Madeleine McCann: Robert Murat Innocent, Private Detectives & Kate McCann’s Hot Lips
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
DAILY MIRROR front page: “WE’LL FIND HER OURSELVES. Maddy parents bring in SAS private detectives”.
Kate and Gerry McCann have hired Control Risk Group, billed as a “crack security firm”, to find their daughter.
Page 5: “THE PROFESSIONALS” – There’s TV show in this. The Portuguese police could be the Keystone Cops, at least that’s what the tabloid press portrays them as.
“Millionaire ex-double glazing boss” is the mystery benefactor paying McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell’s wages. The former window cleaner owns Sale Sharks ruby union club. Look out for their new sponsor.
DAILY EXPRESS front page: “MADELEINE. ‘McCanns ARE LYING’ - Portuguese police says friends are in cover-up.”
Robert Murat is to be told he will not face charges. Kate and Gerry McCann will be the only named suspects.
“SMILING” – The WORLD’S GREATEST NEWSPAPERS leads with a picture of Kate McCann grinning.
Pages 4 and 5: “Kidnap? We just don’t; believe it.” It is reported in Portugal that an unnamed Irishman has come forward to say he was in the same place as the McCanns’ friend Jane Tanner. She told police she had seen a man carrying child dashing from the Ocean Club resort in the direction of Robert Murat’s home. The new witness says he saw no-one.
“’GUILT’ OF PARENTS - More than 60 per cent think the couple know what has happened to Madeleine.”
“WHEN KATE WAS HOT LIPS HEALEY” – 15 YEARS AGO Kate was nicknamed hot lips for her resemblance to Loretta Swit in TV comedy M*A*S*H. The Express has seen her Dundee University year book and the comments - “Kate was great fun”; “renowned for alcoholic binges and some ‘dance till you drop’ nocturnal activities”; “she was certainly more interested in going to the pub than she was in her studies” etc.
DAILY STAR front page: “MADDIE: PARENTS ARE LYING. Cops say McCanns & friends tried to frame suspect Murat.”
Pages 4 and 5: “McCANNS ‘ARE LYING’.”
A phone poll: “DO YOU BELIEVE THE McCANNS ARE LYING?” Let’s see if we can top that 60 per cent in the Star’s sister paper the Daily Express. Vote now and vote often.
THE SUN pages 12 and 13: “TWIN’S LIFT FOR MUM AND DAD.”
Kate and Gerry McCann are with son Sean. They have been to Mass. Kate sobs when Ave Maria is sung. Daughter Amelie is in nursery school. She is plying with the Cuddle Cat. She bursts into laughter, “her giggles rang around the building”.
DAILY MAIL front page: “Madeleine:
• Ex-SAS team joins hunt
• New sighting in Morocco
• Kate breaks down in church
• Police accused over forensics”
Page 8: “McCanns hire an ex-SAS team to hunt for Maddie.”
“Second witness supports sighting in Morocco” – Remember when Marl Pollard said she saw Madeleine in Morocco? Now we lean that a man also saw Madeleine in Morocco.
THE INDEPENDENT PAGE 17: “Murat no longer suspect.”
DAILY TELEGRAPH page 10: “McCanns hired detective firm with ex-SAS men”. Under Portuguese law, the McCanns are not permitted to carry out their own investigation in Portugal. But they can investigate in other countries.
THE TIMES front page: “McCann investigators” – McCanns hire private security firm.
Pages 12 and 13: “How they managed to turn campaign around.” The McCanns are “winning the propaganda war”. They have gone on the “offensive”.
A family source says: “It is for the police to prove they are guilty.”
GUARDIAN: No Madeleine news today.
Posted: 24th, September 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,048) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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September 24th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
480
I saw it
are they turning stones there?
September 24th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
479 - I know a nurse who has worked with Gerry and they tell a different story….who to beleive… nurse or journalist?
September 24th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
this morning I found a report that the pj were investigating the McC’s trip to spain, if i remember correctly it said something like -
they were suspicious because it coinsided with a major festival, the McC’s said they wanted to pray at some church (which was closed) and talk to some people (who were unavailable). The pj have pictures of the car at various points in the journey (roadside cameras etc) but that there were 2 hours that were unaccounted for (more unaccounted hours!!), i thought that it was very interesting and was going to post it for general consumption. ONLY IT HAS DISSAPEARED (much like little Maddie).
Did anyone else see it?
September 24th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
FROM AN ADMIRER OF THE MCCANNS
A contact of mine in Leicestershire - a freelance journalist - has sent me this today. He is someone who tends to think well of people and finds it difficult to see ‘the dark side’. He’s a thoroughly nice man himself. If the truth is that the McCanns were actively invovled in Madeleine’s death and covered it up, it will cause pain, disillusionment and anguish to a great many people:
QUOTE
“Well, Rothley is on the borders of Leicestershire. It’s quite a wealthy area and my guess is that the residents are not used to press attention, let alone multitudes of journalists camped outside.
