I do think the issue of them leaving the children is overclouding people's judgement and it's making some act irrational. In the link below the bar doesn't seem that far away, but some people are acting as if they all buggered off into the next town with no-one at all checking up on the children. Yes, it was wrong and a silly thing to do with hindsight, but all this gnashing of teeth isn't really helping to find the missing child, IMO. Isn't that the most important thing?
I don't think that hindsight is the issue - it's the fact a bit of foresight could have (maybe) prevented so much pain.
You have 3 children (and let's not forget at not yet 4 Madeleine was the oldest out of all the children in the group) under 4 left alone for periods of indeterminate length, in an unfamilir, unlocked apartment when one has a star chart at home to discourage nighttime wandering.
Given the risks of leaving children unattended even before you get to the abduction potential with falling, crying, wandering out onto the carpark, all manner of kitchen based sharp and drinkable things it really is baffling that 2 doctors looked at that and gave it the OK.
I do think the issue of them leaving the children is overclouding people's judgement and it's making some act irrational. In the link below the bar doesn't seem that far away, but some people are acting as if they all buggered off into the next town with no-one at all checking up on the children. Yes, it was wrong and a silly thing to do with hindsight, but all this gnashing of teeth isn't really helping to find the missing child, IMO. Isn't that the most important thing?
I quite agree Dan. Dislike of the McCanns seems to arise from the fact that they are fairly well off/middle class and the fact that they were selfish/unthinking enough to leave the children without a babysitter. They were wrong to to that but losing a child in my view must be a constant punishment for them.
There was a case in the paper the other day of a woman who left a bathroom for a few minutes and her child drowned. To have such a mistake weighing on your conscience for the rest of your life must be terrible.
The same people who would been full of sympathy and platitudes if they'd been welfare scroungers with a history of child neglect. Oh, and the poor old McCanns made the huge mistake of not only being middle class, but articulate and good-looking. They must have done it, then. Terrible.
I don't think they are that articulate nor do they come across as middle-class. The two times I have seen Robert Murat being interviewed, he is much better spoken and more articulate than them and is far from the weirdo they tried to portray him as. Apart from Madeleine, who is the real victim in all this, I found him equally deserving of sympathy if not more so. But, according to a newspaper interview, apart from apparently still getting death threats and still suffeing emotionally from his ordeal, he has at least found personal happiness and is now married with a baby son.
I do not think that people with a history of child neglect would have got more sympathy, they would have got far less and been universally condemned - in fact, they would have been prosecuted, as it is against Portuguese law to leave small children alone. However, the McCanns made a tragic error of judgement for no reason other than satisfying their own somewhat selfish needs and, whatever they say, they will feel massive guilt and pain for the rest of their lives - it is a life sentence
All this reminds me of the mess the Greek police made of the Ben Needham investigation at the beginning, and now the Portuguese police are trying to shift the blame like the Greek police did when people started to complain. I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them, because corruption isn't unknown there, either.
You do know it was the British police who first suspected the McCanns, don't you? It was British dogs that indicated in the apartment and British police told the Portuguese police to suspect the parents.
Here's the plot. Kate and Gerry McCann, well paid middle class doctors with a successful happy life suddenly and inexplicably fall behind with their mortage. How can we pay this off, they ask themselves?
Solution: They arrange a family holiday with four other couples in Portugal. They then kill or arrange to have their young daughter killed, (the one they'd spend so long trying to have on IVF) so that they can spend months in the media spotlight and set up a Find Madeleine fund which they then siphon off to pay their extensive debts.
Sound plausible? Yeah, right. God there are a lot of people on here who let their bile and jealousy of hardworking professionals overcome any brains they may have. I think I'll leave this thread now, there doesn't seem to be many people with anything sensible to say. And as for compassion - my god.
The only person who has suggested anything as ridiculous as this is you. I can only deduce that you are deliberately trying to get the thread closed.
The only person who has suggested anything as ridiculous as this is you. I can only deduce that you are deliberately trying to get the thread closed.
