Madeleine McCann: Child Alert, Fear And Tony Bennett’s McCann Club
MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “Madeleine McCann: Kate and Gerry’s fury at ‘club’ devoted to prosecuting them”
Gerry and Kate McCann have expressed their anger at the establishment of a fee-paying “club” dedicated to seeing them prosecuted over the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.
A retired British solicitor, Tony Bennett, has set up a fund called The Madeleine Foundation, which aims to bring a private prosecution against the McCanns for alleged child neglect.
Tony Bennett has been on Anorak.
But Madeleine’s parents fear members of the public will inadvertently donate money to it because they may mistake it for the McCanns’ own Madeleine Fund, which pays for private investigations into her whereabouts.
Mr Bennett says his fund is a “subscription-only members’ club, charging a £10 annual fee”.
Says Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman: “It is a great shame that Mr Bennett feels the need to make money out of Madeleine McCann. He did not seek permission from Gerry or Kate to use Madeleine’s name.”
It’s a brand?
“This so-called foundation is in no way doing anything to help find Madeleine.”
Says Bennett:
“Some of the money immediately raised will be used to pay for a barrister to give his or her opinion on how best to proceed with a legal action against the McCanns. We are a group of people, which is rapidly growing in number, who want to get to the truth of what happened to Madeleine. We will also campaign for changes to the law about parents who leave children on their own.
DAILY MAIL: “Brussels throws out McCann’s appeal for European missing child alert system”
Kate and Gerry McCann’s campaign for an alert system for missing children across Europe will not be adopted by the EU, ministers said yesterday.
FENLAND TODAY: “McCanns win more backing for child abduction alert”
More MEPs have backed a campaign spearheaded by the Rothley parents of Madeleine McCann for a Europe-wide child abduction alert, the couple’s spokesman said.
WALES ONLINE: “Common sense not cotton wool for children, says safety tsar”
PARENTS should not respond to fears of child abduction and knife crime by wrapping their children in “cotton wool”, a leading charity’s new child safety tsar warned.
Karen McFarlane has been appointed by Children in Wales to promote a reduction in avoidable deaths and injuries.
She said: “What we’d like to try to do is empower both the children and the parent as they make informed choices. We don’t want to wrap them in cotton wool”…
Lynne Hill, the charity’s policy director, said children’s fears could be fuelled by the portrayal of dangers in media coverage.
She said: “Children are very, very aware of what’s reported on the news. The decision of some children to carry knives was often in response to a fear of attack,” she said.
“What’s striking is very often children think it’s a way of protecting themselves.”
Fears of child abduction had escalated following the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007.
Ms Hill said: “I know when Madeleine McCann was kidnapped there were a lot of reports of children being very fearful that someone would snatch them or a friend of theirs”
Increasing the fear. It could be you…
Posted: 9th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (701) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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July 9th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
529
Noseycow Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Sorry that first blog entry was for May 17th 2007 (not the 20th)
————————-
That just makes it worse…
July 9th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
‘They know the staff well and the staff are all excellent.’
Is this the same staff they wouldn’t have as babysitters because they were ’strangers’?
July 9th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Sorry that first blog entry was for May 17th 2007 (not the 20th)
July 9th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
First blog entry May 20th
Our day starts around 6.30am with us all waking up around the same time. We have breakfast with Sean and Amelie and our close family/friends who are here with us. Then its clean nappies and clothes for Sean and Amelie followed by showers etc for the rest of us.
Usually there’s some free time then for a few stories or games with the twins before heading out.
9.00-9.15 We take Sean and Amelie to Kids’ Club. They really enjoy it and run in. They know the staff well and the staff are all excellent. Both love the domestic corner and Amelie particularly likes to look after ‘babies’. We use the kids club a bit like nursery at home but we think Sean and Amelie still think they are on holiday!
9.30~12.15. We return to the apartments, usually for a series of meetings with our press officer, Mark Warner Reps, occasionally Consulate staff, lawyers and British Liaison officers. During this time we catch up with family and close friends, usually by telephone and discuss ideas how to keep Madeleine’s profile high especially throughout continental Europe.
12.30 Time to pick up Sean and Amelie from Kids’ club then head back to apartment for lunch, which has usually been prepared by one of our family/friends group who have been tremendously supportive.
13.30 –14.30 This is time to spend time playing with the twins either in the apartment or in the play area next to kids club.
14.30-15.00 Usually we take the twins back to Kids’ Club although Sean has had the odd afternoon in the apartment as it’s a bit cooler and he’s not much of a sun worshipper! They have been taking part in many different activities including painting, singing, stories, swimming, trips to the beach and they have lots of toys to play with.
