Maxine Carr ... how would you feel if she moved close to you?

[littlemissbossy]

I don't know whether anyone has read the Mail on Sunday today, but in her first interview since her release, Maxine Carr is quoted as being "grateful" that many people who recognise her are polite and has said that an elderly couple she'd met told her she'd been poorly treated.

If you recognised her in the street, how would you feel? particularly if you found out she was living close to you?
Opinions please mumsnetters.

[littlemissbossy]

Anonmouse, I'm sorry to hear of your experience and I'm also sorry that I can not offer an advice, only sympathy.

[Jimjams]

anonmouse- agree with you there about the unfairness of it. I know someone who informed on some (very big) drugs dealers. Was told he was "dead meat" then basically got set up and is now inside serving 8 years for a crime he didn't commit. The system does stink. I don't know the details and have no idea whether he informed anonymously or whether the police were just useless at protecting him. I hope the former otherwise there are some very bent coppers around. (odd things happened like the tape from the CCTV camera that would have proved his innocence went "missing"

[Blu]

Horrible, and unfair experiences, Anonomouse and jimjams - but I don't feel it is Carr who has caused the need for thsi expensive police protection, I think it is the tabloid press. Having whipped up the public into a frenzy of hate and paranoia, and getting people to support taking the law into their own hands, I think THEY should be expected to plough back some of their huge profits into the expense of clearing up the consequences! (it's ages since I started this post, so sorry if the discussion has moved on!)

[Fio2]

I agree with janh and jimjams. She did not murder anyone, she thought he was telling the truth. She was manipulated by him and she is being punished by everyone. I feel really sorry for her

[Thomcat]

Not read everyones replies.
I'd probably feel a bit odd the first few times I saw her in the street, other than that i wouldn't feel anything. I think she's a silly woman but don't feel any hate for her, pity maybe, other than that slight indifference to her life. It might make my stomach flip over if she moved in to a house near me and started a family and I saw her out in the street with them as it would be a painful reminder of what happened. I'd leave to get on with her life and the awful fact she fell in love with the 'person' she did and how that must make her skin creep and her heart sink and her stomach feel as if she'd swalloed a brick every single day.

[mummytosteven]

i thought that she was meant to have had her appearance changed to stop her being recognised. hmmm - doesn't sound like it worked. I think if i recognised her in the street I would be a bit shocked as my instinctive reaction - but would not be particularly worried at her being in the area. At the end of the day the jury at her trial know far more of the details of what happened, and had a far better chance to assess her credibility in terms of how far she knew what Huntley did, so we just have to go by their verdict.

[Jimjams]

Agree with that Blu. Someone said earlier why on earth is she giving interviews. I suspect she has been manipulated " come on Maxine- a chance for you to gove YOUR side of the story love". Yeah right. It's almost like watching a public stoning.

[Janh]

She was interviewed briefly by a reporter who "happened to be" with her sister when Maxine rang her: Guardian report

(A detail not mentioned by the redtops.)

[tigermoth]

I'd feel ok about her living in my steet. I think she has suffered enough and is harmless. I do fear the tabloid attention though. If Maxine continued to give interviews to the press I would possibly feel less happy about it, but not because of Maxine herself.

If she became pregnant, and she was my next door neighbour, would I tell her about mumsnet? hmmmm not a question I want to answer. So I think then I feel neutral about her - I'd want to get to know the real person a little more and see what the next few years bring.

[harrassedmum]

I know this is weeks after, but just wanted to say, i have to walk past her mums house everyday and at one time there was talk of her moving back to grimsby, but in all honesty, though i wouldnt go out of my way to speak to her, i wouldnt be overly concerned about her being here either.

[bundle]

i wouldn't mind but i feel her giving any interviews is against the spirit of the injunction banning any reporting of where she is/what she's doing granted by the courts, which the papers are now supposed to respect.

[aloha]

It wouldn't bother me at all to have her as a neighbour. I don't suppose we'd be friends but that's nothing to do with her relationship with Huntley. She has never hurt anyone in her life. She made a stupid mistake that she will pay for for the rest of her life. I think that is ample punishment. Like others, I would be much more concerned about the circus that would follow her. And I'd rather have her look after my children than a couple of those nursery nurses on that TV programme.

[aloha]

And the papers do not respect either the spirit or the substance of the injunction and hound her whereever she goes and print nasty lies about her too.

[Bugzi]

I have no sympathy for her what so ever. If you were the parents of a child who was brutally murdered and their naked bodies dumped in a ditch for 13 days and nights, you would hate every person who contributed towards that. Put yourself in the Chapman and Wells positions, if she hadn't lied then they might have found their precious daughter's bodies sooner (& less decomposed). She knew she was lying when she lied, now she has to live with what she's done. She should show a bit of remorse and stop flaunting herself in public and in the media.

