Madeleine McCann: Michael Dixon and Missing Person’s Factsheets

MADELEINE McCann: The missing child is illustrating the BBC’s story:

Families of missing people are offered more support

Sounds good.

Leaflets containing information for UK families of those who go missing are being published following criticism by the mother of Madeleine McCann.

Some good has come of the her daughter’s vanishing.

In the summer the first Parliamentary inquiry into the issue was told by Kate McCann there was a “complete gap” in help for those affected. The National Policing Improvement Agency has responded by publishing factsheets giving practical advice.

Anorak

Posted: 8th, November 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment

Madeleine McCann: Inspiring Duncan McAlister Is The Sun’s Maddie Perv

MADELEINE McCann: Duncan McAlister is the Sun’s “Maddie perv”.

As we know, the title “Maddie perv” is a movable one. Today’s “Maddie perv” is spotted by Gordon Tait:

Maddie perv freed… because he’s disabled

Go on:

A TWISTED paedophile who trawled the web for footage of child rape and “Maddie porn” has avoided jail — because he is disabled.

Anorak

Posted: 27th, October 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (2)

Madeleine McCann: Ben Needham And Another Maddie In Benidorm

MADELEINE McCann: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Our Maddie in the media:

The Shrophsire Star reports on the search for missing Ben Needham:

Long before the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from a Portuguese holiday apartment in 2007 rocked the world and its media, Sheffield-born baby Ben Needham disappeared from the Greek island of Kos.

It did not. The world never reacted to Ben Needham. Greece barely did. In the pre-rolling news age, even the British press were late in picking up the story.

But the blond youngster’s angelic face is nowhere near as well known as that of Madeleine’s.

Because when an innocent child goes missing, his or her looks matter.

But it’s not a comparison Ben’s mother Kerry likes to dwell on, as she revealed during last night’s Tonight programme special that examined her young son’s disappearance. In 1991, while expat Kerry worked in a nearby hotel, 21-month-old Ben went missing from the garden of a farm house her parents were rennovating. They were inside the house at the time but when they came outside to check on Ben, he was gone. He has not been seen since.

“I try not to compare Ben’s case to that of Madeleine McCann’s but I look at the help the family has had from the British investigation and yes, I do want the same,” a visibly exhausted Kerry reveals to the cameras.

Anorak

Posted: 8th, October 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (6)

Madeleine McCann: Trolling For Jokes With Jack Tims

MADELEINE McCann: The Sun’s target A Troll campaign to name and shame anonymous web commentators focuses once more on Jack Tims.

Tims created a Facebook page “mocking the disappearance of Madeleine McCann”.

The 17-year-old’s page was called:

“If I Get 1 million Likes I’ll Let Maddie Go.”

Anorak

Posted: 23rd, September 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (2)

Madeleine McCann: Trolls Attack 15-Year-Old Ms Osteoporosis

MADELEINE McCann: In “Blogs blast girl’s hunter”, we encounter Amanda Oosterbaan, 15. She has been hurt by unkind words posted on the official “find Madeleine McCann” Facebook page.

Australia’s Northern Territories News reports:

A TOP End middle school student has been labelled a “lazy housewife” for her continued support of missing British girl Madeleine McCann.

Ouch!

One blogger posted: “Each time I write out her name, I think of the Joan Collins character in Dynasty. And before you get your pantaloons in a twist, Ms Osteoporosis, I mean that your name goes on and on for ever – not that you’ve had 20 husbands – indeed, not that I imagine you spend enough time away from your laptop to have ONE husband.”

Anorak

Posted: 22nd, September 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (2)

Madeleine McCann: Gerry McCann On Suicide, Phone Hacking Trolls And Sean Duffy

MADELEINE McCann: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at the missing child in the news:  Gerry and Kate McCann are core participants in the first stage of the inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal.

Daily Star: “GERRY MCCANN UNDESTANDS [sic] WHY PEOPLE KILL THEMSELVES”

GERRY McCann has revealed how during his darkest days he began to understand why people took their own lives. The doting dad has been to hell and back since his daughter Madeleine vanished on holiday in Portugal… The couple travelled to Germany last week in a bid to spark new information from German tourists in Portugal at the time…

In one interview Gerry said he and Kate had been put under “incredible psychological pressure” and had been asked to admit hiding Madeleine’s body.