15.00~17.00 We try to get some time together alone, going for a walk to talk things over or getting some exercise. This is often the time for quiet trips to the church for prayers.
17.00-17.30 Meet kids for high tea with other mums and dads. They love pasta and have been doing really well with their vegetables although a few chips have been squeezed in.
17.30-18.30. Games with kids at play area. Amelie loves trying to get in the baby pool!
18.30-19.30 Bath and story time with the twins.
20.00 We put the kids to bed.
20.30-23.00 We try to sit down for a family meal, again usually cooked by one of the small family group out here with us. Chat about the day’s events and plan the next day
23.30 bed and prayer for Madeleine that she will be returned to us safely ASAP.
In addition to above we try to attend various church services during the week, and make multiple phone calls to family and friends. We try to watch the main news early morning and late evening but have had almost no time to read the newspapers or even look at the pictures!
Kate is a keen runner and in the last few days has tried to include a run in the daily routine. Yesterday (Sat) at 7am we ran to the monument at the top of the steep cliff overlooking Praia de Luz. We reached it in 19 minutes.
Note the ONE mention of Madeleine somewhere near the end of the page.
I’d have written something like
‘Someone has taken my daughter, if anyone knows anything please please please let us know…. we can’t function without her… ‘
July 9th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Evening All
Evening Granny
Whoops - they certainly are smarter than me, and more focussed and well connected.
In the first 14 days after Madeleine dissapeared they had acheived the following:
A web site
Applied for a patent
Applied and obtained a court order
Set up a fund
Organised a trip to the vatican
Can someone remember when gerry’s blog started?
Or when the first Maddie merchandise went on sale?
I’m sorry but all this is just NOT normal imo
July 9th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
521-All just theories and very difficult to actually do with the world wtching them……that is what baffles me about this case-no-one can actually come upp with how the hell - if they did it-how they did it. The are smarter than we are-coz 14 monhs on we cannot answer one simple question-How.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Nite Âde,nice to see back
Lots of fun
July 9th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Night ade
July 9th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
room 101 calls
nite all and keep having fun watching the mcwretches
reminds me of watching the detectives by elvis costello
great fun fun fun
July 9th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Lindy Chamberlain anyone?
July 9th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
518 whoops
“…as nobody has yet come up with a practical way of where they hid her body and how they disposed of it”
hid in a freezer for a few weeks
transported in a blue tennis bag in a hire car
taken to a barn
dissolved or burnt
what’s left buried on land or at sea or dropped into a deep well
simple…
July 9th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
508
Garth Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
506
chenier Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
————
Chez for gawds sake luv.
The intentions of the McCanns were good.
Stop making something out of nothing.
——————————
Garth, I have a choice.
I can take your word for it.
Or I can decide, on the basis of the evidence I heard in Court, that the demands made by the Mccanns would compromise the criminal investigation.
A bit wimpish of me, I know, but I think I will stay on the side of the Leicestershire Police Force, the SOCA and the Attorney General…
July 9th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Cheryl
Thank you for your kind words!
I just try to get a balanced view. The truth is that it’s very hard to achieve that because we know very few actual facts about the case.
Since we don’t yet know who the criminal was who took/removed/harmed/killed Madeleine, I prefer not to assume that the parents are insincere in their attempts to pursue their campaign. It’s possible to read almost anything one wants even to the court hearing, Justice Hogg’s statements, the police and the Mcs’ lawyers’ addresses, etc. etc. People interpret according to their prejudices. Sifting through it all to get a balanced and objective view is difficult! And that’s without even considering that things will have happened beforehand (you can be sure of it!) about which the public knows nothing.
Hope you are well. I have a report to write for a meeting tomorrow morning so I’ll have to leave the interesting debate! I keep noticing other posts and coming back too often! Didn’t want not to reply to yours, though!
July 9th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Their behaviour may be well odd-and i am sarcastic at times in this respect-but if they did it they must be a damn sight cleverer than all of us including Chenier-as nobody has yet come up with a practical way of where they hid her body and how they disposed of it.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Maria,
“Just seen the news about that little beauty queen murdered in the USA ten years ago. Her parents have been suspects for a decade and have only now been cleared, thanks to some new DNA evidence. Unbearable to think about it. “…
Mrs. Ramsey died a couple of years ago from cancer, so a little late wouldn’t one say…however, very little doubt in my mind that those who villified them and trashed their lives are just shrugging their shoulders and saying ‘oh well we thought so at the time, no big deal…’
July 9th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
511:Maria’
Sorry but they’re still just ‘weasel words’ imo ……..anyway Nite x
July 9th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
507
Garth
OH…Yes…believe me I dont hold my breath,for sure….
