Madeleine's abduction was manna from heaven for those who would have us believe child predators lurk on every corner and that there is an all pervading evil at the heart of the internet. Freedom of information is bad for us, but no-one's going to buy that, so they tell us our children are in danger and we all take up arms and hand over our DNA. Therein lies the conspiracy.
The abduction 'Lie' worked as well for the authorities as it did for the parents. Here was tangible proof that our youngest and most vulnerable are at constant risk from strangers. The government were shamelessly preying on our primal instincts to protect our young over ourselves (take note K&G). Kate and Gerry's flying the flag for Amber Alert (and eventual microchipping) went hand in hand with their 'search' for Madeleine. So too the McCanns' enthusiasm for restrictions on our 'free' press. They volunteered for the Leveson Enquiry, wrote the scripts for Hacked Off and put on their best hang dog expressions as 'victims' of what freedom of speech can do when you let it run wild.
But lets start at the beginning. The
The McCanns left 3 children under the age of 4 alone in their holiday apartment every night. The Tapas bar, was nothing like 'eating in your back garden', it was out of sight and sound and the danger to the children was further increased by the patio doors being left open. Their claim that they checked on their children every half hour is questionable, one witness claimed that one night she heard a child crying for over an hour.
Normal parents don't do that, and it shames those who claimed they did. It is child endangerment and it is cruel by any nationality's standards, including those of the British. The biggest danger to toddlers left on their own in an unfamiliar apartment is an accidental fall - it is a zillion times more likely than a random paedophile stumbling across an unlocked door.
Why did so many journalists dismiss the 'neglect' angle as an 'easy mistake' and 'something we all do'? In their efforts to spare the parents' feelings, the neglect element of this case was completely whitewashed and with it the opportunity to point out the dangers in leaving babies unattended. They opted to promote an irrational fear of child predators so that young families could never enjoy a relaxing holiday again.
During the course of the original PJ investigation, and at the suggestion of the British police, Scotland Yard's top blood and cadaver dogs were brought in. They alerted behind the sofa in the front room, in the wardrobe of the parents' bedroom, to items belonging to Kate, including 'Cuddlecat' and to the hire car. They only alerted to McCann related items - nowhere else. As they did not find a body, this is only deemed 'intelligence', but it takes a huge stretch of the imagination to accept Gerry's mantra of 'no evidence Madeleine has come any harm'.
Despite the evidence of the expert dogs, everything pointing towards a fake abduction and the Portuguese police naming Kate and Gerry as Arguidoes (suspects) in the disappearance of their daughter, the McCanns were feted in the UK as the conquering heroes of third world injustice. The word of the two arguidoes was believed over that of the Portuguese investigating police officers the Portuguese judiciary and the barks of the dogs. The McCanns were officially innocent in the eyes of the British establishment and the negative publicity towards the Portuguese police began in earnest.
But did the Portuguese police bungle the first investigation? Lets look at the facts. The first two policemen who arrived on the scene in PDL that night (charmingly re-named Tweedledum and Tweedledee by Kate in her book) described the parents strange behaviour in their statements, and it was later reported that they suspected a staged abduction.
The PJ conducted the biggest search in Portugal's history for a lost child, and they conducted a thorough investigation (confirmed by the release of the files) - no evidence has ever been found of an abduction. The only suspects at the end of the original investigation were Robert Murat and Kate and Gerry McCann.
Contrary to the Team McCann press releases, Kate and Gerry were never cleared, in fact the final report from the Portuguese Attorney General states 'they [the McCanns] lost the opportunity to prove their innocence'
The British press have portrayed the McCanns as the grief stricken parents of a missing child who have done everything in their power to find their daughter, whilst anyone who passes even a cursory glance over the facts of the case will see that Kate McCann stopped answering police questions on 7th September 2007. They will also see that the McCanns and and their holiday friends refused to return for a reconstruction. In this country such behaviour from a suspect would be described as not co-operating with the police, but in the topsy turvey world of McCann, the fault is seen with the Portuguese investigation rather than the suspects.
Seven years on and no police force has been able to come up with an abductor, and if those two police forces continue to ignore that which is directly in front of them, then it will continue for another seven years. Scotland Yard's search for an abductor has been and continues to be as fruitless as the searches by the fraudulent detectives hired by Mr and Mrs McCann. You cannot find someone who doesn't exist, how many times over do the police have to prove that to themselves, before they accept they are looking for the invisible man - a 'Bogey Man' made up by the McCanns to explain their daughter's disappearance.
They won't find him, because he doesn't exist. He is as fake as the bogey man parents used in the past to scare kids into staying in their rooms and going to sleep. Now, one of the world's proudest police forces are actively looking for him and the world looks on in wonder. Perhaps they will also find Peter Pan and the witch who stole Hansel and Gretal.
This case did not need millions of pounds invested in it, and it didn't need a 37 strong Scotland Yard task force to rubber stamp the Portuguese investigation, or whatever it is they are doing. In what universe are suspects allowed the option of a second opinion before co-operating with a police investigation?
The case was solved 7 years ago, indeed some might say, the case was solved that very first night. Perhaps they should have saved a few million quid and had a quick word with Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
No disrespect to the GNR officers intended. http://www.mccannfiles.com/id258.html
