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 9:43 am
Open Mind 46: And they would be right to argue that. This is after all, ONE missing child.
September 10th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Gecko100 - Yes, perhaps a nomadic tribe with little interest/involvement with the “outside” world. Perhaps one which communicates with spiritual beings via smoke signals.
September 10th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Poor Madeleine. I’d love to believe she’s still alive
September 10th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Bulldump @ 38
I did not mean that the ‘fair trial’ issue would not prevent them from being returned to Portugal to face charges, should they be brought. What I meant was that their lawyer might argue, once in Portugal, that a fair trial is impossible because of the media coverage there, in the same way in which a lawyer might argue the same about people facing charges in Britain in a high profile case which had been aired widely in the media.
September 10th, 2007 at 9:39 am
SSS: or the Gobi desert…
September 10th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Me? I would do no such thing as to call you an ‘ism’:)
September 10th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Moriarty 40 - Clearly the only place a “fair trial” could now take place is amongst the Inuit or the Eskimo’s.
September 10th, 2007 at 9:36 am
Gecko100 39 - I hope you’re not implying I am an ism? (Whatever that is!
)
September 10th, 2007 at 9:34 am
I am definately NOT believing anything more that is reported in the British Press.
I have just read an article that stated “…now returned home with their twin sons…..”
Twin SONS?? If the press are getting THAT wrong, how wrong is the rest of what they reporting? Which mainly seems to be that the Mc’s are innocent!!
September 10th, 2007 at 9:33 am
(35) Open Mind
I don’t think that a “fair trial” will be a problem. Inevitably the press back home are now going to turn on the Tapas 2 once they are charged (this week as I believe) and then you could argue that they couldn’t get a fair trial here. Where should they be sent then? Finland?
September 10th, 2007 at 9:32 am
SSS, 37: See what I mean Lacee?
September 10th, 2007 at 9:32 am
i don’t think the fair trial appeal would be possible, since jaqui smith has denied a review becasue she is happy that every thing has been above board
September 10th, 2007 at 9:31 am
Just read an article in The Post Chronicle. I bet the PJ are thanking God that the forensics tests were all done in the UK, as all talk seems to be of the Mc’s being set up by the incompetent Inspector Clouseau types.
September 10th, 2007 at 9:30 am
Lacee: you have stumbled into innuendo, racism, sexism, and just about any ism you fancy.
September 10th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Extradition is not valid in this case. The EU has introduced the European Arrest Warrant to cover all EU Member States (of which Portugal is one). This essentially means that, once charged by judicial authorities in one Member State with a crime punishable by a prison sentence of more than one year, another Member State MUST comply and arrest those charged and ensure they travel to the other Member State.
The biggest barrier to a trial in Portugal is in fact that it will now be argued that they could not expect to receive a fair trial there, given the huge amount of coverage in the Portuguese press which has already found them ‘guilty’.
September 10th, 2007 at 9:29 am
I am glad to see them back home for the sake of their babies if nothing else. Its likely the people who are critical of them coming home were the same people who were critical of them living rent free in their “luxury villa” in Portugal.It seems they cant do right for doing wrong
September 10th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Christoph: I wondered how long it would take you to get ‘back to it’.
Not long eh?
Can you please pick another fantasy?
September 10th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Lacee 27 - we are not trying the Mc’s we are simply voicing our opinions. That it the point of a forum.
Spidermantra 24 - A reform will happen when it snows in August and the England football team win the Euro’s and the World Cup!!
September 10th, 2007 at 9:27 am
(29) bulldump
I like your lateral thinking… You shall now be bulldump QC
September 10th, 2007 at 9:26 am
(27) Lacee
How about reading this forum for the last few weeks and absorbing what people have said, and then come back with something new, insightful and original
September 10th, 2007 at 9:26 am
surely if the police in england charged the mccanns with fraud and deception, as there is no evidence of an abduction, the mccanns would have to prove that an abduction took place to prove their innocence.
since the whole fund and the selling of merchandise was based upon the premise that an abduction had taken place.
September 10th, 2007 at 9:24 am
(24) spidermantra
There is more chance of Wigan staying up than Zep reforming
September 10th, 2007 at 9:24 am
Is there such a thing in Europe as innocent until proven guilty? Is there such a thing as waiting for proof? Is there trial by jury or is it trial by media? Just because the McCanns were stupid about leaving their kids alone doesn’t mean they killed her. How about waiting for concrete evidence instead of jumping to conclusions?
September 10th, 2007 at 9:23 am
(21) Me
I hope so to… and if you are reading this Gerry I believe you are a child abuser, a fraudster and quite possible worse (in my opinion)… oh yes, and a whining midget
September 10th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Who’s goin to be the drummer….Jason Bonham?
September 10th, 2007 at 9:17 am
seriously, does anyone actually really and honestly believe that led zeppelin are going to reform for a gig in november?
September 10th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Yup, seems like the police think the parents are definitley the key to finding the child. Good luck to them.
September 10th, 2007 at 9:15 am
whoa what a weekend, I have been glued to the telly flicking between sky and the F1 and the rugby,
one thing I noticed is that someone needs to buy Martin Brunt a comb!!
I hope this whole situation gets some direction now be it good or bad, this little girl needs to be found that is the bottom line.
I did feel sorry for the mccanns going home to the family home without her
September 10th, 2007 at 9:13 am
“That’s obtaining money by deception!!! Another charge to be brought against them!!!”
hope the mccanns spend a day surfing the web to find out what the people of britain are really thinking
September 10th, 2007 at 9:12 am
Suddenly stenchonbench is playing least in sight! Perhaps he DID do it!!