Madeleine McCann: Colette Douglas Home Spreads The Fear And Inside Irvine Welsh
MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann, Gerry McCann
THE HERALD: “Do you want to see every parent in the dock?”
It’s Colette Douglas Home, professional Maddie opinion giver. And to answer her question: yes. Fingerprint them, photograph them and question them for 42 days. Only the guilty have anything to fear.
Fear:
You’ve got to admit, they shouldn’t have left the children unattended and gone out to dinner.” It was a colleague talking to me about Kate and Gerry McCann. He went on: “We go on holiday with a big group of friends but we’d never do that. We put the wee ones to bed and eat downstairs.”
“And do you check on them every half hour?”
“Yes. Well, we send the teenagers to do the checking.”
Fear:
I wonder if he realises how fortunate he has been. If something terrible had happened, can you imagine the headlines? They would probably say something like: “Teenagers checked on missing toddler while parents partied.”
Yeah, who cares that the children have been eaten by alligators, fallen down the plughole or hit the minibar and suffocated in their own vomit – it’s the media’s reaction to it that matters most.
And what of the McCanns, Colette’s favourite subject:
I imagined the fact that Kate and Gerry McCann are doctors would stand them in some regard, since they spend their lives trying to help others. I was wrong. I thought the clear evidence from family photographs that Madeleine was a happy, well-cared-for child would demonstrate that leaving her unsupervised was an aberration, not the norm. But I didn’t allow for jealousy and resentment.
Maybe people are just bored of the McCanns? But Colette cannot face that possibility:
So let’s think about that call for prosecution. If the McCanns are to stand in the dock, who should stand beside them? We can start with those who were on the same holiday and who didn’t hire a babysitter. Then what about all the other couples who have stayed at that or any family-friendly holiday village where they felt safe enough to leave the children unattended while they ate? What about people who eat in the garden on hot summer evenings while their children sleep in the house? What about parents who sleep indoors, maybe one night a year, while their kids sleep in a tent? If we apply these standards, the courts would be jam-packed.
What about them? The McCanns are not being prosecuted child neglect, child abandonment, nor for any other crime.
THE SCOTSMAN: “Crime and Punishment - Irvine Welsh”
Dave Robinson is in Saughton jail. For crimes againt journalism. Ho-ho:
I’M WALKING behind the Famous Author. He’s wearing trainers, a T-shirt, an expensive-looking grey-green leather jacket and is carrying a plastic bag. As I follow him, I’m thinking that the way people walk tells you something about them. The Famous Author walks like a fighter: self-confident, disciplined, head up. He doesn’t walk like a 50-year-old, though in a couple of months he will be one.
How close behind Welsh is Robinson? Close enough to smell him?
Welsh has written a book called Crime, HMP Edinburgh. But he nearly didn’t:
He’s talked to child-abuse survivors’ groups and handles the subject with uncommon sensitivity – so much so, in fact, that he gave up writing the book altogether when the Madeleine McCann story first broke. “Even approaching the subject tangentially seemed frivolous and stupid.”
His is work of fiction, the McCann case is one of fact. What has one to do with the other? The McCann case is a touchstone for a writer’s book, a stepping stone on the PR drive.
Posted: 29th, July 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (494) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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July 30th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Maybe her real father!!!
July 30th, 2008 at 7:35 am
I am sure it would not have been that difficult, they know so many bloody people!
Lets think, who stayed with them for a bit, who had a similar aged and looking daughter?
The cab drivers evidence too!
July 30th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Ironic, indeed.
July 30th, 2008 at 4:22 am
http://www.examiner.ie/breaking/sport/mhgbaueycwoj/
“Ironically, given the low crime rate in the village, Father Hubbard’s laptop was stolen from his home this week.”
Praia de luz:
Possible Crime No. tally 1998/2008 -Laptop one off -Blonde(TM) kid one off
Case of the missing Biro(TM) is still disputed.
July 30th, 2008 at 3:38 am
It would be a extremely difficult work for the PJ to investigate a barking cadaver.
They got to thank heavens that it was not necessary.
July 30th, 2008 at 3:34 am
more funny things?
July 30th, 2008 at 3:31 am
That was funny,
the cadaver alerting…
July 30th, 2008 at 1:59 am
coco Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
coco Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Maria Maria! Maria!
You are a wise and gentle Soul without a doubt.
