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
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September 10th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
I guess the macho retort would be ‘mothers shouldn’t be doctors in the first place, they should be at home looking after the kids.’
September 10th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Moriarty-Texan bars, floral gums, cherry lips, smokey bacon crisps,anglo bubbly.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
lmfao, they are likely to be remanded in custody, gerry’s gonna get buggered
September 10th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
419 - I have no idea Penster, but I would guess that that is what the PJ are investigating.
At present they are suspected of the ‘lesser’ charge of neglect leading to death … if further evidence or a confession (don’t forget that the PJ still have to re-interview some of the Tapas 9) suggests sedation overdose or physical violence, then I am sure that the ‘charge’ will change accordingly.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
There is definitely a lot less tobacco in a kingsize cigarette than 20 years ago…so a friend tells me, who re-rolls them into something called a ‘3-skinner’.
I’ve never seen anyone complain about this either.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Pete: We have had ‘macho’ analysis for more than 2000 years as I see it. That’s why a feminist analysis would be good. ie. mothers/doctors are not SUPPOSED to do this sort of thing. Is that part of the social construction of motherhood per se?
No worries about the joke.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Didn’t hang about finding old Caplan did they? Or do you think maybe he was already lined up in their minds before they did a runner? If our legal system blocks their extradition I will be interested to see what happens next time a terrorist suspect pops up in Europe - methinks the Met might be told to fuck off.
So Mr Government, I suggest you stop supping with the devil, because the long term implication of siding with these people could be dramatic.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Everything is smaller these days. Good way of disguising a price hike because the prices are not reduced with the product.
As for Bazooka Joes, the comics were good fun, but treading in the discarded gum was a nightmare. Personally I would ban all gum.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
(429) Teenie
I think you are right. In the same way that Mars Bars are so much smaller and Bazooka Joes have simply disappeared… Did Murat take them?
September 10th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
(427) gecko100
Just call me Loretta please
September 10th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
365 Moriaty: What about spacers or stardust. By the way can anyone confirm if Monster Munch were a different texture when they first came out, they seem light and cheap these days.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Look ere me ole cocker, I wis raised on a council estate. Didn’t de me no arm. I was edumacated when I leff scool. I could read my comics and knowed the difference between cosure loot and crap. Didn’t do me no arm eefer when I had to use da liffs dat were also used as a bog.
Leaf off aving a go at us, cause we an’t the pillocks you make us out ta be.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Moriarty:
Your point? Or does my feminist analysis help me here?
Haha
September 10th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Oooh another one
PJ - The Lying Squad
September 10th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
This is site is getting boring. Same old 2 and 4’s who seek titilation in bringing the ‘bourgeois’ down and dress it up in so called concern for justice. Crap!
Its about jealousy and small mindedness. It has nothing to do with Madeleine.
But then again I should have known better this is the type of forum that caters for that class of people.
Enjoy your sad lives. Some of us have work to go to.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91210-1283359,00.html?f=vg
“They are receiving legal advice from Michael Caplan QC, the lawyer who represented former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet.
Mr Caplan is an expert on extradition and acted for Pinochet when Spain tried to extradite him from the UK in 1999.
A family friend said he was advising the McCanns on “much more than just extradition” but would not elaborate further.”
How damned will the McCanns, and Britain by reflection, look if the case is not solved because two suspects decide to fight returning on a technicality?
I realise that a lot of the “information” is coming from indirect sources but if this is true then what happened to the McCanns vow to do anything to find Maddie? Or was that only as long as they weren’t considered suspects?
September 10th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
It is happening……
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2423304.ece
September 10th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Angry, along the line of show of emotions ,or lack of ,I agree. I know everyone reacts diffrently but the whole family has the same persona. In situations like this people tend to think “how would I react/cope etc”. If my daughter, same age as Madeleine, went missing in these circumstances and I had just endured 11hrs of questioning about my missing child and had told my mother the line of questioning was around my involvement in my childs disapperance, I very much doubt my mother could string two words together through her anguish never mind do a couple of lenghthy interviews(hair/ make-up immaculate) . Anguish due to her grandaughter being missing, her daughter being in a police station in a foreign country interviewed for 11hrs, not there to hug me and comfort me.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Sorry gecko, my bad. And it was a crap joke as well.
Not sure about an explicit feminist analysis at all.
Do we have a male opposie/equivilant?
A macho analysis?
Isn’t macho something the Iberians invented?
It’s all circular in the end.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Bulldump 418 I see You didnt contradict the rest LOL!!!
September 10th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Goodo Molly as usual - does the “neglect” leading to “accidental” death mean neglect in administering drugs? B/c assuming she was dead before they went out for tapas, then the neglect in leaving her and her siblings happened after the death.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
cj, if you look back I said i have been posted in denmark, you aint too hot at gathering evidence are you?
September 10th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Pete; Shouldn’t think so, we’ve done that particular phenomenon.
And Pete Feminist analysis, not analyst.
But I am that to, (an analyst that is).
September 10th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Welcome back Molly. You have been missed
September 10th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Chopper- you had me and my sister in fits with that one LOL !!
September 10th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
It must be so useful for Portugese criminals to have a menu of crimes shown with a pricelist of sentences.
Just work out how much you will earn from a crime, divide by number of years you will receive, and get an instant ‘is it worth it?’ reading.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
chopper 411 excellent
September 10th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Molly- i love your posts glad to have you back
September 10th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Yeah, and then they hid Pavarotti inside Aunty Phil, a bit like those russian doll things.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
(401) gecko100
STAN
I want to be a woman. From now on I want you all to call me Loretta.
REG
What!?
STAN
It’s my right as a man.
JUDITH
Why do you want to be Loretta, Stan?
STAN
I want to have babies.
REG
You want to have babies?!?!?!
STAN
It’s every man’s right to have babies if he wants them.
REG
But you can’t have babies.
STAN
Don’t you oppress me.