Which Newspaper Will Buy Robert Murat’s Story?
MADELEINE McCann aguido Robert Murat has accepted £600,000 in libel damages over claims that he was involved in her abduction.
Outside court Mr Murat says: “The newspapers in this case brought about the total and utter destruction of mine and my family’s life and caused immense distress.”
Round up here.
Mr Murat, his friend Michaela Walczuch and IT consultant Sergey Malinka had all brought proceedings against Associated Newspapers, Express Newspapers, MGN Limited and News Group Newspapers over nearly 100 “seriously defamatory” articles.
Murat’s solicitor, Louis Charalambous, says:
“In particular, the defendants accept that none of the claimants had any involvement whatever in the abduction of Madeleine McCann.
“They accept that none of the claimants has any paedophile tendencies or connection with paedophiles or paedophile websites and that none of them lied to the police or obstructed the investigations.
“They accept that Mr Murat’s actions after the abduction were entirely proper and were motivated by a desire to help find Madeleine McCann. He became a volunteer translator for the Portuguese police and did everything he could to assist the investigation.
“Ms Walczuch was never suspected or accused of any involvement in the abduction of Madeleine McCann. Mr Malinka was not guilty of any sexual misconduct and has no criminal convictions.”
Now which paper will buy the rights to his story and try to earn back some of their losses?
Posted: 17th, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (499) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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July 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Well Karen, I’m sure I recall them stating at one stage ….. that no valuables were taken ….
(Don’t worry about the 3 year old - she apparently wasn’t a valuable)!
July 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
VQ
Cheryl always makes it sound like it’s the norm for them to turn up alive - and I’m sure when Gerry was touring the US he said it was the norm there and that’s why he’s convinced Madeleine is still alive.
I don’t know the stats, so I was giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Myself - I’d agree with you.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Ray Wyre, reported in The People, 27/1/2008
‘Maddie’s little brother and sister are learning to cope with their devastating loss by playing a game called Find The Monster Who Snatched Her.
And three-year-old twins Sean and Amelie are also playing a vital role in keeping their mum and dad focused, according to top criminologist Ray Wyre.
He told The People last night: “I think having other very young children has given Kate and Gerry the strength to go on.
“It must be hard for them because the twins are now almost the same age as Maddie was when she was taken.
“But they are clearly a bundle of energy and fun.
“They still talk about Madeleine and even bring her into their games.”
Wyre went on: “Kate and Gerry told me they were sitting together the other day when the twins rushed into the room screaming and shouting.
“They asked what they were up to and the twins told them they were going to go and find the monster that took Maddie.
“Then they dashed off to play the game.”
He added: “Of course, it’s a very sad story.
“But it’s healthy that Madeleine remains a real presence in their lives.”‘
http://tinyurl.com/54wztq
July 17th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Carmen, very nice indeed.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
103
Especially when those valuables are children!
I speculate, as have others here, that the room was not really left unlocked.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I’ve always wanted to know if the McCanns left their valuables in the PDL apartment?
My Dad got his wallet stolen in a lovely village in Spain - surely everyone knows that thieves target tourists and it’s not a good idea to leave valuables in an unlocked room?
July 17th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I can not believe the McCanns ever said to the twins that Madeleine has been taken by a monster,
Where did you get this story from, whoever?
July 17th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
80 Karen
I think it’s unusual in the US too.
Sometimes a noncustodial parent does a runner with the kids, and they are found.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
90
Melanie Says:
July 17th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Chenier, maybe she is seeing the psychologist because she doesn’t understand?
——————————–
Understand what?
July 17th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
82 chenier
Are you saying that Kate and Gerry McCann have told their twins that she was taken by a monster?
July 17th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Who knows Gerry went to sollicitated for a job in Vancouver?
July 17th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
84
wtf Says:
July 17th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
chenier
i agree with you, that is why i couldnt understand why the mccs wanted a holdiay for the twins sake, especially as the twins could relate holidays to monsters
——————————-
That was nonsense. The notion that 3 year olds would find a transatlantic flight even tolerable, much less enjoyable, is downright silly.
And, as you say, holiday=monster really isn’t good for small children to have to cope with…
July 17th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
93
Melanie Says:
July 17th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
CArmen, I hope that trebor mints isn’t your best analogy for the twins
*************************
Nay, the Trebor mint kiddies are both lawyers, as it happens, gainfully employed in expensively telling other people how to settle disagreements…………
July 17th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
91 karen
I hate planes now! Not because they are boring, but because they might fall out of the sky!
