac]

Sticking the knife in after everyone else has had a go is one of yours, isn't it?

 

I say fair play to SOG. This regular pack of bullies that arrives to defend the official narrative of any disputed event isn't easy to deal with the first time around. He has conducted himself with infinitely more dignity than these would-be anonymous trolls have done.

 

Their input has been frequently abusive, accusatory and amateur.

 

A fine demonstration of their works, in other words.

 

Of course you say fair play to him. Personally I'd be wary of any endorsement from yourself.

[Minty]

You lot seem to be stuck in some kind of infinite loop. For your own sake, maybe you should all just quit? Cos if you don't, I ask again: What are you actually trying to achieve? There's far too little respect or genuine debate to reach any worthwhile conclusions, no one seems happy to agree to disagree, and all i see now is endless attempts to discredit individuals rather than the arguments.

 

By all means crack on if you think it's worth it, but think of all the real-world stuff you could actually have achieved if you hadn't wasted so much time on each other.

[CB Fry]

Sticking the knife in after everyone else has had a go is one of yours, isn't it?

 

I say fair play to SOG. This regular pack of bullies that arrives to defend the official narrative of any disputed event isn't easy to deal with the first time around. He has conducted himself with infinitely more dignity than these would-be anonymous trolls have done.

 

Their input has been frequently abusive, accusatory and amateur.

 

A fine demonstration of their works, in other words.

Lee Rigby not being a set up is not an "official narrative", sweet cheeks. It just wasn't.

 

The Boston Bomb not being a "false flag" is not an "official narrative" either. It just wasn't.

 

As you posted up there is no "official narrative" on Kate and Gerry McCann but there are people on the outer reaches of internet throwing accusations at them, mainly based on lies, misinformation, misquotations and general malevolence.

 

Let's always remember this. You do not challenge "official narratives". You're little more than a harmless fantasist.

[Halo Stickman]

The Madeleine McCann Research Group (MMRG) claim that the McCanns did not search for their daughter is rebutted here:

 

http://madeleinemythsexposed.pbworks.com/w/page/39077768/Rebuttal%20of%20%22Fact%22%2018

[aintforever]

Sticking the knife in after everyone else has had a go is one of yours, isn't it?

 

I say fair play to SOG. This regular pack of bullies that arrives to defend the official narrative of any disputed event isn't easy to deal with the first time around. He has conducted himself with infinitely more dignity than these would-be anonymous trolls have done.

 

Their input has been frequently abusive, accusatory and amateur.

 

A fine demonstration of their works, in other words.

 

Pap, no one is being bullied but it's frustrating because we keep going round in circles.

 

You say the McCanns killed her because of them looking dodgy, dogs barking etc - I ask how you think they might have done it and you don't give an answer. i have already given my theories on what I think is most likely to have happened.

 

I am genuinely interested in how you think they carried it out. How, why and when did they kill her, how did they dispose of the body and who else was in on it?

[pap]

Let's always remember this. You do not challenge "official narratives". You're little more than a harmless fantasist.

 

Going off those words, what does that make your endless participation in these discussions?

 

I think everyone has seen what your words are worth, mucker. They've seen you "stand by" them.

[CB Fry]

You lot seem to be stuck in some kind of infinite loop. For your own sake, maybe you should all just quit? Cos if you don't, I ask again: What are you actually trying to achieve? There's far too little respect or genuine debate to reach any worthwhile conclusions, no one seems happy to agree to disagree, and all i see now is endless attempts to discredit individuals rather than the arguments.

 

By all means crack on if you think it's worth it, but think of all the real-world stuff you could actually have achieved if you hadn't wasted so much time on each other.

 

It's a fair challenge. Just so you know, I am not trying to achieve anything. For me this is little more than playing fruit ninja or chucking birds at pigs or whatever those games are.

 

Line up some conspiracy freedom fighting saps with all their "challenging of official narratives" and I'll do what I can to pi ss all over it. Hose them in it, if I can.

 

Its pointless, but then so is posting up bonkers theories about the Boston bomb attack on this forum.

[CB Fry]

Going off those words, what does that make your endless participation in these discussions?

 

I think everyone has seen what your words are worth, mucker. They've seen you "stand by" them.

 

I said earlier on in this thread, and elsewhere, countless times, that all I am doing is talking down to you. That's all I do. Well, that and general relentless pi ss taking. I will keep going, I'm sure.