He said: ‘We were in front of the world, portrayed as being guilty. That was certainly the worst moment after we discovered that Madeleine had disappeared.

“This tactic is used, not only in Portugal, there are such cases in the UK. But everybody who uses this tactic and participates has to be clear they can destroy lives.
I can now understand why people admit to things they haven’t done. I can understand why people kill themselves after such an experience.”

The Star makes no mention of trial by media.

Anorak

Posted: 18th, September 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (6)

Madeleine McCann: Three Metropolitan Police In Portugal

MADELEINE McCann: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Our Maddie in the media:

The BBC:

The Met launched a review of the original investigation in May after a request from Home Secretary Theresa May supported by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Daily Express (front page): “MADELINE – 30 Police In New Hunt”

David Pilditch and Tracey Kandohla report:

A NEW investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was under way last night after senior Scotland Yard detectives flew to Portugal. Officers from a 30-strong squad specially set up to revive the search for Madeleine McCann, who vanished four years ago, met Portuguese authorities for the first time…

Anorak

Posted: 9th, September 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (5)

Madeleine McCann: 30 Scotland Yard Officers Target Portugal

MADELEINE McCann: Martin Brunt has news of the investigation into the disappearance of Our Maddie.

Scotland Yard detectives are in Portugual.

I can’t imagine they were given a warm welcome by their Portuguese colleagues whose work (failure to solve the mystery) the Met team is reviewing. Still, it’s a step in the right direction and officially the two groups met “with very good co-operation and liaison will continue.”

There are 30 Met officers – the equivalent of a murder squad – working on the review and I’m told that a senior officer is having to give regular spending updates to the Home Office which is funding an operation that will cost several millions and last many months.

Anorak

Posted: 8th, September 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (6)

Lord Justice Stevenson’s Media Trial Will Produce Heat WIth No Light

MADELEINE McCann: Kate and Gerry McCann, Labour MPs Chris Bryant, Tessa Jowell and Denis MacShane, former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, Chris Shipman, the son of Harold Shipman, Max Mosley, Chris Jefferies want to be represented at an official inquiry into phone hacking. They want the opportunity to question witnesses. They want to know how the media operates.

They want to know how off-the-record briefings work. They want to know why only police sources and official lines are not enough. Mistakes are made. People have been libelled hideously.

Does it not come down to trust. Do you trust the paper or broadcaster making the report?

Lord Justice Levesons’ inquiry will allow “core participants” to be legally represented, cross-examine witnesses and make opening and closing statements.

Anorak

Posted: 7th, September 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment (1)

Madeleine McCann Is Not An App

KENT News manages to weave Madeleine McCann into a story on a Channel 4 show in which Stephen Fry counted down the greatest gadgets of all time. It’s the usual mindless filler in which Fry’s advertorial is punctuated by nodding heads arriving on screen to get nostalgic about a device they appear to have only just learnt about.

The paper’s Chris Britcher opines:

After all, rather than Mr Fry plumping for the somewhat predictable Holy (Apple) Trinity of iPod, iPhone and iPad in the top three positions, the humble lighter emerged on top of the list followed by the wrist watch. And when you think about it, very sensible choices they are too.

Anorak

Posted: 2nd, September 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (3)

Sceptic Offers Psychics $1million To Find Madeleine McCann

CAN psychics find Madeleine McCann? The James Randi Educational Foundation has issued a challenge: anyone who can prove their skills in a controlled experiment will get $1million.
James Randi, founder of the JREF, says:

“James Van Praagh and Allison DuBois have turned the huckster art of ‘cold reading’ into a multi-million-dollar industry, preying on families’ deepest fears and regrets.”

A mentalist named Banachek adds:

“We’re issuing a challenge: If one of you can demonstrate your ‘psychic’ abilities on randomly chosen strangers — not celebrities — under mutually-agreed conditions, without relying on known cold-reading techniques such as fishing around with vague questions, and without just using Google — we will donate our million dollars to you or to the charity of your choice.”

