Madeleine McCann: McCanns Cleared, Shannon Matthews Fund And The Maddy Card
MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann and Shannon Matthews
DAILY MIRROR: “McCANNS ‘IN CLEAR’”
Kate and Gerry McCann will be formally cleared as suspects in daughter Madeleine’s disappearance by August, their lawyer said yesterday.
Fact. Now the Portuguese police can find Madeleine? And the McCanns can return to Portugal.
Rogerio Alves said detectives in Portugal had finally admitted they have no evidence against the couple and were preparing to lift their arguido status. But he also warned the move could signal the end of the year-long hunt for the four-year-old.
But the Portuguese police are useless, right? And the McCanns have Metodo 3?
But McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “We don’t want the case to remain unsolved.”
DAILY MAIL: “McCanns’ status as suspects in Madeleine’s disappearance ‘will be lifted by August’”
This August. Fact.
Says Rogerio Alves: “I believe that by August the police will close the case and lift arguido status. I believe it is a very strong possibility.”
Believe. Possibility. Fact.
ROUNDTOWNNEWS (Spain): “Mass of Balloons for Madeleine”
Skies over the Costa Blanca were clouded by a mass of colour, to mark the first anniversary of the disappearance of British infant, Madeleine McCann…
Yellow…
Meanwhile, Rob and Lisa, owners of ‘The Card Place’ in Benimar, decided to make their own touching dedication to Madeleine, by launching an abundance of bright balloons into the sunny Costa Blanca sky… Last weekend, crowds gathered to witness the event, as 160 balloons sailed from outside of the store, reminding residents throughout the area that the search for a little girl must continue. Lisa concluded with an emotional message which reflected the thoughts of all of those with any knowledge of the case. She said, “Although the investigation has gone on for sometime, Madeline has yet to be found. Members of the public should be encouraged to continue to look for Madeleine, and remain conscientious in the protection of their own children.”
And get all their cards at The Card Palce, ask for it by name. Is there a missing child card?
DEWSBURY REPORTER: “Trustees meet over Shannon cash fund options”
RESIDENTS of the housing estate where Shannon Matthews disappeared are to choose how cash raised for her appeal will be spent.
A plasma telly?
This week the six trustees for the Help Find Shannon Fund and local community support group Pathfinder, which managed the collection of the money, met to decide what to do with the remaining cash.
Family, friends, neighbours, local businesses and community groups donated money into the Help Find Shannon Fund – much like the one for missing youngster Madeleine McCann – during the 24 days the nine-year-old was missing.
So give the money to the Find Madeleine fund, easy?
Posted: 10th, May 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (329) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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May 10th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
141 jo
I am a [British] Doctor [who loves being in the limelight] clutching rosary beads, cuddle cat and straw in moment of despair, who has access to Gordie Brown’s direct phone line [and lots of media friends]
May 10th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
130 - Gloria Smudd
If you find an odd sock in your cupboard - blue, sporting a picture of Santa, and plays jingle bells when you press his tummy - Please get in touch.
I have the matching sock here !
May 10th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Well, I can’t stand around lollygagging all day. I got a tight schedule.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Marie Nicholas
Mrs Smudd is thought to have stared at her heap of laundry every half an hour before returning to her re-inforced seat in front of Anorak.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Ribeiro has resigned.
The British Ambassador, John Buck, resigned.
Mmmmm.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
135
Carmen Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Good post Chenier.
We must add to the get out of jail cards, though.
I’m a Doctor.
I’m a Doctor clutching rosary beads.
*************
…and cuddle cats and…straw in moment of despair
May 10th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Ahah!! was this laundry cupboard locked? Were there regular checks?
May 10th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
135 Carmen
We must add to the get out of jail cards, though.
I’m a Doctor.
I’m a Doctor clutching rosary beads.
I’m a Doctor clutching rosary beads who has access to Gordie Brown’s direct phone line.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Clarrie desparete to find a link to the neglected laundry that has become a cause celebre in France, and is causing a stink in the UK
May 10th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Chenier
Do you have the same saying in England according to which “l’enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions”? (the pavement of hell is made of good intentions, meaning people do the wrong things, but say they meant well. Still, it leads them to hell).
May 10th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
131 chenier
and instead of looking for her, they set up a PayPal account and gave endless interviews. They did lots and lots of things, except look. This is rather strange considering the frequency with which we are all reminded about what model, caring and concerned parents they are.
We are asked to accept the ‘it felt so right’ comment as a cloth with which to wipe any suggestion of blame off their behaviour. And the great British press have done that.
Other, less well connected parents, sadly are not afforded the same luxury.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Good post Chenier.
We must add to the get out of jail cards, though.
I’m a Doctor.
