McGuckin In McCann Peril: Foreign Crimes In Foreign Climes
BRITONS planning trips to the new Portugal should go equipped with a loud hailer, a private detective and nothing too shiny. If on a driving holiday, ensure the boot can be opened from within.
Listen to the tale told by Eamon and Antionette McGuckin, who found their three children in the care of the Portuguese – and what irony there, readers – after they were attacked by a “Rohypnol gang”.
One would imagine that given the paralysing powers of the so-called date rape drug, the Rohypnol Gang are not much cop at ganging, preferring to lie down and wait their victim to trip over them. It would help if the victims were drunk.
But this gang is armed with the drug and slipping it into the “small jug” of sangria the McGuckins were quaffing, sipping, even. (Although the Mirror’s Sue Carroll sees the “dog tired, hot and thirsty” couple taking beer – mucky foreign beer.)
Says a friend of the family, namely a Dr Cyril Harkin: “Neither of them are big drinkers. They have tried to understand what happened and have linked the sangria with the sudden decline in their health. They believe they were drugged by someone trying to rob them.”
The GP puts the tin lid on the matter by saying: “The Portuguese authorities are paranoid after the Madeleine McCann case.”
We are not anti-foreigner, and are quite confident that if the entire peoples of continental Europe were placed in a cell we could find a dozen for a game of cricket and a scorer, but can only conclude that the vast mojortity Portuguese are the scum of the Earth and in need of hanging…
Posted: 7th, May 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (448) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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May 7th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
226
brandon flours Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
the media happenned upon it and blew it out of proportion, ruining their reputations all for the sake of making another linking maddie headline
—–
sounds like it yes.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Ribeiro is no fool, the Politico’s are setting up a career cop to take the flak, when the AG tells him, “find a shelve dear boy”
May 7th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
230 Salomon ES
Interesting that he resigns at this critical stage in the investigation, although perhaps it is more to do with internal politics and reports of poorer police conviction rates over the past year, allegely due to deployment of police resources to the McCann case, brian drain and poor police morale.
José Maria Almeida Rodrigues, his successor appears to be regarded as a significant change because he has a police background, and known for successfully solving cases.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
bye salomon!!
not long to the 15th
May 7th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I won’t entertain any more discussion around the NI couple in the Algarve that GOT PISSED out of their heads. Anyone interested in suing me for this statement can find me at suesalomones(at)salmonlaw(dot)com
I think there is an element of surrealism in their account of events, and also an element xenophobia in some people’s asking to give them “the benefit of the doubt”. The same benefit of the doubt does not seem to apply when it’s time to criticise the portuguese.
I’ll be back to comment on the madeleine case when there is something that merits it.
Good day
May 7th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Also, it has stopped us talking about the mc canns
May 7th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
229 Chenier
No, of course it should be thoroughly investigated. Any ideas where to start??
May 7th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
212 Agenda Wilde
I personally find it amusing that some British press qualified Alipio Ribeiro as the only cop that believed the McCanns.
Well, Ribeiro is not a detective and never was he’s a magistrate (ie a judge from the prosecutors office).
Ribeiro’s interview to a spanish newspaper, in my very humble opinion is very telling of what he thinks about the abduction theory and what he thinks about the McCanns.
Even the famous statement about “hastinness” does not / did not challenge the main line of investigation (ie McCanns not telling the truth) but does question if the strategy to pursue that line of investigation has been the most correct one.
If you look at the original version of that famous statement he says “if they had not been made arguidos at that time, maybe - just maybe they would have stayed in portugal and maybe they would have been more cooperative”. To me that sounds like “the McCanns are guilty as hell and we should have kept them in the dark a bit longer”.
The statement was then spinned by the UK media into becoming an attack on the theory that the McCanns were involved.
Anyway… such is life.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
216
Logic Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Why is everyone so loathe to believe that this Irish couple could have been drugged? Rohypnol does not necessarily cause complete amnesia - it is very variable - and theoretically someone could have put something into their drinks. It is completely plausible that they would still remember their jug of Sangria. We know this sort of thing does happen, so shouldn’t we give them the benefit of the doubt?
—————————————————–
Who are we giving the benefit of the doubt to?
Or are you under the impression that the existence of a band of robbers drugging people is so insignificant it needn’t be investigated in any way?
May 7th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Meant “Life” of course, not “lift”.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
223 Salomon
Yes, of course. But they’re probably very embarrassed and know that people probably won’t believe them. I don’t know this couple - they might be the world’s greatest drinkers for all I know. But there could be an explanation which makes them less culpable and thankfully the kids are OK. Just hope my kids and I never get our drinks spiked - could end up getting a lift sentence.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
the media happenned upon it and blew it out of proportion, ruining their reputations all for the sake of making another linking maddie headline
May 7th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
218
Salomon ES Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
——————————————–
Plausibility is in the eye of the beholder.
It’s well drafted, but even a genius can’t make bricks without straw.
It’s interesting that the Foreign Office is noticeable by its absence from the story. The only mention is about hospital tests.
I wonder why they did not provide this explanation to the FO at the time?
I’m sure they would have been only too happy to publicise it…
May 7th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
221
Logic Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
‘Your friend was very lucky that the hospital diagnosed him at all. Often people who have an epileptic fit are presumed to be drunk and left lying in the street. Quite often they die.’
i knew it was an epileptic fit, though i don’t think at the time i’d seen a grand mal before. apparently he had been an epileptic for a long time but seizure free and didn’t think to tell me. see, this is where one needs the eyesroll emoticon. anyway, yes agree with what you say unfortuantely.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
216 Logic
If that is what happened, would you not feel that it is your duty to report it to police or to consular services? Do you think your duty is to run away and issue a press statement saying that you don’t want any press coverage and cannot explain what happened?
