MADELEINE - THOSE 'P' ALLEGATIONS

The scenario of Madeleine's plight, painted by ex RUC Detective Dave Edgar, should send shivers down us all.  If there were any suggestion at all that Madeleine is being held as a sex slave in a hellish lair, and has been since the age of 4, then every detective who has ever been involved in this case should hang their heads in shame.

The uncomfortable subject of paedophilia has never been far from the forefront.  For those new to this case, and those who are totally confused, there are several factions attached to this case, who are trying (desperately in some cases) to attach child sexual abuse to Madeleine's disappearance. And each faction has a different motive and a different set of beliefs.

The Parents

On the night Madeleine disappeared, Gerry was overheard speaking on the phone and referring to paedophile gangs in the area.  Possibly, the only likely reason he could think of for his daughter being abducted.  It could be said that Team McCann were not thinking long term at the time, the 'P' word mean death for a 4 year old and no necessity for a Search and a Fund.  However, the 'P' word is emotive, when it is introduced any sense of reason or logic flies out the window. While Gerry and Kate acknowledge paedophiles may be to blame, they still stress there is no reason to think she has come to any harm.   

The Establishment

Paedophiles are this century's witches, and right up there with terrorists as public enemy number 1.  Governments are able to introduce new Terrorism Laws for our own good if they can convince us the threat is great enough.  Ditto paedophiles.  If they are able to convince us that our children are in danger, they can legally monitor our internet activity.  Anyone who objects is a defender of the heinous and must have something to hide. 

For government agencies and national charities competing for funds and donations, Madeleine was the ideal poster child.  Unique in a world of unattractive spotty teens who have run away and children involved in custody battles, the sweet, innocent face of Madeleine attracted sympathy and attention worldwide. It said 'here is the tragic result of ignoring predators online', the message was, ALL our children are vulnerable, even the cute little ones.  All our worst nightmares are real. 

The Anti's 

Many of the anti's believe Madeleine died (on the night or before) and that she died from sexual assault by one or more adults.  I know, yuck, and I hate myself for typing that, but that, in a nutshell, is what they are saying.  They have reached this conclusion because they believe the parents had to hide the body. 

Their tasteless accusations are based on the flimsiest of 'evidence' and in 10 years nothing has been proved.  I mention them here, because those new to this case could be misled.  To get an idea of their mindset, these 'researchers'  have spent years looking at the McCanns family photographs with a microscope. They have also pried into the private lives of those witnesses named in the police reports, stalking them and publishing their ill thought out opinions online.  For two years Bennett was terrorising the wrong Smith family!

For the sake of clarity, mention them I must.  They believe that the McCanns and their friends were involved in some sort of paedophile ring, passing their small daughter around to friends and VIPs.  Here Hall and Bennett match up with CEOP and the like, because they too, believe there is a network of paedophiles online, but theirs' goes right to the heart of the Establishment, both in Portugal and the UK.  For many of them, their bible tells them they are living in Sodom and Gomorrah and they are surrounded by deviants. They see it here, they see it there, they see it everywhere.   

I don't know what kind of holidays they go on, but I personally have never heard of family holiday resorts holding annual events for sexually deviant child molesters.  Same goes for the 'swinger' lunacy of Textusa - err, does she not know that 'swinging' resorts do exist, and, they are adult only.  And I'm guessing, no-one takes the kids and mother-in-law. 

Like much in this case, the latest opinions of Dave Edgar are bizarre, and realistically, a terrible thing to say to grieving parents.  Is that really the image you want in the parents' heads as the 10th anniversary approaches Dave?  Presumably the parents gave the go ahead for his comments, he is, or was employed by them. But, in any event, if the prisoner scenario is what he truly believes, then where is the urgency? where is the passion?  His lacklustre suggestion of a new campaign sounds hideous when there is a child so desperately in need of rescuing.   

Hang on Maddie, we'll start a new campaign.

MCCANNS LATEST NEWS UPDATE 27/3/17

LATEST NEWS UPDATE MONDAY 27.03.17

Today's 'The McCanns are Innocent' story, comes via The Mirror (Paul Byrne and Martin Fricker) - as the former RUC Detective and employee of Gerry and Kate gives his first (weirdest) statement on the fate of Madeleine McCann.