I’m a Doctor clutching rosary beads.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
125 Marie Nicholas
Hello there, read your post, very true. Strange thing is, most of my Friends will not
concede that Madeleine was other than abducted. They acknowledge negligence by
the parents, but do not believe they are involved in their disappearance.
I read recently that Murat”s arguido status cannot be lifted because some of the details
in his file are interlinked with the McCann File which is still under investigation. The
investigation must end in August, so we will presumably have to wait until then. I
think the McCanns should return to Portugal to prove finding Madeleine is their
priority, their reluctance only makes them seem more guilty IMo
May 10th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Gloria Smudd
There will be a debate on French TV tonight about the English neglected laundry case. The question is : why put screws into dirty socks? Madame Sarkhozy (Carla) will attend the debate. She is said not to believe in screwing up socks. Apparently the specialists are surprised that the English do it to their jaws.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
131 chenier
and the irony is that if they really and truly loved their child/children they would have helped not hindered the police investigation into her disappearance.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
118
Marie Nicholas Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
——————————————-
I think the most curious aspect of it all, as Marie Nicholas has noted, is the apparent belief that if a parent says that they love their child then whatever the parent does is OK, because, after all, they love their child.
It’s a perpetual get-out-of-jail-free-card, and one which has the power to do a very great deal of damage in our society. They ask us not to look at what they did, but to believe what they say; that is a favourite ploy among politicians, but it undermines the foundations of civil society.
We are being asked to substitute emotion for reason, and the people doing the asking have a very obvious vested interest in the public not applying the processes of thought and reason to their claims.
It may be that the PRs who have worked for the McCanns are so steeped in the political game that they have applied exactly the same methods to a missing child as they would to an embarassing election result.
The difference now is that the McCanns ‘we’re not to blame’ has become so much of a liability that politicians are specifically avoiding saying anything which might sound like the McCanns; hence Gordon Brown saying that he isn’t going to give any excuses after the recent very embarassing set of election results.
It may be that in the years to come the McCanns’ PR campaign will be seen as the final nail in the coffin of Teflon Tony’s manipulation of public opinion…
May 10th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
122
Saul Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Who’s put this bloody accountant in my cupboard?
………………
You can bet your life he’s multiplying the odd socks!
May 10th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
118 Marie Nicholas
Good summary of how many people now feel, I suspect. Along with Val’s (83) post, it clearly highlights how the main aim for the McC family is to have their status as arguido lifted.
“If they will archive the case, then, in a sense this would be welcome, because it would mean that Kate and Gerry would be eliminated from the investigation,” said Clarence Mitchell.
———————-
It is not on trying to find their daughter - which is always added as an after-thought.
And a great point that I never thought of before (Carmen, 121) about the fund-counter and how this would only encourage a would-be ‘kidnapper’ to wait and wait until the fund had a good sum of money in it.
Think many people are beginning to see how ‘finding Madeleine’ has never really been the main aim, but being free to enjoy the celebritiy status and attention that Madeleine’s disappearance has afforded them is far more important.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Neglected laundry eh!!
A job for the NSPCC. National Society for the Prevention of Creases in Clothes
May 10th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
122 - Saul
Be careful he doesn’t nick your honey !
May 10th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
WOMAN RECEIVES SOCK TO THE JAW
A bewildered housewife is this afternoon said to be in a mentally unstable condition after a freak domestic accident. Gloria Smudd, 112, says she is lucky to be alive after she became buried under a mountain of neglected laundry. “I’m lucky to be alive” she said.
Although she is expected to make a full recovery, she is believed to have received rather an odd sock to the jaw. “I’ve received rather an odd sock to the jaw” she said.
“Mrs Smudd’s domestic management has been the talk of the village shop for some time” said neighbour Bunty Resonant-Howell; “I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. And what’s with all the screws?”
May 10th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Carmen,
Thank you Carmen, and thank you Gloria for your encouragements!
A money counter… Well they need money to pay for Met 3. It is all the PJ’s fault.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Chenny sugar pie, Rebelo’s new theme song……..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSvUZH9Ihjc&feature=related
May 10th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
21
jo Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Matt
What if Amaral becomes one of the lawyer in the prosecution?
We should be told (quoting Âde)
Lets have real fun
_______________
That should be real ‘fun’, Jo, considering your ‘hero’ is up on criminal charges and going to stand trial himself.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Who’s put this bloody accountant in my cupboard?
May 10th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Marie-Nicholas.
As always, you put us native English speakers to shame……………….
My own interest was kindled when I heard that the MM website had a ‘counter’ showing how much money had been collected.
How completely illogical, I thought. You don’t know why this child has been ‘taken’ - and yet you advertise to possible financial kidnappers that your wealth is growing by the day.
