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
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September 10th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
chopper 280
The evidence supports an abduction does it?
Yes. A ‘fake’ one.
September 10th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I think Diddly could be onto something
September 10th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Chopper 280
September 10th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Matty: It is without a doubt that they will face questioning by Social Services. Neglect has already been established.
I wonder if she has post-natal depression?
September 10th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
cj, what is the gmt time difference up there in cloud cuckoo land?
September 10th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
It was Kates uncle and his wife sheila who were at the house when they got back. they also live in rothly
September 10th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
bull dump - the characteristics of a lynch mob in my opinion. A modern day witch hunt where the baying crowds salivate for sensationalism. Anyway the locals were rightly pissed off with their lack of reddies coming in from the tourist industry which has suffered in the area. Though I did hear that there was a certain demand for rental of the Mcanns apartment. So there is no acounting for how sick and depraved people can get.
September 10th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
bulldump-these people have been suppressed for years with little education,
they dont know like we dont
September 10th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
what about they cut her up into small pieces (GM does carry his surgical instruments around with him) then used a radio-controlled helicopter (likewise) to air-lift the pieces out one by one and disperse them into the sea and desert? nobody mentions the helicopter - because no one saw it or suspected it, it’s just an executive toy that he got last xmas. it really should be examined for forensic secretions.
September 10th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
‘Evidence’, I say evidence.
There are lots of strange things around this case but we should remain focussed on the evidence available, not heresay and media generated speculation.
I am as disgusted with them for leaving the children home alone (based on evidence) as much as anyone else. But the evidence does suggest an abduction and I never said it couldn’t be Murat.
September 10th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Surely Gezzer wouldn’t have had the balls to slip the twin a small sedative before the flight?
September 10th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Allie, or they need to establish some normality for the twins at home, sooner rather than later, if the Mcs think/have been advised things are going to change for them as a family ie requested to return to Portugal with no way of knowing what the outcome will be.
September 10th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Heavy sleeper, that boy twin.
Fast asleep coming off the aeroplane and in fromt of the press (those airports are quiet, mind).
Fast asleep again arriving home, with half the world’s press shouting out questions.
Maybe he wasn’t asleep, just too traumatised to look up from his dads shoulder.
That’s all right then.
It’s more than 1, 2 or 3 lives that have been knackered here.
September 10th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Andy - apparently the PJ said that they either confessed and recieved a year in prison or they could be charged and put in prison indefinately and the twins put in care. This apparently happened during the last day when G was named as an arguido. Dont know about you but if I was faced with that choice from a crowd of bungling idiots I would be on the next plane out of there!
September 10th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
cj, what about the locals standing at the police staion shouting at kate and saying “daughter of a whore”
are you claiming that they do not know what they are talking about as well?
after all her other has been to the resort and so they may well have evidence to support this fact
September 10th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
(257) Moderation
So you are saying that not only did they have dinner and drink wine, but that they took part in a quiz all between 8.30 - 10pm. WRONG !!!!!!
According to statements from the other members of the Tapas 9, Kate and the Whining Midget did not get to the Tapas bar until nearer 9pm.. THEN the Midget went back to check on the children at 9.05pm - some 10 minutes after he arrived. THEN he didnt get back until about 9.20pm… This was when he was supposedly passed by Tanner, whilst speaking to the guy (name escapes me) who then later calimed she saw a man carrying a child (the guy with the name I forget and can’t be arsed to google denies this… in fact he denies seeing Tanner)
SO…. why the conflict in arrival times at the Tapas Bar?
WHY.. go and check on the kids when you have just arrived?
WHY.. does Tanner appear to lie?
WHY oh WHY are the rest of the Tapas9 so silent now…….
Check your facts Mr Moderation - just call Holmes
September 10th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
you can tell humanity as gone out of the window on this forum-
i think you would prefer it all to be true-as sick as the whole story is!
September 10th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
mod 261
read the relevant posts before you talk nonsense. cj doesnt/cant answer questions that dont fit his ‘theory’ and then insults. Pathetic.
cj 266
god you’re so intelligent. Forgive me….
September 10th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
The papers are sort of gambling everything on the McCanns being innocent aren’t they. It’s quite a risky move as I see it. Truth be told the only person I know who still bothers buying a newspaper is my sister (everyone else, myself included, use the internet) but I think that if this goes the way I think it’s going to go a lot of people are going to come to the conclusion that the newspapers are rubbish. I’ve never seen such bias. In most cases they are not even remotely hedging their bets, perhaps realising that they’ve gone too far. It’s literally all of nothing for them now. This is truly going to be a defining moment in the future of newspapers. If they are found to have backed the wrong horse I don’t think they’ll be able to come back from it this time (as opposed to the hilarious about-face that occurred when Princess Diana died).
Sorry if this makes no sense.
September 10th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
chopper does it not sound a bit strange that jane tanner saw someone carrying off a child and failed to mention it to the mccanns when they said their child had gone missing.
does it not sound a bit odd that they did not rasie the alarm whilst murat was helping them look for the child but waited 3 weeks before identifying him after he had already been carried up to the gallows ny the tabloids
I think you may be in for a bit of a shock as to murats involvement
September 10th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
bulldump 255 - you need to get your telly fixed. My telly clearly showed the mother and uncle at the door to welcome them back and showed mother hugging K. I believe K’s fathers health has not been too good due to all this horrible affair.
September 10th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
For the twins’ sake, its better being in the UK. They need to be in familiar surroundings. They’ve through a lot of turmoil already and they’re just babies
September 10th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91210-1283359,00.html?f=vg
And what is this quote about?
“They wanted to stay on in Portugal to continue their search, but said their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie must come first.”
What do they mean “…come first…”, come first as they did when the parents were flying around the globe? Come first as they did on the night of May 3rd or the previous nights of the holiday?
Is this supposed to make people believe that they really are caring, loving parents? And if they wanted to “…stay on in Portugal…” then why didn’t they?
I’m sure that they had made plans to leave Portugal anyway so why contradict themselves?
September 10th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
m.e. truth hurts dick head1
September 10th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
261 me.
I thought this was an opinion forum for ALL opinions?
September 10th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
I don’t know she is dead, that’s why I put two options; left or killed.
There is no doubt they left her, is there?
September 10th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
The evidence appears to suggest that the apartment was left unlocked and the door out of view, someone saw a man carrying a child away and the parents (who had been seen publicly throughout) found her to be gone.
Sounds like a good old fashioned abduction to me.
But hang on, lets just ignore all that, they must have killed her and disposed of her body using cars and boats, either by accident or as part of a plan to set up a find maddie fund and create vast wealth (well, a few years wages anyway) and celebrity status.
Now do you realise how stupid a lot of you people sound?
September 10th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
are thee social workers at the mccanns residence now?
September 10th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
cj
You’re an obvious twat and I wont bother with you anymore………..
September 10th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
How did I get a face in there? I can’t do faces!
Should have said ’some reports say 8.00.