Like Cheryl, you make me realise that there are lovely people left in the World who have a measured and logical way of thinking - and then there’s me with my hapless silly ways
_______
Now, Coco, wouldn’t it be a blah world and life boring if we were all the same? Isn’t there really something about “variety being the spice of life”, “different strokes for different folks”, etc.? Most of the times you keep me laughing and I don’t remember if you were with Noseycow and myself and a few other ladies on here one night we had a blast chasing that old mite filled straggly feathered rooster off here - it isn’t always anti against pro - we share some good conversations, good laughs, we care!
July 30th, 2008 at 1:48 am
willo Says:
July 30th, 2008 at 12:56 am
They have ‘Crufts ‘ in America too?
If he says he got Bob, will Murat sue him too?
_________
We have the Westminster Dog Show every February in NY.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:46 am
Nite - sweet dreams - preferably of sugar candy not sugar daddy in Canada
July 30th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Hi everyone - no storms tonight? Hi Veriable - Brandon - how do you think that she got to Canada? Surely her passport would have been in “custody”. Nobody actually went to Canada in the early days, did they? I suppose there is always a chance that a passport was borrowed from someone who had a child of a similar age and appearance, and then posted back when the she arrived at her destination. That would, however, have been a bit tricky - as she would have had to travel with person, or persons of a different name, unless she travelled with the parents or relatives of the girl from whom the passport was borrowed. Now then, can anyone think of a child of a simlar age, who would have had a passport, prepared to lend it out, and happened to have connections in P d.L, and Canada……….ummmmmmmmm??
July 30th, 2008 at 1:16 am
I mean the dog, not the cadaver, alerting.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:15 am
The Real Stig Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Coco
The fascination with this case is to do with it being an unsolved mystery with more than a few surreal elements to it, making it far more exotic than more mundane tragedies.
It is not unprecedented though. The disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain in Australia was very similar, especially the public judging the mother to be guilty because the story was unbelievable, and she did not act or behave as they expected or wanted her to. There was even an incredible saga over forensic evidence, including major errors in it’s handling, collection, testing and interpretation.
__________
I remember that one, RS, another tragedy and lives ruined. The pen is mightier than the sword, as you know, and once words are written they can’t be taken back and lives are destroyed by strokes of the pen,. Yet, when the truth comes out people just shrug and say well I thought so at the time…no apologies, most likely not even guilty consciences! I was trying to remember an old saying I read many years ago along the lines “the moving finger writes and having writ moves on, not all your piety nor wit can lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all your tears wash out a word of it”.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:10 am
brandon flours Says:
I had a power nap tonight and wondered if they killed an intruder the night before, and madeleine was very upset.
They used this as a gateway and she is in canada.
Has this been mulled over yet?
It could have been someone who wanted to save her?
—-
Not sure what you are saying but would explain the cadaver alerting.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Brandon I think that “mull” is the operative word here.
Do you indulge?
Coco - fundraising for Anorak with a contact from Mattel?
A Maddie doll? Excellent idea, accessories could include a house with broken shutters and a door that may or may not be locked.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:04 am
I had a power nap tonight and wondered if they killed an intruder the night before, and madeleine was very upset.
They used this as a gateway and she is in canada.
Has this been mulled over yet?
It could have been someone who wanted to save her?
July 30th, 2008 at 1:02 am
coco Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
JuneJohnson! I am happy to raise money through a contract with Mattel so that Anorak has money in the bank to spoil us with and hopefully get a case going that forces a RE-ENACTMENT!
I have oodles of ideas to go on Dragon’s Den with to raise money for Anorak but I need a lot of pushing and encouragement!
Cheryl has encouraged me today as well. And she’s no push-over! Tough lady.
m and A
TALK TO PAUL
___________
Now, Coco, if you look on other thread early this morning I said to very carefully check the laws over there! And that caution is for more reasons than one! I can see some potentially serious problems but maybe not…yet, don’t act in haste. And I also said I would not buy one from you, for obvious reasons, Coco; yet you had a good idea for over there.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:00 am
Maravilha Says:
We really have very little to talk about.
Not very many new news or no news at all.
—-
Not that we can speak of openly.
_______________________
m&a
yes it’s a veritable quandrary
-meercat
July 30th, 2008 at 12:56 am
They have ‘Crufts ‘ in America too?
If he says he got Bob, will Murat sue him too?