I'm not sure it's his first statement, he has in the past said she was being held captive within 10 miles of PDL and introduced a Victoria Beckham lookalike, prompting him to say Jane Tanner's 'abductor' may have been a woman. 

He now believes Madeleine was stolen to order by a child sex gang, but there is hope she is still alive.  As a detective, I'd be amazed if Dave Edgar could find the way to the end of his road. The idea that the most famous missing child in the world has been a sex slave for the past 10 years is astonishing. Does he honestly believe a little girl, not quite 4, could have survived assaults of that nature?  Does he believe she is surviving them still?

Naturally, he confirms Gerry and Kate played no part in Madeleine's disappearance as he rehashes the 'someone is protecting the abductor' old chestnut.  What this case needs he tells us, is a new police backed European appeal, tv, posters, letters, texts, use of new technology etc, perhaps in time for the 10th anniversary eh? 

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Young Madeleine who was not quite 4, when she was 'taken'






LATEST NEWS UPDATE SUNDAY 26.03.17

I wasn't going to comment on the 'women support other women unless they're rich and pretty' article by Kerry Parnell, because, well frankly, it is too stupid and banal for words.  But what the hell, it's a slow news week. 

'Mum judging should be a crime, it remains one of the worst characteristics of women'.  That offends me on every level, not least that she is another woman, but that she is even part of the same species.  You are projecting Kerry, tut, tut, back to journalism school.  You don't happen to be successful, rich and pretty do you? Because you're not really defending Kate McCann, so much as saying why don't other women like ME. 

But let's take a look at your 1950's subjugated woman stance.  All women have brains that work just efficiently as mens. You are not special.  Women do not dislike Kate McCann because they are jealous of the dress she is wearing, or her blonde hair, some of us have evolved a little bit beyond that.  They dislike her because she put her babies at risk and even now will not accept that she did anything wrong. They dislike that she and her husband have profited from their daughter's tragedy, and have persecuted the former detective who searched for their daughter ever since.  And just to catch you up on that one Kerry.  Gerry and Kate demanded Goncalo Amaral give them all his money and family home, and he said no. 

Kerry is a lazy journalist, a headline skimmer.  She bought (hook, line and sinker) the victim status of the fragrant Kate (a woman just like her) and she is outraged.  Women, especially, old, fat, ugly, poor, ones, hate Kate because what she took from the Madeleine story, was the persecuted middle classes and there it stopped.  Had she thought about the content before writing the end, she might have considered how much 'hate mail' Karen Matthews would be receiving daily, if her abduction debacle had continued for 10 years? 

Trying to make the dislike of Kate McCann a feminist issue is a new low, but the views expressed in that article, are pretty much the same views put forward by Kate's mother 9 years ago. Ie. Women don't like Kate because she is slim, pretty, etc.  That is, the sort of thing Mums always say to weeping daughters. 

But to be fair, and you brought it up.  As an old 'feminist', I'm not a big fan of women who can't operate without a man holding their hand.  It irks me.  I admire the kind of 'gals' that walk tall and straight and look the world right in the eye, as equals on every level.  I have little patience these days for women who open with 'my husband and I'.  

But, the sun is shining and I have much to do.  Meanwhile I suggest Kerry Parnell does a little research before writing her better informed sisters off as bitches.


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Some may have noticed, I am struggling to keep up with volume of comments that I am receiving. And sadly, some are slipping through and taking on lives of their own before I get around to responding or squishing them, lol.  Those without a SOH, please leave now.

Tis my own fault I have to confess.  I have a new obsession, the strange orange one in the Whitehouse.  I am constantly having to pinch myself (figuratively speaking of course, I am a wuss) for reassurance that I am not in a particularly frightening, comedic/apocalyptic episode of Black Mirror.  I imagine explaining the new leader of the free world to my patriotic and US loving old Dad, 'yeh dad, you would not believe it - almost exactly like Hitler, but even madder and more weird looking.  And there's a whole family of them and they dress like the cast of Dallas, the US has become part of Trump/Putin Inc'.  And more, 'plans for internment camps are underway, though happily for the dissidents, they are all 5* hotels built in areas unpopular with Russian Oligarchs'.  I can, even in my head, hear my dad's reply in his thick Dundonian accent, 'awww jeeez, awww jeez'. 

