Madeleine McCann and the POWER of the PRESS

I am forever being asked about why Journalists do NOT take a greater interest in the Madeleine McCann case; about why some Media ‘hotshot’ doesn't take up the mantle and pursue the whole case with a thorough tenacity in the hope of unearthing some concrete facts, or "expose the truth".

Or even reporting on those facts and areas where the truth that is known is different to the one being reported and perpetuated in the Media.

As much as I have always lambasted the British Media for their reticence when it comes to certain aspects of the McCann case, (and shall continue to do so), I feel that I should at least offer SOME defence to those many hard-working journalists without whose professionalism and dedication, much of the injustice that goes on in this world would remain hidden.

The answer is surprisingly, and bizarrely, simple. 

Money.

Journalists do NOT, have not and never will, control what gets publicised, printed or broadcast. 

EDITORS and program commissioners do. 

That is, a newspaper editor will work to a certain criteria, invariably advised, or encouraged, by that journals proprietor, and will instruct his hacks to pursue certain stories and look for certain angles relating to that criteria.

Conversely, he may also buy in from a freelancer, if the story meets with that criteria or is along the lines of the story policies of the newspaper in question. 

It is a universally accepted fact of life that most Media is very much driven by the celebrity culture, so stories and pictures of that nature will always take precedence over anything else.

I do not do very much work for newspapers, thankfully; (not least because I can't write copy very well; or indeed write at all, like MOST bloggers!); most of my work having been in the Television Documentary/Current Affairs genre. 

However, I have been commissioned in the past, (along with the company for whom I predominantly work with), to produce investigations for a number of mainly Sunday publications, and occasionally we have also submitted investigations to the mainstream print media where we think them appropriate or suitable for the publication at hand. 

In other words, those outlets that might BUY the story.

I well remember undertaking a long term, intricate, investigation relating to the once renowned owner of a Premier League football club, whose other business interests and projects abroad were questionable, to say the very least.   

We unearthed some fascinating, relevant and pretty sensational material, well researched and well backed up, involving many potential victims, quite a few of whom were British, who stood to lose a lot of money. 

The investigative article was copy written, signed off by the papers’ Lawyers, sealed and delivered, and was due for publication that particular Sunday. 

72 hours before publication, Michael Jackson had the temerity to up and die!!!; meaning that pretty much every newspaper for the subsequent 3 weeks was full of stories relating to very little else.

Although we still received payment, the investigation never DID get fully published, (although some aspects of it were reproduced by Sports columnists).

The bottom line is that, no matter HOW amazing the story; how utterly incredible, mind-blowing or "news-worthy" it may be, like every other commodity in the world, it has to have a market. 

And if editors and commissioners do not want to PAY for the material, (or are advised not to buy in or publish stories of a certain nature), then it never gets to see the light of day.

And even if the market exists, and a story is purchased/commissioned, its publication can very much be dependent on what other ‘newsworthy’ events take place. At the end of the day, there are only so many column inches to fill!

It would also take a very brave editor or commissioner to publicise anything that would derogate the McCanns at the moment. After all, they have all danced to Clarence Mitchell’s tune for some time now; some publications slavishly reproducing Clarence Mitchell's every utterance without even checking or corroborating his assertions with other sources, (as has been exemplified in the INDIAN "sighting" for instance). 

As far as I’M concerned, it would make a very interesting story, examining how or why it was that Clarence Mitchell declared to the British media that they, (Team McCann), were liaising with the Indian authorities and awaiting DNA results from them relating to a GIRL who has been potentially identified as Madeleine McCann in India, before then discounting the whole episode after Kate and Gerry had apparently seen a photograph of the girl in question and had thus concluded that it WASN’T Madeleine after all;  whilst at the same time the INDIAN authorities were completely refuting any claims that such an event occurred at all;- No liaising. No DNA tests. No sighting. No apprehension of individuals. No photograph. No girl!

(Of course, it would be an equally interesting story, to my mind, examining how exactly the McCanns could be so sure they could identify their daughter from a photograph taken 4 years after they had last seen her, but I digress).

But what would such a story prove, anyway? NOTHING; other than that Clarence Mitchell jumped on an, apparently, fabricated bandwagon in order to further the interests and exposure of his clients? 

It wouldn't be the first, second or tenth time............after all, it's what he's paid to do.

Additionally, to make such a story gel anyway, one would have to ask Clarence Mitchell a few rather probing questions. And anyone who has ever had to deal with Clarence knows that Clarence doesn’t DO questions. He only makes statements. And Press releases. Which, infuriatingly, are faithfully reproduced by the British Media, sans question, time and again.

But WHY oh WHY I hear you all ask!?

Well, partly because this isn’t a story, ostensibly, ABOUT a scheming, manipulative, astute, morally devoid PR mogul, or even a story about the vagaries or failings of Madeleines’ parents. 

It’s about a little girl. A cute, sweet, helpless and totally innocent little girl who has been missing for several years now. It is impossible, not to feel a wave of sympathy, heartfelt empathy and pity, especially anyone who has ever been a parent. 

And it is THOSE people to whom the Media pander to and cater for. 

It is patently wrong, erroneously assumed, that the majority of people who know of Madeleine McCann, believe that her PARENTS were somehow complicit in her disappearance. 

Online ‘Polls’ and opinion forums might suggest that most people believe there is more to the Madeleine McCann case than is covered in the newspapers, but that is a FALLACY. 

It IS true that the majority of people who look beyond what the newspapers and TV report, beyond the drivel fed to them by Clarence, which gets duly regurgitated; and actually study the Portuguese Police documents which are available online, or read other intelligible writings on the case in the form of some forums, blogs and publications; THEN begin to formulate different opinions on the matter and start to consider that there may be more to the case than at first seems.

But, sadly, those people are still very much in the MINORITY. 