 

Mainly because I am printing it all out and storing them all up to share with my grandchildren. Just need to decide whether to keep them in a foolscap file, or maybe leather bind it all. Is that too much? What are you doing with your stuff?

[notnowcato]

The Madeleine McCann Research Group (MMRG) claim that the McCanns did not search for their daughter is rebutted here:

 

http://madeleinemythsexposed.pbworks.com/w/page/39077768/Rebuttal%20of%20%22Fact%22%2018

Bear, you got a problem with this link?

[PhilippineSaint]

Pap, no one is being bullied but it's frustrating because we keep going round in circles.

 

You say the McCanns killed her because of them looking dodgy, dogs barking etc - I ask how you think they might have done it and you don't give an answer. i have already given my theories on what I think is most likely to have happened.

 

I am genuinely interested in how you think they carried it out. How, why and when did they kill her, how did they dispose of the body and who else was in on it?

 

What do you suppose the Tapas were made of or even Madeleine of?

[Bearsy]

Bear, you got a problem with this link?

 

misleading url, disappointing lack of madeline sex poses

[sadoldgit]

Someone posts up info about Kate and Gerry searching for their daughter on the night she went missing and whoosh, SOG is gone.

 

That, and your snide little "you're not a parent, you don't understand" routine has also been trampled into the dust too. You've had an absolute blinder, you really have.

 

Maybe tomorrow you can yet again pretend that John Stalker agrees with you, and maybe yet again post up that interview. We'd all love to see it.

 

Given that Stalker says that he thinks the McCanns and the rest of the Tapas bunch are hiding something I dont really see what your point is?

 

I am gone because I am sick and tired of you and your pathetic attempt to make yourself feel better by attacking others. You show clear traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I was married to someone with NPD and have no desire to waste any more time in providing them with the attention they crave. I have found a forum elsewhere where people discuss the McCann disapperance and guess what, there is real debate and no belittling of other posters. It wont appeal to you C B Fry because you know everything and are always right. They also don't tolerate snide comments and digs so you are way better off here.

 

Minty is right. This thread is a sad waste of time and space.

[pap]

Given that Stalker says that he thinks the McCanns and the rest of the Tapas bunch are hiding something I dont really see what your point is?

 

I am gone because I am sick and tired of you and your pathetic attempt to make yourself feel better by attacking others. You show clear traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I was married to someone with NPD and have no desire to waste any more time in providing them with the attention they crave. I have found a forum elsewhere where people discuss the McCann disapperance and guess what, there is real debate and no belittling of other posters. It wont appeal to you C B Fry because you know everything and are always right. They also don't tolerate snide comments and digs so you are way better off here.

 

Minty is right. This thread is a sad waste of time and space.

 

As I said before, much respect for the way you've handled yourself in this thread in the face of some fairly co-ordinated attacks.

 

I'm in agreement with yourself and Minty for the time being though.

[Whitey Grandad]

I find it very disappointing that a thread about the disappearance of a poor little girl should descend into personal attacks.

[Verbal]

I find it very disappointing that a thread about the disappearance of a poor little girl should descend into personal attacks.

 

I agree. No one should have to suffer the loss of their child then endure the gross libels of overly suggestible conspiracy enthusiasts.

 

Perspective. That's what you're talking about, right? Because if you're talking about the delicate flowers on here, who even turn any opposition to their views as a 'coordinated' conspiracy, then perspective is what you've lost.

 

To pick up on Minty's question, I think there are two rational ways to deal with the conspiro-crowd.

 

One, as aintforever does, for example, is to try to debunk. Personally, I think this is a bit of a fool's errand, because it drags you into conspiro-world in a way that's ultimately a complete waste of time and effort.

 

The other is to tackle the mindset itself. And to my mind, C B does an excellent job of that. His ridicule contains some unpleasant truths - but truths nonetheless - about the narcissistic, paranoid and, frankly, simple-minded roots of these personal attacks - whether these attacks are aimed at the McCanns, the Rigby family, or the Boston bombing victims.

 

Again, for perspective, you have to contrast the squealing of hurt feelings among the conspiracists with their borderline sociopathic attacks on the bereaved, the injured and the dead.

[hypochondriac]

Given that Stalker says that he thinks the McCanns and the rest of the Tapas bunch are hiding something I dont really see what your point is?

