Libel damages for the McCanns

[moondancer]

Another point which was totally missing from the McCann case was the total absence of panic. Again, perhaps doctors, used to stress and loss. But, again, totally unusual.

I don't think you can have read the report that when she phoned her parents to tell them the news she was "howling like a wounded animal".

As I said previously, they were advised against showing panic in the interviews because that's what the abductor would want to see and hear.

I think I give up at this point.

[Suff]

Sadly the problem is that most of us who do believe that there is something wrong, believe that there has been very careful stage management of "grief" in the whole thing.

So to be out of control to a family member and totally in control in public just feeds that belief. Even trained actors have difficulty with masking extreme grief.....

It may be exactly as you believe MD, but many of us simply don't find it credible. The technical term is "reasonable doubt" and for most of us on here, that doubt has not been overcome.

Would that there was new evidence which proved their case. Even better that she turns up some day alive and well. But wishes are not often found at the end of the day. More often grim reality creeps in the door and slinks around the room.

[moondancer]

And yet no one has answered my previous question....if they were in any way implicated, why will they not let this rest ?

Why do they keep on every single day trying to find an answer ?

If you knew you had something to hide, wouldn't you be glad that the matter seems to have been shelved and get on with your life?

[Workingman]

As I said previously, they were advised against showing panic in the interviews because that's what the abductor would want to see and hear.

That is certainly the case in the British media where the McCanns are given a very easy ride, especially on Sky, for some reason.

But when you watch English language interviews carried out by Portuguese and Spanish media a very different picture emerges. You will see a calm and assured Mrs McCann suddenly burst into tears. You will also see Mr McCann rolling his eyes and smirking when asked about Calpol, then clamming up. There is also one of him ripping off his microphone and storming out of the interview room because he did not like it that the abduction "theory" was being questioned.

They certainly were not following the advice at those times, and that is strange, because the likelihood that the "abductor" was from the Iberian peninsula, and not English, was pretty high and would be more likely to see them on Portuguese or Spanish TV.

I know the piece mentioned by Kaz is before whatever happened, but what it shows is Mr McCann as he really is. It was taken on the airport bus as they all arrived in Portugal. Mr McCann is sitting alone in a corner with a space between him and four of the children. As the camera pans onto him he lets of a mouthful and is told by someone out of shot to "Cheer up, Gerry, you are on holiday"; he is obviously in a foul mood. There is no shot of the other McCanns.

And yet no one has answered my previous question....if they were in any way implicated, why will they not let this rest ?

I did when I reported that one theory presented at the time, and carried in just about every news medium, was that Maddie had been given an overdose of the sleeping draught used to calm the children. Another was that Maddie had an accident in the darkened flat and tragically died. Had either been the case the careers of the McCanns, both doctors, would be over. They would have been prosecuted and in all probability would have had the twins taken away. The theory went that abduction became the cover for whatever happened and that is why that scenario was pushed and pushed and pushed to the exclusion of everything else.

[Osc]

If you knew you had something to hide, wouldn't you be glad that the matter seems to have been shelved and get on with your life?

Not if you are arrogant enough to feel that you are untouchable, and sadly in this case it does appear that anyone who criticises them is villified and they go rushing to their lawyers. I don't know if the truth will ever come out, but I have never understood who they knew or what connections they had/have that made sure they were never censured for leaving their children alone every night, they were allowed to slag off the Portuguese police at will, they allowed all sorts of people all around the world to have their lives disrupted with so-called and often ridiculous "sightings", they have let people face trial by media, they have come across as always looking for money. I cannot think of any other missing child case that has been so high profile, and where the parents have appeared to be less than honest or cooperative about what happened.

[debih]

And yet no one has answered my previous question....if they were in any way implicated, why will they not let this rest ?

Why do they keep on every single day trying to find an answer ?

If you knew you had something to hide, wouldn't you be glad that the matter seems to have been shelved and get on with your life?

Because letting it rest makes them look guilty.

They are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

I have no strong feelings on this one way or the other. I don't know what happened so don't feel qualified to comment.

All I do know, and feel incredibly sad about, is that so something happened to that poor little girl that night. And that her parents let her down one way or another - at the least by leaving her and her siblings alone that night.

And I doubt very much that she will ever be found.

[debih]

Actually, I think the thing that keeps them so vocal about it is guilt.

Whether they harmed her or not, they left her alone.

They (and some of the media) were quite vocal at the time that "everyone does it".

Well you know what, we don't. The small minority do.

And they perhaps paid the ultimate price. If that were me, I'd feel racked with guilt to the day I died. And I know I woukd deserve any criticism that came my way because you just don't leave chikdren that age on their own.

[Kaz]

Thanks Frank, I was beginning to think I'd dreamed that clip!

Yes I've read and seen a lot of foreign media online, and the McCanns seem to be able to turn it on and off like a tap - smiling and relaxed one moment, then sad and even weeping the moment the cameras roll

Osc I wish I knew the answer, but friends in high places must count for a lot - even the PM at the time (Gordon Brown, who was apparently an acquaintance of theirs) was in personal contact All I know is that a less well-connected couple would have had social services down on them like a ton of bricks, and rightly so.

Moonie it is a well known tactic when on the defensive, throw a lot of mud and not only does it muddy the waters but some of it might stick elsewhere Arrack being the best form of defence.......

[moondancer]

Am I the only one apart from Nannapat who can see the torture behind Kate's eyes ?

I admit Gerry hides it well, but I'm sure that's not from guilt.

And if they had given her a sleeping pill and she wandered away and was abducted, she was still abducted, so why is one scenario more likely than the other ?

I put myself in their shoes and I know Kate spoke the truth when she said if it hadn't been for the twins she would have committed suicide.

It's hard enough to lose your child but doubly so when people point the finger at you.

Just imagine if you are all wrong and the McCanns are telling the truth....wouldn't you feel totally ashamed and terrible at making their grief even worse ?

[pederito1]

Absolutely agree WM. The McCanns behaviour on the "discovery" was almost as if they had already dealt with the situation bringing many people into the room so the police would not bother to look for evidence of an intruder. Awfully easy to overdose a child of that age but surely professional medics would not do that, would they?