Everyone knows the name Madeleine McCann, who she is and what purportedly happened to her. VERY FEW people know the names Jane Tanner, David Payne or Rachel Oldfield, much less what parts THEY had to play in the case or what their Police statements contained. 

Because unless they are given reason to question the newspapers or televisions in front of them, they have neither the desire, need nor inclination to know.

Of course, there is also ANOTHER, very good reason why the British Media don’t wish to publish anything that remotely paints the McCanns in anything other than a perfect light.

Actually, it’s approximately a MILLION reasons.

Pounds Sterling! 

For THAT is the sum, duly coughed up by Richard ‘Dirty’ Desmond, proprietor of  the Express Newspapers, to Kate and Gerry McCann and their ‘Tapas’ friends for reproducing material that was originally published in the Portuguese Press, based on apparent leaks from the Policia Judiciaria. 

THAT was deemed, (inexplicably, in many people's opinion), to have been LIBEL, although, bizarrely, the case never went to Court which, had it have done, it would have proved much less expensive for the Newspaper Group where the McCanns would have received only a fraction of what they subsequently did. 

More importantly, the Newspapers’ Lawyers could have fallen back on the age old defence to Libel- that it can not be Defamation when the statements are true, or that the statements made were done so in good faith and belief that they were true; assertions that would have been validated to a certain degree with a cursory study of the Portuguese Police files.

The Express never actually accused the McCanns of anything. They merely reported that the PORTUGUESE were accusing them and actually lambasting the Portuguese in the process, rather than libelling the McCanns and their friends.

For some reason best known to themselves, the McCanns never saw fit to sue the Times, the Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent or The Observer, as well as all the Mirror, the Sun, The Daily Mail and other newspapers and Journals for publishing exactly the same material!

It would, for instance, be potentially far more remunerative and way more effective had they chosen to sue SKY News, for Martin Brunt’s famous declaration concerning the “100%  DNA match to Madeleine McCann”, as apparently evaluated from samples removed from the McCann’s hire vehicle, where he clearly asserted that such results were indicative of their complicity in their daughters disappearance.

Some newspapers actually published infinitely more sensational material, much of which is STILL available to read online now.  

I have previously written about how Richard Desmond acquired the Newspaper Group in the first place, after making a sizable Labour Party donation, shortly before being deemed by the self same Party to be a “fit and proper person”, in accordance with Newspaper ownership regulations and requirements!

I also wrote about how a cynical old bastard might start thinking that such a Charitable gesture as to donate a Million quid to Team McCann, from a man who made a sizeable chunk of his fortune engaged in Pornography and salacious gossip/celebrity magazines, could be indicative of him returning some kind of ‘favour’ to those in VERY high places who had perhaps furthered his Empire!

Alas, I shall just say that the fact that there are many, many stories STILL available to read in the online editions of virtually every print media publication is very telling; stories which go into great detail about subjects over which the McCanns have thus far spent a fortune in legal fees in trying to suppress!

Sometimes, when I complain to my colleague and close friend; a man whom I regard as one of the very finest Investigative Journalists of the past 20 years, about how clearly there is so much more to the McCann case than now gets published or mentioned, he nods approvingly and in full agreement. Alas he always says the same thing:- 

That he is sure that there IS more to the case; that there is clearly a huge question mark and a certain amount of suspicion over some of the McCanns behaviour and actions, along with those of their friends; that the whole case IS worthy of a sustained, elaborate and highly intensive study and investigation. 

BUT. 

No one wants to pay for that investigation, and as yet, no-one appears interested (or willing),  to pay for the publication of its findings. 

He always adds that if he were a millionaire philanthropist, he’d like nothing more than to dedicate his time and resources to fathoming its secrets. 

Until then, he concludes, he has 2 kids to feed so he produces material for which he knows he will receive payment!

And that is the sentiment echoed by many journalists and producers. A sentiment I saw first hand whilst suffering the ignominy of working on a Flagship documentary program for a mainstream Television broadcaster, who, at the same TIME were also producing a most fawning, sycophantic homage ‘documentary’ to the McCanns.

Of course, a FAR more pertinent question would be, who is dictating the Editorial policy of the mainstream press and broadcasters? 

I have come across murmurings of D-Notices, but I don’t personally believe them. 

I’m pretty sure that there is nothing that has been suppressed, or whose publishing has been negated, on the strength of one of those mysterious decrees that emanate from Downing Street, once in a while. 

That's NOT to say, however, that newspaper and Media coverage of the Madeleine McCann case isn't greatly influenced by certain Mandarins; slavish devotion to Clarence Mitchell and his Press Releases, bizarre 'news' gatherings and conferences rather suggesting that is IS.

I believe, quite simply, (for whatever reason), that at an Editorial level, it has been agreed that until anything of any real consequence, that can be substantiated, comes to light concerning any major discrepancy or deviation from the facts of the case as asserted by the McCanns; then they will desist from producing any accusatory stories and, at the same time, concentrate on pandering to the “flowers and balloons” brigade! 

After all, those newspapers that published extracts from Kate’s book, ‘Madeleine’, saw their sales figures increase! (Although in the case of the EXPRESS, I’m pretty damned sure they didn’t make a return on their £750,000 investment for the serialisation rights! Ah well. Suck it up Desmond. Those favours must be nearly all paid back now!).

It may seem difficult to believe that Newspapers would adopt such a ‘group policy’ but rest assured that it can and DOES happen. 

I well recall the occasion of a very famous and very popular ‘Nice Guy’, footballer who was engaged in an extra-marital affair that was well known about in the offices of every newspaper, and would have provided many, many pages of salubrious gossip, pics and speculation for days had they have published it.

The reason they didn't , is because this footballers SON was very sick with a condition that was thought at the time he might not recover from; and whilst such a heart wrenching fact would ordinarily give greater ‘human interest’ impact and impetus to the story, it was decided that publishing it would put a huge, unfair burden on the footballers WIFE, Mother to the child in question.

Even though years have since passed and  the child actually survived and got better, the story has never been published.

