Madeleine McCann

[MC Prussian]

Different people react in very different ways, Alex.

Point taken.

Still baffles me how much TV coverage THEY get out of a sudden, when there are hundreds, if not thousands of similar cases throughout Europe, remaining unexposed.

Kinda sad day for the Media, in my opinion.

[Head Honcho]

What surprises me most, still after all these weeks is the calm and even cold way the couple withhold their feelings.

They're on TV all week, giving out statements on a daily basis all emotionless.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't parents usually a bit more emotional?

They seem to have a bigger PR/spin team than Tony Blair so it's not surprising they've been coached for life in front of the camera.

I think behind the camera it's a different story.

[Guest]

Point taken.

Still baffles me how much TV coverage THEY get out of a sudden, when there are hundreds, if not thousands of similar cases throughout Europe, remaining unexposed.

Kinda sad day for the Media, in my opinion.

I can't say I don't agree. But these arguments have been regurgitated so many times now. It'll all die down in the end, like with Ben Needham. A brilliant chance to put that lad back in the spotlight, and give some hope to his parents, but I've seen nothing about him at all.

[Mack]

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.

[Head Honcho]

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.

It might seem harsh to say but no one's profitted more then the media in this whole situation.

Admittedly they've given the McCanns a whole lot of publicity in return but that's no excuse for the headlines in todays red tops about Robert Murat.

The two I remember are "he alledgedly had child porn on his computer" and "he is believed to have child porn on his computer"

It's an absolute disgrace if they are unfounded. I say if because they may be true, but how did they find out?

I thought the Portuguese press didn't give out details about ongoing investigations?

[Mack]

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.

[Kilworthfox]

It might seem harsh to say but no one's profitted more then the media in this whole situation.

Admittedly they've given the McCanns a whole lot of publicity in return but that's no excuse for the headlines in todays red tops about Robert Murat.

The two I remember are "he alledgedly had child porn on his computer" and "he is believed to have child porn on his computer"

It's an absolute disgrace if they are unfounded. I say if because they may be true, but how did they find out?

I thought the Portuguese press didn't give out details about ongoing investigations?

The whole situation is a fiasco!

I hear they are going to see the pope then to some major cities to promote the whole Madeline is still not found. This sounds to me like some really weird way to find your child.

Yes I feel sad for her as she has lost her parents, but as for the parents it was due to their own apathetic attitude towards the safety of their child in the 1st place.

I heard the father on the news the other day defending their actions that night suggesting that it was as if they were in the garden! Well I have a 3 month old & i would not leave my child unsupervised until they were old enough to take care of themselves and that is not at 3 years old.

In this country a child has to be at least 14 before you can leave them without adult supervision i believe?

[Head Honcho]

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.

I know that, but my point was. How do they know what was on his computer when the Portuguese police don't give out info about ongoing cases.

If they've got someone on the inside feeding them, then surely that will jeopardise any charges/prosecutions made against Murat.

[Milky]

Why are they turning to religion? Fat lot of good it's done them so far.

[Jon the Hat]

Why are they turning to religion? Fat lot of good it's done them so far.

Sounds like the Vatican jumping on the bandwagon for some publicity if you ask me. Biggest story in Europe, Catholic family = Bobs your uncle.

[Bluefoxtim]

When I opened the mercury and saw that they were selling the bands...I thought "**** off"

A 3 page report on her and how you can 'do your bit'

Then on about the 6th page there are 3 lines with news that somebody died when they crashed into a skip.

[Guest]

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.

Using words like "alledged" does not protect you from being sued for defamation.

[Jon the Hat]

When I opened the mercury and saw that they were selling the bands...I thought "**** off"

A 3 page report on her and how you can 'do your bit'

Then on about the 6th page there are 3 lines with news that somebody died when they crashed into a skip.

Driving into a skip is pretty stupid. Not sure it deserves anything higher than page 6 to be honest.

[Bluefoxtim]

Driving into a skip is pretty stupid. Not sure it deserves anything higher than page 6 to be honest.

True...but 3 pages on a girl who has been missing for about 3 weeks...and then 3 lines on someone who has just been killed the previous day?

[Tommeh]

went past the memorial in Rothley today and it's still very moving and the support is unbelivble.

I was on a bus however and there were a bunch of "emo" people with skinney jeans, metal belts etc.

well I came so close to lamping a couple of them even the girls!! they were going on about "oh look at the little memorial" "wouldn't it be funny if we nicked all those teddies on night and ripped all the ribbon down" personally I think shes dead, they may aswell give up looking" they made me absolutely sick and I came so close to flipping and telling the scum exactly what I thought about them!!

The story may not be in the news as much these days but the support is still fantastic and I'm hoping and praying they will find her alive and well.

[Stinkenzo]

This story seems to have gone quiet

[Leicester's 12th Man]

7 June 2007

MADDIE'S PARENTS 'ACCUSED'

MADELEINE McCann's parents reeled in shock yesterday when they were asked if they abducted their own daughter. Kate and Gerry McCann were in Germany to plead for help to find Madeleine, four. But instead, they were forced to protest their innocence, and defend their campaign to alert the public to their little girl's plight. The McCanns looked appalled at a news conference in Berlin when one journalist asked: "How do you feel about the fact that more and more people seem to be pointing the finger at you, saying the way you behave is not the way people would normally behave when their child is abducted?