July 17th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
81 Mod and Adm,
Not maligning Murat but IMO Tapas 9 know more than they are telling.
Just a feeling in myself.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
CArmen, I hope that trebor mints isn’t your best analogy for the twins
July 17th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
chenier
Plus children can be very cruel in the playground, the twins have all this to come
July 17th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
wtf
They would.
I hated planes when I was small. They’re so boring. And all you want is a beach and a play park - they’d be better off in Ireland (the Irish wouldn’t bug them - they’re not like that IMO).
July 17th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Chenier, maybe she is seeing the psychologist because she doesn’t understand?
July 17th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
83
Karen Says:
July 17th, 2008 at 1:57 pm e
Carmen
My Dad and his brother spent the whole of my Gran’s funeral furiously complaining about the psychological damage she caused when she had their cat put down - I don’t know what losing a sibling would have led to.
*********************
And I could name you two grown adults who have not exchanged a word in the ten years following a post funereal altercation over whether one of them was correctly punished for purloining the other’s Trebor mints - aged four and a half.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
It was reported, I don’t know whether it was accurate or not, that Michaela Walczuch’s daughter is seeing a psychologist.
Being a few years older than the twins means that she understands a great deal of what has been said, and what has been said about her mother was disgusting…
July 17th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
karen
I would have imagined the twins would have been happier with butlins!
July 17th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
IMO, the twins are affected already by Madeleine’s case.
The behaviour of the parents at home must have changed a lot.
They will never be the same anymore, guilty or not.
We don’t know how things are going in their privet lives.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
wft
That’s just the McCanns talking crap as usual. They probably didn’t want the public to think they fancied a holiday so they had to make out the twins needed it - like 3 year olds want to go to Vancouver!
M and A
Karen, we were told last year that MM was particularly fond of Donegal…..
July 17th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
chenier
i agree with you, that is why i couldnt understand why the mccs wanted a holdiay for the twins sake, especially as the twins could relate holidays to monsters
July 17th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Carmen
My Dad and his brother spent the whole of my Gran’s funeral furiously complaining about the psychological damage she caused when she had their cat put down - I don’t know what losing a sibling would have led to.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
75
Carmen Says:
July 17th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
70
chenier Says:
July 17th, 2008 at 1:42 pm e
Quite so; my thought was that over the last year many people have said how awful it was for the twins.
I haven’t seen many people acknowledging the damage done to the other children involved…
************************
I take your point; I think the twins have possibly excited more attention due to the fact that one day they will have to acknowledge to themselves, if not the world, that their parents exposed them to the same, possibly deadly, danger.
Whilst finding that your parent was libeled, however foully, is one thing, learning that your parent willfully exposed you to such danger is a bitter pill to swallow.
——————————
It’s difficult to know what they will make of it; the part that shocked me most of all was the twins reported as saying ‘Madeleine was taken by a monster’.
No child should be told that their sibling was taken by a monster that nobody can find or can catch; how can they possibly be confident that the monster won’t take them too?
July 17th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I wonder if Gerry will write a new blog, commenting the fact Murat was a victim.
I wonder if they and Tapas 7 feel guilty and ashamed of the whole story around the expat.
M and A
Maravilha
To be fair it was not the Tapa9 who maligned Murat, and any untruthful witnesses are going to find themselves in deep trouble
July 17th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
chenier
I think she’s dead too. I know in America kidnapped kids apparently turn up alive all the time - but in Europe it’s unusual.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
71
Melanie Says:
July 17th, 2008 at 1:43 pm e
Can somebody tell me in what way the twins have suffered during this round of litigation? Seriously…
I know it is the right thing to say but do we really know that they have suffered, that they are suffering and what the sum of that suffering is? Are we assuming they are suffering? We don’t know anything about them. Their time may yet be to come.
We glibly throw out these things like we are all in the know.
*******************************
Melanie,
I don’t believe that anyone thinks that any of the children involved have actually suffered over the past year, (nor need a holiday to recover from such suffering), it is the future that people are concerned about. 20, 30, 40 years down the line.
You know, those conversations siblings have in their 50’s when the family funerals start rolling, and people start having the late night conversations over a glass or two of whiskey when the parent concerned is safely six foot under and no longer to be feared……that’s when the real damage start to bite.