July 9th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
478
âde Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
474 Maria
“So too may theses scraps of information mean something to parents desperate for any leads at all on what happened to their daughter”
do you really believe that 81 phone calls made over a year ago will help in any way at all to find [Madeleine - dr] ?
do you really think that the plonkers at retardo3 or the comical one or the odious wretches themselves can find a lead when the professionals didn’t
you have a great sense of humour, it seems
the sole purpose of everything these dreadful people do is to save their wretched arses
they are not going to start looking for their missing child now - not after sitting on their arses for 14 months
———————————————-
Actually, we don’t know how many phone calls were involved. The entire structure of the Freedom of Information legislation- the stuff which Justice Hogg apparently decided, for reasons completely unknown, didn’t apply to herself- is built on items of information.
So there could be 81 people providing one item of information each, or a few people with lots to say.
The police clearly thought that none of it was of any significance, but who knows what M3, or the new and unidentified investigators , will make of it?
After all, the police thought that Gail Cooper’s info was a waste of space, and look how useful that turned out to be!
July 9th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
501
Garth Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
492
jo Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
—————-
Yes.They were advised not to publicise her “trade mark”,to cooperate and be discreet.I can understand that jogging may be an outlet for anxiety but this is the very first time that I personally have seen the parents of an abducted child behave in such a “fashion”:aloof and as cool as a portuguese cucumber.
Honestly they certainly are making history there.
Garth,there are specialists in criminalogy and obviously psychologists who have observed them inside out.
The reports are not that of “normal-in-pain-parents” at all.
Only 11.000 folios of the “disappearance” have been written.I say only,on that specific topic.The rest dealing with finances,psichology,forensic evidence,communication,medias etc… amounts to what has become an incredible database
They have a PR to keep up the show.Remember,The AFSIC is suing him.No joke.
I believe we can only draw strength from ourselves
The trip to Rome as everythiong else has been arranged….its part of the “sad game”.NOT everybody could have gone to the vatican,no.Nor even think about it.
Yes…the PJ has move earth,sea and skies to NO avail :they did their job and thouroughly like any other police force but not a single lead.Nothing and this is very very unusual and suspicious.(The Cortes went nights after nights without sleeping,24hours/7 and Irene Cortes had to be put on drip.Juan never stopped and I truly wonder how that man has not gone mad with pain,Garth.I swear.It has been heart breaking DE VERDAD
The mccanns know since the beginning Madeleine is not coming back.This why they did not look for her ph, too sically busy with setting up a fund and going around the world.
The only thing they have done is to look at ways to clear their names and sorry to say,but they have failed
Let see how the jugde makes justice to Madeleine….lets see
He will have the eyes of the world on him…poor bloke…..
July 9th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
The bell tolls. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NJd93aZcRGU
July 9th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
505 Elvera
….because it’s obvious to everyone that they were “indirectly” involved. They left the children alone asleep in the apartment.
The question is whether someone then took her from the apartment or if the Mcs killed her, intentionally or otherwise, and then covered up the death, disposed of her body, set up a worldwide financial scam, wasted unprecedented amounts of police time and are still pretending to be campaigning to find her in order to cover up their original crime.
That would be “direct” involvement.
I’m sure you do appreciate the difference really! It’s not that difficult is it?!
Anyway, no more time to waste on the obvious! Good night.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
505-I think that that is unnecessary to state-if M. questions whethr they have direct involvement-the antithesis of this is that she also questions whether they have indirect involvement. Bleedin’ obvious.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
474
Maria Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
___________
Maria, great to see you back! Have missed your words of wisdom on here and honest and straight forward comments and down to earth common sense. I’ve been so baffled by some of the BS thrown around on here about the court hearing the other day and what did or didn’t happen, I’m relieved to read what you wrote and where to find the true ‘dope’ on it.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
506
chenier Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
————
Chez for gawds sake luv.
The intentions of the McCanns were good.
Stop making something out of nothing.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
504
jo Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
09/07/08
Maddie case to be decided before the 2nd of August - Público
“The opening of the process will also allow for the reasons that led the PJ to decide to constitute Maddie’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, as arguidos in the process, to be known.”
Thats going to be fun
—————–
I think you might actually be disappointed. Be warned!