"They seem to imply that you might have something to do with it." Kate, 38, shot back: "I don't think that is the case. I think a very small minority of people are criticising us." Glasgow-born Gerry managed to control his anger as he added: "I have never heard that anyone considers us suspects. The Portuguese police certainly don't. Without going into too much detail, we were with a large group of people and there is absolutely no way Kate and I are involved in this abduction. A source close to the family said later: "Kate and Gerry had no idea there was talk of them being even remotely suggested as suspects. It is a complete travesty to suggest something like that. Quite frankly, I was ready for them to walk out of the press conference. But they maintained their dignity."

The reporter involved, Sabine Muller of German Radio, said: "I was aware it was a difficult question but I felt it needed to be asked. I don't suspect the McCanns. If they keep staging press conferences, they have to expect uncomfortable questions."

Madeleine vanished on May 3 from her family's holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz as her parents ate dinner in a nearby restaurant. Yesterday, the McCanns did 14 interviews in 13 hours, asking German tourists who were in the Algarve at the time for information. The couple later flew on to Amsterdam, where they lived in 2004, for another round of interviews. They will visit Morocco on Sunday.

Gerry, who turned 39 on Tuesday, admitted: "I can understand why people are amazed at what Kate and I are doing. Before this happened to us, we would have been amazed. I am sure everyone in this room has asked themselves how we can continue to function when our daughter, who we love so much, is missing. In the first two or three days we were almost nonfunctional. And one of the worst feelings of all - along with the terror, anguish and despair - was helplessness. If we had locked ourselves away and waited, and waited, and waited, for a month, we would be shells of the people we are."

Gerry, a heart specialist, added: "We hope and pray every single day that this finishes. We don't want a long campaign, we want Madeleine back. I cannot envisage that in weeks and months to come we will still be doing this. But we have got to keep going. We believe Madeleine is alive."

Kate, a doctor, said facing the press was intense and difficult, but they felt they were doing something positive. She insisted that she and Gerry spent as little time as possible away from their other children, two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. Later, Kate looked alarmed outside the press conference as she faced a crowd of photographers. She was clutching Madeleine's pink Cuddle Cat toy, as she has on every public appearance since the abduction.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headl...-name_page.html

Thoughts?

[Bluefoxtim]

Was always going to happen...

[Matt]

I must admit it has slightly crossed my mind and others I have spoke to, I'm sorry prehaps there just strong people, prehaps they're staying strong for the other 2 children, Prehaps there totally different when the camera's have been turned off but I know for a fact if I was in the situation I couldn't help but cry, I couldn't help not letting me voice tremble and i'd be stuggling to speak, something there not, I really don't think they have anything to do with it, I can't see why they would do something like it, and I really hope they have nothing to do with it but I can't say it hasn't crossed my mind (I'm sure many others are the same)

Hopefully she'll be found soon, Really not looking good though

[Daggers]

Thoughts?

You just need to look at the exaggerated histrionics that take place on street corners, in town centres and on Big Brother to see that most of the dumb world believes that you should behave as if you were in the Queen Vic in order to express yourself.

Understated, reserved behaviour is now interpreted as callous and unfeeling.

It's ridiculous.

That said - the coverage the parents have managed to obtain will be bound to piss people off...dumb Britain doesn't like saturation coverage of anything and will not spot the difference between the McCann's and Girls Aloud on a publicity tour.

[stez]

You just need to look at the exaggerated histrionics that take place on street corners, in town centres and on Big Brother to see that most of the dumb world believes that you should behave as if you were in the Queen Vic in order to express yourself.

Understated, reserved behaviour is now interpreted as callous and unfeeling.

It's ridiculous.

That said - the coverage the parents have managed to obtain will be bound to piss people off...dumb Britain doesn't like saturation coverage of anything and will not spot the difference between the McCann's and Girls Aloud on a publicity tour.

i remember back in the early nineties, when the police started using people they suspected in press conferences (and usually ended up being found guilty), anyway, a father was in a press conference and, due to the situation (he later said) he was smiling in disbelief at what was happening. subsequently the murderer was caught and convicted, but it didn't stop the local twonks from making this mans life (even more of a ) hell because his reaction to the situation was 'text book' so obviously he had done the murder.

[Guest]

People react in different ways. I guess it's hard to sometimes know how another person feels, putting yourself in their shoes etc. There's all sorts of reasons why the McCanns aren't weeping and wailing, many of them wouldn't point to them being guilty.

[Stinkenzo]

Mad. But its been dragging on so long now - this was always going to happen.

[SystonFox]

they are travelling to morroco because a girl fitting maddies descreption was spotted there.

has this been covered?

no offence but my 4 yr old sis looks like maddie and she lives in syston, not far from rothley so it just strikes me that all 4 yr old girls look pretty much the same and could be anyone.

i do hope they find her though safe and well.

[AoWW]

Police are searching an area approx 7 miles from where she went missing, having received an anonymous letter claiming to know where she is buried.

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