Yes, that's the usual tactic...I am glad that is seems to be much harder these days to hoodwink the general public. People are getting wise to biased propaganda.
The only person who has suggested anything as ridiculous as this is you. I can only deduce that you are deliberately trying to get the thread closed.
That kind of tactic has been used over and over again on the Mc Cann threads .
People cant see that others have an opinion .I know my opinion , I am careful on DS , but I still have an opinion .
Personally speaking the Mc Canns left three little children wide open to all sorts of dangers and Madeleine paid for their careless , selfish and negletfull behaviour .
Poor little girl, all my sympthy goes to a small child who was let down so badly .
Such courage. Cast aspersions but offer no evidence. Presumably all you McCann haters out there just can't bear the fact that they're middle-class (soon to be a crime) and a normal family who didn't live off social security, take drugs or claim to come from an underprivileged background. What is this country coming to when parents who have been through the greatest hell on earth are villified like this. I hope DS close this thread. It's sad - not for the McCanns but for the McCann haters.
I don't hate the McCanns. I'm have no issue with their class (tbh, their class is irrelevant). What I have an issue with is that there are inconsistancies with the McCanns' (and friends') account of the night Madeleine went missing*. Inconsistancies that are never addressed in media coverage of the case. Instead we get skewed coverage like last night's documentary that ignores any part of the story that doesn't jib with the 'official' account.
*e.g. One of the friends was sent by Gerry to the apartment around 6pm to invite Kate and the children to go to the tennis court. Kate claims he was there for 30 seconds and simply stood in the doorway to chat to her. The friend claims that he was there much longer and actually entered the apartment to have the conversation. So which is it?
It just seems to me, that had Madeleine had a fatal accident in the apartment while the parents we're at dinner, the MCcanns would have been in huge trouble, because we are led to believe she was abducted, somehow they are absolved of their parental duties?
I have never heard the two of them actually hold their hands up and say publicly what an awful thing they did by leaving those babies alone. Rightly or wrongly I think the public ( or at least all the people I know ) would have been slightly more sympathetic toward them.
Someone mentioned earlier that this is like our Jon Benet Ramsay case and they're not wrong.
I can't quite let go of the animosity I have towards the McGanns and the situation and I wanted to take the time to explain it.
At first, like the JBR case, you're expected to feel sorry for the parents and to hope they find the little girl/her killer. When full details are realised though, things start to look a little more unsettling. Regardless of the situation, we now know that were it not for the parents actions then the child would not have been put in that situation in the first place (paraded in beauty contests/ left alone a number of nights). We go so far to think they may have killed her because whatever happened to her is actually their fault and responsibility. They left her and her siblings alone, AS DID THE OTHER PARENTS IN THE GROUP (and they were extremely lucky it didn't happen to them too) for a significant period of time. Fifteen minutes is a year when children go missing in 5 seconds. They had no concern about doing it and 'periodically' checking in on them which we now know was a brief head round the corner for the children that weren't theirs.
Children go missing/are abducted/disappear in SECONDS with the parents just around the corner. We know this, it's nothing new, and it happened in the middle of a government that was causing all of us to be a nanny state and fear all around us - we aren't even allowed to film our children in their nativity.
Yet we're supposed to feel sympathy for parents that would risk it not just once but multiple times? I'm human and compassionate. I understand the very basic decent thing for me to do and that's to feel sorry for the parents and hope they find their child. But I also know that all these years all they have done is focus on getting their daughter back that was taken from them. All I needed was two seconds from them to acknowledge their part in her disappearance and that had they, and all the other parents at that table, been more responsible it wouldn't have happened. But I can't say that because it's like kicking someone when they're down.
Calling them irresponsible parents seems to be worse than calling them murderers because it's actually true.
But the really heartbreaking part of this is remembering all of the children who didn't make it when they were taken or the ones who are still missing. We don't even know or remember half of them yet 5 years on this one case takes priority over it all.
