Since the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from Portugal in 2007, the
World Wide Web has been awash with theories, suppositions, conjecture and
notions about what may or may not have happened to the little girl.
A trawl through the various forums, blogs, Facebook pages and other
websites dedicated to the mystery reveals a veritable cornucopia of discussion
and topics, from the downright bizarre to the obviously ridiculous.
For my own part, ever since the girl disappeared, I have written blogs
and opinions as well as subscribing to several forums, partaking in
discussions.
For the RECORD, (not for the first time, and at the risk of sounding
like a stuck record), my own stance on this case has always been simple and
immovable:
I do not ponder whether Madeleine’s parents were complicit in the
disappearance of their daughter. I give no thought as to what part, (if ANY),
was played by their Holiday-making friends, the ‘Tapas mob’.
I do not even contribute to, nor necessarily concur with, the general
consensus of opinion that the McCann’s were even negligent in leaving their
children alone whilst they dined.
For me, it is the simple and unassailable fact that, having STUDIED the
available Police files and contributory documentation, witness statements and
testimonies, including those made by the McCann’s themselves, (as well as those
of their friends); the events, circumstances and situations that they describe,
and which they and their seemingly endless entourage of wealthy Lawyers,
business friends, Politicians and PR companies continue to insist happened;
cannot possibly have occurred.
And I also firmly believe that, were anyone else to undertake the same
studies, they too would arrive at the same conclusions.
As, indeed, many have DONE so already.
Including, of course, Anthony Bennett.
It may have slipped most of the world by, given that there hasn’t been
a whole lot of publicity surrounding it, but Mr. Bennett is currently involved
in High Court litigation with the McCanns.
Ostensibly, they are seeking to stop him from suggesting that they are
linked to their daughter Madeleine’s disappearance, but in reality are FAR more
interested in procuring Bennett’s life savings for having breached an EARLIER
undertaking to the Court that he would cease to espouse such suggestions.
Of course, the McCann’s and their Major League City Lawyers, the infamous and
renowned Carter-Ruck, could have singled out any one of the VERY many who have expressed
and published exactly the same opinions as Mr. Bennett, myself included.
Alas, Bennett has been a particularly troublesome thorn for the McCanns
for a long time.
Three Months after Madeleine went missing in 2007, Bennett
set up a fund called The Madeleine Foundation to fund a private prosecution
for alleged child neglect.
In November 2007, he started such a prosecution against
Gerry and Kate McCann. The
initial hearing was dismissed on the grounds that it was a matter for the
Portuguese authorities, and thus beyond the jurisdiction of British courts.
Undeterred, Bennett and his supporters took to leafleting the
streets of ROTHLEY, the McCann’s home town, with pamphlets reproducing sections
of the official Portuguese files.
The, (by now), servile British press labelled Bennett and members of his Foundation “sickos”
and “stalkers”, terms which were surprisingly deemed by the Press Complaints
Commission to be justified in being used.
The UK Media were well and truly dancing now to the tune of the McCanns PR Mogul and spokesman, Clarence Mitchell.
In 2009, Bennett was issued with an order from Carter-Ruck
solicitors, instructing him:
"Not to repeat allegations that the McCanns are guilty of, or are to be
suspected of, causing the death of their daughter Madeleine McCann, and/or of
disposing of her body, and/or lying about what happened and/or seeking to cover
up what they had done"
Which brings us up to the present day, where Messrs. Carter
Ruck and their privileged clients are in the High Court to argue that Bennett
was:
“not abiding by the terms of his undertaking and was continuing to spread
false allegations against them”.
Tony Bennett is a curious character. Unquestionably eccentric and seemingly
idiosyncratic, who cuts a disheveled, unkempt figure.
His critics, and there are very many, (mainly Kate and Gerry McCann well-wishers),
tabloid journos and bloggers who refer to him, variously, as “perverted”,
“sick”, “evil”, “twisted”, “depraved”, “weird” and “a liar” to name but a few
monikers they have coined.
I knew of Mr. Bennett through a previous campaign which he was involved
in, and which the Media company I worked for were investigating.
I have met him, twice, and I thought him to have a very good academic
brain.
I also thought him to be a passionate and driven man.
Having led a fairly unspectacular Legal and Political career, Bennett
has involved himself with a great number of campaigns; researching,
representing and offering legal advice to a variety of people whom he has
considered to have been wronged or for whom he believed justice had been
denied.
It would be easy to suspect that he is something of an attention seeker
or possessing delusions of grandeur, were it not for the fact that much of his
efforts and work goes unrewarded financially and, in a large number of the cases he
has involved himself with, has placed himself at considerable physical harm,
risk and potential retribution from dangerous, criminal elements.