Anorak

Posted: 23rd, August 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (3)

Kate And Gerry McCann’s Lawyer Sues Madeleine Foundation Secretary Tony Bennett

MADELEINE McCann: Yet another court case of the McCanns as they sue Tony Bennett:

EDWARD SMETHURST ISSUES A LIBEL SUMMONS AGAINST TONY BENNETT

Article filed 16 August 2011

On 9 August 2011, Mr Edward Smethurst, the Co-ordinating Solicitor for Drs Gerald and Kate McCann, issued a libel summons against Madeleine Foundation Secretary Tony Bennett, a fact he found out on returning yesterday from a 10-day holiday. The claim is limited by Mr Smethurst to ‘a sum not exceeding £100,000’.

Anorak

Posted: 16th, August 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment

Madeleine McCann: Family Holiday At Ruth McCann’s Pria Da Luz Flat

MADELEINE McCann: News is that a family of holidaymakers are right now staying in the “the holiday apartment where Madeleine McCann was kidnapped“. So reports the Sun in news based on a Press Association story.

A British tourist at the Ocean Complex resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal, said: “I saw a young family staying in the apartment, enjoying their holiday. They didn’t seem to have a care in the world, and if I hadn’t known of the flat’s history, I wouldn’t have given it a second look.”

This seems encouraging news for Ruth McCann (no relation) who owns the flat. She’s been trying to sell it with no success.

Anorak

Posted: 16th, August 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (9)

Madeleine McCann: 200 ‘Maddies’ Abducted Every Year – Says Daily Star

THIS year alone – just in 2011 – the have been 200 “Maddie-style abductions“.

So says the Daily Star on its front page.

The hard facts of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are that:

She went missing in Portugal.

And that’s it.

Anorak

Posted: 7th, August 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment

Madeleine McCann Spotted In India: French And Belgian Couple Help Police

MADELEINE McCann has been spotted in…India. She was with a Belgian and French couple.

To date, Our Maddie has been spotted in:

Canada,Italy, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Majorca,Belgium, Bosnia, France, Australia, Brazil,Wales, Malta, Italy, Germany, Austrialia, France, Dubai, Dorset, USA and New Zealand (by boat).

The Tribune India says the ‘sighting’ was on the 22nd July

Says Anorak reader Karen:

It’s now being reported as breaking news today on ITV Central and it’s also in the Mail:

“At one point an American man is said to have tried to take the girl from the couple. However the French woman and her Belgian husband insist that they are the parents of the girl.

Police in the city have taken swabs so that DNA tests can be carried out on the youngster.“

As she says:

Is it her or are all girls who resemble her going to be treated like this at some stage?

It would be nice if it’s her but what about those poor, innocent parents if it isn’t?

How long does it take to get the results of DNA tests?

The report says:

High drama prevailed in the busy Fort Road market of the city last night when three persons identified a six-year-old girl as Madeleine McCann, a British girl who went missing while on a holiday in Portugal in 2007.

Madeleine McCann would not be six. As reader June says:

Where are the parents? But its probably just another ‘sighting’ no names of the people involved at all.

But attempting to remove the child??? very bad form – not everyone will be that ‘sympathetic’ that its ok to do that.

The eye defect is miniscule anyway and you would have to get very close indeed to see it, and isn’t MM 8 now and not 6 as reported

Karen adds:

SkyPhilippa Philippa Hall (Sky News presenter)
Our producer in Delhi as spoken to police, who say they’ve not heard about the DNA test or sighting of Madeleine #mccann.

ITVCentral Leh police tell ITV News there is no child resembling #Madeleine #McCann in their custody and they are not aware of any such incident.

So where did the news come from then?

We do not know. We guess the local Leh police, who, reportedly, told the Chandigarh Tribune in India that they had taken copies of the girl’s “parents'” passports – and:

“‘It all depends upon the evidence like DNA for which help from Madeleine’s parents and the British police was required.’

