In England the McCanns would be arrested

[LostPuppy]

Off the bat, I of course hope with all my heart that Madeleine is returned safely

But her "parents" are a disgrace. They left Madeleine and two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie sleeping in the apartment ON THEIR OWN. They had taken turns to return from the restaurant to check on their children.

Now hang on! In this country that is illegal, for very good reason.

Even if they 'checked on them' every five minutes that's plenty of time for one of the kids to wake up and try to go to the toilet and crack it's head open slipping on the bathroom floor, or something equally disastrous. They'd never hear the screaming from a bloody restaurant down the road!

Obviously it's unlikely, but I just cant comprehend the mentality of leaving three children under 3 alone on their own, ever, let alone at night in a foreign country!

Oh I agree ValnBeb - it is why I would no longer leave my DCs in the room on their own (at 7 and 9) as I know they would inevitably decide to come and find us.

It is another factor in the risk assessment - totally agree!

Possible that friends and relatives are MN members. It is almost laughable to suggest that this thread, starting with the title wouldn't be upsetting to the parents. Is the need for your NM analysis of what they did wrong really so urgent and helpful to all of us irresponsible parents who take risks witv our children's saftey?

was the tapas bar actually part of the resort of separate?

But the bigger picture here is censorship then...do we censor discussions because of who may anonymously be watching? What is the point of any discussion at all then?

not really, no@binkleandflip

my main intention when I first (many hours ago!) responded to this thread was to spell out as politely as possible what a twat I thought the OP was for phrasing their opinion so insensitively. I stand by that sentiment.

look on any news site and you will find a plan

The tapas bar was part of the resort - it was approx 50 yards from the apartment.

Bink - I think speculation about Madeleine is where I would draw the line as to bad taste

It is interesting as to how why we all have different views as to what is acceptable, but I really can't stay on the thread if it is going to start discussing the specifics of what might have happened. That just would not feel right to me!

So, with that, you've made and re-iterated your point so....?

binkleandflip: what are you insinuating? You are possibly being offensive? Or does that not matter?

Madeleine?s aunt was on 5 live the other day. Many supportive texts/emails were read out, and many supportive phone calls were taken. But many unsupportive texts were read out as well. Many of which criticised the media attention/the Madeleine fund/the amount of money being offered as rewards/the parents? decision to leave the children alone in a room while they went for dinner, and one even said that if the parents hadn?t left the children then Madeleine would still be with them. The family are very well aware that criticism has been aimed at them for the decision they took on the night in question.

The Mccann family have used the media to their full advantage, they have used it to publicise the disappearance of their daughter, to launch their fund, to launch their campaign/poster, to make appeals for Madeleine?s safe return. But one downside to exposing yourself in the media is that you then lay yourself open to being discussed by the general public, and thus are open to criticism. The mccanns no doubt are being advised by Max Clifford or some such publicist, and they will be well aware that their situation is being discussed on websites all over the www. They?re not going to be coming home and suddenly discover that there were people who thought what they did was wrong, they already know that there are people who think what they did was wrong.

As for this notion that people are going to come on to mn to scroll through the thousands and thousands and thousands of posts to find the negative ones, get real. Mn really isn?t the all-encompacing world that it is to some. To most, it is a website, nothing more, nothing less. If the mccanns ever come back to the UK, I imagine they will have far better things to do than to trawl the internet looking for discussions about them, and if they do, they are likely to come across far far worse than has been written on here. And tbh, we can?t protect the mccanns from negative comment, if they don?t want to be reading negative comment, they might want to not consider looking for comments on the internet.

I wouldn?t wish what the mccanns are going through on my worst enemy, and I do not judge them for the fact they left their children alone, I think they have paid the ultimate price for that decision, but I wouldn?t leave my child alone, and I don?t think it?s wrong to be horrified that someone would, but that?s different to suggesting that they got what they deserved.

I was not speculating, I was just asking quite honestly for clarification ie Has it ever been formally stated that the authorites KNOW the she was abducted as opposed to having wandered away? Sorry, I wasnt trying to stir anything up or be facetious

So...I shall sit back and drink my cuppa...unless of course you would like to throw any more of my own statements / questions back at me@? binkleandflip...just checking?

Toughdaddy, sorry what are you on about? I cant follow your posts? How am I being offensive please?

You're funny LoveAngel, because, contrary to the exasperated tone of your posts, you cant leave it alone either can you?

binkle I think toughdaddy thinksn you mean the parents are responsible which i am sure you don't in fact mean

the mcCanns aren't stupid. obviously they know some people will have criticised them. but at the end of the day they know this and they have probably criticised themselves over and over. they don't need complete strangers makin them feel a million times worse.

and yes i think it is a million times different to leaving a baby to go out clubbing. that baby wasn't checked for hours, they were being checked much more regularly. it has also been said it is likely that they had a monitor.

Hmmmmm...you're a patronising little parrot aren't you blinkle?

TBh i think that the McCanns have used the media to get as much information out about their daugher as they can. i would imagine they are happy to take some criticism (i doubt it is any worse than they think themselves) if it means that her picture is being seen by as many people as possible.

i dont watch the news very often and i don't buy newspapers but i know what she looks like and the fact she has a distinctive spot in her right eye.

this information will be shown at the FA cup final tomorrow, a game that i stelevised all over the world...again raising awarness far beyond portugal.
The family are doing all they can to find their daughter and they should be supported in doing so.

peoples opinions on whether they were right n their decision to leave the children alone is something that you cannot help. i know i have heard conversations about that fact all over the place....but whilst people are discussing their actions they are also aware of teh case and have Madeliene in mind.....that alone is a good thing.

i think that those who cast judgements should first look at themselves. you may not have behaved in the same way in that same situation but i doubt there is a parent alive who has not taken a risk of some kind with their child.
As i posted previously, there is not one among us who has the right to judge these poeple, they will judge themselves and no doubt find fault.

that depends what you read though nappyaddict. apparently that is why the mccanns were re-interviewed last week, because they had stated they had checked the children every half hour, and the staff at the resort said they didn't check them at all.

Mamazon, the voice of reason

Well, I've been called some things in my time!!! But really, that's original and amusing, I'll give you that LoveAngel

Message withdrawn

binkleandflip: speculating about someone's loss may cause offense to near and dear. have seen someone suffer from (incorrect) media speculation in real life. Thought that would be obvious?!

How am I speculating ToughDaddy?