He was 10 when WWII broke out, and his dad was the only one of six, who returned from WWI.  'This must never happen again' was his mantra, especially when having a wee dram.  I think he would actually weep at the picture of Theresa May and Donald Trump. Neville Chamberlain may have appeased Hitler when he waved 'Peace in our time', but at least he wasn't led by the hand, and I doubt there was any playful flirting.  My dad, heck, even I, have to wonder how Churchill would have dealt with Trump.  I'm not even a conservative but I am guessing he would have put his country above personal business deals. 

To top it off, I could at least reassure my old dad, though he might be surprised, that the REAL leader of the free world now is the German Chancellor.  She even knocked Jennifer Lawrence off the top of list of Formidable Women (my highest compliment). And for those female Labour MPs hiding in panic rooms and crying over offensive words on the internet, Angela Merkel has given them an example of how a strong, determined, woman behaves.  Her fabulous facial expressions were those of a nana bemused by what toddlers are allowed to get away with these days.  

But I am being disingenuous to those who have come here for the McCann news.  Most of the tabloids this week went with Gerry and Kate's third time loss in the Lisbon Courts. Ouch, rub it in why don't you!  Their complaint against the Supreme Court ruling was thrown out.  Their only recourse now is the European Court of Human Rights - in depth discussion on previous blog. 

There was a blip in the Official Find Madeleine Facebook page.  The webmaster, still anonymous, shut it down for her own mental health.  The glut of tabloid stories, especially from experts claiming Madeleine is dead has sent troll activity into overdrive.  Once again they, including the unknown hostess, are victims of an unfair press and the blame will probably lie with Goncalo Amaral.  Should they be cleared on September 1st, they will have a lot of suing to do. 

To finish I want to make it clear,  I honestly don't have the time or patience anymore for the ridiculous theories of CMoMM and Richard Hall.  Everything they do, and everything they have done is with malicious intent. They are vigilantes, a more accurate description than hater I think.  But worse than that.  They are stealers of time.  Something for which I have zero tolerance.  I went right off Mark Wahlberg* for The Happening, in which nothing happened and 2 hours I will never get back.  For me forums such as CMoMM are trapped in a cycle of regurgitated nonsense, they haven't had a new idea or a new thought in 7 years!.

And seriously Bennett, my blog may be exceptionally busy, but I am not letting posts from yourself or links to your vile cesspit slip through. You are a preacher of hate.  You prey on people's misery and if there isn't enough there, you create it. This is the last bit of oxygen you will get from me.  







*Mark Wahlberg has since been forgiven with Ted. 

MCCANNS LATEST NEWS - SUNDAY 19.03.17

Retired police detective Sue Hill
The voice of sanity and reason

Ignoramus impressed by WHOPPING LIARS

Whilst the term 'hate site' has again reared it's ugly head, I should perhaps make clear, the purpose of my blog.  I believe beyond reasonable doubt that the McCanns are involved in their daughter's disappearance.  However, I did not start commenting on the parents and the case in general out of spite, but out of a strong sense of injustice.  Having studied this case in depth for many years, the only power I have to challenge this injustice, is by pointing out the fake news and the lies fed to the MSM by a very accomplished propaganda machine. Lies that can easily slip past the casual observers of this case.  

This week's news:

SUNDAY

EXPRESS  This week other McCann poodle James Murray is pestering the locals in the Algarve trying desperately to make something out of absolutely nothing.  We often forget the other victims of this sinister saga - the innocent men who's lives have been wrecked the heinous accusations of the world's most taboo crime.  Has James Murray gone soft (on the real victims), is he enjoying the sunshine or will Martin, Tracey et al shortly be joining him? 

SATURDAY

Tracey's spouting* off again on behalf of Kate, who spoke to her through an unnamed mum who runs the Facebook page as Webmaster.  Kate's furious apparently at people who are STEALING her book online - not on her own behalf of course, but on behalf of the publishers.  Touching as it is that she is concerned for her publishers, shouldn't her fury be directed at those who are shutting Operation Grange down?  Possibly her last hope of every finding her daughter?  The fact that your daughter is not your first and only priority arouses suspicion Kate.

Talking of ugly heads rearing, it appears Piers Morgan may be getting the 'exclusive 10 year interview'.  To be fair, I doubt there was much competition - fawning over the Mr and Mrs just before they are busted won't do anyone's career much good.  I'm so glad it's Piers.  Most of us know he is a colossal eejit, the 10 year interview will confirm it globally. 

