Mack

Hairy minge... Brad Pitt... Who would have thought it!

I cant believe people want a British Heavyweight World Champion to lose The words are all part of the game plan to get Borat to come out swinging so Haye can get to him. David Haye is not only a brilliant fighter but also with his superb trainer Adam booth is a master in the arts of boxing, and he knows what he needs to do to beat Mr Drago into next year. I have'nt been this exited about a fight since some of the big Lewis and Benn fights. Haye will win inside 7 rounds.

For what it's worth here's my 2 pennies worth... As a parent of young children myself the thought of leaving my child unattended in an unlocked apartment right at the side of the road make me shudder. Only an incredibly foolish, naive or uncaring parent would do something like that. And I think this whole story sad story needs to be prefaced with that fact. They left their children in a vulnerable position. They let Madeleine down. With that out of the way it is undoubtedly true that the Portuguese Police were way out of their depth compared to modern British investigative techniques and under immense pressure for a result from the media they did the easy thing and pointed the finger at the parents and tried to sweep the whole thing under the carpet. This also suited the local tourism industry which was losing significant trade in the wake of the story. Lastly and for a reason I cant explain the 24 hour news media in this country has fuelled a morbid and unhealthy obsession amongst large parts of our population with stories of this nature. And people who get enthralled by these sad tales seem to become all absorbed and over critical of anyone who dare say or do anything but show unreserved support for anyone affected by such an event. This also becomes apparent with outpourings for organisations such as Help for Heroes. Life has always been unfair and has always had it's cruel and wicked people. I am sorry for the parents despite their mistakes. As a well paid upper middle class family they had the money and the wherewith-all to get a high profile media campaign going and keep it going even 4 years later. Nothing would surprise me in the outcome of this incident, even the parents knowing more than they are letting on. I can tell you there are people in the British media who still think they are culpable, and that their unorthodox social life was at times a priority over the care of their children. I have no idea if that is true or not.

I dont read the tabloids so I'll take your word on that. However if they pointed the finger at Murat without using terminology like 'alleged' etc then they will be liable to be sued by Murat for libel. At the end of the day it would not surprise me if Murat did turn out to be a sex case, they must have had suspicions about him for some reason, and he may well have had nothing to do with Madeleine's abduction but that does not mean he is not guilty of something else.

There has been a few features about Ben Needham on Sky News over the past few weeks. I think I'm right in saying he was only 18 months old when he was taken, and if that is right he may have no memory of his real parents and not even know he was taken. It appears the McCanns 'old boys network' is very well connected and runs deep and strong in the right directions. I still find it amazing that they have not recieved more critisism than they have for leaving there children alone in an unlocked appartment next to a public road. I suppose given their media backing it is easy to spin the story away from the negative aspects for the parents. At the end of the day all other issues aside there is a little 4 year old innocent girl who has been taken and that is the bottom line. I suppose we all have to begin to accept that with so much time now elapsed since her abduction the chances of her being returned alive and well are getting extremely remote indeed. Had the McCanns been without such pro-active allies this story would have been off our screens long ago. If seeing the pope helps bring the message to more people then good for Madeleines sake. When the camera crews and media vans pack up and leave Praia De Luz over the coming days and weeks and the McCanns are left alone in their search it is ultimately them who will punish themselves for being so naieve in what can be a wicked, unfair and cruel world. Those who wish harm or to gain gain profit from children are just about as low as it gets in my opinion, and it's about time our judicial system reflected that fact with the strongest possible punishments for those who break the law is such disgusting and unforgivable ways.

A very interesting read. It's obvious that the Portuguese Police are not trained or equipped to the standard of UK Police when it comes to such cases. I would also suggest that the intense media spotlight lead them to break some of their own rules in an attempt to get some breathing space to conduct an investigation. The problem with the Portuguese system is that it leads to the media feeding and reporting rumor rather than fact. That then leads to rumor becoming reported fact and the whole investigation gets clouded. Sadly the bottom line is that all the McCann's children were left unattended and in danger by their parents, and when the dust settles it will be them that has to live with that for the rest of their lives.

The McCanns are now part of a huge media machine. They have some serious media heavyweights advising them, and the goal is to keep the story in the public eye and on the news agenda for as long as possible. I would imagine the father's 48 hour dash to the UK also is partly to do with keeping the story newsworthy.