July 30th, 2008 at 12:50 am
M and A
“Jo if you want to make a doll modelled on the Real Stig, I do know a Stig - he’s a very handsome Nova Scotia Duck tolling retriever- does really well at Crufts”
Woof ?
M and A
I have a pix of him somewhere in here, he is truly a stunner, he got BOB at Crufts in 2006, he belongs to a friend, not my boy
________
Name of the breed, June? Never heard of it. Post a pic, please?
July 30th, 2008 at 12:49 am
brandon flours
Oh, Brandon I couldn’t imagine it would have been you. Aren’t you usually in the shower around that time…and well…occupied.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:32 am
Woman Arrested Over Church Fire
1:14pm UK, Tuesday July 29, 2008
A woman has been arrested on suspicion of starting a fire which destroyed a church roof in West London.
Scene Of Shepherd’s Bush Fire
Firefighters at the scene of the converted church fire
More than 80 firefighters and 15 appliances attended the blaze at the Great Commission Ministry Church in Shepherd’s Bush Road after a call-out at 6.56am.
The blaze started in a neighbouring homeless hostel before spreading to the church.
The church’s roof was destroyed and the building damaged by water.
Scotland Yard said a 36-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of arson.
The woman was homeless and staying at the hostel when the fire broke out, according to emergency services sources.
She had some superficial cuts on her arms but did not need medical treatment, the source said.
Everyone staying in the hostel - a centre for people with substance abuse and mental health problems - left the building and no injuries were reported, London Fire Brigade spokesman Tim Chidgey said.
“The fire on the first floor on the hostel was easily contained, but it has spread to the church,” he said.
“Evacuees are helping police determine how the fire began.”
Police cordoned off an area around the scene of the blaze and advised motorists to avoid Shepherd’s Bush
————————————————-
it wasnt me !
July 30th, 2008 at 12:26 am
send in the dogs was excellent tonight!
I bet they hate it
July 30th, 2008 at 12:21 am
# willo Says:
July 30th, 2008 at 12:08 am
If the McCanns credit card info could be obtained and the phone calls made by the tapas mob could be verified, surely this would help the McCanns show their innocence and stop a lot of the rumours eminating from speculation. Or is it more likely to add to their woes I wonder.
If they are innocent why won’t the McCanns release these details or give clearence for them to be presented to the LP or PJ? They don’t seem to want to help themselves at all. Which probaby is reflected in the various ‘are they guilty’ polls.
Why did they clear their phones? Not owning a mobile, I have no idea how often one would clear a phone? Do they slow down when the memory gets full? Or were they maybe using a Alzheimer’s mobile?. The self clearing model.
——————————
god knws some only keep the last say 20
so you have say 15 you want to keep in a year and have to delete regularly the last 5 to keep some room.
I have never had one you would need to delete all.
new phone or chip springs to mind.
but I am sure phones will have data on for police if sims were changed.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:08 am
If the McCanns credit card info could be obtained and the phone calls made by the tapas mob could be verified, surely this would help the McCanns show their innocence and stop a lot of the rumours eminating from speculation. Or is it more likely to add to their woes I wonder.
If they are innocent why won’t the McCanns release these details or give clearence for them to be presented to the LP or PJ? They don’t seem to want to help themselves at all. Which probaby is reflected in the various ‘are they guilty’ polls.
Why did they clear their phones? Not owning a mobile, I have no idea how often one would clear a phone? Do they slow down when the memory gets full? Or were they maybe using a Alzheimer’s mobile?. The self clearing model.
M and a
Well its academic now anyway, but I would have offered my details….
phone and text messages, usually do need clearing out, once its full you cannot receive any more texts until you empty it.I tend to empty mine weekly.the phone side is unaffected.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:05 am
We really have very little to talk about.
Not very many new news or no news at all.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:01 am
Somebody in Portugal told me that the translation of Amaral’s book is ready.
I don’t know its destiny.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
knees ????
You are !!!!!
change of pitch………………psst …… go down wogans alley to the right
July 29th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Coco,
The last thing I(Barbie) wants is an economical BMW. If it’s not a top of the range gas guzzler what about a Lamborghini Diablo ?
July 29th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
# Muddler She Wrote Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Brandon Flours,
Been thinking of you today. Hope you weren’t down on your when the fire ripped through Saint Shepherd’s Bush.
See you sometime
————————————————
Why are you a regular ??????!!!!
July 29th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Night all - Stig out.
Night , shall try to find your namesake