The day before 16th March Tracey heaped more misery wrote an article on behalf of Kate and Gerry condemning the two crime experts who have come forward to state, in their opinion, Madeleine died in the apartment.  (Well done Pat, and nice pic!).  With friends like Tracey, I'm not sure the McCanns need enemies.  With this particular spinning roundabout, knives are being stuck in backs left right and centre.  It's difficult to keep track.  The easiest way, is to remember, money is the answer to every question. 

Yet again this week, the McCanns actions have raised suspicions about their involvement up several notches.  It is absurd that Kate is worried about people stealing her book - as the mother of a missing a child, 10 years on, she should be grateful anyone is reading it! 

Old hands who have followed this continuing saga, will recognise all the signs, a torrent of news stories usually means something is being hidden, or about to come to light.  In the old days it was sightings, these days, it's a shot in the dark that slipped through the net 10 years ago.  Nothing specific about it, no sources named, and absolutely no reason to fly out to PDL?  Or is something brewing?

*Now there's a word oft used on supporter sites such Stop the Myths and JATKY2.  It's the kind of word my mother would have described as having 'nae class'. 

I'M NOT PUBLISHING THAT!

Loathe as I am to censor 21:11, I'm not publishing that! As much as I am prepared to put my head on the chopping block, I'm not actually going to point out the jugular. 
 
I don't know enough about those allegations to publish them under my own moral guidelines of honesty and integrity.  I have looked into those allegations as much as I have found necessary, though obviously not half as much as some.  For them there is not nearly as much child abuse going on as they would like us to believe. Thankfully paedo gangs and predators are extremely rare, child abduction hardly ever happens and never in a small family friendly holiday resort like PDL.  The McCanns had every reason to feel safe, what were the chances of a child being abducted? and what were the chances of a child being abducted by a man who looked exactly like her father?  Those are spooky odds. Let's compare them to the chances of an unsupervised toddler wandering around a dark, unfamiliar apartment, hmmm. 

But I don't want to get into any point by point arguments (just now), I have not published that article 21:11 or the results of that research because 1) It's been 10 years ffs, let it go, and 2) the effect that kind of research can have on innocent people, and 3) I find people who study numbers, logistics and outlandish theories a tad creepy. 

I may not have the necessary psychology and criminology qualifications to pass any meaningful judgment, but I have a lifetime's experience of studying human behaviour.  As a bold and up for anything kind of gal, I can honestly say I have never encountered anything that disgusting, weird maybe, but disgusting, never.  I've only ever been to one orgy, and that was pretty much arranged by myself and best mate who's mum and day went away for the weekend and were daft enough to trust her.  Unfortunately, the neighbour walked in, the boys were sent away and we were sent to bed.  Sadly, our cunning plan did not take account of the fact that the neighbour had a key, doh!

But I jest, most people simply do not think or act that way and isn't it a bit odd, that those making such hideous (and freaky) accusations are led by fire and brimstone preachers?  People who have no actual experience of the real world and want to tell the rest of us what we should and shouldn't be doing.  Because as abstainers, they know better.  I laugh as I type. 

I know your post gave all sorts of links etc 21:11, but I am not going to add to the pain of the children involved by publishing such salacious nonsense.  Imo, the people named have played a part, but not in the way you think.  It's more complicated than that.  For my own safety, there is much I hold back. 

I don't claim to know what happened to Madeleine McCann, but I do know the Portuguese Police stopped looking for a live Madeleine in the late summer of 2007.  Anything beyond that time has been part of the circus. 

MCCANNS LATEST NEWS

UPDATE 13.03.17 -  PIERS MORGAN ON GMB

I see the odious Piers Morgan has leapt into the latest McCann fray, coming down firmly on the side of the parents and admonishing all those thousands of ordinary people out there who have the affront to question them.  He [Piers] interviewed Gerry and Kate and was completely suckered in.  If fingers start pointing in their direction, he will look even more of a buffoon than he did when he published those pictures of faked war crimes that led to the Mirror sacking him. 

With his multiple roles these days I wondered if he had been elevated to McCanns spokesman?  His guest Graham Hill, formerly of CEOP and associate of Jim Gamble, was naturally still flogging the 'botched investigation' and abduction line - let there be no doubt whatsoever, these two were telling us, the Portuguese were to blame.  