Over in the Mail we learn from the McCanns’ PR Clarence Mitchell:

“Kate and Gerry do not believe the child seen in India was Madeleine. They have seen photographic evidence and concluded that it was not her.

“We remain grateful for people’s vigilance around the world. Madeleine is still out there and the search for her very much continues.”

“MADDIE IS STILL OUT THERE”

Anorak

Posted: 28th, July 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (16)

Madeleine McCann And The Brazilian Code Gangs

MADELEINE McCann: Anorak’s at-a-glance news of the missing child in the media: the Brazilian kidnappers.

The Daily Star’s Jonathan Corke has news:

MADELEINE McCann’s abductors may have daubed coded messages on the outside walls of the family’s holiday apartment to indicate when she was alone.

Anorak

Posted: 17th, July 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (4)

‘MADDIE FOUND ALIVE AND SAFE’: Madeleine McCann Wins Tabloid Award

MADELEINE McCANN: “MADDIE FOUND ALIVE AND SAFE.”

The Liverpool Echo ran a contest inviting readers to come up with their dream headline. What would be the best headline they could ever read? Ever. In the whole world. In the entire history of humankind. What would be the No.1 headline?

The headline was picked as the winner because it was “a headline that everyone would want to see”. It is “succinct but emotive”.

Anorak

Posted: 5th, July 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (5)

Laughing Kate McCann: The Truth About A Daily Express Conspiracy And Wed Trolls

WHY has the Daily Express “removed” this image of Kate and Gerry McCann smiling from its website? Last week, Anorak bought you news of Kate and Gerry McCann in Holland. They were promoting Kate McCann’ book, Madeleine.

The Express shaped the story of the parents of missing child Madeleine McCann’s funds and awareness raising trip around their smiles.

The paper’s headline stated:

“At last Kate McCann can smile again”

Anorak

Posted: 29th, June 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (20)

Madeleine McCann: A European Tour, A Birdseye View And A Little Girl’s Nightmare

MADELEINE McCann is missing. But people are doing their bit to raise funds to help her parent’s, Kate and Gerry McCann, pay for private detectives and a media handler to look for her and keep her name in the news.

The Garratts Are Going On Tour:

A family is gearing up for a trip around Europe to remind people that Madeleine McCann is still missing.

Simon and Michelle Garratt, of Coalville, will be handing out leaflets and posters during their journey, which will see them average 200 miles a day and spend four weeks in a camper van. Starting in France, they are taking their four children, Jake, 10, Niamh, eight, Freya, six, and Eden, three, on the trip.

Simon revealed son Jake was the inspiration behind the idea.

He said: “It’s a mammoth task but we want to spread the word in the hope Madeleine is still out there.

“My son told me he wouldn’t like to go missing and then be forgotten, and he asked, ‘why can’t we do anything to help Madeleine?’ which got me thinking. We decided do something a bit challenging and different, and if people listen to us then we will have done a little bit.”

The determined family are planning to stop off at several holy places on the way and will light candles for Madeleine, who disappeared from her family’s holiday flat in the Algarve in May, 2007.

During their summer trip, they will be visiting France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Belgium.

Anorak

Posted: 27th, June 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (2)

Madeleine McCann: On Tour In Amsterdam

IN “At last Kate McCann can smile again“, the Daily Express tells readers:

For once, grieving Kate McCann can find something to smile about. So often pictured as a sad, withdrawn figure, she and husband Gerry burst into laughter as they promoted her book about their lost daughter Madeleine.

But they weren’t laughing all day. The camera captures a moment in time. The news is thin and loaded. We are not told why they “burst into laughter”, only that they did. The photos of a sad withdrawn figure are also snap shots in time. We do not see the woman all the time. We see the photos the media thinks tells a story. We are just being invited to stare at the parents.

The couple were in Amsterdam to launch the Dutch edition of the book which they hope will help to boost the search for Madeleine across Europe.

