[Archived] The Mccann Saga

[Sydney Rovers]

Before making any assertions, I would suggest that people read about the death of Azaria Chamberlain at a campsite at Uluru NT.

There are some similarities between the disappearance of both children, the demeanour of the parents, particularly the mother, the quality of the police investigation and the role of the media.

Lindy Chamberlain was originally found guilty and sent to gaol but subsequently found to have been the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice and released. The so-called forensic evidence was proved to be incorrect and many "expert witnesses" were made to look somewhat foolish.

I also remember the amount of conspiracy theories that was coming out from the media and other sources when Azaria disappeared.

[Paul]

A fine point well put. I had mentioned the case of the dingo and the baby at work the other day

My wife mentioned this one at the weekend as part of her view the Portugese police are now looking for someone to prosecute and the McCanns are the best target.

One aspect that hasn't been mentioned in discussion on here is the collusion required to cover up for the McCanns if they are responsible. Apparently they were on holiday with a group of friends, considering the time needed to commit the acts of which they are suspected, it would require others in their group to lie to cover any discrepanacies in the time-scales etc.

[Flopsy]

1, it's "speech", not speach

2, I hope that you're never called up as a juror. Relying on "gut feeling" rather than proven evidence is something that beggars belief. In an earlier post I mentioned the Azaria Chamberlain case. The attitude that you just expressed consigned an innocent person to spend a few years behind bars before she was "proven" to be innocent.

But Dave, 1) Im not the prosecuting force and 2) I'm not a juror and 3) my gut feeling will not mean that they're guilty or not, a feeling that I've had from the start of the case, not just when the Police decided to charge the parents.

[SouthAussieRover]

I cant believe the hypocracy!

It's spelt hypocrisy.

[RevidgeBlue]

They are not responsible for their daughter's disappearance. She was clearly abducted and any other more sensational angle is likely the product of the press's cynical ploy to sell more papers to a voyeuristic public.

Rovermatt, I thought you were meant to be a trainee lawyer, there's absolutely no way you definitively come to that conclusion.

The Portugese Police have been portrayed as bungling Clouseau types in the media over here, but they know far more about the case than any of us and clearly seem to believe on the basis of 1000 pages worth of evidence collected that the McCann's killed Madeline accidentally.

In my view that's the only feasible explanation as to what happened as well. I think if she'd been abducted, in the light of the scale of the "Find Maddie" campaign, she'd have turned up by now unharmed or otherwise.

However that's only my view. I can't go around making statements like "The McCann's clearlly killed Madeline" any more than you can say "She was clearly abducted."

Also agree with those who have remarked on the kidglove treatment the couple have been getting from the British Press in the light of damning accusations. If they were off a Council Estate and not two well to do doctors, the likes of the Daily Mail would have been tearing them from limb to limb instead of being nauseatingly sympathetic.

Desperately sad business either way

[Plastic Head]

I have no opinion on the matter.

[Anti Euro Smiths Fan]

I have no opinion on the matter.

Thank you for your fantastic and informative contribution to the thread.

"I trust the McCanns absolutely implicitly," says Sir Richard Branson

It could be a bit embarrassing for the publicity-seeking Richard Branson if the McCanns are convicted and found guilty. Personally if I was a billionaire with a spare 100 grand to give away, I'd be more inclined to give it to a children's missing persons charity, rather than donate it to two people who might - I stress might be guilty of a terrible crime.

I'm keeping an open mind about the McCanns. I don't know the forensic evidence against them so I'm not going to start throwing stones at them. A few months ago I didn't suspect them of being involved. It's only in recent weeks that a doubt has crept in. The father, Gerry McCann, hasn't struck me as a guilty man. But I may be wrong.

The Portugese Police have been portrayed as bungling Clouseau types.

I think the Portugese police have certainly made a string of basic errors. They seemed to be painfully slow to respond to the crime. The apartment wasn't sealed off properly, leaving the possibility that forensic evidence may have become contaminated. In the early stages they apparently failed to make proper house-to-house inquiries and failed to inform Spanish border police. So a possible kidnapper was given every opportunity to flee the country.

There were lengthy delays in calling in proper specialists and sniffer dogs to the apartment. It took the Portugese police weeks to issue an e-fit of a man who was seen carrying a child near the apartment. They then issued a ridiculous e-fit of a man who looked like an egg with a side parting.

I think the Portugese police have been completely out of their depth. They could probably cope with a stolen handbag or a missing passport in the Algarve, but when there's a missing four-year-old child with half the world's media there, the police have simply been out of their depth.

That's not me being xenophobic and just having a pop at nasty Europeans. I genuinely feel that a more competent and professional police force would have had a much better chance of solving this tragic case.

Just look at the e-fit that the police eventually came up with. How are the people of Praia da Luz supposed to identify someone from that picture ?

[cletus]

They then issued a ridiculous e-fit of a man who looked like an egg with a side parting.

He does look dodgy though

[Rovermatt]

Who here wouldn't be suspicious of an egg with a side parting though?

[Plastic Head]

Thank you for your fantastic and informative contribution to the thread.

Just look at the e-fit that the police eventually came up with. How are the people of Praia da Luz supposed to identify someone from that picture ?