I actually find it hilarious that former Editor of the Mirror is quoting the nonsense of Tracey Kandhola word for word, 'one line of enquiry' etc, as if these headlines were coming straight from the horse's mouth.  If anyone should know about misleading headlines and misleading front pages, then Piers is your man!

He treats former Metropolitan Police officer Sue Hills, as if she were a hater of the McCanns and an abandoner of lost children.  Had he let her get a word in, he would have seen that she was trying to introduce some sanity by getting the case of Madeleine back into perspective.  Piers did his utmost to silence her as a voice for all the other missing children and all the other victims of crime, who have not received a fraction of the assistance given to the McCanns.  He really is the slimiest of creatures. 

However, on the plus side, as one of the most contemptible men in UK, Piers Morgan can only further damage the McCanns' credibility.   

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UPDATE  13.03.17

I've decided to add a new feature to my blog, pretty much continuing in the same vein as this one.  That is, I am going to challenge these fake news stories head on and name the purveyors of them. 

I seem to have missed the fake news story of Tracey Kandhola and Matthew Young in the Mirror yesterday.  These two have more detail than the rest, not least direct access into the minds of the officers working on Operation Grange. The police are convinced, Tracey and Matthew tell us, that a former worker at the Ocean Club 'knows a lot more than he told them'.  Wow, stop the press.  Had it been a Tapas group member knows a lot more etc, they would have had a story.

But I digress. Not only are Tracey and Matthew in the loop with Scotland Yard, but a Portuguese police source confirms the story.  Another source (don't know if it is British or Portuguese here) reportedly said 'there is just one person the detectives want to speak to'.  Really?  Just the ONE person?  This particular source sounds like a half wit. 

Did the British police source call Tracey up to let her in on Scotland Yard's thinking?  Did the Portuguese police source add, 'can you please try to make us look like a shower of corrupt imbeciles eager to get back to swigging wine and munching sardines. Thanks Trace, your a pal'.   

So far THREE anonymous sources for those trying to keep up.  'Senior Officers are said to have admitted 'this is the last throw of the dice'.  So senior officers too are confiding in Tracey and Matthew, despite the fact that only days earlier Scotland Yard stated they would not be releasing any details of the investigation.  The extra funding came after the new lead emerged T&M would have us believe.  So after 6 years and the full time engagement of 30+ homicide detectives, everything now rests on some fella who might be hiding a secret and hasn't had a mention in a decade.  Righto.  Perhaps Scotland Yard too, want Tracey to make them look like incompetent fools. 

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BBC - Madeleine McCann police funding extended for 6 months.

Detectives have been given another £85,000 to follow up just one more lead.


Sunday Express

Gives a bit more detail.  Apparently there is an international search underway to find one person.  Hmm.  In any event, Policing Minister Brandon Lewis is very keen to find out what happened to Madeleine McCann (as long as it is an abduction) and has happily signed off another £85,000 to the £11.1million already spent on Operation Grange, to give some kind of closure and justice to her family.   

Mirror - 11.03.17

Madeleine McCanns parents are ploughing £500k into investments (they won't name) in a desperate bid to keep the search for Madeleine going.  Reporter Patrick Hill helpfully tells us that the Madeleine Fund raised more than £3.7million, but most of it has gone on investigators and campaigns.  Ie. Not on people who criticise them.  He then tells us the Fund could be wiped out by a £400k legal bill or Goncalo Amaral might sue them. 

I don't know where he is getting his figures from, but the bill for their legal shenanigans in Portugal will come to a lot more than £400k!  The costs for the 9 month legal action of Katie Hopkins came to over £300k.  The McCanns have been fighting two sets of Defendants for almost 9 years - Patrick would have been more accurate if he added another couple of 00s onto that. 

Fair dues, the McCanns are doing a terrific job at pretending all is well, still aided and abetted it would seen by the Minister for Policing and the UK tabloids. A source for the McCanns said they have lodged papers with the appeal court so the prospect of paying anything out to Amaral is a long way off.  Ah, so they are not trying to hide their remaining money so the Portuguese Courts can't touch it then.  But they have confirmed they've pretty much got no intention of paying their debt to GA - ever. 

As for this one person?  My money is on Spider-Man or the Invisible Man, but in any event someone with the super powers to have gone undetected for 10 years, that is quite some feat.  Someone who can take the glare of Gerry and Kate during this difficult time. 

