[Archived] April Jones mising

[beerwins]

As I have been doing a lot of driving this week I have listened to a lot of updates via the radio and news updates and somethings strike me as very strange which I have never seen before in a case like this, the fact that they had'nt a clue really as to what vehicle it was, one minute it was a van then a Land rover Discovery, then a certain guy was picked up in waterproofs basically walking along a road while his car was in the garage, now it appears he is arrested on the charge of murder even though the police are still bringing specialists to help in the search.

I understand the guy may well be a known peadophile and the police may well have picked him up for routine questioning but this seems to be a real balls up so far and really does'nt help me when my 6 year old little angel asks to play out, with the world so aware by social networking how the hell can people still be getting away with this?

[Tom]

I feared the other day he must have admitted it and said he killed her and dumped her body in the river which is why the searches intensified there but seeing as they are yet to charge him that can't be the case

It seems weird that they released his name to the press without charging him so they must be sure it's him

[Sparky Marky]

Needs to be put in a room with the family and the door locked. He might have handed her onto a peado ring or something . Isn't he a friend of the family..?

[beerwins]

Yeh you seem to have hit the nail on the head, with all the rain and the floods in the river it would make it very hard to calculate a spot where a body would be after so much time, it does seem the police have him as a nailed on suspect so I suspected a confession due to the police releasing his name so soon.

The fact that they picked him up so soon is worrying ,they obviously knew a peadophile was living in the area that was capable of commiting such a crime....makes you wonder who you live near.

[Paul]

The fact that they picked him up so soon is worrying ,they obviously knew a peadophile was living in the area that was capable of commiting such a crime....makes you wonder who you live near.

Have the police named Mark Bridger as a known pedophile?

[T4E]

I don't believe they have Paul, no.

I wonder if the garage found something in the car and alerted the police, hence them picking him up not long after. The vehicle may have been in for a repair relating to the kidnapping.

It's all conjecture unfortunately, however the police releasing his name does suggest that they're pretty certain of his guilt. Hopes of finding April alive now seem slim but every time I hear an update on the radio I feel as though it may be good news. Sadly not thus far.

Not to make any assumptions on the guilt of Mark Bridger, but in any clear cut case of this type I find it very hard to argue against the death penalty.

[Pedro]

It was strange how they said the car was a white or light coloured van or something similar. The photo of the 4x4 was blue - hardly light coloured. It was left hand drive though and they were focussing on that. I believe they received some forensic evidence though that allowed them to hold him for longer and suggest that a murder had taken place.

As horrible as it sounds, the only hope the parents can have now is that they have arrested the wrong man or he has an accomplice holding her somewhere as there is no way a little child could survive out in the open for so long. It makes me sick to the stomach that these keaners can abduct or murder people to seek such brief gratification, I'd gladly see them all piled up and burnt alive.

[thenodrog]

Not wanting to

and really does'nt help me when my 6 year old little angel asks to play out, with the world so aware by social networking how the hell can people still be getting away with this?

I'm not wanting to cast judgement on the parents cos they will be devastated enough but neither of my kids would have been allowed out on their bikes and on the edge of dark / after dark at 5 years old.

[Rovermatt]

She is unlikely to be in the best of health even if she isn't dead. Does the poor kid not suffer from a medical condition, the daily medication for which she has almost certainly been denied?

[adopted scouser]

Not to make any assumptions on the guilt of Mark Bridger, but in any clear cut case of this type I find it very hard to argue against the death penalty.

I'm sure that a small percentage of these scumbags wold think twice if they knew the big one was waiting for them if caught.

[Paul]

She has cerebral palsy, no idea if this is a condition which requires regular medication or not.