I think if I saw him walking round Darwen i'd recognize him right away !!

[blue phil]

- they are both doctors and so are very used to factually dealing with human emotions and tragedies in the raw. Some, but not all, doctors cope by giving out the mixed and artificial signals the McCanns are doing so the fact they totally failed to engage with me as people I discounted.

- loving parents just do not give sedatives to tiny children so they can have a night out. That sticks in my throat even more than them popping down the tapas bar. Surely they had enough cash to have a child alert or take a nanny with them?

The first paragraph is spot on . Doctors are probably the least likely members of the population liable to give in to the demands of the media (and the general public if truth be told ) for public displays of hysteria .

One of the most dismal outcomes of all this (apart from the obvious of course) is that the McCanns have been obliged to hire public relations people to deal with the endless soap opera hype of it all and the wild accusations that (as we've seen in this thread and in the above quote) are now assumed to be "facts".

We claim to be a more caring society , passing silly anti discrimination laws on this that and the other , sticking yellow ribbons all over the place , weeping over the deaths of people we don't even know . I reckon it's all a sham and we've never been a more brutalised society .

The bottom line is that the McCanns are innocent until proven guilty and it's beyond belief that the Portuguese "detectives" will ever find evidence to prove anything . To me that spells the end of the matter for the time being .

[cletus]

The British media (red tops to be more precise) i feel are an absolute disgrace & embarrassment to this country. The Star is the most guilty in the McCann case. They`ve hung drawn & quartered the parents without a single shred of evidence.....but it sells papers.

I`d love to meet their main 'journalist' (yes that`s a laugh isn`t it!) who is covering this story. I`d beat the living cr@p out of him with great pleasure.

[Paul]

The British media (red tops to be more precise) i feel are an absolute disgrace & embarrassment to this country. The Star is the most guilty in the McCann case. They`ve hung drawn & quartered the parents without a single shred of evidence.....but it sells papers.

I`d love to meet their main 'journalist' (yes that`s a laugh isn`t it!) who is covering this story. I`d beat the living cr@p out of him with great pleasure.

Interesting comment in today's Independent:

"......it was a direct call by Mr McCann to Rebekah Wade (editor? of the Sun) last week that resulted in a Sun splash and inside headline: 'There's no proof'. By contrast, the day before the paper ran with the headline: Guilty or Innocent'.

Says it all really.

[jim mk2]

The papers have been running speculative stories over the past 7-10 days with information provided by the Portguese police.

The official Portguese police head of PR in the case resigned his post last week because officers were providing a constant stream of speculative stories to the press without his approval.

Probably another example of the shambolic police operation. Nothing new there then.

[dave birch]

Interesting comment in today's Independent:

"......it was a direct call by Mr McCann to Rebekah Wade (editor? of the Sun) last week that resulted in a Sun splash and inside headline: 'There's no proof'. By contrast, the day before the paper ran with the headline: Guilty or Innocent'.

Says it all really.

It does say it all.

I have long said that the newspapers of the English speaking world are a disgrace.

And yes, John, I include those in Australia, a disgrace, very few "reports", plenty of personal opinions.

[Presty On Tour]

i read this morning that maddie's dna has been found in the rental car, the fact that her dna is on her toys and perhaps even on the other children proves nothing at all acording to reports.

i think even jessica fletcher would have trouble with this case.

[MCMC1875]

It does say it all.

I have long said that the newspapers of the English speaking world are a disgrace.

And yes, John, I include those in Australia, a disgrace, very few "reports", plenty of personal opinions.

DB

This situation exists because the papers are no longer quick enough to report news and now resort to filling their pages with opinions on news that has already been broadcast.

[dave birch]

MC, indeed, good point.

[jim mk2]

DB

This situation exists because the papers are no longer quick enough to report news and now resort to filling their pages with opinions on news that has already been broadcast.

If in doubt blame the press. Has always been thus Lord H-H.

Nothing wrong with the Sun's stance; this is a volatile situation which is changing daily. Speculation and facts are becoming muddled but the papers are only reporting what they have been told by police.

[MCMC1875]

*edit*

[jim mk2]

jim

I wasn't referring to this topic specifically, but to the current role of the papers generally, in the internet, mobile phone (etc) era.

Newspapers are changing and evolving all the time. They have survived and flourished despite competition over the past 70 years from the wireless, television and now the internet. There will always be a market for the well written word, Daily Mail excluded of course.

[blue phil]

There speaks an ex Murdoch lackey who not only accepts pitifully low standards in the media but positively embraces them .....

[Cheshireblue]

As long as they are publishing defamatory comments, Doris is happy with that.

It's why he fits in so well at Murdoch Towers.

[jim mk2]

There speaks an ex Murdoch lackey who not only accepts pitifully low standards in the media but positively embraces them .....

......... and there speaks a Daily Mail reader who not only reads a pitiful organ but positively embraces it

[blue phil]

Nothing wrong with the Sun's stance; this is a volatile situation which is changing daily. Speculation and facts are becoming muddled but the papers are only reporting what they have been told by police.

Nowt wrong with the sun !

Papers only reporting what they have been told by the police !

Keep it up jim - I love seeing what little is left of your credibility slipping away