Gerry and Kate McCann: serial child neglectors in search of a reputation

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Kate and Gerry McCann arriving at the Lisbon Court February 2010

In February this year, the McCanns were successful in persuading a Portuguese judge that their right to a 'good reputation,' was more important than Dr Gonçalo Amaral's right to freedom of speech, and the injunction banning Dr Amaral's book, "The Truth of The Lie," was upheld.

By the McCanns' own admission, they left three small children alone in an unlocked apartment in a foreign country, night after night, checking on them every 30 minutes, as though a couple of doctors had no idea that a child could choke in just a few minutes, meet with an accident in a strange apartment, or wander out of that unlocked door. We were told though that their daughter Madeleine, who disappeared into thin air on one of those alone nights, could not have wandered off, but we haven't yet been told why her parents were so sure of this.

Gerry and Kate McCann, as we know, have maintained a global media presence since Madeleine disappeared, apparently intent on finding the person or persons who abducted their daughter. No other thesis is acceptable to them: she is alive, she could not have wandered off, she has been abducted, but there is no evidence that she has come to harm.

A child who has been abducted by a stranger has not come to harm? I guess if you seriously think that three small children alone in an unlocked apartment cannot come to harm, then believing that a child taken from her bed by strangers has not come to harm might not be too much of a leap of faith. She would, of course, be able to walk into her old home and take up that, 'spare place,' at the dining table. Nae bother!

If either of you, Kate or Gerry McCann were my doctor, your reputation as health professionals would have suffered serious harm. I don't think I could trust a doctor who thought it was OK to go out wining and dining while their three small children were alone in an unlocked apartment and who also thought that abduction was not bad for a child's physical and emotional well-being.

Anyway, in search of upholding their good reputation, our fine doctors hired Carter-Ruck, who describe themselves as, 'the UK's pre-eminent media law practice.' In doing so, the McCanns are in a special kind of company! Carter-Ruck is the law firm that stopped General Augusto Pinochet's extradition to Spain to answer to charges of human rights violations. Carter-Ruck is also the firm that unsuccessfully tried to prevent the Guardian newspaper from publishing an MP's question in the House of Commons on the activities of the oil company Trafigura.

The latest well-publicised Carter-Ruck client is Nadhmi Auchi, whom Mark Kirk, US Republican, has linked to Democrat Senate candidate Alexi "the Mob Banker" Giannoulias. Warner Todd Huston of the blog Chicago Now has responded to Carter-Ruck's attempts to silence American bloggers on this issue:

And, before you Carter-Rucksters begin to start addressing another threatening email this time to me, don't bother. Your email will be ignored and THIS post will stay up. Just like the Illinois Review, THIS post is just reporting the news. If the allegations made against your client are false, that is YOUR problem. Not mine. You should take up your concerns with the Illinois GOP.

Still, don't get your hopes up. Unlike your foreign experience, in America libel is properly hard to prove. Here we do not cotton to libel tourism as they cater to in England. Basically I'm telling you attorneys and your client Nadhmi Auchi to pound sand.

Oh dear! They're not impressed by Carter-Ruck's reputation, are they?

The McCanns hired Carter-Ruck soon after their speedy exit from Portugal. Was that because of Carter-Ruck's experience as media lawyers, or because they had managed to successfully save Augusto Pinochet from extradition? Either way, why would two medical doctors, intent on protecting their good reputation, hire lawyers who had defended the likes of General Augusto Pinochet? You are not only judged by the company you keep Kate and Gerry, but by the help you hire!

Carter-Ruck have threatened various bloggers and The Madeleine Foundation (Read Carter-Ruck's letters under the 'Newsletters,' link on the Madeleine Foundation web site) and anyone else who dares to question the McCanns' version of events, that version being that Madeleine was abducted by a stranger. However, there does not appear to be any evidence of that abduction. According to Locard's Exchange Principle:

No matter how much someone tries to clean up a crime scene, something is generally left behind. It may not always be detected, or even be visible to the human eye, but it's almost impossible to take any kind of violent action without shedding something. This principle, called Locard’s Exchange Principle, has become one of the motivating factors in the development of forensic science.

Yet, the person who allegedly abducted Madeleine McCann, whom Gerry McCann felt may have been hiding in the apartment when he checked on the children at around 9.05pm, left absolutely nothing of himself, not even glove prints. The shutters had not been damaged and the only prints on them were Kate McCann's and from their position, it appeared that she had been trying to manually lift the shutters from the inside.

