Maddie McCann

[Bogball XV]

I think it would be a disgrace if they use the Find Madeline Fund to pay their defence lawyers.

And if they found her body tomorrow what would you like them to do witht he money? People donated that was there perogative i couldnt give a f**k what they do with the cash. I think sometimes people give money to make themselves feel goos rather than for the actual cause itself

There are trustees of the fund who have to authorise all expenditure, once the donation was made, donees should have been aware that expenditure was at the discretion of the trustee.  I agree with you ludermor as to why many people probably donated, in thinking about it, I wonder how much the various media organisations have given, God knows they've certainly profited from the whole thing.

[Bogball XV]

Just out of curiosity, have any members of the GAA Board donated to the fund?

Never knew there was one, and don't know why it would/should have been needed in any event.

[Bogball XV]

Just out of curiosity, have any members of the GAA Board donated to the fund?

Never knew there was one, and don't know why it would/should have been needed in any event.

You couldnt really have missed the fact that there was a fund. It was all part of the "campaign". It always seemed to me that they were in it for themselves and the missing child seemed to be a secondary issue.

TBH I paid very little attention to the whole thing until the past few days, I knew the kid was missing, thought it was terrible, but also thought the whole media frenzy and worldwide publicity thing was ott, as such I ignored almost everything about it.  I think the Irish Times had a piece on missing kids the week or two after maddy disappeared, it was quoting some mad figures of the amount of kids who had gone missing across europe in the time since Maddy had disappeared, it was somewhere around 250 I think.

[spiritof91and94]

Dingo Baby Case Woman Backs McCanns
Updated: 11:45, Wednesday September 12, 2007

A woman who was wrongly convicted of murderering her daughter has warned against judging the parents of Madeleine McCann before the full facts of her disappearance are known.

Lindy ChamberlainAustralian Lindy Chamberlain's daughter Azaria was snatched by a dingo, but she was convicted of the child's murder in 1982 before being exonerated six years later.

She told Australia's Channel Nine Television that police were under tremendous pressure from the public to bring Madeleine's case to a conclusion.

Kate and Gerry McCann have been officially named as suspects by detectives probing the disappearance of their daughter, who was three at the time, from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.

They have strenuously denied any involvement.

Ms Chamberlain told the channel the McCanns' situation had echoes of the way she was treated.

"The public want answers, and if they haven't got them they are going to invent them," she said.

"And the police are under pressure and have been trained to find answers.

"I certainly wouldn't want to go through it again and be in their shoes."

She added: "There's nothing you can do, but I think as the public, we want to be careful not to run ahead.

"Answers are going to come from somewhere or another - whether it is the right answer is a very worrying problem

[A Quinn Martin Production]

Intereesting piece from Dominic Lawson in the "London" Independent:

Dominic Lawson:  Published: 11 September 2007

Everyone has a view on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann – but only the media have the power to inflict on us a tsunami of prejudice masquerading as detection. Thus it was that listeners to the hitherto dependable BBC programme Broadcasting House were involuntarily made aware that the one-time TV darts commentator Mr Sid Waddell thinks there's something really rather fishy about Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.

I don't know why a man whose only previous claim to public attention was his ability to scream "One hundred and eighty!" for the benefit of blind darts fans should have been thought a suitable newspaper reviewer for Radio 4's main Sunday morning news programme. Nevertheless, he was; and it was in this role that Waddell announced that he believed "there is something odd about the energy of the McCanns. I would be confounded with grief."

In his own clumsy way, Mr Waddell had encapsulated just what it is that so many people in this country seem to hold against the McCanns – and especially Mrs McCann. Ever since her daughter's disappearance, Kate McCann has resolutely refused to break down in public, maintaining her steely composure under circumstances which would reduce most mothers to wailing incoherence. Now that she has been questioned under caution by the investigators of the Portuguese police, what once seemed extraordinary self-control is now deemed to be incriminating.

Kate McCann, in fact, has become a victim twice over – first, as the mother of a snatched and possibly murdered child, and now as a target for a peculiar form of emotional tyranny which demands that the sufferer must share her terrible grief with us in the most intimate manner. Her fellow Liverpudlian, the mother of the murdered 11- year-old, Rhys Jones, fed this media-led monster with the requisite heart-rending sobs at a series of press-conferences. Yet Mrs McCann, through a mixture of natural dignity and a self-preserving detachment which she might also have learned as a GP, has denied the mob its vicarious pleasure.

Even the Help Find Madeleine McCann website is now full of disgusting insinuations: "I never believed in your pain", "You have shown nothing but cold emotion ever since 3rd May" , " Kate McCann is either a cold, emotionless woman or there is more going on than meets the eye" and so, appallingly, on. A similar website organised by the McCanns' local newspaper has had to be shut down, after the editors found themselves unable to stem the tide of vicious comments in what was designed to be a sea of comfort.