May 7th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
216
Logic Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
‘Why is everyone so loathe to believe that this Irish couple could have been drugged?’
–
i’m not, i just can’t see any reason for it, a bit of food poisoning and a bit too much drink makes more sense to me.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
214 Sam
Your friend was very lucky that the hospital diagnosed him at all. Often people who have an epileptic fit are presumed to be drunk and left lying in the street. Quite often they die.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
mac means ‘brothers off ‘ the the people of the clan doesnt it?
May 7th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
212
Could Ribiero’s resignation clear the way for a reevaluation of the forensic evidence and that geneticists can tell if blood (which contains unique DNA ) comes from person x and person y or other alphabetical letters?
May 7th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Chenier 211
IMO the official account of events is just as plausible as pigs flying and Madeleine having been abducted. But I do give it to them… at least it’s a bit more plausible than drugs in sangria.
Whichever way we / they look at it and whatever the british press says, the portuguese authorities were diligent and acted adequately. End of story.
It could be that this was just 1 incident where this couple was subject to undue media attention and was pushed into running away and inventing a farce in order to justify their behaviour.
As I said in a message time will tell… if other stories like this will continue emerging in the next few weeks, perhaps we’ll have more to speculate about.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I’ve been spiked ! It is quite common.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Why is everyone so loathe to believe that this Irish couple could have been drugged? Rohypnol does not necessarily cause complete amnesia - it is very variable - and theoretically someone could have put something into their drinks. It is completely plausible that they would still remember their jug of Sangria. We know this sort of thing does happen, so shouldn’t we give them the benefit of the doubt?
May 7th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
G’day All,
… what is it with names that start with Mc ??? They seem to be in the media quite a bit
May 7th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
211
chenier Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
‘And as they say, the devil is in the detail.’
yes, and i tend to miss those, obviously.
‘The idea of anybody being admitted to hospital as an emergency case relying on being diagnosed and successfully treated in an hour or two is ‘ludicrous’ to put it mildly…’
it is in my experience, even simple things take a long while. i was out shopping once with my then friend and the children and he had an epileptic seizure while we were out. i went behind the ambulance in our car and we were several hours in the hospital until he recovered enough to go home.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
It is not too late for the MC G to have their blood analysed to check if they were drugged, if they really think so.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Salomon ES
I see Ribeiro has regrets but does not appear to provide details on what they are.
———————————————————-
BBC today ‘Madeleine police chief quits post
The Portuguese police chief criticised for his handling of the Madeleine McCann case has resigned, the country’s Ministry of Justice has confirmed.
Alípio Ribeiro, the national director of the judicial police, reportedly told a local radio station he was “tired” of being in the media spotlight.
He had made a number of public comments about Madeleine’s disappearance, despite judicial secrecy laws.
In February, he said police had been “hasty” in naming her parents suspects.
Mr Ribeiro will be replaced by José Maria Almeida Rodrigues, a senior detective currently based in the town of Coimbra.
Officer fired
As head of the Polícia Judiciária - Portugal’s equivalent of the CID - Mr Ribeiro insisted information about the hunt for Madeleine should not be made public.
He also fired the police officer who earlier headed the investigation, Goncalo Amaral, for comments he made to the media.
But Mr Ribeiro himself mentioned the case several times in interviews, including discussing the role forensic evidence from Kate and Gerry McCann’s hire car could play in uncovering what happened to their daughter.
On Tuesday, Mr Ribeiro reportedly told Radio Renascenca that he regretted “what he said as well what he failed to say” publicly about the investigation.’
May 7th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
208
sam Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
198
chenier Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
‘That’s why I said that it was very carefully constructed; you weren’t intended to think of it.
It’s simply the art of trying to make people overlook the obvious…’
—
but i really do think it difficult to get that drunk in less than two hours, i find that hard to believe, so i suppose the rest of the story, as it was presented, made more sense, one then switches off the critical thinking then perhaps and misses details, yes.
———————————–
And as they say, the devil is in the detail.
No grown up person would believe that hotel staff are qualified, or legally able, to take care of small children overnight; if it happened in England in exactly the same circumstances, the children would also be taken to a place of safety.
Perhaps in Northern Ireland it’s different, but I strongly doubt it.
So the whole thing about them expecting that the children would be cared for at the hotel is distinctly bizarre.
‘The parents left with the paramedics in the belief that once Antoinette’s condition was established and treated they would return to the hotel to their children.’
is pure nonsense; even if the hotel were legally able to keep the children, just what do they imagine doctors are capable of doing?
The idea of anybody being admitted to hospital as an emergency case relying on being diagnosed and successfully treated in an hour or two is ‘ludicrous’ to put it mildly…
May 7th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
207 Salomon ES Says:
” But the case really gets strange when they now come back and start saying that they were drugged. ”
“They” have taken her.
There is now an “official” version of the events. chenier posted a link in 172. No word about drugs.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
200
Saul Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Whatever happened to the golden age of……
“It’s a fair cop guv”
—–
grin.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
198
chenier Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
‘That’s why I said that it was very carefully constructed; you weren’t intended to think of it.
It’s simply the art of trying to make people overlook the obvious…’
—
but i really do think it difficult to get that drunk in less than two hours, i find that hard to believe, so i suppose the rest of the story, as it was presented, made more sense, one then switches off the critical thinking then perhaps and misses details, yes.