I want to end this by saying, regardless of how I feel, anyone who has lost someone will always have my sympathy despite my negative feelings. No-one has to do anything to change my mind, they have more important things on their mind and the opinion of the public of them won't change the fact that most people might feel the same, they hope they get her back. I truly hope they do find her, I hope that Ben Needham's mother finds him. I hope they find all the lost souls out there. I hope that all those that lost their children can find the justice they need.
But pride and the need to be seen as the victim has no place in this. My attention should be on all of them, not just Madeleine.
I'm sorry. I had a lot to say on this (even more) and I had to get it out. It's driving me to distraction. Ignore if you want.
Another internet thread... another conspiracy theory. How people love conspiracy theories.
If the police - with a team of 37 detectives - have rejected any suspicion of the McCann's, that's good enough for me. Of course, if you're so inclined (and many, many people are), information like "the police - with a team of 37 detectives - have rejected..." is actually evidence for the opposite, and there will be a 1,000 blogs and "popular opinion" elsewhere in the world out there to back your cause, just like moon landings, JFK, 9//11 truthers, birthers, climate change deniers, David Kelley. There's an inexhaustible thirst for conspiracy where none exists, to make sense of a random and brutal world. As ever, people believe whatever they want to believe, and rationality doesn't come into it.
Whether or not this is a proportionate use of limited funds is another question. Still, along with all decent folks, I do hope Madeline is found alive and well.
There's one important difference, though. In the case of 9/11, birthers, and JFK there's overwhelming evidence on one side which the CT are simply ignoring. That's lacking in the McCann case (and climate change, but that's a different argument). There appears to be very little evidence for or against various theories. And I don't think any theory can be simply dismissed as 'conspiracy theory'.
........ What I have an issue with is that there are inconsistancies with the McCanns' (and friends') account of the night Madeleine went missing*. Inconsistancies that are never addressed in media coverage of the case. ...............
In any set of accounts by different people, there will always be minor inconsistencies. Even a single witness can be inconsistent. Had the accounts been completely consistent, that would have been highly suspicious.
All three kids could have just waltzed out of there (what the eff were the parents thinking??) but, no, like you, I don't think she did wander off. I think she was snatched. I recall Gerry saying Maddy's Cuddle Cat teddy (which she always slept with) had been placed on top of a chest of drawers. He immediately knew that somebody had been in the apartment as the kids couldn't have reached to put it there.
And the thing wrong with that is there is a photograph of the crime scene, clearly showing cuddle cat AND the pink blanket at the top of the BED.............;)
Calling them irresponsible parents seems to be worse than calling them murderers because it's actually true.
But the really heartbreaking part of this is remembering all of the children who didn't make it when they were taken or the ones who are still missing. We don't even know or remember half of them yet 5 years on this one case takes priority over it all.
I want to end this by saying, regardless of how I feel, anyone who has lost someone will always have my sympathy despite my negative feelings. No-one has to do anything to change my mind, they have more important things on their mind and the opinion of the public of them won't change the fact that most people might feel the same, they hope they get her back. I truly hope they do find her, I hope that Ben Needham's mother finds him. I hope they find all the lost souls out there. I hope that all those that lost their children can find the justice they need.
But pride and the need to be seen as the victim has no place in this. My attention should be on all of them, not just Madeleine.
I'm sorry. I had a lot to say on this (even more) and I had to get it out. It's driving me to distraction. Ignore if you want.
Well said. I'm no fan of the McCanns but their suffering for their own selfishness must be great. I sincerely hope that they do find Madeleine.
What in my post wasn't true ? The full content of what is in the Portuguese Police files has never been fully reported in this country. This is because our media can spot the truth better than a trained police-force ? Our media who never get things wrong & are in no way biased or corrupt (I type this watching Rupert Murdochs second day at the Leveson Inquiry)
The Gaspars evidence doesn't exist ? You're saying it was forwarded straight away to the Portuguese officers not held here for 6 months until after Amaral was removed from the inquiry after pressure from Gordon Brown ? By the way it was in Mr Amaral's book that the Gaspars evidence first became public knowledge. Some have wondered if this the real reason the McCanns have spent who knows how much money attempting to stop/limit it's publication.