 

I am gone because I am sick and tired of you and your pathetic attempt to make yourself feel better by attacking others. You show clear traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I was married to someone with NPD and have no desire to waste any more time in providing them with the attention they crave. I have found a forum elsewhere where people discuss the McCann disapperance and guess what, there is real debate and no belittling of other posters. It wont appeal to you C B Fry because you know everything and are always right. They also don't tolerate snide comments and digs so you are way better off here.

 

Minty is right. This thread is a sad waste of time and space.

 

I think minty was referring to you and your posts as much as anyone else's. Ps is the forum the David icke one? It is isn't it.

[CB Fry]

Given that Stalker says that he thinks the McCanns and the rest of the Tapas bunch are hiding something I dont really see what your point is?

 

I am gone because I am sick and tired of you and your pathetic attempt to make yourself feel better by attacking others. You show clear traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I was married to someone with NPD and have no desire to waste any more time in providing them with the attention they crave. I have found a forum elsewhere where people discuss the McCann disapperance and guess what, there is real debate and no belittling of other posters. It wont appeal to you C B Fry because you know everything and are always right. They also don't tolerate snide comments and digs so you are way better off here.

 

Minty is right. This thread is a sad waste of time and space.

 

You've found a site where you can perpetuate your hateful lies about the McCanns with like minded liars, then good for you.

 

If it keeps your ill-informed nonsense off this forum then everyone's a winner.

[CB Fry]

I find it very disappointing that a thread about the disappearance of a poor little girl should descend into personal attacks.

Quite. The attacks on the McCanns on here by the likes of SOG have been pretty shameful.

[aintforever]

Given that Stalker says that he thinks the McCanns and the rest of the Tapas bunch are hiding something I dont really see what your point is?

 

I am gone because I am sick and tired of you and your pathetic attempt to make yourself feel better by attacking others. You show clear traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I was married to someone with NPD and have no desire to waste any more time in providing them with the attention they crave. I have found a forum elsewhere where people discuss the McCann disapperance and guess what, there is real debate and no belittling of other posters. It wont appeal to you C B Fry because you know everything and are always right. They also don't tolerate snide comments and digs so you are way better off here.

 

Minty is right. This thread is a sad waste of time and space.

 

If you are so interested in the case why don't you post a timeline of how you think the McCanns could have carried it out that ties in with the evidence?

 

Seems to me you are more interested in perpetuating a malicious conspiracy theory than try to get to the bottom of what actually happened - that's why people get the hump and why you get the responses you do.

 

I don't have much time for people like the McCanns who neglect their children so would love to see them go down if they did it. I sort of buy the idea that people like that could drug their kid and maybe it went wrong (that's what I originally thought). But as soon as you look at the evidence in detail and the window of opportunity available I just don't think it's a realistic theory at all. Tell us how they could have done it and maybe you can change my mind...

[Gemmel]

Missing BBC1

 

A take on Maddie's story?

[OldNick]

How did the initial investigation pan out then? Did it end with the McCanns being charged with killing their own child and hiding the body? Or being charged with some other concealment of what they did? Or did it end with them being charged with absolutely nothing at all?

 

For the benefit of the topic, can you remind me?

 

Because, and you know, I don't have any empathy or nothing so just disregard it if you like, but you'd kinda think Joao, Ricardo and Tavares would be the people most driven to land this conviction, wouldn't they?

 

I mean, they're the initial investigating team. So you'd think they investigated, wouldn't you?

 

You know, I lack empathy, but why do people on the internet retreading random statements completely out of context of the entire investigation (where the McCanns are no longer suspects) how does this move the investigation on?

 

What have you seen with your expert eye here that Jaoa, Ricardo and Tavares have missed?

 

PS - don't get SOG to read the statements for you. He still thinks John Stalker thinks they dun it.

I assume it is very difficult to get a prosecution if there is no body. It would be hard charge anybody, abductor or another.

It is fair to assume also that the dogs who can sense blood have not been reading the Redtops and so been swayed by them.

The posters on here who have doubts are rightfully putting their views across, you may think they are weird barmy etc but there is doubt still.

I myself truly hope Maddie is alive and very happy, that would be the best outcome.

The guilt that the McCanns must face every day must be awful, however negligent they were they dont deserve such punishment. it is a credit that their marriage has survived under such pressure

[solentstars]

I assume it is very difficult to get a prosecution if there is no body. It would be hard charge anybody, abductor or another.

It is fair to assume also that the dogs who can sense blood have not been reading the Redtops and so been swayed by them.