This was entirely predictable, even before the Portuguese police leaked the fact that it was in possession of some degraded DNA from Madeleine in the family's hire car which allegedly linked the assault on her to the parents. Kate McCann is following the via dolorosa previously trod by Joanne Lees and Lindy Chamberlain. Both these women refused to give the public and the press the tears that were demanded of them – Ms Lees after her boyfriend was murdered in the Australian outback and Ms Chamberlain after her baby daughter was snatched in the same bleak part of the world.

Joanne Lees's coldness to the press and her refusal to play the role of defenceless victim led to the most vile accusations that she was responsible for the murder of her boyfriend, Peter Falconio. Even the conviction of a drug-crazed gun-mad drifter, Bradley Murdoch – based on genuinely compelling DNA evidence as well as Ms Lees' s own identification – has not stopped the publication of entire books which continue to blacken her name.

The Lindy Chamberlain case is especially relevant to Kate McCann's predicament. In 1980 Lindy and Michael Chamberlain reported that their nine-week old baby, Azaria, had disappeared from their camp on a sight-seeing trip in the Northern Territory, near Ayers Rock. Ms Chamberlain told police that a dingo had just beforehand been seen leaving the family's tent. The police found her calmness – which never wavered – most suspicious. They brought a prosecution for murder, backed up by a forensic report claiming to have found elements of the baby's haemoglobin in stains discovered on a seat in the family's hatchback. On this basis, Lindy Chamberlain was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour.

There the case rested until a few years later, when police were searching for the body of a missing British tourist, David Brett, in exactly the same area, covered with dingo lairs, where Azaria Chamberlain disappeared. They found the remains of Mr Brett; they also found something else in one of the lairs – Azaria Chamberlain's matinee jacket. This crucial piece of evidence, together with fresh doubts about the reliability of the forensics on the Chamberlains' car, led to a unanimous overturning of the original verdict – and very substantial damages being paid to the Chamberlains.

Naturally Lindy Chamberlain, like Joanne Lees, has still not been forgiven by elements in the press for her refusal to wail in public over her bereavement. For example, last October the Daily Mail's Amanda Platell wrote of Ms Lees: "I haven't seen such creepy control in a woman since Lindy Chamberlain cried 'My God, the dingo's got my baby'." Similar sneers are now being cast in the direction of Kate McCann for her cry on discovering that Madeleine was missing from her bedroom: "They've taken her!" This, apparently, is highly suspicious.

Those writers who want to persuade their most sceptical readers that Kate McCann is not the witch of their imaginations have made valiant attempts to make her cry in public – even by imagining it. Thus the Times' report of the McCanns' return to the UK described how "Mrs McCann was said by fellow passengers to have wept on the flight back." The Daily Mirror reported on its front page: "Yesterday Kate McCann sobbed as she sat alone in daughter Madeleine's pink-painted bedroom after returning to England." She obviously wasn't alone, as there seems to have been a Daily Mirror reporter in the room with her; or there wasn't, in which case the paper cannot know what Mrs McCann was doing in her daughter's "pink-painted bedroom".

As a matter of fact, I suspect the Mirror's guess was entirely accurate. How could Mrs McCann not have been convulsed with grief when she saw her daughter's bedroom again, with everything exactly the same – except for the whole point of it? Yet by trying to be sympathetic, to make Kate McCann into the woman it thinks its readers want her to be, the Daily Mirror stripped her of the very last vestige of her dignity – the right to grieve privately and in her own way. Even in this most intimate moment, the poor woman cannot escape the monstrous tyranny of synchronised sentimentality – show us yer care, Kate! – which once exalted her, and now condemns her.

[A Quinn Martin Production]

Another in more or less the same vein from Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2167113,00.html

[oneillcup2007]

I think we must believe in the good in humanity before we believe in the evilness of humanity.  We are all too cynical.   

[SouthArmaghBandit]

Some tips from the Help Find Madeleine wed site.

WEAR A WRISTBAND
Wearing an official wrsitband will remind you and people who see it to remain vigilant for Madeleine. You can buy the wristbands here http://findmadeleine.org.uk/.

GOT A WEBSITE, BLOG, MYSPACE PAGE, MESSAGEBOARD etc?
The internet is a vital tool in the search for Madeleine. If you have a site, no matter what kind of site it is, you can help find Madeline by linking to this or other 'find Maddie' websites. You can post topics on messageboards, or make blog posts about Madeleine. There are lots of posters and photos on this site that you can use. Wherever possible, try to make use of the photo showing her distinctive right eye. You can even set up your own website dedicated to Madeleine and raise money.