I am categorically NOT seeking to put Bennett on a pedestal here. Far
from it. I personally believe that he has undertaken a number of cases for all
the wrong reasons and has conducted himself carelessly and unprofessionally, as
well as being overzealous in writing and reporting his findings and opinions.
Especially,
with his actions and writings relating to the Madeleine McCann case.
But I DO, wholeheartedly, want to defend him and offer him some
support.
Not least because, as already stated, not only do I SHARE some of his
opinions on the McCann case but I have actually blogged, written and opined
similar material for which he now finds himself in dire trouble.
And he IS, in dire, dire trouble.
Like myself, and many others, Bennett elects to believe that the
Portuguese Police investigation, their dossiers, evidential documents and their
conclusions represent a far more accurate picture of the truth relating to the missing girl than anything
propagated by the McCanns and their vast, expansive, (not to say EXPENSIVE), PR
machine.
And it IS important to note that, far from being the fantasist and
serial liar that he is frequently accused of being, he has only ever
really concentrated on and repeated the sections and details from those official Portuguese
documents.
As I have written previously, despite the McCanns repeated claims to the contrary, Kate and Gerry,
along with their ‘Tapas’ friends were NOT “cleared” of any involvement with the
disappearance of Madeleine according to the final report by the Portuguese Authorities.
I have blogged elsewhere about the contents of this report and do not
wish to elaborate here, (it is also widely available on the WEB from many other
sources).
However, the documents DO make clear, to my mind, that there was
insufficient evidence to proceed with any prosecutions and although the
‘Arguido’ status of both the McCanns and Robert Murat were lifted, there is
very clear and compelling evidence detailed in the report that DOES suggest serious
wrongdoing by the McCanns and their friends; that their testimonies were
contrived and that there WAS a cover-up relating to some of the incidents that
occurred in Portugal.
There are a number of very successful and widely available books on the
European Continent, written by academics, criminologists and psychologists, all
of whom utilise the Portuguese evidence as research and all of which reach the
same conclusions as many other people, including Tony Bennett.
NONE of these publications are available in the UK, of course, nor are
they ever likely to be.
The ex-head of the regional Polícia Judiciária in charge of the Madeleine McCann investigation, Gonçalo Amaral, knows only too well the consequences of writing anything that
differs from the official version of events as propagated by the McCann Machine
and enforced by Carter-Ruck, as he discovered when he penned his own account of
the case, 'A Verdade Da Mentira', (The Truth of the Lie).
The resultant Court Action by the McCanns, (still ongoing), seeks to eradicate his
book from circulation, as well as to glean a cool, one MILLION Sterling from
the “Hapless Senor”.
Despite the fact that this Libel Trial is almost certainly doomed to fail, Senor Amaral is in a no-win situation.
Firstly, even though the Courts have granted the recirculation of his book , it will never be published in the UK, (certainly not in
the foreseeable future), thanks to the obedient and sycophantic British PRESS.
Furthermore, thanks to the huge disinformation and SMEAR campaign
perpetrated by Team McCann, their supporters and Press from the outset, Amaral will forever be
known as that “boozy”, “corrupt”, “inept”, “Porto plod”.
OR, as he was so loquaciously ordered by Tony Parsons in the Daily Mirror, to "keep your stupid, sardine-munching mouth shut!"
For his troubles, alas, he will at least probably get to keep his family’s home
and possessions.
Unfortunately, there will be NO such luck for Mr. Bennett.
As I write this, he is awaiting Judgement on his High Court case, due
in any day.
Officially, the McCanns assert that their Action is being brought
against him because his writings are “harming the search for Madeleine”.
But that claim holds very little water given that, as I have already stated, there are
HUNDREDS more bloggers, writers and social networkers all opining and repeating
the same thing.
Which suggests that Bennett must have some OTHER commodity which they
want.
Money.
Bennett is NOT a rich man, but he does have life savings which would,
to some people, represent a tidy sum.
Certainly, to the McCanns, it
represents a USEFUL sum.
For despite the fact that Kate McCann in her book, ‘Madeleine’,
suggests that Carter-Ruck do a “vast amount of work, unpaid” on their behalf,
documentation shows that their fees “To Date” amount to over a quarter of a MILLION
Sterling.
And THAT sum, as well as any punitive damages awarded to the McCanns,
will have to come from somewhere.
Mr. Bennett is under no illusions as to the outcome of his case, as he
awaits the Judges findings.
There is a strong likelihood that he is facing imprisonment; unquestionably, he
will be made completely and unequivocally bankrupt.
It matters not one iota whether what he has ever believed, written or
asserted turns out to be factually accurate.