Just one of many true stories that would have made the front pages of EVERY newspaper for a few of days, had not the Editors collectively elected NOT to publish. 

Does that mean that Editors and proprietors have a heart? Not a bit of it! At least, not when it comes to a scoop! But in the instance of the errant footballer, there could have very well been a public backlash along with the huge wave of sympathy for the betrayed wife and Mother of a very sick child that just might have spectacularly backfired in the faces of the Newspaper publishing the story.

Which brings us back to the Madeleine McCann case.

As I write this, there are families in the UK who are planning on undertaking CAMPING trips around Europe in order to try and raise funds for the 'Madeleine fund'. There are children who are doing odd jobs and fundraising, along with contributing their own pocket money on a weekly basis.

Parents and Grandparents, sponsoring ballons, lighting candles, holding fetes, fairs and jumble sales to raise money for their chosen cause; helping to "find" Madeleine.

They subscribe to forums and websites that advocate and  preach divine intervention, spiuritual worship and mystical pratices.

These are decent, respectful and caring individuals who are touched and moved by the story of a missing girl and her, (apparently), heartbroken parents.

These are people who have read Kate’s book, or who have come across any one of a number of ‘Tribute’ websites or Facebook pages, dedicated to “looking for Madeliene”. 

These are people who have read the heart-wrenching words of the tabloid columnists, heard the impassioned pleas of the daytime TV presenters and Breakfast News anchors. They have absolutely NO reason to believe anything other than what they read or hear.

More relevantly, irrespective of whatever else is published relating to Madeleine McCann, they will purely and solely believe their chosen creed, buying into ONLY the scenarios they have adopted.

To illustrate this, a POLL, conducted in America in 2003 concluded that 70% of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was complicit in the 9/11 attacks in New York. 

SEVENTY PER-CENT!!! Actually believed that the now deposed and deceased former Iraq leader had direct involvement in the New York atrocities, according to a Poll conducted by the Washington Post!

How can that be?? 

Simple. 

Because President Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, along with OTHER members of that administration suggested such links existed in the Months leading up to the so called; ‘War on Terror’.

And those suggestions were duly replicated with alarming regularity in the American Press.

And those citizens elected to believe them.

In fact, many took great PRIDE in believing them, and still DO, even though, of course, not only is there not a single shred of evidence to suggest that such links ever existed, but that the CIA has since confirmed that such links never DID exist.

Tony Blair, tasked with having to prepare the British to buy into the same war, chose a similar tactic.

Firstly, he presented a DOCUMENT, said to be an intelligence document detailing the Military capabilities of Saddam Hussein and the threats he posed to the West as well as countries in the Middle East.

Even when this document was shown to be a plagiarised academic Thesis from a Californian Historian, people STILL elected to believe its veracity and turned a blind eye when this 12 year old dissertation was used, verbatim, to justify the British Government involvement in the invasion of Iraq.

Along with the other, infamous, ‘dodgy document’ AKA ‘sexed up dossier’, which cited that Hussein not only has Weapons of mass destruction, but that Iraq could launch a chemical or biological attack within 45 minutes. 

Or, at least, that’s what the document stated once Blair/Campbell persuaded his old friend John Scarlett at the Joint Intelligence Committee to make some amendments. (For which Scarlett was subsequently rewarded with a Knighthood by Blair in 2007!!).

But I am digressing again!

The point I am trying to make, is that not only do people BELIEVE what they read, but they also either consciously or SUB- consciously elect to continue BELIEVING in something, even when contradictory evidence to what is being asserted exists.

It SHOULD, (citing the IRAQ War example again), have set off huge alarm bells in the consciousness and consciences of the British people, once it was made public that the so called ‘Military capabilities’ intelligence document  fabricated. 

Even MORE so when Hans Blix, the weapons inspector in Iraq, immediately prior to the invasion, was stating that there didn’t appear to be any weapons to be found.

No matter. Even though there was plenty of evidence, substantiated evidence, to suggest that the Iraq war was all based on a lie, people instead elected to either ignore or dismiss it choosing to believe the headlines of the Tabloids and the bulletins from Sky and the crass, Fox news.

Even, after it became glaringly obvious what the real purpose of the Iraq war was; when the first actions of the invading troops across the border from Kuwait was to secure the OIL pipes; when Oil production and sales from Iraq itself were co-ordinated and controlled by HALLIBURTONS, the American company once chaired by the man who STILL held substantial shares in them.

DICK CHENEY!!

If you ever needed to present as proof, the stupidity, gullibility, disinterest, naivety or indifference to the TRUTH, as exhibited by Nations and their people, then HERE it is:-

That the Vice President of an invading Imperialist Country marches into Iraq, and, using the company that he once LED, (and which he still has links to), secures that Countries’ highly lucrative oil production, whilst telling the world with a straight face, that we were engaged in a WAR on TERROR!. 

(Sentiments echoed by, of course, ‘Nu Labour’).

Impossible to believe that anyone could get away with that?

Well, it is very telling, is it not, that subsequent to these obvious truths and facts, both Bush AND Blair were voted back into power for a further term of office; the people very clearly either choosing to believe the ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ fable, or caring little either way what the REAL truth was.

And if the vast majority of the people are willing to IGNORE, or remain indifferent to, the irrefutable evidence that proves that the loss of an estimated 1 to 1.5 MILLION human lives in Iraq was all built on a LIE...........

.......... then what chance justice for a 3 year old girl who disappeared under circumstances that were very clearly fabricated?

Godbless Madeleine McCann, wherever you may be............

Madeleine McCann: The SUN 'Target a TROLL' NAMES in FULL!

After the conviction of Sean Duffy, an Aspergers Syndrome sufferer whose main hobbies appear to be drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and posting despicable and hurtful comments on the Facebook tribute pages of tragic individuals who had lost their lives, it coerced the SUN newspaper into action, prompting them to create their ‘TARGET a TROLL’ Campaign!