I have been trying to get an interview with Kate for some time, but unfortunately, since they got back, it has been virtually impossible and most of their feelings have already been aired now.
My own take on it is that their only mistake was to leave their children alone and they are now paying a very high price for this. At no time have I doubted their innocence or questioned anything that they have said or done.
They seem such a lovely couple, and friends of mine who go to church with work colleagues of theirs all report how nice and friendly Kate is. There will always be those who want to believe otherwise, because if they were guilty it would be such a huge story.
Also, some are simply envious of their relative wealth (they have a £600,000 house in a very nice area, both of them doctors, and attractive) and want to believe that they are guilty simply because they like to see those with more than them suffer.
However, I cannot imagine that this couple are anything other than a normal couple whose lives have been turned upside down.
Recently, the papers reported that the Portugese police had questioned the fact that passages about forgiveness were highlighted in Kate’s diary. This is crazy considering that Kate would naturally be feeling guilty about leaving her child that night. As is happens, the passages were not underlined by Kate, but it seems that the Portugese police are clutching at straws”.
UNQUOTE
September 24th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
474,
I meant Moderation is the one who posts intelligently incase you thought I meant someone else.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
473
474
Where are your kids though?
September 24th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Apparently they may leave one stone unturned…….
September 24th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
474,
Gotta go, I will leave you to it Moderation. Definitely someone who posts intelligent commentary with fairness and an open mind. Others on this site should ues her/him as an example.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
459 Ian Willis said. and note the other lie about ” having dinner with friends”. Who has dinner till 1am in the morning?
I do quite often! at home, in London, on holiday….
September 24th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
444,
everybody has already read the infamous “SOL” article. It is one of the early smear campaign reports. Tabloid journalism at its best. Can’t believe you think it is all true.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
“THEY INSIST”
New sceptical line coming out from the BBC now on the McCanns - see last line of this:
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7010224.stm
Clarence held a ‘press conference’; quite why, I don’t know, as he could easily have e-mailed out a press statement - and doesn’t seem to have answered any journalists’ questions, anyway. Makes him feel important I suppose, and look as though he’s doing something for his £300-a-day salary.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
411 the real stig
With reference to the India Knight article you have directed us to read….if any thing ithis whole sorry tale far from signalling “the death of empathy” shows me that most caring responsible people have displayed considerable EMPATHY for 3 tiny children, one of whom is now sadly missing ,who were less important in their parents’ life than having a good old piss-up(excuse language)..
September 24th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
456 You see? you jump without reading…
I know pretty much everything about the OJ case… I was in the US at the time and glued to CNN watching it live.
I wasn’t arguing about black / white per se I was saying that you either have a jury system or you don’t.
we all know they make mistakes, Sally Clarke being just one of them…. but its what we’ve got and to disregard it would be to encourage anarchy.
If every single person in the US declared OJ guilty the ‘not guilty’ verdict over-rides it. Even the civil suit could only deal with money. Not jail-time.
You can’t have a jury system that can be disregarded if you don’t get the verdict you want.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
(459) Hate tocontradict you, Ian, but in Spain people frequently have dinner until 1am. I think Portuguese timing is a little earlier from what I’ve seen but this may not be the case at a holiday resort.
In any case, the whole thing’s disgusting. They could have taken the children with them or had a babysitter. Those children were neglected and there’s no two way about it. And I don’t care whether the whole of Britain is in the habit of neglecting its children. It doesn’t make it any less despicable.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
455.
“while they got pissed on numerous wine bottles”. This is what I mean Ian by hate-mongering. You have no idea how much they actually drank or whether they were “pissed” or not. All the horrible remarks on this site whether in jest or not will always be at the expense of MM, precisely because this is what the case is about.
I personally would never leave my children alone in a hotel while I went for dinner even if I were doing regular checks because I live in a big city and am always paranoid about security. Yes, the McCanns are partly to blame but I don’t think anyone deserves having their child taken because they thought their own checks were adequate in a family friendly resort. Some of the posters here sound like they want to burn these people at the stack. If a predator is looking to take a child, they are quite cunning and will seek any moment when your defence might be down to pounce. Look at teh James Bulger case, the mother and son walked in to a Butchers, she let go of his hand to order. How long were her eyes off her 3 year old in a busy shopping court? I don’t blame her, life happens and tragic mistakes are made daily. I am sure if social services went in to most homes they would be able to point out a number of things that could be deemed as neglectful by parents, just as a fire marshall who comes into your home which you think is very secure and points out to your suprise disasters waiting to happen.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
463
oh k
September 24th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Sorry mean my post 442.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
462
I agree. And not only that - I repeat what I said in my post 44 - if the McCanns have nothing then they should answer all the questions the PJ want and help in all possible ways so that they can be eliminated and the search for Madeleine can continue.