The laws of Libel in the United Kingdom are
very complex, complicated, draconian and frequently unfair.
Libel Courts are the playground reserved ONLY for the rich or
privileged.
Kate McCann appears to have a very strange and nonsensical manner of
apportioning culpability and ill-will sentiments to the people whom she deems
to have wronged her.
To the person whom she alleges abducted Madeleine, the person who
potentially would subject her daughter to the most vile, horrendous, tortuous
deeds, as suggested in her book, where she very lucidly and disturbingly refers
to “images” where she imagines her daughters’ genitals “torn apart”.
To THIS person, both in her book and in subsequent interviews, she
speaks of “forgiveness” and “PRAYERS”.
To anyone who doubts that Madeleine was ever abducted, who casts
aspersions on what she, her husband and her supporters insist is the truth, she
wishes only misery and fear:
“He deserves to be miserable
and feel fear”; she wrote of Gonçalo Amaral, who clearly from the early stages did NOT believe the McCanns
or their friends’ testimonies.
So Kate shall, no doubt, exact further comfort from the knowledge that
Tony Bennett is, unquestionably, experiencing both misery and fear in
abundance.
For in addition to being a pensioner facing an uncertain future, bereft
of everything he owns, he DOES share one misfortune in common with Senor
Amaral.
The long, uncertain, legal threats, letters, Actions and subsequent
litigation, undertaken without any legal representation, (Legal Aid NOT
available in such cases, Mr. Bennet represents himself), has very much taken
its toll on his family.
He and his wife of almost 40 years, have seperated....
Despite her unwavering support and loyalty, the tribulations and
stresses of the past few years have proven too much.
So too, OTHERS in his family, close members, who have watched him fight
his cause and lose, despite their efforts in warning him of the consequences; relationships strained, damaged perhaps irreparably.
Of course there are many who will say Bennett is deserving of such
consequences, that he is merely reaping what he has sown.
It is also true, to a degree, that he is the architect of his own
misfortune.
We are all free to make our own choices and to formulate our beliefs.
Tony Bennett's ardent belief is that Madeleine McCann was NOT abducted and
that the continued insistence by the McCanns, their Press and their network of supporters
that she WAS, amounts to a cover-up.
And whether you choose to loathe, love or pity him, he has, in his own words, put his "head above the
parapet".
He has assiduously and steadfastly fought for his choice, his beliefs and
his freedom of speech and, in doing so, has made a stand for the freedom of speech of others.
And that is something immeasurably
more than most of us have ever done.
Not least the multitude of faceless, nameless cowards, sycophants and
trolls who hide and haunt the gutters of forums and social network sites,
spewing their scripted and orchestrated hatred and venom, gleefully
celebrating and applauding his downfall.
But this is NOT a blog to appeal for help for Bennett, financially or otherwise.
Nor is this a rallying cry to lambast the McCanns or those who support and empathise with them.
This is a simple appeal; a request; to all and anyone who ever expressed
an interest in what is amongst the most perplexing and baffling missing person cases
of all time.
An appeal to look BEYOND the innumerable, dubious reported ‘sightings’, the
ludicrous potential suspect line- ups of dead or dying sex offenders, “swarthy
foreigners”, Middle-Eastern paedophile rings, Moroccan gangsters and clearly
contrived ex-pats and British tourists who seemingly remembered, years after the event,
seeing Madeleine in a potentially precarious situation with strangers.
This and hundreds of other examples of fabricated garbage that fills
the Newspapers, and has done so with alarming regularity ever since the McCanns
managed to accrue huge sums of money from Express newspapers for printing
nothing more than what every other journal on the planet had printed.
This is an appeal to look BEYOND all that. Beyond the writings of opinion
columnists, Z-list celebrities and day-time TV presenters.
Beyond the writings, blogs and twitterings of all others, INCLUDING my
own!
It is an appeal, a PLEA; to read and research the official Portuguese police files, the Rogatory
files and interviews conducted by British police forces and a host of other
official documentation, dossiers and transcripts that are freely and readily available on the Internet.
An appeal, above all else, for people to make up their OWN minds.
Not to have them made up for them by my words or those of anyone else.
Certainly not by those who would abuse, bully, vilify, threaten and berate anyone
whose opinion dared to contradict theirs.
Bennett isn't sick, twisted, evil, deranged, perverted or deluded. Or any of the hundreds of other things he is labelled.
He merely believes, as I do, and as I have opined previously, that the Madeleine McCann case is so much more than a case of a missing child.
Tony Bennett placed every single thing he ever owned and ever cared about, on the cause he
resolutely believes in.
And lost.......
Perhaps
Kate will remember him in her prayers.......
Godbless, Madeleine, wherever you may be.
