
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 2:09 pm
(459) Teddy Boy
Prison Break
September 10th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
You missed off the last line…
The one thing I won’t do for you my dear,
Is stay and look after you, I’m off for a beer
September 10th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Gecko100
What happens if the McCann’s are charged and found guilty? The UK press will call it a miscarriage of justice. Possibly to deflect the fact that they had had the wool pulled over their eyes by these two. If this were tried in every High Court in every country in the EU and in every case a guilty verdict was returned, there’d still be people saying the McCanns were innocent and they’d refuse to accept the verdict, in the same way I refuse to accept the fact the Pedersen missed with his header in last season’s FA Cup Semi-Final which would have sent Blackburn through as Chelsea were hanging on for extra time. I know I saw it happen though, I was there but I refuse to accept it.
September 10th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
the weakest link
September 10th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Who wants to be a Millionaire
September 10th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
(448) Rosemary
You are right… Bryan is back !!!!
Bizarre choice of song really. Just think about it from a reverse point of view…..
Look into my eyes - you will see (a clear reference to Madeleines eyes…..)
What you mean to me
Search your heart - search your soul
And when you find me there you’ll search no more
Don’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for
You can’t tell me it’s not worth dyin’ for (oooops)
You know it’s true
Everything I do - I do it for you
Look into your heart - you will find
There’s nothin’ there to hide (ermm….)
Take me as I am - take my life (oooooppps again)
I would give it all - I would sacrifice
Don’t tell me it’s not worth fightin’ for
I can’t help it - there’s nothin’ I want more
Ya know it’s true
Everything I do - I do it for you
There’s no love - like your love
And no other - could give more love
There’s nowhere - unless you’re there
All the time - all the way
Oh - you can’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for
I can’t help it - there’s nothin’ I want more
I would fight for you - I’d lie for you
Walk the wire for you - ya I’d die for you
September 10th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Crimewatch
September 10th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Judge Judy
September 10th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Molly well done as usual, I know we can count on you to set the record straight, teddy, I’m watching you, better not be sniffing around the aussie gal now!!!
love the russian doll theory,
this is all coming together now, very interesting, I wonder who wil look after the twins when they get called back to Portugal, Molly… Is murat still a suspect and what are the implications there
September 10th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
OK lets have a bit of fun. What TV programme do you think the gruesome twosome will turn up on first?
My bet is A Place in the Sun - “today I am with Gerry and Kate who are looking for an extradition free island and they have a budget of £1 million”
September 10th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Moriarty- Texan bars have made a small time comeback. They were my dads favourite when I was a child. The look on his face was priceless when he unwrapped some on his birthday. What have you started? Trip down memory lane makes you think how things have changed since those days. As a child friends and I played freely out of doors building dens, hidey, British bulldogs. Fast forward a few years and even though we live in a quiet area I would never let my child play outside unattended.
September 10th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Veres - no, Kerry Catona usually wins that in between rehab, going to the jungle for a month, the divorce court and getting her tits out in the paper.
Oh and of course dont forget Sharon Osborne, you know the one who’s children swear like troopers and are in and out of rehab.
September 10th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Maybe the papers are all pro McCann to prevent being sued for libel if the PJ investigation comes to nothing.
September 10th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Teddy Boy
Not one I’ve heard before but I think it won’t happen in this case, the McCann’s are doomed unless someone does go down for this and quickly or she turns up. I think it sums the couple up that they may have used sedatives so they could go out on the lash. Have they awarded Parents of The Year 2007 yet?
September 10th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
cj says…
“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.”
Actually cj you could not be more wrong - it has everything to do with MADELEINE - with finding out what happened to her and gaining justice for her.
What is doesn’t have anything to do with is her parents - who at the very best put their wants before their children’s needs. If they played an active part in her disappearance then that should be exposed, and justice acheived for Madeleine. If they played no part in her disappearance then they have nothing to fear and should be eager to help the police with every detail in order to move past this stage of the investigation and onto the next along the road to the truth.
There is NO reason whatsoever why they should be immune to being investigated - if the PJ did not do that then they could TRULY be accused of running a poor investigation!
September 10th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
If they bother to lift the bed up this time they might find her body there.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Doubt it Chopper it was full of their bum chums in the press.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Veres
Have you never heard the English expression “Better that 100 innocent men hang than one guilty McCann miss the feel of the rope”
September 10th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
I wonder if anyone on the flight home gave them any shit
September 10th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
“Police are preparing to search the holiday villa rented by Madeleine’s parents in an attempt to find new clues that could bolster their case against the couple.”
MMMmmm bet they are, what do you reckon on a fresh piece of incriminating evidence appearing in the next few days, my cash in on a length of cord with a bit of Maddie DNA.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Bryan back up on the website
September 10th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Veres: You mad truth seeker, those people were all FOUND guilty.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Veres what you’ve failed to include is a list of names of people who didn’t commit a crime and are in prison for it.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
pete this is very true, a kingsize used to contain slightly too much tobacco to twist a ‘3 skinner’ but the tobacco companies seem to have accomodated that problem
September 10th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Molly there have been no charges of neglect in leaving minors unattended? They are accused of neglecting her to death? How?
September 10th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
(438)
Matty you can still get Smokey Bacon Crisps.. Walkers do them, just as they have reintroduced Marmite crisps. Cherry Lips I recently bought for my childrn (Woolworths Pick and Mix).. Just look for the yellow packets or email Auntie Phil and she will tell you where to get them.
Texan….A Mans Gotta Do What A Mans Gotta do
September 10th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Isn’t it strange how all these chocolate bars have got smaller since you were kids. Have you ever considered that it might be your hand that has got bigger?
September 10th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
So feminist analysis is based on the premise that all previous analysis is macho?
September 10th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
I have read this thread with interest, so I figured I’d go visit the findmadeleine website. Looks like the news section is drying up as the focus turns towards the McWhiner and his wife. To all the people who refuse point blank to even consider that they might just be behind it all, consider the following names:
The Wests
Hindley & Brady
Sutcliffe
Ian Huntley
Harold Shipman
there were people who would have said they weren’t capable of the crimes they were found guilty of but they did them didn’t they? It was interesting watching McWhiner’s statement as he got off the plane, not once did K show her face or even look up till he got to the categorical denial that they had anything to do with this. At this point she looked at McWhiner twice. Apart from these two times she hid her head behind one of the twins.
There is an easy way to solve this once and for all and also smash all TV viewing records in UK history. It’s time Jeremy Kyle waded in with his lie detector test show!!!! Hopefully the truth will out, hopefully (but IMO not likely) Madeleine will show up alive and well. I sadly however think this is going to go the way of the Ben (surname escapes me) disappearance in Greece many many years ago.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Are they actually smaller or was because we had small hands