MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.

DAILY MAIL: “McCanns inundated with Christmas presents for missing Madeleine”

Spokesman Clarence Mitchell says: “Kate and Gerry are immensely touched by the continued support and sympathy they have been shown by people all over the world.
“Particularly at this time of year as they face their hardest Christmas imaginable, the messages of support have been of immense comfort to them”

Nothing like a house full of gifts for your missing child to cheer you up…

Says the Mail: “More than 2,000 toys were left at the war memorial in the McCanns’ home village of Rothley, Leicestershire…They were washed, wrapped and shipped to orphanages in the former Soviet Bloc country of Belarus by the charity to be given to children who had no toys of their own. Each toy was individually tied with green and yellow ribbons - a symbol of hope - and carried a tag with a small picture of Madeleine as a reminder of her plight”

And now to cheer up the orphans…

THE SUN: “We hope Maddie sees prezzies”

A “torrent of Christmas presents for Sean and Amelie AND Maddie”

A friend says: “They know public opinion has been divided since they have been made suspects. Yet out of every 100 letters or cards they get, 97 will support them. It means a lot to them”

Who would bother to send the McCanns a letter that was not supportive?

DAILY EXPRESS: “CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR MADELEINE”

Says Clarence Mitchell: “Kate and Gerry are strengthened by the sympathy and support that has been shown for them at this time of year. They are extremely grateful to everyone who is supporting them and remembering Madeleine at Christmas time”

DAILY STAR: “MADDIE DAD BACK TREATING PATIENTS”

Gerry McCann is back a work. He ahs been allowed to treat patients again, “even though he is still a suspect in his daughter’s disappearance”

“Heart surgeon Gerry will resume his full-time job next month, but will soon have to ask for time off so police can question him again”

Gerry McCann’s job has always been a central plank in the tabloid reports. Would he have returned to work had he been a builder, baker or soldier? Or maybe he would have retuned to work sooner?

THE GUARDIAN: “The flawed case against Hoey”

Sean Hoey has had his convection for the Omagh bombing quashed – 29 were murdered by the Real IRA in August 1998. But what has this to do with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann?

Notes the Guardian: “In the absence of eyewitness accounts or intelligence-based evidence, the prosecution relied on a new forensic technique known as low copy number DNA (LCN DNA), which involves using just a few samples with a only a few cells to obtain a DNA profile of a suspect…”

“The court heard that the molecules used in LCN DNA were the size of a millionth of a grain of salt”

OK. Interesting. And Madeleine: “The defence’s successful and skilful assault on the forensic method may be of some assistance to the parents of missing toddler Madeleine McCann. Their legal team will be watching closely to see if LCN DNA as an evidential process is seriously undermined by the Omagh case. The couple became labelled as suspects because of minute traces of their daughter’s DNA were allegedly found in a car they had rented after her disappearance”

The McCanns have yet to be blamed for the Omagh massacre

THE SCOTSMAN: “The guardian of Scotland’s next generation

“Scotland’s youngsters have had their own champion to do just that in the shape of KATHLEEN MARSHALL – Scotland’s first commissioner for children and young people”

The Scotsman: “Do you think children are suffering from over-protective parenting in the wake of events such as the disappearance of Madeleine McCann?”

Marshall: I think there’s a number of influences just now that are making for a very sterile environment for lots of children – environments that don’t have the level of stimulation children need to develop and to learn how to cope with risk and danger… You talk specifically of Madeleine McCann, but over the years there have been so many high-profile tragedies. What it is difficult to take on board is that these are very rare events and there is a danger of people generalising them…But the agenda there is not truly child protection, but about protecting adults from getting the blame if things go wrong”

SKY NEWS: “Plush New HQ For McCann Private Eyes”

To the Barcelona offices of Metodo 3. And Francisco Marco is getting similar treatment to that served upon the Portuguese police: “At a supposedly crucial stage in the inquiry, his luxurious new office - perched above a gay sauna in a grand, pillar-filled building - was in a make-shift state”

What happened to those “plush new” offices?

“There was just one staff member in sight, and when asked if Sky News Online could see Mr Marco, she replied: ‘He’s not here, he’s out of the country on business. Not with the Madeleine case, on another case’”

Sky is invited to return in two hours “when the office would reopen”. D’oh! Sky has turned up a lunchtime. The broadcaster’s hack with a watch returns at 4pm. It finds three people and a “small” dog” in reception, more people unpacking boxes and a smartly dressed detective

Says the PI: “I can’t say anything. Only Clarence Mitchell can talk about the case. I’m sorry”

And? And nothing. Such is the breaking news

NEW STATESMAN: “Was 2007 A Good Thing? Your answer should take account of all of the following: Iraq, Afghanistan, the Taliban, North Korea, the England Football Team, Floods, Sub-Prime Mortgages, Sub-Prime Ministers, Russian Democracy, Anglo-Russian Relations, the Housing Market, Madeleine McCann, the Dafur Region, Chlorine Bombs, Global Warming and Paul Potts”

Madeleine McCann: The case so far

Posted: 21st, December 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann. Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0