Madeleine McCann: Suing Amaral, Mark Lawson’s Fact And Fiction, And Bloggers Beware
MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
THE GUARDIAN: “The Panama Mystery - Mr and Mrs Canoe’s case fascinates but can’t match crime fiction’s satisfying motives and denouement”
Mark Lawson does so love a good ending to a work of fiction and fact. A super-fiction. Take care you don’t confuse the two.
In his piece Lawson name checks them all: John and Anne Darwin, Radovan Karadzic, Fred and Rose West, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, Ian Huntley, Harold Shipman and…
As the trial was coming to a close, I was at the Harrogate Crime-Writing Festival, and newspapers were reporting the latest developments in the Madeleine McCann case.
Bingo! Where were you?
One of the reasons for the huge popularity of crime fiction is that the genre explores, in a sanitised environment, the fear and prurient fascination we feel when faced with murders and abductions. Real-life criminality and fiction have become a loop, communicating with each other: several of the books discussed at Harrogate featured missing children; in two years, expect a slew of novels about husbands and wives who mysteriously disappear.
Can you tell the difference between fact and fiction? Now read on…
THE SUN: “McCanns to sue cop over book”.
DEVASTATED Kate and Gerry McCann are to launch a legal blitz in Portugal after the publication of a scandalous book about the disappearance of their daughter Maddie.
In The Truth Behind The Lie, ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral details ludicrous allegations about the couple and the pals they dined with when Maddie vanished in Portugal last year.
Who gets sued?
The McCanns plan to take action against Amaral, Portuguese newspapers which reprinted parts of the £10 book and bloggers who discussed it.
Anorak did not discuss the book’s merit. We did not reproduce a single quote from the book. But can bloggers who did be sued effectively? Many are men and women of straw. What can the outcome be? Best for bloggers, perhaps, to avoid the matter? Or get a crack moderation team – like Anorak. But what, then , of freedom of speech?
Says Amaral: “This book is not revenge, it is not persecution. We can discuss the case in court if they want.”
In the context of a libel case, they might well…
DAILY MAIL: “We failed, says Maddie police chief… but he refuses to apologise to her parents”
Says Amaral: “’There will be no apology, I was just doing my job.”
As a writer…?
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “Madeleine McCann case: Portuguese police admit failings
The police detective who led the search for Madeleine McCann has admitted that there were some failings in the investigation but refused to accept responsibility for not solving the case…
Several hundred people queued up to collect copies of “Maddie The truth of the Lie” and many congratulated Mr Amaral for his courage to speak out.
BELFAST TELEGRPAH: “McCann case detective’s book to get English translation”
Who will review it if it published in the UK?
THE HERALD: “Sympathy for McCanns must be tempered”
Letters to the editor:
How kind Colette Douglas Home is to Gerry and Kate McCann (Comment, July 22). She uses many column inches pouring scorn on the Portuguese police (perhaps justifiably, I don’t know), showering Gerry and Kate with sympathy (I, too, feel for them), but only makes passing reference to the action that, had it not happened, would have prevented this heartbreaking event from occurring in the first place.
This is clearly their “decision to leave her sleeping while they met friends for dinner”.
- Allistair Matheson, Selkirk.
Colette’s opinion - that Gerry McCann is handsome and Kate McCann beautiful - is irrelevant. The eye of the beholder? Colette states: “And they will always carry the burden of their decision to leave her sleeping while they met friends for dinner.” What kind of parents, in a foreign land, needlessly leave their child, not yet four years old, asleep without a child-minder and out of sound or sight, while they indulge themselves with their friends?
The McCanns deserve all the anguish they brought upon themselves through poor judgment, and not endless public sympathy. Madeleine is the victim. I hope and pray that she is unharmed and is being looked after in loving care, however wrongfully.
- Donald C Irving, Ayr.
And on it goes…
Posted: 25th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (626) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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July 25th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
elizabeth 1st only used to wash every 3 months.
you’d probably get on.
July 25th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Thanks to regular watchiıng every boxing day. İ have come up with a way of smuggliıng sand. My xmas present list will soon be fılled
July 25th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I’m going now! Bye y’all!
July 25th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Ferdinand Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 8:56 am
__________
Ferdinand, remember the Ramsey’s were finally after all these years declared not responsible for their daughter’s death? Well here is a law suit they had filed back in 2001 and settled in 2002 against a Detective and another man who wrote a book then saying they were involved in their daughter’s death. Enjoy the link!
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E5D91038F932A15750C0A9649C8B63
July 25th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Snorts of amusement all round!
July 25th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Elvera Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Maria…..you seem particularly vitriolic today….what’s got up your nose?
————–
maybe anorak’s ‘crack moderators’ could look into it.
July 25th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Do you need a chubby chum to help you frisk?
July 25th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
İ would just like to point out that any references to agws nib or sword are purely metaphorical
July 25th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Yes, the emptying your pockets struck me as a trifle odd, but if you have special sand I suppose you would like to keep the aforementioned sand.
You could supplement your income by selling it on Ebay!
July 25th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
In agw’s case I would prefer to avoid both the nib and the sword…
July 25th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
II Red Carnations Revolution
July 25th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
testing
July 25th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Ah İ thought İ heard the dıstınct sound of nıb against whetstone
July 25th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Maria
I wouldn’t mock you for sympathy (although I would mock you if you laid it on with a trowel and sounded like a hallmark card run amok - but that would be for the sake of the English language, not to be mean about feelings).
With KM I can’t tell if it’s grief or a highly-strung perfectionist worrying about getting it in the neck - either way I empathised for about 3 weeks - and after that left their private world (which I can’t know about) alone and concentrated on their media world (which they insisted we pay attention to).
