
Madeleine McCann: Suspects Kate And Gerry And The Flight Of Fancy
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
THE SUN front page: “EXCLUSIVE – ‘We’re being set up. I’ve had enough. Let’s go home.’” This is the “ANGER OF MADDIE DAD.”
Gerry and Kate McCann, “the doctors”, are back in their home town of Rothley, Leicestershire.
Pages 4, 5, 6 & 7: A statement from Gerry McCann in which he thanks one and all for the support and adds: “But we would like to ask for our privacy to be respected now that we have returned home.”
But their private grief is public spectacle. Can they be left alone with their daughter still missing and their campaign to find her in progress?
“YOU’LL LOSE THE TWINS.” Portuguese police are said to have told Kate McCann she should confess or face losing her two children.
“FACT OR FIT-UP?” The Sun considers the claims and gives each an “EXPLANATION.”
THE SUN SAYS: “McCanns’ hell”. The McCann’s “torment gets more horrendous by the day.” Where is the “kidnapper who might still have the four-year-old child in his clutches?”
THE TIMES front page: “McCanns fly home to fights their case.”
Mr McCann says the police’s focus on them is “deeply disturbing”.
Portuguese newspapers claim the McCanns failed to answer 40 questions put to them during interviews last week. “They apparently feared that they could wrongly implicate themselves if he [sic] did so.”
Pages 6 & 7: “Puzzles and mysteries at the very heart of the investigation.”
The paper tries to answer some of these questions. It tells us: “Although a small child could be killed quickly it would take time to hide the body so that it was not discovered in the biggest search in Portuguese history.”
The paper’s David Brown does not reveal how he researched this. He just knows.
The window to the McCanns apartment might have been opened from the inside. Brown of the Wapping Yard concludes: “Or was the window opened to make it appear as if an intruder had used it to enter the bedroom?”
Hmmm. What say you Mr Brown?
DAILY MAIL front page: “Police are determined to charge McCanns with killing Madeleine. HOME…FOR HOW LONG?”
Mr McCann is said to have told a friends: “We are being completely stitched up by the Portuguese police. We are completely f*****. We should have seen this coming weeks ago and gone back to Britain.”
Pages 2 and 3: “Madeleine’s parents consult Pinochet’s lawyer.” The McCanns have consulted with Michael Caplan QC, the British lawyer who represented Chilean dictator General Pinochet, who stood accused to torture and human rights abuses. Interesting?
Pages 4 & 5: “Questions the police must answer.”
The paper wonders if Robert Murat was named as a suspect in the hope his presence might “lead the couple into committing an incriminating indiscretion?” Or not.
In attempting to answer the key questions, the Mail produces more questions.
And the evidence..? The paper’s Michael Hanson wonders just how “foolproof” forensic tests are. You can’t argue with the science. Or can you?
DAILY MIRROR front page: “Kate weeps in Maddy’s room.”
The paper’s “EXCLUSIVE” is that Kate McCann sat alone in Madeleine’s “pink-painted room” and “sobbed in despair”.
How does it know this?
A friend says: “They are not running and will clear their names.”
Pages 4 & 5: Four pictures of the McCanns: arriving at Faro airport; boarding a flight,;on the plane getting ready for take off; and walking to their family home in Rothley.
Pages 6 & 7: “40 questions they both ‘refused’ to answer’.” And: “Officers say her replies left a lot to be desired, ‘it was claimed.’”
“McCANNS FACE KILLING CHARGE.”
“WHY COPS THINK SHE WAS NOT ABDUCTED.”
Page 9: Brian Reade has a daughter the same age as Madeleine McCann. Brian, who writes for the Mirror, has found it “impossible to imagine the depth of pain and guilt”. Without a body, says Brian, “They may never be able to prove their total and complete innocence.”
DAILY EXPRESS front page: “MADELEINE ‘WE CAN PROVE PARENTS DID IT.’ Portuguese police make dramatic new claim over evidence.”
Pages 2, 3 4, 5: The paper’s Martin Evans is on flight EZY 6552. He sees the McCanns travel home. He experiences “first hand…Kate’s pain and anguish on that most difficult of journeys”.
The seatbelts sign goes off. A note is passed to Kate. It is from another passenger. Kate reads the “simple message” of support. “A female passenger kneels by Kate and gives her a “tight hug.”
Kate sobs, “tears dripping slowly down her cheeks”.
Page 6: “Questions for the McCanns.” The Express has a go at solving the mystery. It says “Case could hang over us for ever say parents”.
DAILY STAR front page: “Maddie’s parents surprise flight.” Flight?
Pages 6 & 7: “We’re not running away.”
Page 7: More from Martin Evans, who sees the McCanns’ “pained expressions”.
Pages 8 & 9: “Furious donors want cash back as pressure mounts on friends to reveal all. DAD: I’LL USE £1M MADDIE FUND TO CLEAR OUR NAMES.”
DAILY TELEGRAPH front page: “Year-long wait for McCanns to clear name.”
Says Kate McCann: “Portuguese law prohibits us from commenting on the police investigation. Despite their being so much we wish to say we are unable to do so except to say this: we have played no part in the disappearance of our lovely daughter Madeleine.”
Page 4: “Couple facing a ‘life sentence of grief’.”
THE GUARDIAN front page: “Exhausted and under suspicion, Madeleine’s family come home.”
Pages 2, 4 & 5: “Rothley villagers relieved to see family return.”
“Thank goodness. They’re back where they belong and it’s the best place they could possibly be,” says one young mother.
The Rev Mark Chandler adds: “My every sense tells me that Rothley is just pleased and relieved to have them back.”