Kate and Gerry McCann, ever the intrepid publicity hunters, quickly latched on to this ‘CAMPAIGN’ and procured for themselves, (via their infamous PR Mogul-at-large, Clarence Mitchell),  EXTRA COVERAGE and column inches galore about the most obvious, heartrending topic and pre-occupation which is perpetually close to their hearts; THEMSELVES.

On the back of the Duffy case comes their NEXT targeted troll; a 17 year old kid called Jack Tims who created a puerile website entitled “If I get 1 Million Likes I’ll let Maddie Go”; a childish prank that deserved to remain entirely in anonymity and obscurity, receiving the very little attention it warranted. 

Now, thanks to “Britain’s Soaraway Sun” their THREE MILLION estimated DAILY circulation figures ensure that the pubescent Tims is afforded all the attention that he clearly craves!

ANOTHER ‘TROLL’ target, named in the report is David Bret. According to the Sun:-

“Blogger David Bret, 57, has also targeted the McCanns with posts wrongly accusing them of being involved in Maddie's abduction — even accusing Kate of being involved in her death”.

I have read MUCH of Mr. Brets’ ramblings, and I have never known him to assert EITHER of those accusations. Nor does the Sun offer any evidence in support of it.

However, I would imagine that David, a renowned International Biographer, will be more peeved at being referred to as a mere BLOGGER than being embroiled in this piss-poor publicity stunt for the McCanns!

HOWEVER, all things been equal, and given that the “Soaraway Sun’s” Campaign is designed to TARGET the hurtful and spiteful TROLLS who suggest that the McCanns may be complicit in the disappearance of their daughter; it is only FITTING that we should all enter into the true spirit of the campaign and “REPORT” them!

So here are a few for starters:-

“McCanns are back in frame” ~ Report detailing the apparent involvement of the McCanns in the disappearance of their daughter after leaked FSS reports suggest that DNA recovered matched Madeleine. For extra EFFECT, the report uses big, bold word type for CORPSE and BLOOD, making for a truly salacious story.

The TROLLS involved??

Step forward ANTONELLA LAZZERI and CLODAGH HARTLEY from the....erm.................SUN!

How about:-

“Blood found in McCann Car” ~ another in-depth report that points out  

“Sources said analysis of samples taken from the villa produced “significant” new information that could even lead to arrests within days”.

This particular TROLL was merely referred to as the ‘Online Reporter’ for the .....................SUN!

Let's try:-

“Catch 22 Quiz Mother Faced” ~ Detailing 22 of the less salubrious questions that Kate didn’t answer, including 

“WHAT did you do with her body”.

Another anonymous TROLL, this time writing for the .......SUN!

My PERSONAL favourite:-

“Maddie Special Report” ~ A FOUR page SPECIAL spread, on the McCann case, published in 2008, a year after Madeleine’s disappearance, and including SPECIALLY invited and edited comments from the PUBLIC, including:-

“KATE and Gerry McCann plan to write a book about their "year of hell" since Madeleine went missing. This is distasteful, sickening and outrageous. How can two suspects profit from the loss of their child? The sooner this couple are brought to book for child abandonment, the better”

And:

“WHAT about the year of hell that child has had if she was abducted and is still alive? It's always been about money with Kate and Gerry”

And:

“A MISTAKE is using salt instead of sugar. Leaving three babies alone night after night for the whole holiday, even after Madeleine told them she had cried, is wilful neglect and the sooner the McCanns admit their guilt the better for this world”

TROLLS indeed! 

All carefully selected and edited for her “Soaraway” report in the SUN by ANTONELLA LAZZERI!

Of course, since those devil-may-care days of free speech, the Sun has since learned new information about the investigation which changes their whole perspective on how they report the case. 

NOT information that suggests that the McCanns are INNOCENT of any of the accusations that the Sun previously published, of course; just information that reporting it can cost you a cool ONE Million pounds!! Just ask Richard Desmond over at the Express!

Best not.

Godbless Madeleine McCann, wherever you may be.

Madeleine McCann and Kate & Gerry's PRESS Intrusion

The Press are widely reporting that Kate and Gerry McCann are to participate in the LEVESON inquiry, possibly giving TESTIMONY, alongside several key victims of press intrusion, as the first witnesses in the judicial inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal.

Even though there is categorically NO suggestion or allegation that their 'phones were hacked.

In the interests of fairness and accuracy, it is important to question why, exactly, the McCanns are "Key victims of press intrusion", as described by the Guardian.

Clearly this can't be the SAME Kate and Gerry McCann who contacted the Media BEFORE, or at the VERY LATEST at the SAME TIME as they contacted the Police regarding their "Missing" daughter.

Nor can it surely be the same McCanns who gleefully enrolled the services of Justine McGuiness and Sheree Dodd
(“press officer responsible to act as media liaison officer for the McCann family”)

or the infamous Spin-Meister Clarence Mitchell, who has penned a MILLION column inches in publicity for his 'Clients' regularly briefing EVERY newspaper Editor,
(“Mitchell still has the key phone numbers and e-mail addresses of people in power and will continue to use them. He has attended top-level briefings at No 10 every weekday for the past two years. The McCanns.... want to get messages to the very top that they are innocent.”)

And obviously NOT the same McCanns who set up a MULTI Million Pound MEDIA driven/reliant INDUSTRY/FUND/WEBSITE, masquerading as a CHARITY, within DAYS of Madeleine going missing.

And, presumably NOT the self-same McCanns who accepted a £750,000 fee in newspaper serialisation rights for Kate's book, an "honest and truthful account" entitled 'Madeleine'.

Along with the OTHER graciously accepted fees for such "intrusive" appearances on OPRAH and other television programs.