The issue about playing out is very difficult and I think only parents with local knowledge can judge. My three boys all played out as often as possible without directl supervision BUT.......we live in a very small village of 33 houses, at least 50% of the households had children in the same age range, each family had the same rules. The kids always had to say where they were going, if plans changed they had to return and let us know this. There were three specific places they could not go - the cricket field as no adults around, the canal and the lodges (small resevoirs for the mill).We also had a phone system whereby the house they were playing at would ring three times and then ring off to warn the kids had left house A and should be heading straight home. All the adults knew the kids and knew where they should or should not be. So as parents we knew where they should be, other parents knew their kids were with ours etc. and we basically had this big network which allowed lots of freedom but with a distant watchful eye. Our lot were fortunate and the rules have to fit the local area.

I was always interested to note how children who visited us from towns/cities never strayed out of the boundaries of our garden, even when playing with our children who were busy rampaging all over!!

Other than driving through Machynlleth I don't know the place but a look on Google street view suggests the estate is the sort of place kids should be able to play out. Apparently April was allowed to stay out late as a reward for good school work - done the same myself many times.

[Amo]

I'm sure that a small percentage of these scumbags wold think twice if they knew the big one was waiting for them if caught.

There's no proof that capital punishment is any kind of deterrent. Anyone who does this sort of thing is clearly not in a rational state of mind to begin with.

Hopefully her body can be found asap so the police can bring justice to whoever did this and the family can have closure.

Just the skeptic in me, but I do wonder what makes the national media suddenly decide to run with that one missing child when 100,000 go missing every year?

[Paul]

I often think the same Topman. The media behaviour is pretty grim, the Daily Telegraph even set up an hourly blog. What's that about and why do people need to read it? Quite beyond me.

[Rovermatt]

She has cerebral palsy, no idea if this is a condition which requires regular medication or not.

I thought I heard her mother say she needs it regularly.

[thenodrog]

There's no proof that capital punishment is any kind of deterrent. Anyone who does this sort of thing is clearly not in a rational state of mind to begin with.

It would have been here...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1540632/Convicted-murderers-who-were-set-free-to-kill.html

[jim mk2]

Just the skeptic in me, but I do wonder what makes the national media suddenly decide to run with that one missing child when 100,000 go missing every year?

100,000 ? Somewhat over the top..

The media has focused on this story because a child going missing like this is rare. I don't subscribe to Sky but saw some coverage of the story yesterday and was appalled to see their reporters following police through woods who were presumably looking for a body. It struck me as the worst sort of voyuerism and surely would not have been tolerated in the days before "rolling news".

[adopted scouser]

100,000 ? Somewhat over the top..

The media has focused on this story because a child going missing like this is rare. I don't subscribe to Sky but saw some coverage of the story yesterday and was appalled to see their reporters following police through woods who were presumably looking for a body. It struck me as the worst sort of voyuerism and surely would not have been tolerated in the days before "rolling news".

No, worse than that is when there is a reporter at the scene, and there are idiotic members of the public smiling at the camera chatting on their mobiles. Obviously letting the folks at home know they are on the box. Infuriating.

[Amo]

It would have been here...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1540632/Convicted-murderers-who-were-set-free-to-kill.html

Thanks for missing the point.

100,000 ? Somewhat over the top..

http://www.pact-online.org/

Every year hundreds of thousands of children around the world go missing or are abducted. Over 140,000 children go missing each year in the UK alone. Some are forcibly separated from one parent by the other, some are abused, and others simply disappear, never to be found again. All face serious risk of physical harm and mental trauma, while their disappearances cause untold anguish to their families.

So, if anything, I was selling it short.

The media has focused on this story because a child going missing like this is rare.

See above. It most certainly is NOT a rare event. The media always have an angle with this kind of story, whether it's exploiting a tragedy to sell newspapers or diverting our attention away from the REAL news going on in the world.

[jim mk2]

Seems an extraordinary number but how do they define "missing" and how many of them are soon found or turn up eventually ? The government admits the statistics for missing care children are "confused" and open to interpretation.http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/statistics-for-missing-children-confusing-government-admits-7734505.html Also, how do you define "real" news when a man is charged with murdering a 5-year-old - do you expect the media to ignore it ?