To the person mocking the evidence of the two dogs - Keela & Eddie are their names - they have been used in over 200 cases & have detected blood/cadaver smell (not DNA as the last nights programme stated) that have led to convictions in all but one case - the McCanns. Don't forget Kate washed cuddle cat before these dogs were exposed to it. Watch the footage of them reacting & what they react too. Read their trainer Martin Grimes statements & how exactly these dogs are trained.
Also note - the programme implied the McCanns were cleared a year later. No - the Portuguese were saying they did not have enough evidence to secure a conviction, the McCanns were not cleared that is simply how they have spun it since.
Check out what the Fund the parents set up has been used for. It is NOT a registered charity so they do not have provide accounts of what the money raised is used for. However in 2008 they bowed to pressure & released accounting of sorts including -
Campaign Management - £123,573 (Someone was profiting from running this)
Media Monitoring - £26,113 (What's that ? Someone was paid to read papers ?)
Legal Fees & Expenses - £111, 522 (were people donating aware the money they were giving to help find Madeleine was being used to clear the parents name ?)
Website - £37,071 (to run a website for a year???)
Since then they have kept their mouths shut on what exactly the money is spent on. However I would point out all the injunctions & legal actions they have taken to stop books & stories they don't approve of being printed isn't cheap.
And the thing wrong with that is there is a photograph of the crime scene, clearly showing cuddle cat AND the pink blanket at the top of the BED.............;)
Indeed. And in a different account, either Kate or Gerry described finding the bed empty, apart from the Cuddle Cat.
Madeleine's favourite toy, her pink 'Cuddle Cat, was taken from her arms and placed beyond her reach by her kidnapper, according to new reports.
This important evidence could point to the fact that Madeleine was actually taken alive.
According to a report in the Sunday Mirror, Kate McCann knew instantly that Madeleine had been abducted when she saw that the toy had been moved from her sleeping daughter's arms and placed on a ledge way beyond the four-year-old's reach.
The paper quotes a police source as saying: "When Kate tucked Madeleine up in bed earlier in the evening she had the toy tightly in her arms as she did every night.
"So Kate was terrified when she spotted it had been left in a place too high for her to reach.
Talking about the night she went missing, she said: "I can't remember when I picked Cuddle Cat up. I don't think I did touch Cuddle Cat. I knew straight away a crime had been committed, we had no doubt about that.
It may not be significant, but it's an example of the confusion in the case, and one of the reasons why so many people are interested. It's a shame that these TV programmes don't try to address some of the confusion.
I wonder how many moroccan families with blonde kids are going to be bothered again because of McCann's. I still did not understood what exactly the "official" theory for what happened is/
The only thing we know for certain in this story is that the McCann's neglected their children, if this Kidnapper does not exist, and not a tiny bit of evidence shows that it does, they would be solely responsible for any accident that happened to the child in the period she was left totally alone. No wonder that not even from the first moment they would not even consider the most logic explanation.
It may not be significant, but it's an example of the confusion in the case, and one of the reasons why so many people are interested. It's a shame that these TV programmes don't try to address some of the confusion.
One thing I've noticed when discussing criminal cases is how much the media canet wrong and misreport, especially the press. That was particularly evident during the Joanna Yeates case. So, that should also be be kept in mind.
One thing I've noticed when discussing criminal cases is how much the media get wrong and misreport, especially the press. That was particularly evident during the Joanne Yeates case. So, that should also be be kept in mind.
Absolutely. That's one of the reasons I wish programmes last night would actually check to see what the facts are.
I was listening to a prog on local radio today about the prog last night. One caller rang in and said "It was an absolutely brilliant programme." I wondered if he saw the same one as me because I thought it was very feeble.
He also said "the parents are very intelligent people. Both of them are doctors." Well they weren't that intelligent if they didn't consider all the potential hazards of leaving 3 very small children alone.