And, categorically NOT, surely, the same Kate McCann who somehow managed to 'intrude' onto EVERY front page of the Press when the parents of Claudia Lawrence, a missing 35 year old British woman, who was last seen in March of 2009, held a special service, a "candle-lit vigil" for THEIR daughter; whose picture, (where it appeared at ALL), was a mere FRACTION of the size of the lady of the moment.


Whether Lord Justice Leveson gets round to pointing out these 'anomalies' to the Golden Couple at the hearing remains to be seen.


Godbless Madeleine McCann, wherever you may be.

Madeleine McCann - FACT, FICTION & FALLACY

Gerry McCann belongs to a secret Masonic ‘Knights Templar’ Order whose other ‘Illuminati’ include Gordon Brown.

Kate McCann was a promiscuous sex-aholic and binge drinker, having entertained an innumerable number of her University colleagues.

The ‘Tapas 7’ frequently holidayed together in low-key “working class” resorts, sometimes with the McCann’s, where they engaged in group, open sexual relations together.

Madeleine McCann was a ‘Clone’ or a genetic experiment.

Madeleine never actually existed at all.

Madeleine was abducted by Aliens.

OK, I made the last one up, but the other statements have, (and still are), circulating in some form or another in the bowels of internet chat rooms, discussion forums and blogging sites. 

Despite there having been some interesting observations made which could, ostensibly, be indicative of some of these comments having a modicum of truth to them, (excepting  the Aliens bit, of course), in the absence of any corroborating evidence, we simply have to assign them to the realms of fiction.

However, there has been so much written and reported about the Madeleine McCann case in six years that it is undoubtedly very difficult, if not impossible, for anyone seeking to make up their own mind regarding what might have happened to the little girl, to actually DO so.

The opinions of most people in this country are influenced by what they read in the newspapers, which is pretty much how and why Rupert Murdoch came to be so courted and pandered to by virtually every influential leading Politician since Thatcher; not just here in the UK but globally. 

Many will have undoubtedly been influenced by their reading of the recent publication of Kate McCann’s book, ‘Madeleine’, a rather touching if not wholly accurate account of the case. 

It is also clear that many people, parent’s and grandparent’s themselves, cannot and WILL not look beyond the fact there is a small child missing. They are happy to subscribe to the notion that Madeleine must have been abducted by a paedophile, without questioning any aspect of what is currently asserted in the Press or indeed what is asserted by the McCann’s themselves.

They do not question because it is all too easy and natural to form an instant empathy with people who have purportedly lost a child to such tragic circumstances. Additionally, we are all too well aware of the reality of evil people in this world who do, indeed, prey on children, which induces another, natural, human response of:

 “God, this could have been MY child/us” and also “thank God this isn’t happening to my child/us”.

People spend their lives accepting and being influenced by what they are told. Indeed, they are frequently shaped by the events that they read about. 

Which is fine, as long as the events that shape them have been subjected to more scrutiny and validation than that afforded by the mainstream Media reporting them, or by books written by the protagonists themselves.

Because unless people are given reasons to do otherwise, they will simply carry on their daily lives without questioning the information printed in front of them or that which is being spoken on the TV or Radio.

Which rather leads me to another statement, which I assert to be, NOT fiction, but rather FACT.

That the Madeleine McCann case is so much more than a matter of a missing child and what might have happened to her;  that it is clearly part of an, as yet, unfathomable secret involving an innumerable number of powerful, wealthy and influential individuals, some of whom extend to the very fabric of our Society, including the British Government itself.

A secret? More internet lunacy? Conspiracy Theory? 

Well, permit me to cite a few more facts in support of this assertion.

Anyone who has ever been unfortunate enough to suffer a tragedy or a serious problem whilst being abroad in a foreign Country is rightly afforded some assistance from their respective Embassy and its Ambassadors. 

Kerry Needham, for example, whose son BEN went missing in Kos in 1991, effectively got little more than a cup of tea and some sympathetic words from the British Consulate. 

She has been on record as stating that although she was appointed a wonderful Liaison Officer from South Yorkshire Police, she has effectively spent the past twenty years, fighting, ALONE, to keep her son’s disappearance in the public eye. 

Ironically, it is only recently, in light of developments in the McCann case, that she has received any worthwhile attention or response at all,  to her letters and pleas for assistance.

The Needham family are not unique. 

In fact, every other family who has ever had the misfortune and heartbreak of having their child kidnapped abroad, or who has suffered any other kind of tragedy has come to realise the very same thing;- that, ultimately, when struck by disaster outside of one’s own Country, one has only limited resources and assistance.

Every other family. 

Except the McCanns.

Kate and Gerry McCann got rather more than tea and sympathy. Since the disappearance of their daughter in May, 2007, they have received, effectively, the assistance and attentions of, seemingly, the entire British Government, including the personal administrations of not one, nor two;  but THREE British Prime Ministers, no less!

Tony Blair, just weeks before his stepping down, ensured that the McCanns had a whole TEAM of diplomats to assist them in the early days, and bizarrely even dispatched Sheree Dodd described by the ‘TIMES’ newspaper as a 

“long-serving senior spokeswoman for the Government”. 

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced that she was being deployed as 

“press officer responsible to act as media liaison officer for the McCann family”.

Why the family of a missing child NEEDS a Media and  Press Liaison officer was never properly explained.

Newspaper reports at the time show communications, advice and assistance being provided by then Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and subsequently by HER replacement David Miliband.

Even from the early stages of this case, before being appointed in his full time role as the McCann's spokesman in September 2007, the fragrant, ubiquitous and ridiculously contrived CLARENCE MITCHELL was involved. 

Mitchell’s previous specialty, (for the entirely uninitiated in this case), was spying on, fabricating and shaping public opinion on anything and everything for the Government’s ‘Media Monitoring Unit’. 

This unit, encompassed by the Governments Central Office of Information, helps to: “drive best practice and cost effectiveness in the way citizens are informed, engaged and influenced about issues that affect their lives “.

Indeed. About as Orwellian as it gets!