TIE A YELLOW RIBBON
The yellow ribbon is known around the world as a symbol reminding people of those who are missing or away from home and in danger, such as soldiers in Iraq. Right now, the yellow ribbon is becoming synonymous with the search for Madeleine. Tie a yellow ribbon to your gate, or display one in your window. Maybe even wear a ribbon in your hair! Every time someone sees a yellow ribbon, they will be reminded of Madeleine.

[Square Ball]

So where are they going to get the money for their entourage? to pay for lawyers, spokespeople, PR experts and all? middle England and beyond? Has this become a clash of classes? so many questions so little answers , well at the moment!!

[Rufus T Firefly]

I see someone has beaten me to the piece that Jonathan Freedland had in today's Guardian. He wrote,

How will this story end? That's what makes it so grimly compelling: none of us knows. Until we do, basic justice demands that we presume the McCanns are wholly innocent. Common decency demands the same. For if they are eventually found guilty, there will be plenty of time for condemnation. But if they are innocent, to presume otherwise is to commit a second crime against people who have already suffered enough.

Couldn't have put it better myself!

[ziggysego]

Affleck may delay movie over Madeleine

Ben Affleck has revealed that he is considering halting the release of his directorial debut because it bares too much resemblance to the case of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann.

'Gone Baby Gone' tells the story of a four-year-old girl, also called Madeleine, who is kidnapped from her bed while her mother leaves her alone in the house.

Affleck was due to debut the movie at the Deauville Film Festival in France in November, but on learning of the case of Madeleine, who went missing from Portugal in May, he has decided to review whether to still release the picture in Britain.


Ben Affleck has revealed that he is considering halting the release of his directorial debut because it bares too much resemblance to the case of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann.

'Gone Baby Gone' tells the story of a four-year-old girl, also called Madeleine, who is kidnapped from her bed while her mother leaves her alone in the house.

Affleck was due to debut the movie at the Deauville Film Festival in France in November, but on learning of the case of Madeleine, who went missing from Portugal in May, he has decided to review whether to still release the picture in Britain.


He said: "We are acutely aware of the situation. We have a greater concern for that than the release of our film, which is just a commercial matter, whereas this is a matter of life and death.


"I'm not up to date on the details and it is not something that has taken off in the US in the way it has in the UK. It is only when someone said there was this case that was very similar to my film that we looked it up.


"We don't want to release the movie if it is going to touch a nerve or inflame anybody's sensitivities."

He said: "We are acutely aware of the situation. We have a greater concern for that than the release of our film, which is just a commercial matter, whereas this is a matter of life and death.


"I'm not up to date on the details and it is not something that has taken off in the US in the way it has in the UK. It is only when someone said there was this case that was very similar to my film that we looked it up.


"We don't want to release the movie if it is going to touch a nerve or inflame anybody's sensitivities."

[paddypastit]

Don't know what the source of the story was / is Ziggy but the child in Affleck's movie is not called Madeline.  She's called Amanda but she's played by a child (obviously!) actress called Madeline

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452623/

http://gonebabygone-themovie.com/

[spiritof91and94]

The prosecutor has made a number of requests of the judge, among them that he approve the seizure of Mrs McCann's personal diary, the sources told Portuguese journalists.

One Portuguese newspaper reported that the authorities took the diary last week, along with correspondence belonging to the McCanns.

The judge is being asked to approve the seizure of the couple's documents retrospectively to comply with laws prohibiting "abusive interference in their private lives", the Jornal de Noticias said.

The diary will help police "understand the couple's habits" and supply clues to the investigation, the paper reported.

Who many people take a diary on holiday?

[ziggysego]

Don't know what the source of the story was / is Ziggy but the child in Affleck's movie is not called Madeline.  She's called Amanda but she's played by a child (obviously!) actress called Madeline

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452623/

http://gonebabygone-themovie.com/

RTÉ

[Star Spangler]

A summary of what the English papers are saying today.

DAILY EXPRESS
front page: "MADELEINE. DOES MUM'S DIARY HOLD VITAL CLUE?"

Portuguese police want Kate McCann's diary. And "detectives believe her desperate entries...will help unlock the secret".

Pages 4: "Find the body and prove we killed her – The McCanns' challenge to police yesterday."

This is the "startling ultimatum". This is the McCanns being portrayed in villain mode, the desperados coolly confronting Poirot with the retort that his case is built on nothing but speculation.

"They could stand trial in Britain," says the Express.

