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Keith Waterhouse

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Fiona MacKeown’s Benefits Fraud Linked To Daughter Scarlett’s Rape And Murder

5824386FIONA MacKeown has been charged with benefit fraud. When Fiona MacKeown’s daughter Scarlett Keeling was raped and murdered in Goa, the voracious media examined the mother.

The Mail’s writers queued up to suggest that Keating’s lifestyle was in some way complicit in her daughter’s death:

Sorry, but I blame Scarlett’s mother,” said Allison Pearson on the Mail’s front page.

Keith Waterhouse gave us:

A family of eight, living entirely on benefit allowances, managed to get as far as Goa for an extended holiday, where one of their number was murdered.

In his – oh, the irony – eponymous column, the Sun’s Jon Gaunt whined:

“Let’s not beat about the bush, Fiona MacKeown is an irresponsible mother… Fiona is typical of the kind of mother who wants everything and sees her kids as an inconvenience that can be palmed off at any excuse – she’s a clear example of the ME, ME, ME generation.”

Fiona MacKeown was not dumb and feckless. She was self-aware:

“I have nine children which makes you strong and there has been a lot to do. When I have nothing to do but think – it’s very hard. She really fought for her life and I think about that all the time.”

How does she feel about all the criticism of her for leaving Scarlett?

“I’m not surprised, really. Look at what’s been said about Madeleine McCann’s mother, and she is the picture of elegance.”

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Posted: 19th, November 2009 | In: Reviews | Comments (10)