I accept that the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was fairly unique in context, and obviously a tragic event, but what could possibly be so important about the McCanns and their predicament that could warrant them receiving this level of ‘assistance’? 

But these unprecedented lines of support and help pale into complete insignificance when one considers the involvement, influence and direct interference, from the then, Chancellor of the Exchequer and soon to be Prime Minister , fellow Glaswegian Gordon Brown.

By their own admission, Gordon Brown maintained regular contact via personal cell phone with the McCanns. (Does he have the mobile numbers of all British subjects who come unstuck whilst abroad?)

Clarence Mitchell himself has been keen to brag in the past about how HE, along with the coercion of Gordon Brown and others, was able to secure a meeting with the POPE, who subsequently administered his personal blessing to the McCanns and to a picture of their missing daughter.

It was the UK Government who arranged for the McCanns to meet and liaise with a number of European and other word-wide Political leaders to discuss the setting up of an American version of  'Amber Alert'; a child abduction alert system.

It is entirely possible, of course that these incidents were merely born out of an association and presumably friendship between Gerry McCann and Gordon Brown's brother, ANDREW Brown, with whom Gerry worked at COMARE.

COMARE, (Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation) is a British Government quango, basically set up to debunk claims by campaigners that certain areas around the vicinity of Power Stations can induce childhood cancers. 

Gordon Brown is, or at least WAS,  a huge supporter and advocate of further Power Station development in the UK and COMARE, (of which his BROTHER Andrew is a Director), was an essential weapon for Brown in allaying any ‘Nuclear fears’ amongst the public. 

Essentially, along with others, COMARE was “advised” by Gerry McCann.

On the basis of that, such a show of support by Brown could be deemed relatively innocuous, nothing more than the actions of a family friend, however highly placed.

However, a much more and somewhat disturbing involvement by the then Prime Minister –in- waiting was yet to take place.......

Ostensibly, the ONLY evidence that Madeleine McCann was abducted comes from JANE TANNER.

She insists that she saw a man carrying a small child whom she believes was MADELEINE, around 40 minutes before Kate McCann actually declared the girl was missing.

Those more conversant with this case will know that Tanner’s description of this ‘abductor’ changed dramatically over the subsequent Month’s and indeed years, since Madeleine’s disappearance. 

His height, size, shape, hairstyle, clothes, manner, and on at least one occasion, even sex, have all been changed or modified, often coinciding with, (and dependent ON), the  description being given out by ‘Team McCann’ of the person that they and their ‘investigators’ were eager to locate in any given Month.

Additionally, not only the ‘abductor’ but his prey was also subjected to a number of changes, starting out as a mere ‘bundle’, as in a blanket, before metamorphosing into a  little GIRL with pink pyjamas just like Madeleine!

More saliently, particularly for the Police investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, the Policia Judiciaria afforded NO significance to Tanner’s sighting for THREE reasons. 

ONE, because it would have been way too dark to afford any credibility to the description Tanner provided;

TWO, despite insisting that she DID see an abductor, 40 minutes later when Kate McCann appeared at the Tapas bar, screaming that Madeleine was, indeed missing, Jane sprung into action and erm......not only did nothing but SAID nothing!!

And THIRDLY, the Portuguese Police were equally sceptical when it transpired that at precisely the same time Tanner is alleged to have seen this abductor, two other witnesses who were effectively in exactly the same location saw neither this man nor indeed Tanner.

One of these witnesses being Gerry McCann himself!

It doesn’t need a forensic mind to deduce the obvious flaws in Tanner’s testimony.  

None-the-less, after a private audience with Gordon Brown where the McCann’s had sought his assistance in early June, the British and Portuguese press widely reported that Brown had intervened in the case and that he had persuaded the Portuguese Authorities to permit the McCann’s to appeal for information relating to this ‘abductor’.

After the McCanns were made arguidos in September, SUSPECTS in the disappearance of their daughter, the TIMES reported that;

“Ministerial Contact was severed with the McCanns because of the sensitive nature of their Legal status”

However, it was apparent that the Government, rather than distancing itself from the McCanns, formed closer relations than ever.

Brown dispatched the ever-ready Clarence Mitchell, once again, who formally resigned his Media Monitoring post at the Cabinet to take up the FULL time role of McCanns Media advisor, a role he had initially adopted whist seconded to the Foreign Office in the weeks after Madeleine first went missing.

The TIMES again:-
“Mitchell still has the key phone numbers and e-mail addresses of people in power and will continue to use them. He has attended top-level briefings at No 10 every weekday for the past two years. The McCanns do not expect help or influence to be exerted on their behalf but want to get messages to the very top that they are innocent.”

Quite.

Clearly those messages got through to someone because at the same time as the Portuguese Police were reported to be waiting at the Airport to fly to the UK to interrogate the McCanns and the ‘Tapas 9’, possibly even forcing them to be returned to Portugal for further “grilling”, as one paper put it; Judge Pedro Anjos Frias suddenly decided there wasn’t quite enough evidence to enforce such a return after all, and the eager PJ never got on the plane. 

This huge and sudden change of heart and mind by the Portuguese appears to coincide with, firstly telephone conversations between Gordon Brown and his Portuguese counterpart, Jose Socrates, followed up by a personal meeting between the two a few weeks later in LISBON at an EU Summit where it was widely reported that Brown and Socrates “discussed” the case.

Exactly what was discussed and decided upon has never been fully revealed.

What IS known, however, is that the Portuguese Police never made it to the UK.(At least not to question the McCanns and the Tapas 7 who were still official suspects in the case). 

Instead, it was decided that this further questioning could be conducted by the BRITISH Police, in the form of what came to be infamously known as the ‘Rogatory Letters’, sent to the UK, where they would ask the questions on behalf of the Portuguese Police. 

However, as much as the Portuguese were aghast and dismayed at this decision to refuse them to conduct their interrogations and investigations in the UK, citing “Political Interference” and “Meddling” from the British Government, things were about to get a whole lot worse.

