Madeleine McCann

[morningpaper]

Instead of starting lots of new posts about Madeleine, could I politely request that anyone who wants to post on the subject please post on this one thread? (N.B. Duplicate threads may be flamed hysterically.)

Please note that this thread is not to criticise Madeleine's parents or family, as this is not in the spirit of Mumsnet.

Please can I take the liberty to quote from this article:

"This is the real life of Kate and Gerry McCann, and it must now have become a place of agony beyond all understanding. Pity them, if you have any compassion at all, and demonstrate the minimum of grace: the ability to desist from judgment."

Good luck with it MP.

Thanks for the link to that Telegraph article yesterday btw.

Also read that article you linked yesteday, really should be read by all me thinks.

Have been steering well clear of all this but wish you luck

its a very moving article

good luck MP but you know full well that the freaks will start bleating soon about 'wanting to discuss fings' and wittering on

good article

also read the the thunderer column in the times today -

"A glance at British headlines and online discussions might give the impression that the Portuguese police are the truly guilty parties, traduced for daring to interrogate the McCanns as formal suspects.

Yet cast our minds back a few weeks, and the same critics were cheering reports that British detectives were ?finally? to be involved. When they found traces of blood, these were sent back to Britain for DNA analysis. Now we are meant to be outraged because, based on the first results of these British tests, which apparently suggested traces of Madeleine?s blood in a car that her parents hired after she disappeared, the Portuguese authorities have acted.

What were they supposed to do with this blood DNA evidence? Ignore it, on the basis that two doctors from a Leicestershire village seemed like thoroughly decent people?"

JUST DON'T READ THE THREADS. I just don't get it - why even open the threads if you find them offensive.
I think you really need to question your mumsnet usage when you are opening and getting upset by threads you find distasteful.

here www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sitesearch.do?query=thunderer&hitsperpage=10&nextOffset=0&offset=0&leftSta rtIndex=1&leftEndIndex=10&submitStatus=searchFormSubmitted&mode=simple§ionId=683

The thread titles are part of the problem though. Lurid details of half-truths and speculation.

I think that this is the best option, since people seem to want to "discuss" the "news" and at least the thread title is not of the same distressing calibre as some that have been seen. Also, if there is one thread for the "intersted" posters, then you don't end up with multiple lurid thread titles in active convos.

Don't see what your objection to this would be, Mog.

In the grand scheme of things and the suffering of the McCanns are you seriously saying that reading a thread title is distressing?
Course it's not, just skim read titles and move on.

fingers in ears

lalalalalalalalalalalalallala

Very good piece by Jenny McCartney

Re: the article 'For pity's sake, stop judging the McCanns' - I think we all have a right to decide this for ourselves, as Maddie would not be missing if it wasn't for their actions, whether or not they were directly involved in her disappearance. Fair enough, people shouldn't jump to the conclusion that they killed her, but when the McCanns state they have nothing to do with her abduction I have to disagree - they have everything to do with it, they should never have left her alone in the first place.

From the OP:

"Please note that this thread is not to criticise Madeleine's parents or family, as this is not in the spirit of Mumsnet"

chickenmama

Well they recieved the ultimate punishment for thier mistake did'nt they? Have some bloody compassion!!

well dd2 fell off the swing in the park and has a cut head

that is clealy my fault for letting her play on it

fgs

chickenmama> you summed it up for me too.

Whether it springs to mind or not, all parents at some point make a mistake, however these mistakes are unlikely to turn into a tragedy but there is always a slim chance, The McCanns were extremeley unlucky, and I am positive they blame themselves every minute of every day.

I'm sorry, I wasn't criticising, I was responding to the article and stating a fact. The article is a personal opinion, assuming that they had nothing to do with her disappearance, which we don't know is true at the moment (and surely I'm entitled to my own opinion also?). Should they be innocent, then I'm sure they deeply regret their mistake and when this is proven to be the case I will pity them. Right now I don't know what to think. But no matter what happened to little Madeleine, my thoughts and prayers go out to her, and I still hope, however unlikely that it may now seem, that she's found alive.

What a disgraceful and biased article from the Telegraph (surprise, surprise). How bizarre that mumsnet's guardians of fairness and moral are even quoting it!

It is all based on the assumption that the McCanns are innocent, even though they are considered suspects by the portuguese police. Unlike most of you and the press seem to think, Portugal is not a third world country, without an independent police and judiciary system. It is not run by cowboys, who make up evidence and plant traces to frame innocent british couples (where would they get Madeleines body fluids and hairs from to be able place them in the apartment and car I wonder?) Why would they do it anyway? Wouldn't it be so much more convenient for everyone if someone else was framed? Why not Murat? He is at hand, he is already a suspect. He would be perfect! Framing the McCanns would be a bit of a diplomatic mistake, don't you agree?

In my opinion, this pathetic defense of the McCanns (and I'm not saying they're guilty) is as speculative and offensive as it is to accuse them. The police of a democratic sovereign country, with the support of its government and with the supervision and support of the british police and forensic services think that there are enough reasons to suspect them. Maybe we should all give them at least the benefit of the doubt and not comment either way.

Oh and how interesting that 'crticising the McCanns is not the spirit of Mumsnet'!! But criticing the portuguese police and Robert Murat and anyone that your biased morals see fit is in the spirit of Mumsnet....

oliveoil - that is a totally different scenario, and playing on the swings isn't an offence like leaving under-14s home alone is

Or perhaps you should follow your own suggestion tugamommy:

"Maybe we should all give them at least the benefit of the doubt and not comment either way."

when was Murat named a suspect? does anyone know?

it's possible that whoever had Madeleine at the time got access to the hire car. Maybe a little far fetched but not as far fetched as the thought of the McCanns keeping a body in a church for 5 weeks imo

chickenmama - in the Uk it is not offence to leave a child unsuprvised at home. Infact there is NO LAW inthe UK regarding ages.

MP, I too have been carried along with the momentum of the media stories as mentioned int article. When it first happened back in May I felt a deep sadness and upset when i thought about and prayed that Little Madeleine would be returned safely. As time went on it just became 'normal' and my sadness and upset waned. It was only whilst watching the news when Gerry and Kate McCann flew home and Gerry McCann made a statement that I felt the sadness again and remembered that this little girl is still missing, dead or alive.

Whatever happened, she did not deserve to be taken from her parents at such a young a beautiful age. I can't put imagine how they must be feeling I know my heart would break into million pieces if I ever lost my DC's.