Now, back to the hired help! There was Metodo 3, Spanish detective agency that had no previous experience if searching for missing children. According to SOS Madeleine McCann in February 2009, Metodo 3 agency was under investigation for money laundering. In July 2008, SOS Madeleine McCann reported that Metodo 3 was under investigation for attempted murder: a former cell-mate of João Cipriano, uncle and convicted murderer of Joana Cipriano, had allegedly offered information to Metodo 3, but after receiving payment, had failed to deliver and his life had been threatened as a consequence.

Francisco Marco, director of Metodo 3

Is that the kind of hired help that enhances the reputation of our good doctors?

Then there was Kevin Halligen whose company Oakley International, was paid £300,000 in 2008 to look for their daughter.

A 48-year-old man wanted by the FBI who allegedly defrauded people across the world, including the Madeleine McCann fund, was arrested last night at a hotel in Oxford.

Kevin Halligen, from Surrey, was hired by the Find Madeleine fund as a security consultant. His Washington-based company, Oakley International, was awarded a six-month £500,000 contract by the fund, but Mr Halligen allegedly disappeared with £300,000. He had allegedly boasted that his contacts in the US capital could provide high-tech satellite imagery to help the search.

He is also said to have made £1 million from links with Trafigura, the controversial Dutch company accused of causing mass illness after waste was dumped on the Ivory Coast.

Links with Trafigura? Now, that's interesting!

What of the unpaid help and how that might affect one's reputation? Well, there's Brian Kennedy of double-glazing fame, who according to SOS Madeleine McCann was prepared to finance Kate and Gerry for the rest of his life. Does that mean out of his own pocket, should his business empire collapse owing to breach of covenants on loan agreements? (The Business Desk)

Oh dear! Is that the kind of support that is good for one's reputation?

And finally, Jim Gamble, of CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) who produced the video, 'A Minute For Madeleine.' Jim Gamble was the senior police officer who presided over Operation Ore.

Operation Ore was a major police operation in Britain which became known to the public in 2002 targetting thousands of alleged users of child pornography websites. In the words of Wikipedia, the statistics were:

7,250 suspects identified, 4,283 homes searched, 3,744 arrests, 1,848 charged, 1,451 convictions, 493 cautioned, 879 investigations underway, 140 children removed from suspected dangerous situations (although the definition of what constitutes such, has varied and remains vague) and an estimated 39 suicides.

The work of journalist Duncan Campbell amongst others has already cast serious doubt over the integrity of the police investigation in Operation Ore.

As I write, Liverpool solicitor Chris Saltrese is taking a test case to the Appeal Court for wrongful conviction:

In the UK, thousands of people were implicated and convicted or cautioned even though they protested no knowledge of having visited the site or any interest or intention to access child pornography.

It has since emerged that the blueprint employed to incriminate suspects was fundamentally flawed, so that many people may have been implicated in a crime they did not commit.

With the help of experts, Chris Saltrese Solicitors has carried out groundbreaking evidential and legal research into Operation Ore.
Some apologists have used Operation Ore to campaign for our current set of laws around child abuse. For example Margaret Moran MP who quoted incorrect and misleading statistics as fact in a debate in the House of Commons in 2005.

Characters such as controversial Senior Police Officer Jim Gamble, who presided over Operation Ore and has refused seriously to consider the possibility that significant mistakes were made, and perhaps some figures originally from the world of Child Protection Charities, will be in a very difficult position. (Matt Wardman.com)

The test case being brought by Chris Saltrese has been postponed until late 2010.

Concern about the prevalence and accessibility of child pornography has magnified in recent years with the growth of the internet.

The law is clear that it is a serious crime to intentionally access or possess such material.
However, when it comes to identifying intention and criminal acts in this complex ephemeral medium, there are many pitfalls ensnaring the innocent as well as the guilty.

Operation Ore was a large-scale police investigation supposedly targeting paid subscribers to an internet child pornography gateway.

In the UK, thousands of people were implicated and convicted or cautioned even though they protested no knowledge of having visited the site or any interest or intention to access child pornography.