For an inordinately long period of time after the Portuguese submitted the Rogatory Letters, an inexplicable period of inactivity occurred.

Firstly, the Home Office denied having received the letters. Then the letters WERE confirmed as having been received but were duly returned because of some ‘Red Tape’ issue. As the President of EUROJUST explained:-
 

“A magistrate from the Home Office decided that the legal procedures for the sending of the document had not been fulfilled and informed the colleague at Eurojust. After everything was duly analysed, we decided to request Portugal to make the letter again and to send it through official channels."

The rumblings in the Portuguese media complaining about British Government involvement intensified, and the matter was full addressed in the UK Press.  

The TELEGRAPH:-

“Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has been accused of bringing Madeleine McCann investigation to a stalemate”. 

It went on:-

“Police in Portugal said the nine-month case has stalled because the Home Office has still not approved their request to re interview the seven friends who dined with Kate and Gerry McCann the night their daughter went missing”.

Bizarrely, as reported by the paper:-

 “A Home Office spokesman refused to confirm if it had received the letters of appeal from the Portuguese police”.

Finally, however, the letters were received, and the requests duly carried out by Leicestershire Police.

It is obvious from the results of these ‘interrogations’, which are freely available to scrutinise elsewhere online, that the British police, whilst essentially sticking to the requirements being asked of them, did NOT pursue the lines of enquiry with the tenacity that the Portuguese Police would have, nor did they effectively treat the subjects, (Tapas members), as the SUSPECTS that they were. 

Subsequent to these Rogatory Letters being conducted by Leicestershire Police, matters become even more muddled and unclear. 

It is difficult to pin down the precise sequence of events that occurred, but by July 2008, the Portuguese authorities removed the Arguido status placed upon the McCanns, (and Robert Murat, the OTHER Arguido), and effectively ‘shelved’ the inquiry.

As the TIMES reported at the time:-

“According to reports yesterday, one key error that led to the McCanns being declared suspects was made by Britain’s own Forensic Science Service.

The report, apparently from the Portuguese authorities and which was leaked to the London Evening Standard newspaper, states that the Policia Judiciaria, Portugal’s criminal investigation department, was told that DNA evidence found in the couple’s hire car, on the window sill of their holiday apartment and in the car park of the apartment complex, belonged to Madeleine.

The document claims that it was given categorically as her DNA and as a result the McCanns were questioned and later made suspects. But, one month later, the forensic service wrote another report saying that it could not be sure that those findings were correct”.

This matter has never been fully explained, to my mind. 

To this day, many reports from the time, including SKY News’s Martin Brunt, still exist, stating that a MATCH to Madeleine McCanns DNA was ascertained, relating to material unearthed by the specialist dogs. 

The reports vary in the accuracy of the match, SKY News reporting a 100% Match, as did reports in the TELEGRAPH, Times and other newspapers.  Other journals talk about the significant numbers of relevant ‘Markers’ to Madeleine’s genetic  profile.

What IS unequivocal is that the Birmingham Forensic Science Services, reputed to be the BEST in the world, the “'vanguard of forensic science technology that has an unrivalled reputation for the integrity, impartiality and accuracy of its findings”; DID, in its initial reports and statements made to the Portuguese, state that a match to Madeleine McCann’s DNA profile HAD been made.

For reasons best known to itself, and for which it has never fully explained, a Month subsequent to its initial report, and AFTER the McCanns had returned back to the UK, the FSS released a NEW statement, asserting that the tests were inconclusive, after all.

Or, as the TIMES put it, they could now "not be sure that their initial findings were correct".

In the research that I have subsequently conducted, I have been unable to unearth another single example amongst the innumerable cases that they have handled where the Forensic Science Services changed their mind. Not one. 

Presumably, now that this “Vanguard of forensic science technology” is CLOSING, being shut down by its UK Government sponsors/owners, it shall take its secrets with them. 

Coincidentally,  at around the same time the results had been initially submitted to the Portuguese, Low Copy Number, (LCN), DNA analysis was being QUESTIONED vehemently in the Court reviewing the OMAGH case, as a result of which, a CPS REVIEW was ordered. 

The Sunday Times:-

“The Crown Prosecution Service announced the review after Mr Justice Weir attacked the low-copy, or low-template, method of gathering DNA evidence as potentially unreliable and lacking validity”.

I prefer to think that THIS is potentially what influenced the FSS to review their initial suggestions about matches to Madeleine’s profile, rather than some other, more sinister involvement, or "interference", as has been suggested in Portugal.

It is also worth noting that the LCN DNA testing technique was SUSPENDED within the UK, pending the CPS review.

This review was completed and the suspension lifted on January 14, 2008 with the CPS stating that it had

“not seen anything to suggest that any current problems exist with LCN". 

Notwithstanding, as was widely reported in the BRITISH Media, the McCanns were “OFFICIALLY CLEARED” by the Portuguese Authorities in July 2008, “of any involvement in the disappearance of their daughter”.

Which brings us neatly to the FALLACY part of my ramblings!

The FINAL report by the Portuguese Attorney General, although lifting the ARGUIDO status of the McCanns, does NOT, to my mind clear them at all. It states:“despite all that has been done and in spite of all our efforts and lines of enquiry, it has not been possible to obtain a solid and objective conclusion about what really happened that night, nor about the present location of Madeleine”. 

The report goes on to mention and rather dispel another huge Fallacy in the McCann case.

Since the early hours of Madeleine’s disappearance, right up to the publication of Kate’s book, the McCanns and their representatives have perpetuated a myth whereby the Portuguese effectively bungled and botched the whole investigation, affording very little, if any, assistance to the McCanns, even failing to conduct the most basic of searches or enquiries.

However, in the report, the one that the McCanns insist is ACCURATE, it:- 

illustrates and demonstrates the huge and hardworking efforts made by the Authorities and the Portuguese people to try and find Madeleine, including securing the apartment, roadblocks, house to house searches and an account of all the intelligence and sightings that passed through their offices.