Its a simple question. If they have nothing to hide why are they hiding?
September 24th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
411 The Real Stig
I certainly read carefully every single word of that ‘Times’ article, including *this* sentence:
“It is hard to criticise their original motive for hyping up the publicity, but in the process the McCanns unwittingly turned themselves into a soap opera”.
REPLY: But what *was* their original motive? Perhaps one day, even the writer of that ‘Times’ article will come to learn that it was to create a massive smokescreen which would divert the police away from the awful truth about Madeleine’s death - and persuade us all that this was a tragic abduction.
All I can say about it is that it worked.
For a while.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
461
I was quoting india knight
and showing how ridiculous she is
September 24th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
411 - I have posted this once today already, hope others dont mind me posting it again ———–My belief is that all so called anti mccanners on this site would rather be proved wrong. But, pro mccanns have to live with the fact they are condoning a couple who had they not neglected their children in the first place would still have their daughter, and none of us would be discussing it in the first place. I would feel a tad better about th mccanns if they publicly admitted their neglect and showed guilt and remorse. all the time they are coming across as the victims I cannot change my opinion. the only victim in this is madeleine. and may I add, why are you wasting time on this forum if you are so utterly convinced the parents are innocent in all this, why are you not out looking for madeleine yourself if you think she is still alive?
September 24th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
447 Brandoflour, you said:
The fact is that while I would never leave small children alone, I know dozens of people who routinely do, and I do not find them irresponsible, just tired.
You have got to be kidding!
September 24th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
The Portugese press is inundated with stories about the Mccans being swingers.
Note how there is hardly a mention of this in the UK press.
Well, I’m sure this forum will force them to give an “innocent explanation” in the next few days
September 24th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
457
and note the other lie about ” having dinner with friends”. Who has dinner till 1am in the morning?
September 24th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
“Those children are everything to them” was a refrain we heard from the McCann PR machine as it geared up in the early days.
The facts simply do not bear this out.
The way they treated those children was remember, ON HOLIDAY. They are not being castigated just for leaving their children alone, but for doing so at that one point in the year when it is possible for the working parent to see his or her child.
September 24th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
455
yes yes yes yes
how dare you mc cann supporters continually stick up for 2 child abusers !!!
Yes I bloody well said it cos they are
from their own mouths!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 24th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
re 434 moderation says (September 24th, 2007 at 4:13 pm): “Seriously Firestar, does that not then nullify the court system? surely we have to believe in the system or we have anarchy? Its a problem I have with OJ. A jury found him not guilty but the white public didn’t like that so pronounced him guilty anyway”.
REPLY: Moderation, you are ignoring two things:
1) the majority of black peoole in the U.S.A. think OJ is guilty (see opinion polls).
2) a civil case found that he had killed his ex-wife and another, and ordered him to pay, was it $10 million compensation? - to her surviving family.
To date he has apparently only paid around $5,000 of that out and appears to have salted the rest of his wealth away in overseas tax-tree bank accounts.
With great respect, I doubt if you are very familiar with the details of this case. If you were, I think you would agree that, beyond a reasonable doubt, OJ was the killer.
He then went on to write a cheekily-titled book “If I Did It”, just as JonBenet Ramsey’s father made a mint out of a book about his daughter being found dead in his family basement
September 24th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
452 noonethere
If your argument is that its bad taste to poke fun where there is a missing 3-year old child, no one here has ever poked fun at Madeleine or for that matter her siblings.
You should direct yourself at the 2 who dumped her at a play group during the daytimes and left her alone night after night, crying and scared, in an unlocked room in a foreign country, while they got pissed (out of sight and hearing distance) on numerous wine bottles with their mates till the early hours and on one occassion even went out on the town 5km away!
September 24th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
GHCH i took this from your post, i hope you dont mind
For a country which is still unable to jail Steven Lawrence’s vicious killers after 15 years, even though everyone knows who they are. A country which releases the evil murderers of Jamie Bulger back into society – at society’s cost. A country in which an 11 year old boy is murdered in a drive-by shooting by an elusive adolescent on a bike in front of a host of witnesses. A country which is unable to find ten’s of thousands of missing children, close files on at least a dozen adolescent shooting in the past year or
contain violent street crime…. I think Britain should shut up, or put up. In the meantime, I give up.
I am British yet i agree with you our system is a joke!!!
September 24th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
450
but if you add ‘mark warner’
it doesn’t bring much up.