July 9th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
474
Maria Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
chenier
I didn’t pretend. I chose extracts which illustrated a point I was making; something you do all the time! I said this morning that the other stuff was available on the mccannfiles. I repeat that now. It would take up a huge amount of bandwidth to include everything but I would certainly do so if M and A were happy with that. Instead, I simply said where the information can be accessed.
I said absolutely nothing about what was or wasn’t unprecedented…… not even the judge’s remarkable statements in support of the Mcs!
I don’t believe the outcome was 100% certain (had the original application not been withdrawn by the Mcs.); I simply said that it was likely outcome that they would come away with nothing. IMO it was not a certain outcome.
I have not been dishonest. I appreciate that you will not particularly like to see Justice Hogg expressing her support for the Mccanns but that is no reason to accuse me unjustly of dishonesty.
Were you dishonest a few weeks ago when you claimed that Missing People did not support the move to a consistent Europe-wide response to missing children cases? Maybe you were simply unaware of the truth but, when I pointed out the facts to you, I don’t recall you apologising or accepting that you’d been wrong. I may be misremembering but I think you then simply went on to question Missing People’s credentials although you had previously been reminding us of how important they were as the biggest UK charity dealing with missing people! That of course was when you were implying to us that they did not support the Mcs’ declaration! (They do, of course, support it.)
I have no wish to argue or to be dishonest. I simply want to give a balanced view. I have no more idea than you can have of whether or not the Mcs are guilty of direct involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance. I don’t discount Justice Hogg’s opinion but she may be wrong.
But I have not been dishonest. I do not think it likely that the judge was unaware of factors which any ordinary lawyer and police person could be aware of! I know; there are a number of lawyers and policemen in my own family. Everyone knew that it was possible the Mcs would not be successful in their application. (But NOT certain.)
I suspect that the Mcs simply wanted to try anything and everything which just might be of help. Of course it’s a forlorn hope. We all know that. I’m sure they do also but they don’t want to give up.
Do you blame them for that?
In an image which was perhaps intended to be particularly insulting to them, you suggested that the 81 pieces of information they were granted were just “a bone” thrown to the Mcs. Maybe. But to a starving dog a bone may be vital. So too may theses scraps of information mean something to parents desperate for any leads at all on what happened to their daughter.
————————————
I don’t give a toss about a Judge ‘expressing support’ as you put it; you clearly have no experience whatsoever of evaluating judgements. It isn’t about emotional guff; it’s about the facts and the points of law.
Justice Hogg has no knowledge of the more than 11,000 items of information relating to the criminal investigation held in the files of the Leicestershire police; if she is unwise enough to believe that she can guess at their contents then that is her problem, not anyone else’s.
All of the sanctimonious waffle and faux injured feelings in your post is an attempt to cover for your inability to answer the one vital question:
If, as you claim, the Mccanns were well aware of the need not to compromise the criminal investigation, why did they demand that the Leicestershire Police force disclose over 11,000 items of information to them?
Why did they maintain that demand for over 11,000 items of information even though the Police force said in unmistakeable terms that to disclose the information would compromise the continuing criminal investigation?
It isn’t a question of them not wanting to give up.
It’s a question of them demanding something which the police told them would compromise the continuing criminal investigation into the disappearance of their daughter.
It is dishonest of you to pretend otherwise.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
502
Maria Says:
……………”I have no more idea than you can have of whether or not the Mcs are guilty of direct involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance”
————————————————————————
Why the need to qualify the ‘involvement’ with ‘direct’
…or why not go the whole hog and say “I have no more idea than you can have of whether or not the Mcs are guilty of direct or in-direct involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance”
July 9th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
09/07/08
Maddie case to be decided before the 2nd of August - Público
“The opening of the process will also allow for the reasons that led the PJ to decide to constitute Maddie’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, as arguidos in the process, to be known.”
Thats going to be fun
http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2008/07/maddie-case-to-be-decided-before-2nd-of.html
July 9th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
OK -what exactly do you think happened-anybody-apart from the fact thattheyleft the children alone which is completely unnacceptable-without pontificating what do you really think happened-I think all Maria is trying to say is that there is speculation-but no hard facts and she refuses to accuse them of something far more sinister without hard evidence. Seems a balanced approac h to me-though I disagree with the way they have handled matters since.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
487
Elvera Says:
July 9th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
479
Garth Says:
474:Maria
……………”I have no more idea than you can have of whether or not the Mcs are guilty of direct involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance”
————————————————————————
I’m always suspicious of anyone using such measured prose!
—————————————————–
And I’m always suspicious of people who don’t.