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Madeleine McCann investigation

999 replies

lyndie · 06/05/2014 18:49

I saw today that possible excavations are to start in the resort where MM went missing.

Does anyone think the progress The Met have made is astonishing given the length of time that has elapsed? I can't help but wonder what progress could have been made if they had been involved at the start.

I really hope that somehow they can find out what happened and give her family some sort of closure. I know the ins and outs of what happened and her parents leaving her have been discussed at length on MN but from a crime point of view I would be very interested to see if the Portugese police had done enough or not.

OP posts:
Onesleeptillwembley · 09/05/2014 10:00

Deux - to your second question, god knows. Maybe the same reasons they've never been properly investigated, or been given unbiased media coverage. As I said upthread, apart (obviously) from a poor little girl missing, what is the real story here?

noddyholder · 09/05/2014 10:08

Are they in Portugal now?

Costacoffeeplease · 09/05/2014 10:30

I don't think they could be prosecuted in the UK for something that happened here

There were two issues with the neglect - 1, they've suffered enough what would be the point? 2, Portuguese law can be interpreted as knowingly putting a child in danger by abandonment - was leaving them in an unlocked apt knowingly leaving them at risk? Some would say yes, some no, but once they had left Portugal it would have been a difficult and lengthy process to force them to return, and I'm not sure the penalty if found guilty was sufficient to warrant it - this all IMHO - I am not a lawyer or any sort of expert, it's just what I can recall

I don't think the McCanns are here at the moment

noddyholder · 09/05/2014 10:32

According to twitter the portuguese are about to completely discard the abduction theory???

pumpkinsweetie · 09/05/2014 10:33

I cannot state my opinion on here, and I won't.
All I hope for is that answers are discovered and we all finally find out what happened to this poor little girl. To close a book on a chapter that has been open for far too long.

For the twins & other family members to have some closure whether good or bad. To be left wondering whether she is dead or alive must be gut wrenching for themSad

pumpkinsweetie · 09/05/2014 10:36

I question that too Deux?
I do wonder if they were of lower class, whether prosecution would have taken place???

A single mother or a working class couple I guess wouldn't have escaped so easily from charges of neglect

Costacoffeeplease · 09/05/2014 10:50

For me, one of the most shocking things in the beginning was the way Gerry casually compared it to dining in your back garden, and dismissed it as within the bounds of normal parenting? And also saying it was a British thing to have couple time once the kids were in bed - I was never left alone as a child (3 kids under 4 remember and even younger babies in the group) and I don't know anyone who was

Onesleeptillwembley · 09/05/2014 10:51

Costa - what's happening with the Amaral trial? It's all gone even quieter than before. Seems like they're holding off for something......

aprilanne · 09/05/2014 10:55

i am sorry .i feel sorry for the little girl herself .but she went missing through her parents neglect .and they have never admitted any sort of admission on that part and this text alert thing .it is a good idea because children can dart off in shopping centres and such like in minutes .but they left them .in an unlocked apartment to go for dinner .and there were child care services available .i agree if it was a working class couple and it was a british holiday camp .the social work would have been involved .just because they are middle class it was still gross neglect

Costacoffeeplease · 09/05/2014 11:00

The libel trial is ongoing - the last I heard they were waiting for documentation from the UK regarding Madeleine being a ward of court (action which the McCanns took in 2008 IIRC) once her legal status has been defined hopefully the trial will come to a conclusion

Deux · 09/05/2014 11:02

The reason I wondered about a UK prosecution for a crime committed in another country is the case of the Scotsman who murdered his first wife in Scotland. He then attempted to murder his second wife in New Zealand whilst a resident in NZ.

He was charged with and prosecuted for the NZ attempted murder in Scotland. It was something to do with him owning UK assets at the time of the crime in NZ. It just stuck in my mind as I hadn't realised such a thing could happen. But maybe it's something to do with Scots Law.

Deux · 09/05/2014 11:05

I agree with the comments about the socio econimic status of those involved.

The articulate, educated and connected can more easily access the breadth andndepth of professionals to help them.

christinarossetti · 09/05/2014 11:14

I found this quite sickening tbh

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1567856/McCanns-used-1m-fund-to-pay-mortgage.html

pumpkinsweetie · 09/05/2014 11:16

Completely agree april its gross neglect no matter which way we look at itSad

Costacoffeeplease · 09/05/2014 11:17

I think it's also to do with the seriousness of the crime Deux

I've just seen it on twitter too noddy interesting

Housemum · 09/05/2014 11:17

Dogs detecting death because of 6 patients she had seen in the preceding weeks - didn't they own a washing machine? Personally, I don't wear my work skirts on holiday, and even if I was taking them to be smart, I'd have washed them first.
Sadly, the amount of time and lack of witnesses means that it is more than likely this will be another Ben Needham case. One of those names consigned to history that everyone knows and has an opinion about.

pumpkinsweetie · 09/05/2014 11:17

That's shocking christina how was that using the funds to which they were intendedShock

I'm sure the people that made donations would have been very angry at this!

LaVolcan · 09/05/2014 11:22

One of the objectives of the Fund is to help Madeleine's family, so paying a couple of mortgage payments could be seen as legitimate.

However, I doubt whether the old ladies and school children who gave out of their pensions and pocket money, thinking they were donating to a charity to help find a missing child, would see it in that light.

Onesleeptillwembley · 09/05/2014 11:27

The fund had also paid massive litigation fees to silence anybody that didn't agree with the McCanns story. Shocking use of the money, which IMO was taken under false pretences, as it was going to a ltd company, not a charity. I accept this wasn't hidden, but neither was it made clear. And it's a very odd thing to do.

Housemum · 09/05/2014 11:34

Anyone setting up this kind of thing should make it very clear how it's going to be spent - for instance a local charity for a terminally ill child raised more than expected, they have now said that as they have done the child's dream things and can afford for mum to stay home for what time the child has, the rest now goes to another charity for terminally ill kids. I would expect the McCann fund to be for hiring investigators/funding trips to search/in part will need to pay mortgage so parent(s) can take time off work. But any surplus should be kept until a resolution one way or the other, then it should go to the national missing children charity.

Onesleeptillwembley · 09/05/2014 11:39

And they suppressed some of the 'evidence' found by the investigators paid by the fund. It only came out years later in last years' Crimewatch. If that isn't verging on use of people's donations then what is?

BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability · 09/05/2014 12:12

What twitterer should i be following?

CinnabarRed · 09/05/2014 12:14

Costa, or anyone else come to that, could you summarise what the Portuguese police have as their primary (and secondary, I suppose) theories?

JonathanGirl · 09/05/2014 12:20

The dogs' evidence hasn't been discredited (apart from by the McCanns) but it's not sufficient evidence on its own to be admissible, I think.

The fact is, those dogs did alert, they did detect what they are trained to detect.

JonathanGirl · 09/05/2014 12:21

The dogs' evidence hasn't been discredited (apart from by the McCanns) but it's not sufficient evidence on its own to be admissible, I think.

The fact is, those dogs did alert, they did detect what they are trained to detect.