It has since emerged that the blueprint employed to incriminate suspects was fundamentally flawed, so that many people may have been implicated in a crime they did not commit.
With the help of experts, Chris Saltrese Solicitors has carried out groundbreaking evidential and legal research into Operation Ore. Leave for appeal was granted for a test case before the full court in Spring 2010 but has been postponed. It is hoped it will be heard before the end of 2010. This will unveil fresh evidence and expert opinion. If you were wrongly convicted or cautioned in relation to Operation Ore, please get in touch and we may be able to assist. (Chris Saltrese)

So, for me, what kind of reputation does all this give to the McCanns? Simply in my opinion, what am I left with thinking? What do they have a reputation for and as?

• Two doctors who left three small children, with a combined age of seven years, alone in an unlocked apartment while they wined and dined with friends. I'd call that child neglect or even abandonment.
• People who don't care about the tactics used by a very expensive firm of media lawyers, as long as they can silence anyone who disagrees with their theory of abduction.
• Two supposedly well-educated people, who, nonetheless cannot seem to find a reputable detective agency that has experience of finding missing children.
• People who are guided by a man who buys up companies, liquidates them leaving customers with nothing for their money, and breaches covenants on loans. (Perhaps someone will leave a comment about Mr Kennedy's visits to witnesses)
• People who, having lost a child, are supported by a man who presided over a major police operation, now thought to have been seriously flawed, which allegedly wrongfully convicted many people.

Now, what kind of reputation is that?

SOS Madeleine McCann: Brian Kennedy is looking to recruit British ex-police officers.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

Brian Kennedy is looking for ex-police officers.

After the information from the British media, that the millionaire Brian Kennedy had just dismissed a team of private investigators, after having paid them £500,000 from the fund created from public donations, comes the announcement that the benefactor has been busy recruiting amongst former Greater Manchester police officers.

According to the Manchester Evening News, a member of the Guardian Media Group, the millionaire has allegedly received from Chief Steve Heywood, head of crime prevention, a list of Manchester police officers who are no longer in post or are close to leaving their posts.

It was from Manchester that another ex-police officer originated, Henry Exton, who, according to the Manchester Evening News, was a shareholder in Oakley International, the American agency which Brian Kennedy had dismissed, according to certain British media, and with which he was still satisfied, according to others.

Recently, Brian Kennedy admitted that he was ready to finance Kate and Gerry McCann for the rest of his life, putting at the couple's disposal the entirety of his personal fortune, estimated at more than £450 million.

9/09/08

SOS Madeleine McCann.

McCann case: Brian Kennedy ready to finance the McCanns for the rest of his life!

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

7/09/08

According to the British media, the multimillionaire Brian Kennedy is ready to finance Kate and Gerry McCann for the rest of his life, putting at the couple's disposal the entirety of his personal fortune, estimated at more than £450 million.

The information appeared after statements from the couple that they had spent more than a million pounds from the "Find Madeleine" fund, created after Madeleine's disappearance for the purpose of financing the search for the little British girl.

"A substantial sum has also been spent on our defence, but two benefactors covered those expenses, which means that the money from the fund was only used in the search for our daughter," Gerry McCann stated this weekend, without any mention of the money used by the couple to pay the mortgage on their house in Rothley.

According to the British media, Brian Kennedy had never met the McCanns before their daughter Madeleine's disappearance but he now maintains daily contact with the couple.

In the Maddie case, the millionaire is renowned for his hard-working presence on the ground: he personally met with Robert Murat, to whom he allegedly made several proposals concerning the case, and he contacted several witnesses, notably the Irish man Martin Smith, the witness who states that he saw Gerry McCann carrying Maddie in his arms on the night of May 3rd 2007. It was also Brian Kennedy who, in November 2007, went to the PJ, accompanied by Antonio Jiménez, the Metodo 3 detective, who later was to be arrested for involvement in the theft of 400 kg of cocaine in the port of Barcelona.

Fifth detective agency

Having taken the decision not to cooperate in the official investigation into their daughter's disappearance, already in May 2007, the McCanns had called on several companies associated with private investigation, communication and public relations, without any of them, however, being specialised in cases of disappearance or abduction.

After Control Risks, Metodo 3, Oakley International, and a still anonymous fourth agency, now there is the question of hiring a fifth private detective agency.

"Failing to find the little girl, they will still be able to claim and to prove in court that they did indeed search," a specialist in criminal law stated about the case.