THE INDEPENDENT front page: “130 days since they left for a family holiday, the McCanns return to Britain without Madeleine. This is “THE HOMECOMING”.
Pages 2 & 3: “A shattered family returns to Britain without Madeleine”. “Portugal’s media clamour for conviction”.
Says one mother holidaying in Praia da Luz: “You don’t want to believe the worst but when you read headlines like these [in Portuguese media], obviously one conclusion seems more likely than another.”
Says the Diario de Noticia: “PJ wait for final examinations to arrest Madeleine’s parents.”
Madeleine McCann: private grief as public spectacle
Posted: 10th, September 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,280) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments





September 10th, 2007 at 11:25 am
I was thinking more along the lines of a ‘part time’ job as a GP in her local practice? You know so that she can spend quality time with the Kids!!!!
September 10th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Cannie, it is just that, a strong feeling that she is dead. But …what if you are wrong?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Support for Madeleine herself should not stop. If she’s still alive, she should be found
September 10th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Bulldump- you do make me giggle!
September 10th, 2007 at 11:23 am
m.e. - If you were a regular, you would know I was a WOMAN.
DONT be an ass, of course those other nights are relevant!
I think you are the only person who doesn’t care about those other nights and YOU are the one INSISTING Madeleine is dead!
September 10th, 2007 at 11:22 am
noseyheffer, a proper job, you mean like a partner in a practice?
surely this would get in the way of her lifestyle. Ohhh! and it would probably require some responsibility, something that we are all aware she is not capable of
September 10th, 2007 at 11:22 am
m.e. If you slapped me on the face of course I would bust your head! What kind of stupid question is that?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:22 am
I’m afraid all hope is now lost, Rebecca Loos has pulled the plug.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:21 am
CJ- It’s upsetting i know, and horrible for me to actually write this down, but I find it hard to believe after all this time and being so high profile there is any possibility she could still be alive. I hope to God i am wrong but it just does not seem possible
September 10th, 2007 at 11:21 am
bulldump - it’s my first time on this website and I’ve come to the conclusion that you are SAD!!
September 10th, 2007 at 11:21 am
I agree with others that their statements to the press always seem authored, they may as well have been read out by their solicitor on their behalf.
It would have been nice to see them talk frankly and openly instead of from a script.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:20 am
And let us not forget, the Vatican and his Holiness have also put distance between themselves and those good Catholics, the Mccanns!
September 10th, 2007 at 11:20 am
rebecca loos the woman who shagged david beckham has removed the support from her website as well.
please don’t ask me how i discovered that
September 10th, 2007 at 11:20 am
sss
good god man, the other 5 nights are not relevant are they, regarding neglect?
Cant be proved beyond doubt anyway. Nobody cares about neglect unless they’re innocent. I didnt say it may not be relevant. Just said rightly that there WIL NOT be any charges relating to neglect if they’re guilty of the crime, only if they’re innocent. And we dont know yet, do we?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:19 am
I thought that Kate McCann was a locum GP (ie - effectively a temp offering cover for other GP’s).
If she was highly regarded would she not have a ‘proper’ job?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:19 am
matty 151 - I think Social Services aren’t acting for fear of what the media (ESPECIALLY Tabloid King, The Sun) would print about them!!
September 10th, 2007 at 11:17 am
omg - ur right - NO SONG on the find madelein website - no blogs either!!!
September 10th, 2007 at 11:17 am
i’m sure death by neglgence would carry a small prison sentence like that
September 10th, 2007 at 11:17 am
CJ 142 - I never said that, m.e. did! m.e. said that in order to find them guilty of neglect, they must be innocent of murder/manslaughter, as you can’t neglect a corpse!!
September 10th, 2007 at 11:15 am
noseyheffer, thanks for the link but unfortunatly i would not offer it a great deal of creedance, since they may have been offering her a deal on a lesser charge to flush em out. Since we do not know the exact charge they were to put to her it would be impossible to summize
September 10th, 2007 at 11:15 am
SSS, thanks for that and if you meant that they can be investigated in the UK why were they not approached as soon as they set foot on British soil( it has been done many times before, granted they weren’t “highly regarded proffessionals”? More bad press for the Social Services(which they definitely could do without)? How about the Social Services gaining some public support and do what, I would think the majority of the decent people of the world following this horrible story want, and start asking some questions about their sheer lack of very basic parenting skills. At the end of the day,if they hadn’t been so reckless/stupid/selfish etc we wouldn’t be having this conversation and their little girl would be home safe and well telling all her friends at school what a wonderful holiday she had.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:14 am
If I had lost my child in a foreign country and then the police turned on me I would probably wanna return home to farmiliar surroundings too.
I guess most of you would stay in Portugal and run the gauntlet would you?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:14 am
146 No way i said that from the start, also if i was jetting off to see the Pope and whoever my other children would NOT leave my side.
September 10th, 2007 at 11:13 am
cj
If I slapped you in the face would you assume it to be a breath of wind?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:12 am
cj, if maddie is not dead, why has brain adams removed his song form the find maddie website?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:12 am
If you child is abducted in a foreign country, would you trust leaving your other two children at a creche in the same foreign country?
September 10th, 2007 at 11:12 am
128 - sorry it took so long
http://www.chocolatemagazine.co.uk/news.php?article=1030
September 10th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Right now I’d have the pair of them under sucide watch..
September 10th, 2007 at 11:11 am
why the hell did justine mcguiness just go and add a yellow rose to her site, since it is her main vocation at this time
September 10th, 2007 at 11:11 am
SSS how can you say she was a corpse on the sixth night? There is no proof that Madeleine is dead.