Some good points made. I'm not sure about Murat. He was involved in traslation for the Police so he was party to quite a bit of inside information right after the abduction. If he knows that the Police have nothing on him then he could just play the innocent and watch the case stall. I see the Potuguese Police are now claiming that the large reward on offer is hampering their efforts as it is turning up too many leads The stark difference in approach to Police work in Portugal compared to here is without doubt a source of much frustration. Sadly this weekend has seen a major cooling in the media's attention to the case and unless a major development occurs within the next few days I can see the major media organisations pulling out their teams in favour of other stories.

In truth Murat was first reported to the Portuguese Police by a local car hire company. He hired a car shortly after the abduction for 4 days and the people in the car hire firm suspected him of being up to something because he was panicking and demanding a car right away. This was several days before the media began to talk about Murat. This was comfirmed by the Police who explained upon Murat's detention that they were already investigating him prior to the media reporting him to them. There was and is no evidence of a window leading into the McCanns appartment being broken into. That was false information spread by the media. My personal opinion is the McCanns media machine has been covering up the true facts as to how Madeleine was taken / walked out of the appartment as when you find out the truth you lose all sympathy for the parents as they left their 2 and 3 year old kids asleep, alone in an appartment next to a public road with the patio doors unlocked. Whatever Murat and his mates were / are up to they are hiding something in my opinion. It may not have anything to do with Madeleine but it's not helping their own case to prove their innocence at the same time. In my opinion the media, whatever their motives, have done a good job of keeping this little girls face and name in the public eye and at least that may have done some good.

Interesting theories on the dog scent tracking. Police dogs are highly skilled at this work and I believe they are trained to ignore conflicting scents, but maybe it is because of the mass of smells in that area that they can no longer trace her scent. Lets not forget that under Portuguese Judicial law they cannot disclose anything relating to the investigation, so who knows what information the police have that they are not making public. These little bits and bobs the media get are just part of the full picture. It is suggested in this theory that she went looking for her parents that the first person she encountered just happened to be one of the very very few people in this Wolrd that would take advantage of that situation rather than go looking right away to return her to her parents. I suppose the main difference in this theory is that is makes the crime an opportunist rather than planned one. The reason it is odd that Murat is talking to the Russian around the time of the abduction is because the Russian guy has denied having any contact with Murat that evening. In addition there were British holidaymakers going door to door a little while after the girl's dissapearance and knocked on doors adjacent to Murat's home, where his mother says he was all evening. Yet Murat claims he did not know anything of the abduction until the next morning. In addition whitnesses claim Murat was seen walking about by some of the locals searching for Madeleine that night, contradicting his mother's claim he was at home all evening. All this is circumstantial of course and neither links or detaches these two men to the case, but it does show they are not telling the truth.

Great point! I think for once the media actually have tried for the girls sake to keep the publicity up. So you could almost say they are actually doing a good deed. However I think if this Murat trail goes cold and the Police over there look like they are coming up with nothing it wont be long before poor Madeleines case gets confined to 10 second snippets.

Apprently it's common knowledge amongst Poruguese police circles. The appartment is totally devoid of any intruder fingerprints, footprints, DNA, the appartment is totally clean. Police dogs followed her scent down to a local supermarket and there the trail goes cold. Apparently the McCanns were using a creche for the kids that was down that way and it was the most familiar route to Madeleine in Luz, so they think it's the way she would have gone to try and find her parents. The British ex-police who were over there right after the abduction said that the Portuguese police believed the probable fact she left the appartment of her own accord and wandered down to the shops means the abduction is almost certainly an unplanned crime and was more than likely commited by a local. I see there are rumors now starting to circle about contradictory evidence that puts the suspect and that Russian guy not only on the phone to each other shortly after the abduction, but also in Murats case wandering around Luz. Obviously sue to the Potuguese legal process there is a lot we dont know about the case, so it's quite possible those two know more than they are letting on. The bottom line is finding Madeleine, lets hope that happens soon.

I may be able to shed some light on the reasons for the media focus. I'm not sure who but someone in the McCann family is very well connected. Lord Bell no less is behind the media campaign and when you have such a huge heavyweight like that in your corner then it is no wonder that the spotlight falls so brightly on your case. I have nothing but sympathy for that poor little girl, wherever she may be of whatever may have happened to her she did not deserve it. The parents however are a different story, they left their small children unattended in a room right next to a public road with the sliding doors unlocked so they could eat dinner. As a father myself when I found that out, and that police dogs traced Madeleine's scent down the road away from the appartment, meaning she probably wandered out herself looking for her mum and dad, it really gets me mad. I pray that this poor little girl is returned safe and sound as soon as possible, and when she does return I hope the local police throw the book at the parents, as their neglect is the reason their daughter is missing.