Page 5: THE WORLD'S GREATEST NEWSPAPER sees the McCanns "Facing up to the world". The paper watches the family seize "60 precious minutes of normality" as they head to a playground. Kate McCann sits between her twins in the backseat of the family car [a VW], "her arms protectively around their child seats". The Express notes that the couple go out around 10pm, retuning at about 15 minutes to midnight. What can it mean?

Page 6 and 7: Portuguese Daily 24 Hours says investigators are "probing the connection" between Robert Murat, suspect No. 1, and Gerry McCann, suspect No. 3. A police sources says "Gerry [first name] met Murat [surname]" when "Gerry was campaigning for the Labour Party."

Says Murat: "I've never met the man before and the idea that I'd met him when he was campaigning for the Labour Party is laughable. I've been a Conservative all my life."

And so the mystery divides along party lines. Will the right-wing Express now stick up for Murat and the left-wing Mirror puts the boot in and champions Gerry?

DAILY MIRROR
front page: "EXCLUSIVE OURAGE OF KATE – A glimpse inside her world of pain."

Kate McCann is on her way to the playground.

Page 4: "Each morning they wake and think 'this could be the day we find her'..it's the hope that drives them on." So says a "friend of the McCanns".

The Mirror sees all. It sees Kate and Gerry wake up- and "momentarily struggle to focus". Then: "a second passes as they lie side by side." Then the "crushing familiarity, the horror of their living nightmare comes flooding back".

Kate McCann prays each morning.

They are under "inhuman strain". They don't take sleeping tablets.

The live in a "quiet cul-de-sac", the peace interrupted only by the sound of a hundred snappers screaming "This way Kate!" and hacks shouting "Did you do it?".

They drive a people carrier, a VW, as the Express has reported. They are at the playground. They push the children on swings "and laughed as they played on the children's slide".

Page 5: Party politics is back as Mirror readers learn that John 'Vulcan' Redwood has removed his comment on the case (see here).

Pages 6 and 7: "If they are innocent and think that their daughter is still alive then they should be in Portugal trying to look for her." The Mirror publishes some choice comments from its readers.

DAILY MAIL
front page: "MADELEINE – McCanns tells police: Produce the body."

Page 10 and 11: "Show us your diaries" – Portuguese police want to seize Kate's diary and Gerry's laptop.

Police might also confiscate Madeleine's toys, including the Cuddle Cat (aka the 'Maddy Catty'). Philomena McCann, Gerry's sister, says this would be a "disgrace".

Says Philomena: "That wee girl will be thinking 'they're not looking for me. My mummy and daddy and my aunties – they don't love me because they can't find me."

THE SUN
front page: "COPS WANT CUDDLE CAT."

Detectives are "plotting" to take hold of the toy. This is "MADDIE: PARENTS' NEW ORDEAL".

Pages 6 and 7: Readers lean of "TWO THEORIES". They are: "GUILITY OR INNOCENT?"

The Sun sums up the justice system neatly. It has got to the bones of the thing. At last the case is getting somewhere.

DAILY STAR
front page: "MADDIE'S TOY WILL NAIL KILLERS – Cops say Cuddle Cat holds vital clues."

In an "EXCLUSIVE" (see Sun), the Star says police have launched an "international operation to seize Madeline's McCann's favourite soft toy, Cuddle Cat."

Cuddle Cat is not a suspect. Yet.

Page 6: "Maddie's hair tufts hold key to killing" – forensics can tell if the hairs reportedly found in the McCanns' car boot are from a live or dead Madeleine.

Page 7: "PALS 'COVER-UP' PROBED BY POLICE"- Detectives want to re-interview the McCanns' dinner companions.

THE TIMES
front page: "McCanns diaries and laptop to be seized by Portuguese police."

Pages 6 and 7: "Parent will have to pay defence cost without Madeleine Fund."

The six directors of Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd, say: "The fund directors realise that there is not only a legal answer and recognise the spirit which underlies the generous donations to Madeleine's Fund...any search fund to pay legal defence costs would have to be separately set up and administered."

They fail to add that this is what Princess Diana would have wanted.

A family source tells the paper: "PR and law firm are not cheap." Nor private detectives, say others.

THE GUARDIAN
page 7: "McCanns may order own DNA tests on car."

DAILY TELEGRAPH
page 11: "DNA expert urges caution over forensic evidence." Sir Alec Jeffries is billed as "the world's leading expert on DNA". He tells BBC's Newsnight show: "DNA does not have the words innocence or guilty on it – that is a legal concept. What it seeks to establish is connections and identifications."

THE INDEPENDENT
page 9: "Questions at the heart of perplexing investigation."

The paper wonders what we know about forensic evidence reportedly found in the McCanns' car. It answers: "The picture remains far from clear."

Is there a 99 per cent match or an 80 per cent match? What about a 62.2 recurring match. Higher or lower?

We could go on...