The posters on here who have doubts are rightfully putting their views across, you may think they are weird barmy etc but there is doubt still.

I myself truly hope Maddie is alive and very happy, that would be the best outcome.

The guilt that the McCanns must face every day must be awful, however negligent they were they dont deserve such punishment. it is a credit that their marriage has survived under such pressure

totally agree and i come from a era when kids were left outside pubs or in bottle and jug bar while there parents (mainly the dads)drank inside occasionally popping out to give us crisps or a fizzy drink..so i expect they would be classed has bad parents now....we all make mistakes and i would think they would be devastated to lose a child like that and have to live with the fact everyday.

[sadoldgit]

I promised myself that I wouldn't be seduced back here after getting "Fryed" but I spent an hour watching a programme last night which purported to deal with why the McCanns get so much press and the parents of other missing children get essentially none after the initial interest. In effect the programme turned out to be mostly another McCann puff piece. It skirted round the more important issues and seemed to focus on how driven the McCanns are, what lovely people they are and how they have been so badly treated by the media (the talking media heads they rolled out all seemed to do their very best to redress the balance - all nice middle class people too!). Very disappointing in all. I did feel very sorry for the one guy they chose to interview whose son had disappeared and who thought it was a class thing as to why his son gets no media coverage at all.

[Wurzel]

Is anyone else watching the current series of The missing on BBC1? Two parents dealing with the aftermath of a child (boy) going missing abroad (France). Ring any bells.? IMO the appearance of the parents bears more than a coincidental resemblance to Kate and Gerry. Wonder if it was deliberate?

 

[bridge too far]

It's an awesome drama isn't it Wurzel. Had to record last night's episode (because of the football) and I've just caught up.

 

Like you, I thought at the outset that it mirrored the McCann case.

[Gemmel]

******** to this multi posting Wurzel....look a few posts above you

[Halo Stickman]

On the subject of the McCanns, I recently read Looking for Madeleine by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan. FWIW, below is the blurb for the book:

 

Book Description

The definitive account of the Madeleine McCann case.

 

Product Description

The 2007 disappearance of a three-year-old Madeleine McCann from her bed in Portugal proved an instant, worldwide sensation. There's been nothing like it since America's Lindbergh kidnapping eighty years ago.

 

Award-winning authors Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan have produced the first independent, objective account of the case. They have examined the released Portuguese files, conducted in-depth interviews and original research to answer the questions: What can we really know about this most emotive of cases? What can we learn from it?

 

The Portuguese police probe ran into a dead end. Parents Gerry and Kate McCann, however, have never given up the search for Madeleine. They blitzed the media, hired private detectives, kept the case in the public eye. Speculation that the McCanns played a role in their daughter's fate, the authors demonstrate, is unfounded.

 

Scotland Yard's 'investigative review', ordered by the Prime Minister and begun in 2011, identified some 200 potential leads. The Yard's suspects have included a mystery paedophile who preyed on other British children. The Detective Chief Inspector heading the probe has said the little girl may still be alive.

 

The McCann family's private tragedy has touched millions around the world and aroused sometimes dark controversy. Looking for Madeleine is the most definitive account possible.

 

About the Author

Anthony Summers, formally a deputy editor of the BBC's Panorama, is the author of eight investigative books and the only two-time winner of the Crime Writers' Association's top award for non-fiction. Robbyn Swan, his co-author and wife, has partnered Summers on three previous biographies and investigations. Their book The Eleventh Day, on the 9/11 attacks, was a Finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize.

 

 

I don’t want to rekindle the endless debate about what happened to Madeleine; therefore, I’ll limit my comments to saying that the book concludes that the McCanns were not responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance (over and beyond leaving her and her siblings unattended).

 

The book was an interesting and quite informative read, but what I found almost as interesting was the breakdown of the Readers’ Reviews on Amazon:

 

5 Stars 29

4 Stars 4

3 Stars 1

2 Stars 2

1 Star 53

 

Reading the review comments it appears that those who have already made their minds up that the McCanns are responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance hate the book, whereas those who have made their minds up that the McCanns are not responsible love the book … with just a few dithering souls in between.

 

I can’t recall ever seeing a Readers’ Review so polarised. It seems that people have made their minds up concerning this issue and they ain’t gonna be shifted!

 

PS I did not write a review.