As I have published elsewhere, this “accurate” final report, the one referred to by Gerry McCann when he asserts that there is “NO EVIDENCE” to suggest that they were involved in the disappearance of Madeleine; also states very clearly:-

that there were “inconsistencies” surrounding the evidence and testimonies of the McCanns and their friends, and that these inconsistencies could have been easily highlighted and addressed were it not for the “un-cooperation from several, relevant witnesses”.

 

It goes on to say that the Portuguese strove for a re-construction or “reconstitution” of KEY events, but that they could not as “some of the key members of the McCann holiday group” were unwilling to return to do so.

The report goes on to specify that there were CLEAR inconsistencies and irregularities with some of the statements provided by the McCanns and their friends, thus the further need for a reconstruction, particularly in relation to Jane Tanners’ statements relating to her alleged sighting of a “supposed abductor”, specifically noting that at the precise same time, Gerry McCann and TV Producer Jeremy Wilkins were in the very same “narrow confines of space”, yet neither man saw either Tanner OR the alleged abductor.

The report also suggests that a reconstruction was necessary to pinpoint how and when an abductor could possibly have struck, given the regularity and frequency of the checks being made on the children, as asserted by the McCann’s and their friends. The report clearly doubts not only this testimony, but also the ability of any abductor to enter and exit the apartment as proposed by the McCanns, through the small window of the apartment in the manner being suggested, whilst carrying a child.

More importantly, it suggests that the events as suggested by the McCanns and their friends contained  inconsistencies and irregularities relating to the whole period spanning from around 5.30pm on the evening in question,(“the last time at which Madeleine and her siblings were seen by anyone other than her parents”), up until around 10pm when Madeleine was reported missing.

Additionally, the report also takes issue with the fact that, as was widely reported at the time, the McCanns and their ‘Tapas’ friends had a secret meeting in a Leicestershire Hotel in October 2007. As a result of which, a more ‘corroborating’ series of statements were issued, relating to the sequence of events of the night of  May 3^rd. OR, as the Portuguese put it:

“A typed report produced by the McCann holiday group after a detailed joint meeting between them all. This report of theirs deals with their recollections about the events of the evening of 3^rd May”. 

So you will have to forgive me if I fail to see exactly WHERE, in this most definitive of reports, the McCanns are cleared.

Of course, if I wanted to be a bit “scurrilous and unhelpful” as no doubt Clarence Mitchell would have it, I could also add that this report make no denouncement or retraction of the previous, initial report made by Tavares de Almeida, then Chief Inspector in September 2007. 

THAT report concluded, amongst other things that:

Madeleine McCann died in the Holiday apartment on 3^rd May 2007.

A staged HOAX abduction took place.

The McCanns were involved in the concealment of the corpse of their daughter.

And so we come to the present day. David Cameron joins the list of supremely powerful allies to the McCanns by announcing that the Metroploitan Police are to “review” the case.

Apparently, he was moved after receiving a ‘heartfelt’ letter from Kate and Gerry. 

Gerry thoughtfully and tactfully pointed out in a later TV interview that the Prime Minister 

“knows what it’s like to lose a child” referring to the death of Cameron’s son, Ivan. 

Nice touch, that, Gerry.

It still remains to be seen what form, (if any), this review will take, given that this case is still the legal domain of the Portuguese.

Matters are even more clouded, now that the man in charge of the MET review, Sir Paul Stephenson, has resigned after allegations of corruption and bribery relating to senior members of the Metropolitan police force.

Those “bungling, boozy, inept Porto plod” WILL be amused.

“FFS Spudgun, shut the fuck up! You’re like a stuck record, going on and on and on about the same thing!” 

That message from one of my frequent 'trolls'.

And they’re right. I AM like a stuck record. And I am so stuck in this groove. 

And as I am forever repeating, I care little for the McCanns, their culpability or lack of it. I care not one iota about their alleged neglect, their parenting skills, what they might have done or what they didn’t do; what their sexual peccadilloes are, how much they drunk, whether they’re narcissistic or arrogant or both.

What I DO care about are the obvious and seemingly limitless network of high profile supporters:- politicians, businessman, media moguls, tycoons, magnates, celebrities, TV pundits, newspaper columnists and chat show  presenters who all queue up to peddle Team McCanns official stance;-

That Madeleine McCann was abducted by a paedophile and that the Portuguese were complicit in allowing him to escape by accusing her parents instead.

A stance for which there not only exists not ONE, single, reasonable, feasible, logical or rational scrap of evidence; but for which, rather,  there exists a whole plethora of circumstantial evidence to suggest an alternative scenario; one which all of the above are either ignorant of, or choose to ignore.

And if they are electing to ignore that evidence, then one has to ask why?

Or, perhaps, that’s just the problem. The evidence that exists IS, purely circumstantial. Or at least, the evidence that we know about.

For who knows what lies in those boxes of evidence, gathering dust somewhere in a Lisbon Court storeroom?

Documents, files, dossiers and materials that never got released along with the thousands of pages that did. 

Materials still retained by the Portuguese for if, and when, they elect to re-open the case.

Materials that never even got released into the hands of the McCanns, despite their most ardent and sustained efforts to secure them.

I wonder if Kate sometimes think about what is in those boxes. late at night, when she is having one of those sleepless, restless nights that she writes about.

For my sins, I am frequently perturbed by an image. 

An image that keeps me reading, researching and writing about a case that I often fear may forever go unresolved.

It is that of a little girl curled up and lifeless, alone and abandoned; clinging to the only thing from which she could derive any comfort; a soft toy called ‘Cuddle Cat’, whilst laying in a spot behind the sofa in Apartment '5a' where, according to a  specialist Victim Recovery Dog called Eddie, once lay the body of Madeleine McCann.

Godbless Madeleine, wherever you may be.