[bazza]

The issue about playing out is very difficult and I think only parents with local knowledge can judge. My three boys all played out as often as possible without directl supervision BUT.......we live in a very small village of 33 houses, at least 50% of the households had children in the same age range, each family had the same rules. The kids always had to say where they were going, if plans changed they had to return and let us know this. There were three specific places they could not go - the cricket field as no adults around, the canal and the lodges (small resevoirs for the mill).We also had a phone system whereby the house they were playing at would ring three times and then ring off to warn the kids had left house A and should be heading straight home. All the adults knew the kids and knew where they should or should not be. So as parents we knew where they should be, other parents knew their kids were with ours etc. and we basically had this big network which allowed lots of freedom but with a distant watchful eye. Our lot were fortunate and the rules have to fit the local area.

What you have to do to make sure the children are safe amazes, sickens, worries, saddens me. I know it has to be done.

When I think back to my very free childhood in the 40s and 50s, I realise that this country is in one heck of a mess in 2012.

It's so sad.

There's no proof that capital punishment is any kind of deterrent. Anyone who does this sort of thing is clearly not in a rational state of mind to begin with.

I don't agree with that. Most people who commit deliberate murder know exactly what they are doing.

People like the chap who killed the two police women in Manchester, if found guilty through due process of law, should be strung up on a gallows in public at the place where they committed their grisly crime; not hanged but left dangling and kicking until they die of asphyxiation or whatever. And this should be put on you tube and beamed around the world.

I think that may be, just may be, a deterrent to many more would-be murderers.

[Paul]

What you have to do to make sure the children are safe amazes, sickens, worries, saddens me. I know it has to be done.

When I think back to my very free childhood in the 40s and 50s, I realise that this country is in one heck of a mess in 2012.

It's so sad.

Secondly, some young ladies of 14 and 15 years old are not "children". If they have the body and the beauty of a woman, they are definitely not children. So classing Saville as a paedophile is completely wrong. I know that the law says an adult starts at 16 but the law could be (and may be in the future will be) changed to 15. Then what?

Presumably we only have to worry about the ugly ones as the good looking kids are OK?

[jim mk2]

What you have to do to make sure the children are safe amazes, sickens, worries, saddens me. I know it has to be done.

When I think back to my very free childhood in the 40s and 50s, I realise that this country is in one heck of a mess in 2012.

It's so sad.

Nonsense. Children are as safe as they have ever been. Statistics show this sort of crime is no more common now than 50 years ago.

I don't agree with that. Most people who commit deliberate murder know exactly what they are doing.

People like the chap who killed the two police women in Manchester, if found guilty through due process of law, should be strung up on a gallows in public at the place where they committed their grisly crime; not hanged but left dangling and kicking until they die of asphyxiation or whatever. And this should be put on you tube and beamed around the world.

I think that may be, just may be, a deterrent to many more would-be murderers.

You are a sick human being.

[BiggusLaddus]

Nonsense. Children are as safe as they have ever been. Statistics show this sort of crime is no more common now than 50 years ago.

Agreed. My childhood in the 80s was extremely free. I used to play with total strangers or off by myself. As a result I broke several bones and gave myself several other injuries, but I wouldn't change any of it for the world.

I was the most outgoing, independent boy that I knew and I was never once approached by anyone 'suspicious'.

Kids do seem to have far less freedom these days and the only real reason I can see for it is parenting by TV, using media scaremongering as a convenient excuse.

[Amo]

I don't agree with that. Most people who commit deliberate murder know exactly what they are doing.

Well this might be too deep a subject for BRFCS, but the value of ethics is based on rationality.

In Mark Bridger's case, he was obviously aware that his desires were both morally and socially unacceptable and could completely ruin his own life if caught, yet he still chose to act on them. That's not rational behaviour.