[Wurzel]

It's an awesome drama isn't it Wurzel. Had to record last night's episode (because of the football) and I've just caught up.

 

Like you, I thought at the outset that it mirrored the McCann case.

 

It is an excellent series so far. 4 episodes in and I've already changed my mind 3 times about where it's heading.

 

******** to this multi posting Wurzel....look a few posts above you

 

Ooops, didn't spot that, though to be fair my point was more about the physical resemblance than the storyline itself. Surprised the BBC got the likenesses past the McCann lawyers !

[sadoldgit]

The actress playing the lead said it wasn't meant to be a parallel (she would wouldn't she) and that it goes off in a different direction. Some parts are clearly different but others very similar (the rich benefactor - the red herring with the would be peado etc). Good programme though and does keep you guessing.

 

Halo - I think you are right about people's perceptions about the McCanns. I'll give the book a read.

[Halo Stickman]

Halo - I think you are right about people's perceptions about the McCanns. I'll give the book a read.

 

Ok, SOG - it will be interesting to read your views on it.

[sadoldgit]

Trying to find stuff that is balanced is difficult. Much of the stuff I have read online is either firmly pro or against the McCanns. There is also a lot of stuff that is taken out of context - again from both camps. It is hard to see how this will ever be resolved unless they find a body.

[Halo Stickman]

Trying to find stuff that is balanced is difficult. Much of the stuff I have read online is either firmly pro or against the McCanns. There is also a lot of stuff that is taken out of context - again from both camps. It is hard to see how this will ever be resolved unless they find a body.

 

Sadly, that seems to be the way of it with most subjects/events these days, but, seemingly, especially so with the McCann case. The authors of this book appear to be more ‘independent’ than any other book or website dedicated to this sad incident; that’s the reason why I read it. Of course, there are people who will argue that they aren’t as ‘neutral’ as they claim, but I think that will always be the case. I agree with you that without the discovery of Madeleine, or of her body, it’s highly unlikely this case will ever be resolved. Whatever our differing views as to why or how this happened, it’s a tragic case.

[sadoldgit]

The father of a seven year-old boy who has been missing for 11 years has claimed that the parents of Madeleine McCann have received “favouritism” over the campaign to find their daughter.

 

 

 

Norfolk Police launched an extensive hunt for Daniel Entwistle, of Great Yarmouth, who failed to return to his home on May 4 2003, four years to the day before the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal.

 

Daniel was captured on a local shop’s CCTV and his bike was found near a local quay, leading to a river bed search. But he remains missing 11 years on and the case faded from the headlines.

 

David Entwistle, Daniel’s father, questioned the resources and media attention which the McCann case still receives, seven years after her unresolved disappearance.

 

“I’ve got 110% respect for Madeleine. I hope she does get found but I can’t understand why they’re in the paper every couple of days,” Mr Entwistle told Channel 5 documentary, Madeleine McCann: A Global Obsession, which airs Tuesday night.

 

He added: “Feels like to me it’s favouritism because they’re up there and they’re always…they’re campaigning, they’re getting money here, there and left right and centre.”

 

 

 

The Madeleine McCann case

 

 

Contributors to the programme claimed that the disparity was because the McCanns were a “middle-class family” who were able to successfully “market” their family tragedy.

 

Judy Bachrach, Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair who covered the case and interviewed the McCanns, said: “Gerry McCann (father) made it his business to, as he put it me in an interview with me, ‘Market his child.’ He called it the ‘Marketing of Madeleine McCann’ and this, of course, was the act of a very desperate father. I cannot tell you that it worked perfectly, it worked very imperfectly but it worked.”

 

Ms Bachrach added: “They were told by child abduction experts ‘If you cry on television…the kidnapper might get off on that.’ Horrible though that sounds, so she (Kate, mother) had to keep a stoic face on television. She couldn’t weep, she couldn’t look distraught and so she looked kind of like a robot.”

 

Matthew Parris, the Times columnist, told the programme: “Middle class people are better at arousing interest and at keeping attention focused. Sometimes they have the levers at their disposal that working class people don’t.”

 

Journalist Martin Bright said: “If you’re a missing person, you shouldn’t be a boy, black or working class. I find it very worrying that journalists and editors go down the route of being particularly selective about the missing children that they focus on.”