The REAL news is of course, Gerry and Kate have lost everything and no matter how sympathetically the tabloids paint them, the public will not be donating to their high price lawyers.  And there is no longer any pretence that the Fund is being used to search for Madeleine, in their recent threats to the non believers, they have made it quite clear that they will use the Fund to sue them.  In other news, their highly priced accountants Hays MacIntyre have resigned as auditors for the Madeleine Fund.  I guess if anyone would know how dire their situation is, it would be the accountants. 

So why another 6 months?  My 'assisting their overseas colleague' theory is right out of the window unless they are giving Gerry and Kate time in which to pay their debt to him, he has his victory, but not the cash.  I'm guessing however that the detectives of OG know G and K better than I, the money they owe to Goncalo will never be paid, willingly.  He would be wise to take out a legal Charge or he could end up at the bottom of any list of debtors.   

So what can £85,000 and a further 6 months achieve that £11.1million and 30 homicide detectives couldn't?  Methinks they are simply buying more time, but for what?

ROBERT MURAT, THE FIRST ARGUIDO

Much has been made of the libelling of former Arguidoes 2 and 3 in this case, but little of the heinous accusations that were aimed at helpful bystander Robert Murat.  Probably because he received a big libel payout (quite rightly, and I hope some of it came from Lori Campbell personally), and partly because he has had the good sense to get on with his life. 

Robert Murat was named as the first Arguido on 14th May 2007.  I have no doubt this was because of the enormous pressure being placed on the Portuguese to 'find the abductor'.  In those early days, Gerry and Kate were practically Saints, and the world was waiting with baited breath.  The 'evidence' against him was pathetic and appears to have been based on a criminal profile drawn up by fans of the US TV drama.  Single man, local, lives with his mum, likes a bit of online porn, pin on map closest to Apartment 5A. Guilty, obviously.  The rest of the 'evidence' came from an anonymous call to the Portuguese Police alleging RM was a freaky kid who had a thing for animals. The icing on the cake came from prissy tabloid journalist Lori Campbell, who claimed he had a dodgy eye and made her feel uncomfortable, and it was on this basis that she was quite happy to throw the poor man to the hounds. 

Does, the recent ruling by the Supreme Court that makes public the fact that the McCanns were never cleared even mention the final status of Robert Murat? I confess I have only read the highlights, but it would certainly make Gerry and Kate feel better if he wasn't cleared either.  I'm guessing the silence on this matter is because RM was (un)officially relieved of arguido status long ago.  Was he even asked to return for the proposed reconstruction? 

Sadly, despite the fact that Robert Murat hasn't been arrested (for anything) in 10 years either, and there being absolutely nothing to connect him to Madeleine's disappearance, there are still headcases out there intent on including him in their sexual fantasties elaborate sub-plots.  Eg. Spaced Out Man (and not in a fun way) Richard Hall, plus god fearing preachers from the American Mid West and Harlow, who see deviant sex all around them.  Whilst there is a tremendous urge to strike a match to Richard Hall's tedious videos, they are memorable only for the 4 hours of your life you wasted on watching them. 

Robert Murat has my sympathy.  As soon as he realised English compatriots needed assistance, he stepped forward.  He was the good Samaritan.  The words of Lori Campbell actually made me cringe.  It is that kind of attitude that prevents people from showing kindness to others.  Why assume the very worst in someone then splatter it all over the tabloids? 

RM may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I like him.  I think it was very kind of him and his mother to rush to the McCanns aid, and what a horrible twist of fate, that they somehow became the villains.  The fact that Robert is such a sociable, affable guy, should have negated the rest of his 'profile'.  Psychopaths are not usually popular with their neighbours.

Bizarrely, some researches (head cases), have gone to extraordinary lengths to implicate Robert Murat in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.  The mention of porn on RM's computer has led to them to create an imaginary paedophile network that runs from RM's laptop to number 10.  For their information (because I know they look in), RM's misfortune was the tin tac on the map that made him the nearest single man. 






Detailed account of how Robert Murat came to be named Arguido.  Chapter 7, The Truth of the Lie.  Goncalo Amaral
http://frommybigdesk.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Amaral%20The%20Truth%20of%20the%20Lie%20Chapter%2007 

THE DAMAGING IMPACT OF MCCANN TROLLS

I was interested to see that three university forensic psychologists have published the results of their research into online trolling, focussing on the case of missing Madeleine McCann.