I was listening to a prog on local radio today about the prog last night. One caller rang in and said "It was an absolutely brilliant programme." I wondered if he saw the same one as me because I thought it was very feeble.
He also said "the parents are very intelligent people. Both of them are doctors." Well they weren't that intelligent if they didn't consider all the potential hazards of leaving 3 very small children alone.
Sometimes, the higher the intelligence, the lower the common sense.
Did someone write earlier that Kate had washed Cuddle cat? That I find a bit odd. Both my boys still have their baby blankets and although I do wash them I love the smell of the boys on them. God forbid anything happen to my boys, I would never wash those blankies.
In the case of 9/11 ...... there's overwhelming evidence on one side which the CT are simply ignoring.
Sure there is - eg. tower 7 just came down out of sympathy for the other two. A textbook case of skyscraper suicide if ever there was one, but the CTers just can't bring themselves to face up to it.
Sometimes, the higher the intelligence, the lower the common sense.
Did someone write earlier that Kate had washed Cuddle cat? That I find a bit odd. Both my boys still have their baby blankets and although I do wash them I love the smell of the boys on them. God forbid anything happen to my boys, I would never wash those blankies.
According to the Sunday Mirror:
Kate washed the Cuddle Cat five days after Madeleine went missing saying it was smeared with sand and sun cream.
I don't think they are that articulate nor do they come across as middle-class. The two times I have seen Robert Murat being interviewed, he is much better spoken and more articulate than them and is far from the weirdo they tried to portray him as. Apart from Madeleine, who is the real victim in all this, I found him equally deserving of sympathy if not more so. But, according to a newspaper interview, apart from apparently still getting death threats and still suffeing emotionally from his ordeal, he has at least found personal happiness and is now married with a baby son.
I do not think that people with a history of child neglect would have got more sympathy, they would have got far less and been universally condemned - in fact, they would have been prosecuted, as it is against Portuguese law to leave small children alone. However, the McCanns made a tragic error of judgement for no reason other than satisfying their own somewhat selfish needs and, whatever they say, they will feel massive guilt and pain for the rest of their lives - it is a life sentence
Well said. The vitriol on here towards them is astonishing.
Comments
I don't think that hindsight is the issue - it's the fact a bit of foresight could have (maybe) prevented so much pain.
You have 3 children (and let's not forget at not yet 4 Madeleine was the oldest out of all the children in the group) under 4 left alone for periods of indeterminate length, in an unfamilir, unlocked apartment when one has a star chart at home to discourage nighttime wandering.
Given the risks of leaving children unattended even before you get to the abduction potential with falling, crying, wandering out onto the carpark, all manner of kitchen based sharp and drinkable things it really is baffling that 2 doctors looked at that and gave it the OK.
I quite agree Dan. Dislike of the McCanns seems to arise from the fact that they are fairly well off/middle class and the fact that they were selfish/unthinking enough to leave the children without a babysitter. They were wrong to to that but losing a child in my view must be a constant punishment for them.
There was a case in the paper the other day of a woman who left a bathroom for a few minutes and her child drowned. To have such a mistake weighing on your conscience for the rest of your life must be terrible.
I don't think they are that articulate nor do they come across as middle-class. The two times I have seen Robert Murat being interviewed, he is much better spoken and more articulate than them and is far from the weirdo they tried to portray him as. Apart from Madeleine, who is the real victim in all this, I found him equally deserving of sympathy if not more so. But, according to a newspaper interview, apart from apparently still getting death threats and still suffeing emotionally from his ordeal, he has at least found personal happiness and is now married with a baby son.
I do not think that people with a history of child neglect would have got more sympathy, they would have got far less and been universally condemned - in fact, they would have been prosecuted, as it is against Portuguese law to leave small children alone. However, the McCanns made a tragic error of judgement for no reason other than satisfying their own somewhat selfish needs and, whatever they say, they will feel massive guilt and pain for the rest of their lives - it is a life sentence
You do know it was the British police who first suspected the McCanns, don't you? It was British dogs that indicated in the apartment and British police told the Portuguese police to suspect the parents.