McCann case: Brian Kennedy and Metodo3 meet with the PJ

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

14/08/08

On October 19th 2007, Alberto Carbas, head of the Anti-Abduction Unit of the Spanish Department of Criminal Investigation, contacted the PJ and asked the inspectors in charge of the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance if they were willing to have a meeting with a representative of Metodo3 and an officer belonging to the Spanish unit.

The purpose of this meeting was to provide the PJ with information held by the detectives. The Spanish police officer stated that Metodo3 had no intention of interfering with the work of the Portuguese police, but only to pass on useful information. At the same meeting. Metodo3 stated that they were not working for the McCanns but for Brian Kennedy.

On November 13th 2007, the meeting took place, in Portimao. Taking part in the meeting were two PJ detectives - Ricardo Paiva and Paulo Ferreira - the director of Metodo3, Francisco Marco, a detective and advisor for the agency, Antonio Jiminez (former head of the Catalogne police Anti-Abduction unit who, later, was arrested in Spain accused of trafficking cocaine) and the millionaire Brian Kennedy.

The two PJ inspectors submitted an account of the meeting containing information exchanged and investigations concerning the leads given by Metodo3.

The report, which is amongst the documents contained on the DVD, indicates that right at the start of the meeting, Brian Kennedy was keen to stress that his intentions were purely charitable, because he felt concerned about cases of child neglect and child abduction. He stated that his concern, in this particular case, was only the truth and nothing but the truth, independently of knowing if the McCanns, their friends or any other person was involved or suspected.

The man hidden in the shadows.

The director of Metodo3 presented a report to the PJ about three situations, connected with Madeleine's disappearance, allegedly received via their hotline. The first concerned an incident that the British media had already referred to, at the end of October 2007: a woman who was babysitting at the Ocean Club, in apartment 5A in August/September 2006, spotted a man, "hidden in the shadows," one Thursday - the same day of the week that Madeleine, aged 4, disappeared," as The Sun wrote on October 31.

According to the newspaper, "the nanny - identified only as M.H. - reported the frightening incident to the police in England after the hunt for Madeleine started in May, but did not speak to the police in Portugal." Clarence Mitchell added that: "This evidence supports what we have always said, that Maddie was taken from her bed by an abductor."

The PJ ruled out this report, because the detectives considered that there was no proof that it was related to Madeleine's disappearance.

The second piece of information was about the alleged existence of a paedophile image on a computer at the home of Sergei Malinka, witnessed by the fiancé of a British woman, four years ago, when he was at Malinka's house. According to this witness, he questioned Malinka on the subject and he explained that the computer belonged to a client and that he would report it later to the authorities.

All of the computers at Malinka's house were seized and examined, but nothing of any relevance or suspicion was found, the PJ report indicates.

Murat's friend seen with Madeleine.

The third piece of information referred to a detailed witness statement, according to the Metodo 3 report, about a woman handing what the witness was convinced was a child, wrapped in a blanket or a sheet, over a fence to a man, next to two parked vehicles, near a town 160 kilometres from the Algarve. The witness, a Portuguese lorry driver, M.G., looked at several photos and picked out Michaela Walczuch, saying that was the one that most resembled the woman he had seen.

The English media also published the story on November 19th 2007, but with different details. "A witness spotted Murat's German girlfriend, Michaela Walczuch, in a car with Maddie, on May 5th, in central Portugal," the Metro wrote. On the same day, the Daily Mail published a similar story: "According to a source, a new witness identified Michaela Walczuch as the woman seen with the missing child, in central Portugal, 160 kilometres from where she disappeared on May 3rd."

As usual, Clarence Mitchell had a few things to say to the media: "We are not going to comment on any line of the investigation except to say that we are encouraged by the fact that our investigators seem to be making progress. Kate and Gerry are not ruling out any possibility."

The Pj studied this incident and questioned the Portuguese lorry driver, but the facts that he described to the police were somewhat different: he saw a woman handing something to a man, over a fence, wrapped in what looked like a blanket. It wasn't heavy, because they did it easily and the fence was around a metre sixty high. Asked if it could have been the body of a child, he responded that nothing he had seen would indicate that.

Questioned also about the positive identification of Michaela Walczuch, according to Metodo 3's report, the witness told the PJ that he couldn't see the woman's face, because he was driving his lorry at 70/80 km/hour, and the couple were at some distance. He only chose Michaela's photo from amongst the others Metodo 3 had shown him because she had the same hair colour similar build.