I can of course see why the case of missing Madeleine was selected.  Madeleine vanished at a time when social media was in it's infancy, arguably Madeleine was the first missing child to have the power of the internet behind her.  Gerry didn't don hiking boots to search for his daughter, he opened his laptop, and, some might say, Pandora's box. 

From the perspective of studying trolling and antisocial behaviour online, the McCann hashtag might well be unique. I haven't looked, but I understand there are similar hashtags in the cases of Amanda Knox, Oscar Pistorius and Jonbenet Ramsey.  Dr. Synnott may be interested to know that notorious 'pro' McCann, Jayelles, was equally gripped by the Jonbenet case, though against the parents on that occasion. 

What troubles me about Dr. Synnott's research, and I admit I haven't read the full paper, is that it doesn't seem to explore the reasons behind the trolling.  How it began, how it evolved and why it is still going strong 10 years later.

The paper appears to begin with confirmation bias, that is, they had already labelled their subjects malevolent and antisocial.  Easy to do on the McCann hashtag admittedly, but not an open minded approach to research. It is entitled 'the damaging impact the McCann' trolls behaviour has had on those victimized both online and offline'.  If that isn't a title with an agenda, I don't know what is?  It feels like a precursor to some sort of new clampdown on McCann critics, bringing that same eerie feeling that came with the Summers and Swan book and Jim Gamble's determination to get the lot of us into the dock.  Just before Sky News pounced on Brenda Leyland.  In any event, another snidey way in which to silence subversives on the internet, critics of the McCanns especially.
 
The big question of course is WHY these alleged trolls do what they do? Why are some of these people  obsessively tweeting virtually the same information over and over again?  I agree many of them do tick a lot of the abnormal behaviour boxes, and some are just downright mean.  The reasons for their meanness btw, can be found in their off script words, there is usually a lot of projecting going on.  That they are unleashing their anti social alter egos online under anonymous pseudonyms is not rocket science or even brain surgery. Just wait until (and if) you get around to researching the behaviour of the anonymous 'pro' McCann trolls, they take psychopathic behaviour to a whole new level. 

But getting back to the still active 10 years on McCann hashtag. Did those researchers, during any phase of their study, ever consider that the 'trolls' might believe they are right, or indeed, might be right?  That they might have good reason to believe the parents were involved in Madeleine's disappearance and are involved in what could well be the biggest crime story of the 21st Century?  If they have excluded those questions from their study, they have missed out on at least 50% of the reasons people still show an interest in this case, and in some cases, obsessively. A small child disappeared and the main suspects appear to be above the law.  Some might say they are protected by the establishment, maybe in the form of university papers that stress the parents' innocence and pronounce their critics bonkers. 

Dr. Synnot and his team seem to have approached their subject with the objective that anyone who doesn't believe the McCann's abduction story has got something wrong with them.  He says for example the researchers tried to join the discussion by 'introducing a scientific paper that debunks the core piece of evidence cited by the McCann Group.......'.  [the dogs].  Dr. Synnot it would seem, is not aware that the McCann media monitors have been trying to debunk the evidence of the dogs, since May 2007. That he thought this paper would win him friends and influence people, is bizarre, especially for a psychologist.

But let's get back to how it all began.  Gerry and Kate deliberately created a media sensation when their daughter disappeared, and for 10 years they have done everything in their power to keep that media sensation going, even paying Lord Bell £500k to keep them on the front pages for a year, which he did.  Does Dr. Synnott explore the fact that the 'victimized', the McCanns, have PR agents and a spokesman who ensure they are constantly in the news?  The Portuguese Supreme Court did.  

I also wonder if Dr. Synnott and his colleagues explored the phenomenon of 'paid shills'.  He seems to dismiss them as some sort of urban myth.  The fact is 'shilling' (if that's the right word), is probably one of the fast growing industries in the 21st century.  Social media can make or break careers and reputations, I would imagine most corporations, politicians, super rich etc, employ 'media monitors'.  Anonymous shills who will attempt to change opinion or disrupt.   In the Libel trial, Michael Wright revealed in the witness box, that the media monitoring began from the start.  That those they tried to silence fought back was inevitable.  Battles are no longer fought on sodden moors Dr. Synnott, they are fought on social media.