 

Kate and Gerry McCann: Madeleine McCann was abducted in Portugal in May 2007. The press treatment of her parents, particularly by the Daily Star and Express newspapers, is heavily criticised. Leveson states: “If ever there was an example of a story which ran totally out of control, this is one.” The press appetite for news of Madeleine is described as “insatiable” with the search for the truth “the first principle to be sacrificed”. A number of titles were described as being “guilty of gross libels” with “gross inaccuracy” in reporting criticised as “bluntly outrageous”. The parents became “a news item, a commodity, almost a piece of public property”. And because the McCanns had tried to engage with the media, the press behaved as though “they had waived their right to privacy.” Kate and Gerry McCann speak about their missing daughter Madeleine

 

Martin Frizell, GMTV editor at the time of the Entwistle and McCann cases, who narrated the documentary, admitted: “ The police investigation continued (into Daniel Entwistle) but after a few days and with no donations and no PR campaign, there was nothing new to report so we, and the rest of the media, quietly stopped covering it. It’s the nature of news that other stories were developing at the time. Eleven years on, Daniel’s still missing.”

 

Michael Cole, PR advisor to Mohamed Al Fayed, said of the negative media coverage that McCanns subsequently received: “The monstering of the McCanns by the British media is one of the most shameful episodes of the British free press. It should not have happened. Perhaps it was the heat of the Algarve sun or the fact that they were a long way from Fleet Street, though a collective madness seemed to afflict the whole of the British Press corp.”

 

In 2008, the McCanns accepted £550,000 libel damages and front-page apologies from Express Newspapers over false allegations that they were responsible for Madeleine’s death.

 

Madeleine McCann: A Global Obsession airs tonight at 7pm on Channel 5

 

This from the Independent the day the programme aired.

[sadoldgit]

What bothers me about the Matthew Parris comment is that there must be other "middle class" missing children that we no longer hear about surely?

[pap]

Sadly, that seems to be the way of it with most subjects/events these days, but, seemingly, especially so with the McCann case. The authors of this book appear to be more ‘independent’ than any other book or website dedicated to this sad incident; that’s the reason why I read it. Of course, there are people who will argue that they aren’t as ‘neutral’ as they claim, but I think that will always be the case. I agree with you that without the discovery of Madeleine, or of her body, it’s highly unlikely this case will ever be resolved. Whatever our differing views as to why or how this happened, it’s a tragic case.

 

Given that Carter Ruck have been set on people that have written critical books about the McCanns, it was very brave of them to write this book. I mean, what if their conclusions had led elsewhere?

 

I'm unconvinced by the authors. If they were really independent, why didn't they bother interviewing Amaral. Two sides to every story, right?

[Halo Stickman]

I don’t want to rekindle the endless debate about what happened to Madeleine; therefore, I’ll limit my comments to saying that the book concludes that the McCanns were not responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance (over and beyond leaving her and her siblings unattended).

 

I can sense an endless debate coming on.

 

Only got myself to blame, I suppose.

[CB Fry]

http://news.sky.com/story/1473806/ex-detective-to-pay-mccanns-357000-for-libel

 

Another victory for truth vs lies today, then.

 

Let's hope they go after Reginald D Hall and his seventeen hour epic fairy tale next.

[Coxford_lou]

http://news.sky.com/story/1473806/ex-detective-to-pay-mccanns-357000-for-libel

 

Another victory for truth vs lies today, then.

 

Let's hope they go after Reginald D Hall and his seventeen hour epic fairy tale next.

 

Excellent. Though won't go anywhere near enough compensating for the horrendous experience those people went through.

[Bearsy]

Do you really want to live in a society where we can't baselessly accuse grieving parents of murdering their own children?

[CB Fry]

Excellent. Though won't go anywhere near enough compensating for the horrendous experience those people went through.

Absolutely. Glad we agree Lou.

[Verbal]

Excellent. Though won't go anywhere near enough compensating for the horrendous experience those people went through.

 

And will continue to go through - as this thread alone has demonstrated, there are plenty of swivel-eyed loons out there ready with their vicious finger-pointing, holier-than-thou bull**** and wildly ludicrous conspiracy theories. None of this behaviour will change - just as the conviction of Lee Rigby's murderers didn't change the crass conspiracy theories that he was a crisis actor, and just as the conviction of Tsarnaev won't change the low-hanging minds of those who make the same claims about the Boston bombing killers' dead and badly maimed victims.

[Coxford_lou]

Absolutely. Glad we agree Lou.

 

Once I get past the bark, I think I probably agree with you on a lot of things.