May 10th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Marie Nicholas says
I couldn’t believe my ears that they left such young children alone at night, and didn’t acknowledge how uncaring and dangerous for the children it was.
………………
In a nutshell.
May 10th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
And thank you, Marie Nicholas, for once more a very thoughtful and thought-provoking reply.
May 10th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Meercat
I am a bit like Gloria, as regards the fascination about the case. I started by believing what I was told, that the MCs were very unlucky, their child was snatched, but I wasn’t really interested, or rather, I didn’t want to think of their agony, it must have been too excrutiating for them. Then I saw a picture of KM (I don’t watch TV), and I was a bit surprised how dapper she looked ; I thought, how strange, still appearances mean nothing. Then there was a fear that they could be wrongly accused, and I thought, what a nightmare for them. It was then an English gentleman told me they wouldn’t have lost their child, hadn’t they got out at night and left their 3 small children alone. (He has a child with the Down syndrom and is himself a devoted father). He sounded indignant. I couldn’t believe my ears that they left such young children alone at night, and didn’t acknowledge how uncaring and dangerous for the children it was.
I started reading the papers about it - I was in England then- and what I read lead me to think the newspapers made the readers see them as an emblem of England abroad, who couldn’t have done anything wrong, and the Portuguese had to be considered hopeless and sloppy to save Great Britain’s self esteem. The xenophoby and gross lack of knowledge about a foreign country was unbelievable. I felt for the Portuguese, maybe because I thought if it happened in my country, there would be a lot of bashing in the newspapers against us too.
I thought it would be very difficult for the truth to come out, I knew then it would be a long struggle. What fascinated me was that the MCs and the pro-Mcs newspapers kept attacking. Either they were incredibly cynical and aggressive, or the MCs were innocent and defending themselves to the utmost. Yet, I knew if I were innocent and wrongly accused, I wouldn’t declare war on those who thought I wasn’t truthful. Instead of antagonising them, and accusing them, I would explain myself fully, and trust them to realise I had nothing to hide.
At the same time, the dogs did their appearance in the P d L flat, and it really made me think. Then the MCs were back in England, and hiring the Pinochet lawyer. I probably would have reacted differently if I had been English, as I realise the lawyer doesn’t care who he defends, and it doesn’t say what his political ideas are. Yet, to me, it meant that the MCs weren’t true to their political ideal (even if I don’t necessarily share the same). It also meant they really thought they needed to be defended by whoever would be able to fight their extradition. It made them appear frightened, as if they knew the police had something on them. Yet, I still didn’t know whom I was believing.
There was something in their demeanour that I didn’t find straightforward The way they walked, the way they gazed or glanced sideways, the way they spoke, what they said. My intuition told me they were contrived, but I forbid it to dictate my stance, and thought I would use my reason instead. I was also surprised by their ability to make money. Not many doctos are good at business. They were people who knew how to make money and look after themselves. They didn’t have the profile of victims. A picture of them was forming in my mind.
Something definitely stopped me from being on their side, and I think it is what they inflicted on their children. Many grown ups are callous about children’s tears and fears. In France, a priest was on trial a few years ago, because he sent children to their death in a holiday summer camp, by making them take the sea on a sailing boat without any grown up when the weather forecast was specially threatening (probably to toughen them up).He broke several safety rules by doing so. A man tried to rescue the boys and drowned himself, and the children died. Who took sides with the priest when everybody said how irresponsible and callous he was? The parents of the deceased boys.
In France, you still have some streets and lycées called after Robespierre, who was completely mad, and had so many innocents guillotined during the French revolution. When you read his prose, and study his life, he was obviously a paranoiac, Staline type. It is always strange how uncertain people are when it comes to defend powerless victims. In this case, if the child was kidnapped, obviously her parents didn’t ensure the minimum security which she was entitled to. What is most puzzling is how the most selfish parents say they love their children. It makes you wonder what love is, and means. But everybody believes that because they love their child they can’t be selfish, and oblivious to their duties towards the child.
With the spin doctor drumming into our heads that they are innocent and they want to help the PJ, I became more and more wary, to say the least.
The more it goes, the more I think some people who could help solve the case hide what they know to protect their own interests. The PJ and M’s parents have opposite views. One of them must be wrong. The MCs’s version leaves a lot to be desired, but I don’t know anything for sure, and I wait for the truth. Only a thorough investigation will back it, not a spin doctor’s assertions or hearsay.
I don’t have a child aged 5, but I have been a child, and I am a mother. The selfishness of grown ups is sometimes as unconspicuous as huge, and the helplessness of children is heartbreaking. Thank you Meercat for a very interesting question.
May 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
114
Gandolf Says:
May 10th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
——————————–
Allow me to refer you to Tom Petty’s excellent analysis of the situation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHJMp5bz9u8