Madeleine McCann: 4650 Articles, Christian Ridout Was Here And Lawless Morocco
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
DAILY EXPRESS front page: Poster blitz in Morocco”
“More than 11,000 letters and posters have been distributed in remote parts of the North African country to jog the memory of someone who may have seen the little girl”
A spokesman says: “E-mail is great within larger towns and cities, but there are still a lot of people who do not have Madeleine’s picture or the phone contact details to report sightings or information”
Do you have Madeleine’s picture? Do you know the phone number?
DAILY MAIL: “Letter blitz on remote Moroccan mountain villages that Madeleine McCann campaign cannot reach”
“Agents [of Metodo 3] have distributed photographs of the little girl with an appeal in French and Arabic to call with information about her whereabouts. But it has proved difficult to reach all of the isolated communities where a child could have been taken, many of which are in lawless, mountainous regions”
Those lawless Moroccans…
“Madeleine: Private detectives hunt for British barman known as DJ Shifty, accused of grooming an under-age girl for sex”
“Part-time barman and disc jockey Christian Ridout, 32, allegedly sent the British girl obscene text messages when he worked in an expats’ pub 200 yards from where Madeleine disappeared. When the 12-year-old’s mother discovered the explicit messages, Ridout - also known as DJ Shifty - left Portugal in a hurry”
A suspect?
Says the paper: “By coincidence, the Ridout family were next-door neighbours of the family of Robert Murat, the chief suspect in the Madeleine hunt, when the Murats lived in the nearby village of Almadena. The night after Madeleine went missing, a British expat walked into the Plough and Harrow pub in Praia da Luz, still owned by his parents Tony, 57, and Jill, 58, and asked: ‘Where’s Christian then?’ Locals have disparagingly nicknamed the pub ‘The Plough and Paedophile‘ and the missing man is widely disliked in the tight-knit community”
So where is Christian? Well, he left Praia da Luz a few years ago. His mother says she has not seen him for two years. Says the girl’s mother: “I went in to see them just before Madeleine disappeared and they confirmed they’re still looking for him. ‘No one knows where he is, but he could have been back to this area”
Or not…
THE SUN front page: “Publicity blitz for Maddie in Africa”
“Many still don’t recognise her”
Help make Madeleine McCann the world’s most recognisable face
“Despite a massive campaign highlighting the seven-month search for their daughter, experts believe many in the north African country still lack the crucial information they need to help trace her”
Many?
“Now a silent army of volunteers from the Helping To Find Madeleine campaign have given their time over the festive period to flood businesses across the nation with 11,500 letters and posters”
Not so silent
“The initiative comes after the McCanns’ Spanish detective agency pin-pointed Morocco as the most likely place little Maddie may have been taken”
Can you pinpoint a “likely place” to an entire nation? Is this detective work or guesswork?
Kate and Gerry McCann are “doctors”. Fact
Kate pins on badge of hope: “ANGUISHED Kate McCann returned to church yesterday – with a badge of hope bearing a picture of missing Madeleine pinned close to her heart”
A new merchandise push?
One “worshipper” at Kate’s church says: “Every mother wants to cuddle her children at Christmas – it’s heartbreaking that Kate has been denied that. The badge is a symbol of hope that could help focus new eyes on the hunt for Madeleine”
“347 new Maddie calls combed” - The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell says: “We are pleased with the calls and they are continuing to come in. Every single call is much appreciated and we are going through them with a fine-tooth comb. Any that need to be acted upon swiftly are being acted upon swiftly. We don’t go into detail because if there is any significant information”
DAILY STAR: “TECS: MADDIE BEING HELD IN MOROCCO”
“More than 11,500 posters appealing for information about the youngster have been sent out to the furthest reaches of the north African country”
Francisco Marco, the PI hired by the McCanns, says: “Morocco is the perfect place to hide a kidnapped girl”. He has said this before. Is Morocco the perfect place? Why not Algeria? Or Malta?