Anorak

Posted: 24th, June 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (16)

Madeleine McCann: BBC, Mirror And Sun Lied Over Goncalo Amaral And Still Fail To Apologise

MADELEINE McCann: Do you remember whan Goncalo Amaral told the Mcanns “Fuck The McCanns“? Yeah, you do.  We were sceptical. Tony Parsons told Mirror readers:

Maddy McCann cop adds insults to injury by Tony Parsons:

If, as has been suggested in Portugal, there was a “media circus” around the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, then it is the Portuguese police who are the clowns. Cruel, stupid, spiteful clowns. The Portuguese police were shown up as a bunch of clueless amateurs by the Madeleine case, and – shamed, embarrassed, infuriated – they turned their rage on the McCanns.

Even now, the Portuguese cops treat Kate and Gerry McCann with a grotesque lack of respect. Asked if he cared that he had hurt the McCanns, Goncalo Amaral told a BBC reporter: “No, f*** the McCanns.” A class act, that fat copper, who has sought to make money out of a stolen child – and the endless grief of her parents…

But it is also genuinely tragic that the Portuguese police did not seriously look for the bastard who stole her.And that’s because they have always been far too busy slandering that little girl’s parents.

Anorak

Posted: 18th, June 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (5)

Madeleine McCann: McCanns Sue Three Arguidos: Manuel Luis Goucha, Paulo Sargento And Hernâni Carvalho

MADELEINE McCann: More courtroom action from Kate and Gerry McCann, who are reported to be suing Manuel Luis Goucha, Paulo Sargento and Hernâni Carvalho for libel. Duerte Levy reports from Portugal:

The criminal complaint, initiated by the couple’s lawyer in Portugal, also affects the TVI administration. It was during a talk show broadcasted by TVI that the alleged crime has occurred.

The psychologist Paulo Sargento – arguido since yesterday – confirmed the information and stated “that he did not speak yesterday but that he intends to do so during the proceedings because he has knowledge of elements which may lead to the reopening of the inquiry related to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.”

An interesting detail is that the process is not under the law of secrecy of justice.

A source close to Maddie’s parents has confirmed the complaint and added that “other complaints may still occur”.

Anorak

Posted: 16th, June 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (8)

Another Madeleine McCann Spreads Fear In The Algarve: Daily Star Spreads Fear

MADELEINE McCann: The Daily Star’s Jonathan Corke says the Algarve is just waiting for another Maddie to happen. And only CCTV can prevent it:

BRITISH children on holiday in Portugal’s Algarve are still “wide open” to another Madeleine McCann-style abduction because authorities refuse to install CCTV.

She vanished in 2007. There have been no similar vanishing since. Why the fear now? And why only British kids?

Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry have long believed a camera network in the region may have helped prevent her disappearance or helped in the search.

Anorak

Posted: 14th, June 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (6)

The Family Murdered Rose Ron – Israel’s Madeleine McCann

BACK when every country had an Our Maddie, we brought you news of Rose Ron, the Israeli girl who had vanished. Who dunnit? Well, it was her grandpa, Ronny Ron. He was shagging his daughter-in-law, Marie-Charlotte Renault-Pizem.

Ronny Ron killed Rose Ron. He stuffed her body into a suitcase and tossed the lot into Tel Aviv’s Yarkon river. That was 2008.

Renault-Pizem, 26, has been convicted of plotting her daughter’s murder. In 2005, she divorced Benjamin Ron, when he found out she was shagging his dad.

Anorak

Posted: 14th, June 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment

Madeleine McCann: Kate McCann Is Media’s Spokesperson For All Missing Children At Commons Inquiry

MADELEINE McCANN: To the Parliamentary inquiry into missing persons at the House of Commons in London, where Kate McCann is  in attendee. So too are Nicki Durban, mother of missing Luke Durbin, and Sarah Godwin, mother of missing Quentin Godwin.

The news media reports. Can the media make mention of any other missing children, other than Our Maddie? OIr will it focus on the benchmark of all missing children?

Politics.co.uk: “Kate McCann: Families with missing children are left in dark”

“If your house is burgled you are automatically offered victim support with emotional, practical and legal assistance. If your child goes missing you may get nothing.”

Nothing?

London Evening Standard: “Kate McCann tells ministers: we must do more to help families of missing people”

Anorak

Posted: 13th, June 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment