It's a Fair Cop... and the £1m Lawsuit

Such an appalling, biased report from Sky, let's spin the McSpin...


The £1m lawsuit by bungling parents Kate and Gerry McCann against the lead Portuguese detective in the hunt for missing Madeleine will be heard early next year, it is understood.

The civil case against Goncalo Amaral - who was in charge of the investigation for five months after the McCanns neglected their children - will take place in Lisbon on February 9th and 10th, according to a source close to the couple.

The globetrotting couple, both in their forties have made a fortune hard-selling a book, appearing on many television shows, selling themselves (and their children) to the highest bidder and settling various litigations out of court.

In a 36-page writ, lodge in June 2009, they accuse Mr Amaral of libel and breaching their human rights.

The couple, from Rothley in Leicestershire, are expected to attend court but despite lodging the writ themselves, will not give evidence. Whilst arguidos, the McCanns chose to hide behind the skirts of judicial secrecy. Due to the unscripted nature of a court case, speculation has arisen as to the reasons why their lips will once again be sealed.

"The McCanns have made Amaral's life hell and they have made themselves rich in the process." a source said. "Kate and Gerry just want him to stop quoting from the official police investigation and insisting that justice works in silence."

In their writ, the self-obsessed, manipulative, money-grabbing McCanns describe the now-retired detective as... a self-obsessed, manipulative, money-grabber with no morals.

They claim Mr Amaral's repeat insistence that their daughter is dead discouraged people from looking for her.  Yet the McCanns' own Official Facebook group has over 90,000 followers, all praying and lighting candles daily for the safe return of a live Madeleine.  The private investigator hired by the McCanns, claims there is a constant stream of new information and tips coming through.

The couple also describe the pain and anguish they say Mr Amaral has caused them by repeatedly smearing them - saying the slurs "totally destroyed them"...

"...totally destroyed."

The McCanns are seeking at least £1m in damages from the ex-policeman, and if they win the case, the money will be transferred directly to their own private company, Leaving No Stone Unturned, of which they are both directors.

Mr Amaral's book titled 'The Truth of the Lie' was translated into six languages and has sold more than 330,000 copies worldwide.  It was also made into a 50 minute documentary.  The McCanns failed in their bid to ban and prevent the book from being sold and despite again being available for sale, they have also defied a court order and failed to return confiscated copies of the book to Mr Amaral.

Madeleine vanished into thin air on May 3rd 2007 only days from her 4th birthday. Despite vehemently denying any involvement in her disappearance, the McCanns managed to mark the occasion of that sad day by appearing in person at the local church in Praia de Luz.

9 days missing...
McCanns mark Madeleine's birthday

The 3 year old had apparently been left alone with her younger twin siblings in their rented holiday apartment while her parents joined friends at the local Tapas Bar.

View of apartment - as the crow flies

The country's attorney general Jose Pinto Monteiro shelved the case in July 2008 and declared that it should be reopened when further credible evidence arose, with the status of the arguidos being temporarily lifted and reinstated if any such point was reached.

A New Search for Maddie

'No law enforcement agency is looking for Madeleine'...

Over four years ago, the arguidos in the missing Madeleine case allowed the Portuguese police to controversially shelf and put on hold the investigation due to insufficient evidence.  The fact that certain suspects and witnesses failed to co-operate didn't help.  The PJ and the British Police continue to work in the background but will only reopen the case if any new credible information arises.

Now, criminal profiler Pat Brown has created her own independent Maddie Search Fund. The fund, which promises to be transparent, has been created thanks to sales of the ebook, Profile of the Disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The book is available to buy online from Barnes & Noble and Smashwords at a snippet of $2.99 - 50% of sales will go direct to her own Maddie search fund.  Please click to buy, your book will be electronically delivered within minutes.

Pat has confirmed that there is no conflicting ongoing search for Madeleine in Portugal and has purchased her ticket for travel to Lisbon on 6th February 2012. The search will begin shortly after, concentrating in and around Praia de Luz for starters.

Please follow Pat on Twitter, or visit the Official Criminal Profiler Pat Brown's Maddie Search Fund page on Facebook for updates on the fund and search.  I would urge you to support and like this page, as she has bizarrely (but not surprisingly), taken a horrendous amount of abuse from supporters of the McCanns for her well intended actions.

Whichever side of the fence you sit on, this can only be beneficial for the most important person - Madeleline.  Pat Brown is doing something that the majority of us would dearly love to do... travel to Praia de Luz to search.  Credit where it's due, I wish her the very best of luck and success and hope she has rewarding findings which will either lead to Madeleine being found or help with the investigation.  I would urge Pat to take the utmost care if she stumbles across any lawless villages on her travels.

And here's hoping that she has more success than the McCanns' own hapless private investigators.  This has gone on years too long, we need a shining light.  Most importantly, Madeleine needs it.

Help find Madeleine.

The Leveson Niggle

Some people sure have a strange, flippant way with words...

"Kate McCann felt 'mentally raped' when diary published."

There are dozens of palatable ways to express the angst felt at having your personal diary made public.  Why this demeaning retort, but no response to the previously published extracts in the Portuguese daily Correio de Manha, translated and read by all months earlier?  The McCanns complained only to the News of the World, who made a large apologetic undisclosed payment to the 'fund'.  No such complaints to Correio de Manha?  Maybe the fact that suing the Portuguese media normally results in nothing more than an apology with little or no monetary gain had something to do with it?  You can't pick and choose when you are "mentally raped".

How did Mrs McCann feel when her personal account of the truth - the book, Madeleine, was made public and serialised by the very same news group?  Opening the door on your sex life and dare I say it... page 129 is not a pleasant thing, especially for the reader.  Maybe the large serialisation fee News International forked out made things a little easier on her poor, ravaged mind.

Meanwhile, news is out that Mr McCann is due to give evidence at the Leveson inquiry next week. We'll have to wait to hear how he addresses his complaint about the Press Complaints Commission and how it was "hopelessly inadequate" in helping his family fend off media intrusion. Isn't this biting the hand that feeds... by early May it was too late to lock that stable door - the McCanns themselves had romanced the press with their own whirlwind of requests, demands and titillations.  So, just why are the McCanns core participants in the Leveson inquiry?  By Clarence Mitchell's admission, they weren't hacked.  Or were they?  They complain about the press, yet courted and invited the media into their lives from day one.  Are they just jumping on yet another bandwagon, big risk if they are.


Without a shadow of a doubt, this case is a matter of public interest. People have the right to news... after all, the McCanns' private company has, and still is accepting public donations.

Below are a small selection of staged photographs for the press, there are many, many more available for all to see in the public domain.  Mrs McCann writes about such occasions in her book and judging by these pics, a good time was had by all.  I don't see any arms being twisted or physical force being applied in an attempt to get the right pose.  And I certainly don't see anyone trying to fend off any media intrusion.  I do hear an echoing kerching though.

Just too bizarre for words...

Can't have David Hughes spoiling that pic...

Oh how lovely...

and perhaps the most poignant of them all...

We conclude that the applicants voluntarily decided to limit their right to the intimacy of private life, certainly envisaging higher values like the discovery of their daughter Madeleine's whereabouts, but on voluntarily limiting that right, they opened the doors for other people to give their opinion about the case, in synchrony with what they were saying, but also possibly in contradiction with their directions, yet always within the bounds of a legitimate and constitutionally consecrated right to opinion and freedom of expression of thought. 

In the same way concerning the applicants' right to image and a good name : upon placing the case in the public square and giving it worldwide notoriety, the applicants opened all doors to all opinions, even those that are adversarial to them.

Lisbon Appeal Court Decision

14 October 2010

The Appellate Court Judges,

Francisco Bruto da Costa

Catarina Arelo Manso

Antonio Valente

Please click to view the full translated appeal decision on Joana Morais' blog.


The Leveson inquiry can be followed on the Guardian website, with detailed information and links.  General enquiries or information can be mailed to generalenquiries@levesoninquiry.org.uk.

Check your LIKES on Facebook......... Part 2

Confirmed...

Beggars belief - Madeleine groups on Facebook combined into one group with a new, deceptively fake following...

This is why we got up yesterday morning to find unfamiliar posts, comments and updates on our Facebook walls.  This is why we had become followers of a group we didn't join.

It's all good and well providing a welcome, however if these new members referred to above had actually liked the Official Find Madeleine Campaign group page, they would have clicked the LIKE button of their own free will.

Are there any similar unofficial Find Madeleine Campaign group pages around which could genuinely be combined?  I don't think there are... although the poor child may have stood a greater chance of being found if there was.  There are thousands of groups for thousands of subjects... I don't want to go to bed posting on Justice for Caylee and wake up to Casey Anthony's ugly mug.  Would anybody?

Apart from the One Million Likes group, I've never seen Madeleine being subjected to 'online abuse'.  Another appalling and disturbing thought to come from the horse's mouth.  If I did, I wouldn't hesitate to report it. Seems like just another excuse for her parents protect their reputation and avoid criticism by once again attempting to silence people.  The irony of Madeleine needs protected... yes she did, didn't she?

Instead of fannying about online, why don't you just get out there and do what normal people would do - something you've never done yourselves.  Look.  All those followers with their prayers, candles and fluffy words won't 'bring her home', but I'm sure it makes you feel good.

Please check which groups you have joined or liked on Facebook.  This is an appalling invasion of privacy and trust.  I do not wish mingle with blinkered muppets or have their posts invade my wall.  And I also object to the Team having access to my own profile via their Admin privileges. Very disturbing.

How low can you go... check your LIKES on Facebook

As if things couldn't get any lower... it's been highlighted that some Facebook users have mysteriously 'liked' the Official Find Madeleine Campaign page - without their knowledge and most definitely against their will.  Including yours truly - me, myself, moi!!!  Have we all been hacked?  At the moment I can't comment on their wall for some reason... what a shame.

How has this group made users LIKE their page without informing them?

We're always being warned not to like pages that promise us free gifts, donations to the needy blah blah, because once they have enough members and personal information, they sell the group on.  Your personal information is very valuable in the right hands. 

A month or so ago, the Official page welcomed members from the Unofficial group which was somehow amalgamated and therefore bumped up the numbers.  The next day, a fair few people protested that they hadn't actually joined the group.  Has it happened again...have they harvested any of the other Madeleine groups on the site and swallowed up their members in the dead of the night without their knowledge?  It would explain the rapid swell of muppets at dawn most days.  I wonder just how many of those 88,000 likes really are genuine and there with their owner's permission.  I know mine isn't.

I think that after the naming and shaming of Jack Tims and his grovelling apology to the McCanns in the Sun, clarification is needed on just what happens to groups such as the One Million Likes and their members. What happens to the groups that are dormant or ones which close suddenly.  I never clicked One Million Likes, but I have clicked other groups looking for justice for Madeleine.  And forgotten about it... something I'm sure you've all done.  I think now might be the time to check.

Instead of allowing the obnoxious Mrs G to hold the fort, I would suggest that perhaps a friendly email to all members from the not-so-efficient Admin is in order, just to ensure that people are actually there of their own free will.  Do they really give a damn though, as long as the numbers look good?  It always has been about appearance from day one.

Predictable abuse from the usual suspects... and it's still going on!

Like me and many others, if you've suddenly discovered that you're a member of a group which you did not 'like', scroll down the left hand side of the page and click UNLIKE... simples.  Then report.