DAILY RECORD: “Maddie Poster Blitz In Morocco”
“Schools, supermarkets and medical centres are being blitzed with thousands of photos of the missing four-year-old. And letters written in French and Arabic are being sent to towns and villages in the most remote parts of the country”
Madeleine in Morocco. Or not. Again… Isabel Gonzalez saw her. Mari Pollard saw her
Clarence Mitchell says: “Anyone who puts effort into assisting us in any way, we are incredibly grateful for, and it sounds like they have done a fantastic job. I have no doubt that it is this kind of effort and initiatives that will lead us to finding Madeleine”
Gerry and Kate McCann are “doctors”
THE GUARDIAN: “From Mr Bean to Shambo the bull, the media obsessions of 2007”
A review: “Almost nine months after she vanished, we know a lot about Madeleine McCann and her family. We know the legal implications of being named an official suspect in a Portuguese criminal investigation. What we do not know is who took her, if she is alive and whether any trace of her will ever be found again. A total of 4,650 articles have appeared in British newspapers since she disappeared on May 3”
THE SCOTSMAN: “Madness, badness, hate and heroism - Robert McNeil continues his unique take on the events of 2007 with a look back at the second three months of the year…”
“Hell also visited the parents of three-year-old Madeleine McCann on 3 May when the toddler disappeared from their holiday apartment in the Algarve. In the ensuing months, Kate and Gerry McCann used the media to keep the case in the public eye. The Portuguese police did the same, but their efforts were directed more at casting doubts on the McCanns and their friends. Supposed sightings of Madeleine were reported periodically, but each time hopes were dashed”
THE TIMES: “Hundreds ring hotline after Madeleine plea”
Yesterday in the latest entry on his internet diary, Mr McCann wrote: “Madeleine should not be spending Christmas away from her loving family. The person who took her has it in their power to end our suffering and will be able to appease their conscience that they have done the right thing – especially at this time of year. Kate and I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to write to us and let us know Madeleine and our family are still in their thoughts and prayers. We still have at least one hundred cards to open! As always, every single one will be read and the support expressed helps renew our determination to find Madeleine”
The story, speculation and sensation…
Posted: 27th, December 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,081) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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December 27th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
551
Can’t say No
“When we have G. for the “Scot” of the year, nothing surprises me”
(Please note that Gerry is trying desperately to get his nomination changed to - ‘Scot-free of the Year’.)
Nominations for other awards are:
Murat – ‘Scapegoat of the Year’
Nanny – ‘Skid of the Year’
Cuddle Cat – ‘Scaredycat of the Year’
Kate – ‘Scouse Scrubber of the Year’
Clarence – ‘Scaramouch of the Year’
O’Brien – ‘Scoundrel of the Year’
Tanner – ‘Sketcher of the Year’
Metado3 – ‘Scout of the Year’
Renault – ‘Scenic of the Year’
Renault boot – ‘Skunk of the Year’
Auntie Phil has been nominated for two awards – ‘Anti Sceptic of the Year’ and - ‘Scaffold of the Year’
December 27th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
590 Stevo
Over here I pay $100 a year for what I regard as a perfect waste disposal service. How come they can’t do that in the UK?
‘cos in europe we have to recycle waste
in the usa it just gets dumped in a hole (as we used to do)
December 27th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
577
Judith C
Yes, I, too, attended an all girls school from age 11 but before this was schooled in the usual state primary/junior school. So, heavy physical discipline whilst young and discipline by humiliation when older. I firmly believe that kids today are over stimulated with no time to be children. Very young children have a constant whirl of after school activities and new hobbies as defined by peer pressure. Every new hobby has to have all the ‘gear’ and it is cast off within weeks. So sad. Children seem to have no time to read, dream, soak up the amazing world around them. They seem to exist within a world which places very little value on the things that matter. Children flourish if they have boundaries, values and the right kind of discipline and respect.
Have your book, by the way, but haven’t had the time to begin reading yet.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
593 Ade
Thanks Ade. I couldn’t remember if it was Plymouth or Portsmouth.
Isn’t it daily?
December 27th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
491
Tony Bennett Says:
Meejician wrote: “Tony, the gene responsible for ADHD has been identified. OK? So it’s genetic. OK?”
REPLY: Not OK, Meejician, unless you supply credible sources/links. Stevo makes some good points also in Post 474. By the way, I have worked as a qualfied social worker with children said to be suffering from ADHD within the past 4 years. In the cases I saw, parental inability to give proper attention and discipline to their children was always a major factor
***plus terrible diet - bottles of Coca Cola being consumed by very young children*** etc.
…………………………………..
Tony Bennett,
Your remarks on this subject are extraordinarily hypocritical.
I am using my own Christian name here, so you will recognise me as someone who was a friend of yours for many years. I’m so surprised by your judgemental attitude towards other parents such as the McCanns as I remember the quite poor parenting you gave your own children.
Just one instance. I recall that when you and your family spent a Sunday with my family some years ago, my (then) husband and I were shocked when you and your wife G…. told us not to offer your child (then around the same age as Madeleine McCann) any food whatsoever as the child would never eat anything except chocolate. Though you wife did say that she sometimes managed to persuade your child to accept chocolate made with some egg.
I offered to prepare any food which the child might eat, yet you told me not to bother as there was no hope of your child eating anything else but chocolate. We then sat through a most uncomfortable Sunday lunch while your little child was left to run around to their own devices.
I asked you if you had sought any professional help for what was obviously a severe and worrying eating disorder, but you and your wife merely looked awkward and gazed at the floor.
Some years later, you told me that you thought your children had suffered a lot due to parental coldness and lack of affection.
I would not normally post such private information to a public forum, Tony. However I’m deeply shocked by what seems to me to be your public persecution of the McCanns, largely on the basis of unreliable information from tabloid reports, while the investigation of Madeleine’s disappearance is still underway.
How could you persecute these people in this manner when your own parenting and conduct - of which the above is just one example - has been so very far from perfect?
You seem to be in almost complete denial of the reality of your own parenting and conduct.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
569 stevo
593 ade
“the santander ferry docks at plymouth
plymouth is 44 miles from erm… exeter”
and o’brien lives in exeter
and there were reports that the smell of death was found at a house in exeter
interesting…
December 27th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
586 chenier Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Stevo seems to imagine that a 12 year old press release reflects cutting edge science. It doesn’t…
_____________________________
Erm…no. I made the observation that if you can’t find it then you think it doesn’t exist - clearly one of the DSM-IV criteria listed under Narcissistic Personality Disorder:
9. Shows arrogant, haughty, patronizing, or contemptuous behaviors or attitudes
Translation: They treat other people like dirt.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
580 Stevo:
Lol…no, before my time but I like to read history. I’m not a “good-old-days” believer because I think there’s always faults at any time you choose to take your snapshot of history. But it does matter if those faults affect you and by how much. I know for instance that when I land back in the UK, it’s only a matter of minutes before I here profanities used in normal day to day conversation. Go to Liverpool or similar “tough” city and you’ll hear youngsters effing and blinding because it’s all they know.
—–
chaining ankles I am against; tattoos might not work nowadays
December 27th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
569 Stevo Says:
Ferries go from the south coast of England to Santander in northern Spain on a regular basis.
the santander ferry docks at plymouth
plymouth is 44 miles from erm… exeter
December 27th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
582
Ade Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
557 chenier
“Do they have big cities where Doom Bar is easily available?”
they do in devon and there’s only one “big” city
all relative of course
drinking doom in the big city is nearly as much fun as McConn-baiting
—————————————————-
I moved to central London 25 years ago, and since then my exposure to the countryside has been distinctly limited.
However, as I noted yesterday, my alcohol intake seems to increase as yours decreases, so I have a vested interest in getting you back to the pub.
Perhaps that should be my liver has a vested interest in getting you back to the pub…
December 27th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
589 Ade
They’re all balmy IMO.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
578Vera Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
………and you could go for a night out at the cinema, bus fare there and back, drinks and fish & chips on t’ way back and still have change out of half a crown!!!!
___________________________
Sad but true eh?
Hey…talking of good old days, nobody can beat the bin-men out here in the USA. I get service 5 days a week where I live and they walk from the street to the house, take whatever I put outside for them and they have a laugh and joke with you. Oh, and they’ll bring your bin back to the house and make sure the lid is on properly.
This morning I had 6 extra large bin-bags of Christmas rubbish, two huge cardboard boxes, all in addition to my bins which were full. I can’t leave them out because wild animals will tear them to shreds….but when the bin men came this morning it was service with a smile as usual.
What do you get in the UK? “erm…can’t take that…the lid’s not on properly.” or “your bin isn’t precisely aligned with the cardinal points of the compass” or “we’re going to start a 2 week service”
Aren’t bin men/waste disposal in the UK a disgrace?
Over here I pay $100 a year for what I regard as a perfect waste disposal service. How come they can’t do that in the UK?
December 27th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
563 Tinsel S
“How would they have contained the smell or the fluids on an airplane? This is terrible to say, but remember, a dead body is something like a giant piece of rotting fruit. Not easy to hide in an airplane.”
well there was a report of embalming fluid found at the barn where the towel was discovered…
December 27th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
537 Judith C
I think that our genes are hostage to environmental factors. That is, I think that the same broad genetic predispositions may have existed years ago but possibly new chemicals in food and the environment have encouraged certain genetic weaknesses to manifest themselves. I also think that, as well as these chemical and environmental stressors, life today is extremely pressurised and people have high expectations of what life should give them. I think there is no question that stress has an effect on the body systems, particularly, for example, the adrenal glands, with the effect that genetic susceptibilities, hitherto less often revealed, are exploited by stress and show themselves as seemingly new syndromes.
When I was a child, Christmas was so exciting because we ate and drank things that we did not have during the rest of the year, and had presents that we could not have afforded all the time. On the whole, most of us have much more now from a material perspective but the joy of the “treat” has gone because we can have what we want any time of the year. Yet, despite having so much more, we also expect a lot more and strive to have a lot more, and I think this is what underlies a lot of 21st century stress.
On the other hand, I suppose former generations had different stressors. What about the war generations? And yet, my mother told me that, although the war was unimaginably awful, there was an air of “eat, drink and be merry” because people knew they could easily be killed before tomorrow.
Maybe I’m right, maybe I’m not. But I know I find life more stressful these days than ever before.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
557 chenier
“Do they have big cities where Doom Bar is easily available?”
and you can get doom in bristol…
December 27th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
570
Stevo Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
510 chenier Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
I am unable to find any paper supporting such a claim….
____________________________________________
And like all good narcissists, if you can’t find it, it doesn’t exist right?
=================================================
Er, no.
On the other hand my research skills are quite well developed, and I am simply commenting on papers which can be traced via the usual suspects. The offspring, were she not out partying, would search using the same usual suspects.
The whole point about modern scientific research is that the web provides easy access to at least the abstract of published papers.
Stevo seems to imagine that a 12 year old press release reflects cutting edge science. It doesn’t…
December 27th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
21 Dave Says: December 27th, 2007 at 10:05 am
In the interests of justice here is a challenge for the prosecution. Edit…
+++++++++++++++
Pst………… There is no prosecution just yet… Please be patient. In the interim, you’ll just have to make do with lots of speculation and rumour.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
577Judith C Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
Thus many many children, who may be out of order for reasons other than a medical or genetic condition, are swept up into the ’shut-em-up-by-drugging them’ syndrome when perhaps all a lot of them need is discipline (assuming they’ve already got the love, etc. etc.)
__________
Can’t agree more.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
—– Original Message —–
From: cm@nostoneunturned.co.uk
To: gm@nostoneunturned.co.uk
Sent: Thursday, December 28, 2007 6:39 AM
Subject: DRAFT FOR YOUR THOUGHTS
“My clients extend their heartfelt sympathy to the family of Miss Bhutto and the Pakistan people at this difficult time, and hope that the world will join with them in asking the Portuguese authorities to respect their privacy (and the privacy of the Bhutto family) during the transition to full democracy in Pakistan and victory in the War or Terror.”
We could go in the next hour and still catch the evening TV news. Possibly a share of the tabs’ front pages - the broadsheets are unlikely to run this lon the front. Let me know.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
557 chenier
“Do they have big cities where Doom Bar is easily available?”
they do in devon and there’s only one “big” city
all relative of course
drinking doom in the big city is nearly as much fun as McConn-baiting
December 27th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
is *
December 27th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
574 veritablequandary
Lol…no, before my time but I like to read history. I’m not a “good-old-days” believer because I think there’s always faults at any time you choose to take your snapshot of history. But it does matter if those faults affect you and by how much. I know for instance that when I land back in the UK, it’s only a matter of minutes before I here profanities used in normal day to day conversation. Go to Liverpool or similar “tough” city and you’ll hear youngsters effing and blinding because it’s all they know.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
575
Dave
IF that si true ,then Mr. Gordon Brown , has a lot ot give to Mr. Sócrates and Mr. Durão Barroso , and you can bet ,that we the Portuguese,want our share of the cake !!
December 27th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
558 Stevo:
The days were in the UK when an ankle chain or tattoo on a woman used to be the marks of a prostitute. Nowadays in the UK, young girls are probably the largest smoking group, they outdo each other with ugly tattoos and they go out on the town trying to out-skimp each other. Sadly, there’s nobody at the top telling anyone how to behave anymore. The days of Reginald Molehusband and Public Information Films is long gone.
——————————————————————————————
………and you could go for a night out at the cinema, bus fare there and back, drinks and fish & chips on t’ way back and still have change out of half a crown!!!!
December 27th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
562
Patch Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
*******************************
Hello Patch! Yes, thank you. I had as good a Christmas as was possible but thought about my friend, who missed it, a lot. Re the Ritalin generation: I know there have always been disruptive children around although in all honesty I can’t remember anyone in my school being like that, but perhaps, as it was quite a staid, all-girls school, they had weeded any potential troublemakers out at registration time. However, as with all our country’s top-heavy blanket ‘laws’, ‘cures’, ‘remedies for ills’ - the easy way to deal with children in our politically correct, look-don’t-touch-them-as they are inviolate (and may report you for abuse) society is to drug all the kids who cause trouble or might cause trouble (due, of course, to numerous lifestyle, parenting, dietary and other reasons).
Thus many many children, who may be out of order for reasons other than a medical or genetic condition, are swept up into the ’shut-em-up-by-drugging them’ syndrome when perhaps all a lot of them need is discipline (assuming they’ve already got the love, etc. etc.)
That’s what I think anyway.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
573
Ade
I don’t think they are “really strange” as you say.
Really strange to me ,is how their country allows them to do it and even support them.
That for me is REALLY STRANGE
Never heard of such thing
December 27th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Ade the evidence for or against abduction is as stated in TB’s post of 11.10am, one of two theories being considered by the the PJ, as stated by the Magistrate, sorry to disappoint you.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
558 Stevo:
The days were in the UK when an ankle chain or tattoo on a woman used to be the marks of a prostitute. Nowadays in the UK, young girls are probably the largest smoking group, they outdo each other with ugly tattoos and they go out on the town trying to out-skimp each other. Sadly, there’s nobody at the top telling anyone how to behave anymore. The days of Reginald Molehusband and Public Information Films is long gone.
—-
were these the good old days?
December 27th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
546 tony bennett
wow thanks for sharing that one!
these people sicken me
these people are really strange
and do they come from the same educational background as the thicko radiologist who can’t string a sentence together?:
compliment - as you indicate maybe complement was intended
madeleines abduction - probably meant: madeleine’s abduction, but who says it was an “abduction”?
We’re not a support group, (although we ARE supportive!) - i’m just an arse but a group that supports something is by definition a “support group” surely!
(No hard feelings if you feel this is not for you. ) - what a bloody cheek! they thing the world revolves around the bloody wretched McConns. not bloody likely…
and now the realreason for the missive - more money grabbing
* Buy a wristband for yourself and your family (www.findmadeleine.com)
* Making a donation to ‘Madeleines fund’, which is presently funding the Private Investigators.
i’m tempted to sign up and throw a spanner in the works but i cannot be arsed - let them rot in hell
the whole lot of ‘em
it;s fun to watch them stooping this low to grab some loot though
things must be getting tight…
December 27th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
566 Judith
———–
I am not arguing that diet and bad parenting have no effect, but I don’t believe they tell the whole story.