The only person who has suggested anything as ridiculous as this is you. I can only deduce that you are deliberately trying to get the thread closed.
Yes, that's the usual tactic...I am glad that is seems to be much harder these days to hoodwink the general public. People are getting wise to biased propaganda.
That kind of tactic has been used over and over again on the Mc Cann threads .
People cant see that others have an opinion .I know my opinion , I am careful on DS , but I still have an opinion .
Personally speaking the Mc Canns left three little children wide open to all sorts of dangers and Madeleine paid for their careless , selfish and negletfull behaviour .
Poor little girl, all my sympthy goes to a small child who was let down so badly .
I don't hate the McCanns. I'm have no issue with their class (tbh, their class is irrelevant). What I have an issue with is that there are inconsistancies with the McCanns' (and friends') account of the night Madeleine went missing*. Inconsistancies that are never addressed in media coverage of the case. Instead we get skewed coverage like last night's documentary that ignores any part of the story that doesn't jib with the 'official' account.
*e.g. One of the friends was sent by Gerry to the apartment around 6pm to invite Kate and the children to go to the tennis court. Kate claims he was there for 30 seconds and simply stood in the doorway to chat to her. The friend claims that he was there much longer and actually entered the apartment to have the conversation. So which is it?
I have never heard the two of them actually hold their hands up and say publicly what an awful thing they did by leaving those babies alone. Rightly or wrongly I think the public ( or at least all the people I know ) would have been slightly more sympathetic toward them.
I can't quite let go of the animosity I have towards the McGanns and the situation and I wanted to take the time to explain it.
At first, like the JBR case, you're expected to feel sorry for the parents and to hope they find the little girl/her killer. When full details are realised though, things start to look a little more unsettling. Regardless of the situation, we now know that were it not for the parents actions then the child would not have been put in that situation in the first place (paraded in beauty contests/ left alone a number of nights). We go so far to think they may have killed her because whatever happened to her is actually their fault and responsibility. They left her and her siblings alone, AS DID THE OTHER PARENTS IN THE GROUP (and they were extremely lucky it didn't happen to them too) for a significant period of time. Fifteen minutes is a year when children go missing in 5 seconds. They had no concern about doing it and 'periodically' checking in on them which we now know was a brief head round the corner for the children that weren't theirs.
Children go missing/are abducted/disappear in SECONDS with the parents just around the corner. We know this, it's nothing new, and it happened in the middle of a government that was causing all of us to be a nanny state and fear all around us - we aren't even allowed to film our children in their nativity.
Yet we're supposed to feel sympathy for parents that would risk it not just once but multiple times? I'm human and compassionate. I understand the very basic decent thing for me to do and that's to feel sorry for the parents and hope they find their child. But I also know that all these years all they have done is focus on getting their daughter back that was taken from them. All I needed was two seconds from them to acknowledge their part in her disappearance and that had they, and all the other parents at that table, been more responsible it wouldn't have happened. But I can't say that because it's like kicking someone when they're down.
Calling them irresponsible parents seems to be worse than calling them murderers because it's actually true.
But the really heartbreaking part of this is remembering all of the children who didn't make it when they were taken or the ones who are still missing. We don't even know or remember half of them yet 5 years on this one case takes priority over it all.
I want to end this by saying, regardless of how I feel, anyone who has lost someone will always have my sympathy despite my negative feelings. No-one has to do anything to change my mind, they have more important things on their mind and the opinion of the public of them won't change the fact that most people might feel the same, they hope they get her back. I truly hope they do find her, I hope that Ben Needham's mother finds him. I hope they find all the lost souls out there. I hope that all those that lost their children can find the justice they need.
But pride and the need to be seen as the victim has no place in this. My attention should be on all of them, not just Madeleine.
I'm sorry. I had a lot to say on this (even more) and I had to get it out. It's driving me to distraction. Ignore if you want.
There's one important difference, though. In the case of 9/11, birthers, and JFK there's overwhelming evidence on one side which the CT are simply ignoring. That's lacking in the McCann case (and climate change, but that's a different argument). There appears to be very little evidence for or against various theories. And I don't think any theory can be simply dismissed as 'conspiracy theory'.
In any set of accounts by different people, there will always be minor inconsistencies. Even a single witness can be inconsistent. Had the accounts been completely consistent, that would have been highly suspicious.
And the thing wrong with that is there is a photograph of the crime scene, clearly showing cuddle cat AND the pink blanket at the top of the BED.............;)
Well said. I'm no fan of the McCanns but their suffering for their own selfishness must be great. I sincerely hope that they do find Madeleine.
What in my post wasn't true ? The full content of what is in the Portuguese Police files has never been fully reported in this country. This is because our media can spot the truth better than a trained police-force ? Our media who never get things wrong & are in no way biased or corrupt (I type this watching Rupert Murdochs second day at the Leveson Inquiry)
The Gaspars evidence doesn't exist ? You're saying it was forwarded straight away to the Portuguese officers not held here for 6 months until after Amaral was removed from the inquiry after pressure from Gordon Brown ? By the way it was in Mr Amaral's book that the Gaspars evidence first became public knowledge. Some have wondered if this the real reason the McCanns have spent who knows how much money attempting to stop/limit it's publication.
To the person mocking the evidence of the two dogs - Keela & Eddie are their names - they have been used in over 200 cases & have detected blood/cadaver smell (not DNA as the last nights programme stated) that have led to convictions in all but one case - the McCanns. Don't forget Kate washed cuddle cat before these dogs were exposed to it. Watch the footage of them reacting & what they react too. Read their trainer Martin Grimes statements & how exactly these dogs are trained.
Also note - the programme implied the McCanns were cleared a year later. No - the Portuguese were saying they did not have enough evidence to secure a conviction, the McCanns were not cleared that is simply how they have spun it since.
Check out what the Fund the parents set up has been used for. It is NOT a registered charity so they do not have provide accounts of what the money raised is used for. However in 2008 they bowed to pressure & released accounting of sorts including -
Campaign Management - £123,573 (Someone was profiting from running this)
Media Monitoring - £26,113 (What's that ? Someone was paid to read papers ?)
Legal Fees & Expenses - £111, 522 (were people donating aware the money they were giving to help find Madeleine was being used to clear the parents name ?)
Website - £37,071 (to run a website for a year???)
Since then they have kept their mouths shut on what exactly the money is spent on. However I would point out all the injunctions & legal actions they have taken to stop books & stories they don't approve of being printed isn't cheap.
Indeed. And in a different account, either Kate or Gerry described finding the bed empty, apart from the Cuddle Cat.
pic of the toy on the bed
It may not be significant, but it's an example of the confusion in the case, and one of the reasons why so many people are interested. It's a shame that these TV programmes don't try to address some of the confusion.
The only thing we know for certain in this story is that the McCann's neglected their children, if this Kidnapper does not exist, and not a tiny bit of evidence shows that it does, they would be solely responsible for any accident that happened to the child in the period she was left totally alone. No wonder that not even from the first moment they would not even consider the most logic explanation.
One thing I've noticed when discussing criminal cases is how much the media canet wrong and misreport, especially the press. That was particularly evident during the Joanna Yeates case. So, that should also be be kept in mind.
Absolutely. That's one of the reasons I wish programmes last night would actually check to see what the facts are.
He also said "the parents are very intelligent people. Both of them are doctors." Well they weren't that intelligent if they didn't consider all the potential hazards of leaving 3 very small children alone.
Sometimes, the higher the intelligence, the lower the common sense.
Did someone write earlier that Kate had washed Cuddle cat? That I find a bit odd. Both my boys still have their baby blankets and although I do wash them I love the smell of the boys on them. God forbid anything happen to my boys, I would never wash those blankies.
Yes, you want a programme that cuts through the hyperbole and present each fact with the back up evidence.
Can of worms anyone?
According to the Sunday Mirror:
Well said. The vitriol on here towards them is astonishing.