July 25th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Ferdinand smart mouthed:
agw Says:
” You totally miss or are blinkered to the point. If the McCann sue for libel in this case ..then ALL evidence could be presented to the court. Not provable in a criminal trial evidence ALL evidence. It remains a highly dangerous route to take. Read Oscar Wilde’s tales of woe. There a trap was laid. Some should be extremely careful where they are treading in this particular case. ”
Now who suggested they should sue for libel? I certainly haven’t.
The McCanns plan to take action against Amaral, Portuguese newspapers which reprinted parts of the £10 book and bloggers who discussed it.
Taking legal action can mean a lot more than libel suits. One can sue for violation of ones privacy rights, or other personal rights. One can file a disciplinary complaint about a police officer. Even if he is an ex, he still has to attend to certain duties re. reticence. I expect something in these lines rather than a classical libel suit - indeed for the reasons you mentioned.
“I don’t argue…I administrate. -agw.”
I argue. -Ferdi
Administrator: I don’t. Especially when an opponent is totally unequipped for any sort of sensible discussion. Early bath I think. Argue your way out of that.-agw
July 25th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I think Lycra is a slithery sound; summons up images of the snake in Jungle Book.
‘Trust in me’…
July 25th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
İ have applied for the job of friskiıng foreign tourists tryiniıng to smuggle sand away.
As you can see this keyboard would trouble an Enıgma decoder.
July 25th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
The rustle of weapons-grade chiffon is nothing to the static generated by the hefty lycra-clad thighs of a Stealth Hippo on the move …. watchout DuncanR!
July 25th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Cleopatra’s Island looks beautiful; Chenier is sunk into deep, deep envy…
July 25th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Karen
Well, you’re right. GM certainly appears able to protect himself. No doubt his work is very much therapy for him. (No sign of them being struck off!!) But I don’t doubt his pain at losing his child without any closure or certainty.
As for Kate, I think she, to quote a colleague of mine again, is nothing more than a “mask of grief”. It’s different from the beginning when I could hardly bear to watch her grief, so palpable and painful was it, but it’s still there, worse in some ways because shrouded in hopeless resignation. She will never get over it. Naturally. The fact that she could and should have prevented it will only make it worse. That’s what makes it a tragedy for her as well as a catastrophe for M.
You are young and everything can easily seem just sentimental twaddle. (Im not being patronising.) But when tragedy strikes (and you may know that the classical definition of “tragedy” includes fault on the part of the sufferer), then it’s very different. Believe me Karen. I know from personal experience what terrible things tragedy can do to a family. It’s just honest, not sentimental, to say so.
So I do have sympathy with the Mcs and I don’t care who mocks me for it or who calls me a fool. Couldn’t care less, in fact!
….gone
July 25th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
chenier Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Gloria Smudd Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Melvyn is a very nimble hippo. He takes after his mother, who is well known for her cartwheeling skill.
—————————–
Yes, I still break out into a cold sweat whenever I think of that video…
———
As opposed to Duncan breakıng out into a cold sweat whenever he hears the rustle of weapons grade purple chiffon.
July 25th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
chenier Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Gloria Smudd Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Melvyn is a very nimble hippo. He takes after his mother, who is well known for her cartwheeling skill.
—————————–
Yes, I still break out into a cold sweat whenever I think of that video…
………………..
Red cheeks akimbo!
July 25th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Cleopatras İsland recorded 40 degrees today. Luckily İ have snıffed out a source of cold Efes
July 25th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Gloria Smudd Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Melvyn is a very nimble hippo. He takes after his mother, who is well known for her cartwheeling skill.
—————————–
Yes, I still break out into a cold sweat whenever I think of that video…
July 25th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly
——————————————
Yep.
‘Never ask a question unless you know what the answer is’ used to be the trial lawyer’s maxim, and, for all I know, still is, and the judgement in the Mosley case would not be of any assistance to someone hoping for big bucks on infringement of privacy.
There is an indisputable public interest in the uncovering of wrong-doing…
July 25th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Oo-er, Saul! Ain’t the interweb a wonderful thing?
July 25th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Melvyn is a very nimble hippo. He takes after his mother, who is well known for her cartwheeling skill.
July 25th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Glorıous G. İ join you via the wonders of alternate access.
July 25th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Gloria Smudd Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I’ve grown comfortable with my hippodom now.
————————————
Well, I think that all of us have to embrace the inner hippo from time to time, but I’m still a bit concerned about Ronnie and Reggie. Kittens tend to be a smidgeon more manouevrable than hippos, and if Melvyn decides he wants to climb the tree after them there could be problems…
July 25th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Ferdinand Says:
July 25th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
agw Says:
” You totally miss or are blinkered to the point. If the McCann sue for libel in this case ..then ALL evidence could be presented to the court. Not provable in a criminal trial evidence ALL evidence. It remains a highly dangerous route to take. Read Oscar Wilde’s tales of woe. There a trap was laid. Some should be extreme careful where they are treading in this particular case. ”
Now who suggested they should sue for libel? I certainly haven’t.
The McCanns plan to take action against Amaral, Portuguese newspapers which reprinted parts of the £10 book and bloggers who discussed it.
Taking legal action can mean a lot more than libel suits. One can sue for violation of ones privacy rights, or other personal rights. One can file a disciplinary complaint about a police officer. Even if he is an ex, he still has to attend to certain duties re. reticence. I expect something in these lines rather than a classical libel suit - indeed for the reasons you mentioned.
“I don’t argue…I administrate. -agw.”
I argue. -Ferdi
———
Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly
M and A
Hi Saul
Its been noted……..