[Twinkie]

Why is she being interviewed by the media - surely she should be lying low and at least having some respect for the families of the girls that her partner so brutally murdered and she lied to protect.

[Blu]

She was tricked into it - and nearly lost all her prtection as a result.

[Twinkie]

How so Blu?

And sorry but there is a whole world of difference when it comes to lying for your partner about a parking fine or driving offence - I can't get over what those parents must have been put through all because she was protecting the man she loved and believed his innocence - mind you I am sure lots of people wil say but she thought it was the big bad policeman that had a grudge against him when in reality he was a serious serial sex offender and she a stupid dishonest (about the most henious crime) woman who thanks to her lying and in my mind calculated (she knew what she was doing smirking in those interviews) dishonesty put 4 parents and countless relatives through the most horrific time that as a parent you could go through.

[Bugzi]

If she so desperately needs this protection, why is she blatantly walking around in town centres? Is she so desperate for the attention? Why isn't she lying low and why has she not changed her appearance as we were all led to believe? I think it's a slap in the face to Holly and Jessica's memory and to their family and friends. The woman obviously has no scruples and frankly, ignoring her is the last thing I'd do. Where is her remorse???????

[aloha]

I don't really understand this reference to 'blatantly' walking around shopping centres. Er, she is a single woman living far from her family, working and trying to live a reasonably normal life. She has to go to the shops for heavens sake! She didn't hurt anyone, she certainly didn't kill anyone and she clearly had no idea that Huntley had killed the girls (he wrote to her when they were both in prison assuring her of his innocence, which he wouldn't do if she already knew he was guilty). She liked the girls and they clearly adored her. She sobbed and sobbed when she realised what had happened. I heard it on tape from her police interviews. I personally have no doubt she knew nothing about their fate, and a jury who heard all the evidence thought the same. She was convicted of a crime borne out of stupidity and naivety and served her time. Her life has been ruined. She didn't approach the papers. A reporter was at her family's home when she happened to call home after a week full of particularly vitriolic stuff about her and she made the mistake of agreeing to speak to him briefly. I really think that it is hardly 'attention seeking' to go to the shops to buy food.

[Piffleoffagus]

it's people that think like you Bugzi, that make her need protection.
She is a simple girl, made a dumb mistake, she does need to go shopping...
If she started dating my brother, I'd be bothered perhaps though...
Nimby moi?

[hercules]

What should she do? Never leave the house again? She made a mistake and has paid heavily for it. I certainly wouldnt fear for my children if she moved nextdoor. Why should I? I wouldnt like the media attention though so close nor the threats from people who cant leave her alone. I hate the idea of the public ganging up on one person who has already done her time and didnt hurt anyone knowingly.

[glitterfairy]

I totally agree hercules.

We have laws in this country to ensure that justice is done, they are not foolproof and certainly have led to some miscarriages of justice. However, the emtotional repsonse to a what is an incredibly awful crime is not necessarily the repsonse of a caring, compassionate or just society. I would like to think that we have developed from a cave mentality and treat all our citizens with care, tolerance and respect.

This goes as much for those in society who have done criminal acts as others it is the mark of civilisation that we act within a reasoned and respectful framework. Dont confuse a totally natural emotional response to justice.

[Bugzi]

She is far away from her family and friends because she?s supposed to be in hiding ? that is what I mean about ?blatantly? walking around in a town centre. Shouldn?t she be lying low? Otherwise, why doesn?t she just move back to her home? I thought the whole point of her being kept in a safe house was to be kept safe. Why then is she walking around without security? She must realise that somebody will eventually attack her (and no, I would not attack her). Have you heard about shopping on the internet? How about popping out to your local newsagent for bread and milk? You would think this would be a more sensible approach. I?m not disputing the fact she needs protection but I fail to understand how living in a ?safe house? or whatever with a new name but still looking identical to how she used to look all makes sense? None of you have talked about the families involved and how sick hearing her name must make them. Perhaps her ?mistake? of agreeing to talk to that reporter should have been to say how sorry she is that her lies made a bad situation a lot worse for Jessica and Holly?s families. Maybe then people might try to forgive her. Instead it was about how nice people are to her. Yes, she is simple, very simple and very self. Oh, if she moved next door to me I?d be petrified for my children?s safety. It clearly didn?t bother her that he?d been involved in a sexual assault/rape prior to their relationship (remember, this is why she lied for him) so she probably would go out with somebody of very similar character again because it doesn?t seem to bother her. That?s when your kids are at risk from a woman of such a low moral standing. The thing that really bothers me is that she doesn?t seem to give a damn about the families of Holly and Jessica. RIP Holly and Jessie.xxx

[Fio2]

this is silly. She has been punished under our legal system for 'perverting the course of justice' (or whatever) It is nobody elses business whether she goes shopping or not.

Ian Huntley is the murderer not her!

[Fio2]

so she should be a hermit because her 'boyfriend' murder two ver innocent young girls I dont think she should, she didnt kill them