Duarte Levy & Paulo Reis

14/08/08

Knowing Maddie's fate depends on the McCanns' return (SOS Madeleine McCann)

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

Connaître le sort de Maddie dépend du retour des McCann

Absents de Praia da Luz pour le premier anniversaire de la disparition de leur fille Madeleine, Kate et Gerry McCann ont, une nouvelle fois, été invités par la Police Judiciaire à retourner au Portugal afin d’y participer à la reconstitution de leurs mouvements le jour et la nuit du 3 mai de l’année passé.

Absent from Praia da Luz for the first anniversary of their daughter Madeleine's disappearance, Kate and Gerry McCann, once again, are invited to return to Portugal by the PJ to participate in the reconstruction of their movements on the day and the night of May 3rd last year.

Le couple, qui n’est plus retourné au Portugal depuis qu’ils ont été constitués arguidos dans l’enquête à la disparition de Madeleine et leur immédiat retour à Rothley, continue à refuser tout déplacement malgré l’importance accordé par la police portugaise et britannique à cette reconstitution que permettrait de faire évoluer les investigations.

The couple, who have not been back to Portugal since they were made arguidos in the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance and their immediate return to Rothley, continue to refuse to go in spite of the importance placed on this reconstruction by Portuguese and British police, which would allow them to make progress with the investigations.

Hier, Alipio Ribeiro, directeur nationale de la Police Judiciaire (PJ) à réaffirmé l’importance du retour des McCann à Praia da Luz dans le cadre de l’enquête, soulignant que Kate et Gerry doivent se plier aux exigences de la loi portugaise.

Yesterday, Alipio Ribeiro, national director of the PJ reaffirmed the importance of the McCanns' return to Praia da Luz within the framework of the enquiry, stressing that Kate and Gerry must comply with the requirements of Portuguese law.

Une opinion partagé à Enderby (Leicestershire – RU) où plusieurs officiers britanniques ont confirmé l’importance du retour de Kate et Gerry McCann, accompagnés des sept amis du couple, à Praia da Luz : "Connaître le sort de Madeleine peux dépendre de leur retour et de leur participation aux diverses diligences demandées par la police," à dit un des officiers.

An opinion shared in Enderby (Leicestershire - UK) where several British police officers confirmed the importance of Kate and Gerry McCann's return, accompanied by the couple's seven friends, to Praia da Luz: "Knowing Madeleine's fate may depend on their return and their participation in the various activities requested by the police," said one of the police officers.

Jusqu’ici, malgré les affirmations contradictoires de leur avocat au Portugal et de leur chargé en communication au Royaume-Uni, Kate et Gerry McCann ont toujours refusé d’effectuer le voyage, imposant comme condition à leur retour que leur statut d’arguidos soit levé.

Until now, in spite of contradictory statements by their lawyer in Portugal and their Media spokesman in the UK, Kate and Gerry McCann have always refused to undertake the journey, imposing the condition on their return that their arguido status is lifted.

Contrairement aux McCann, Robert Murat, l’autre arguido dans l’enquête, à manifesté sa totale disponibilité pour participer aux nouvelles diligences demandées par les enquêteurs, comme le confirme son avocat, Maître Francisco Pagarete.

Unlike the mcCanns, Robert Murat, the other arguido in the enquiry, has shown his total willingness to participate in the new activities requested by the investigators, as his lawyer, Me Francisco Pagarete confirms.

Murat, voisin du complexe touristique de la Mark Warner, était devenue arguido dans l’enquête à la disparition de Madeleine après avoir été dénoncé par deux autres britanniques, parmi elles la journaliste Lori Campbell, qui continue à accompagner l’affaire McCann pour le tabloïde The Mirror.

Murat, a neighbour of the Mark Warner tourist complex, became an arguido in the enquiry into Madeleine's disappearance after being denounced by two other British people, one of them being the journalist Lori Campbell, who continues to follow the McCann case for the tabloid The Mirror.

"J’ai trouvé très étrange qu’il parle beaucoup de la fillette, surtout du travail de la police et de l’état de l’enquête. Par ailleurs, il était très flou sur son passé", avait raconté Lori Campbell aux autres journalistes après avoir fait part de ses soupçons à la police britannique et à l’ambassade du Royaume-Uni au Portugal, qui ne s’est pas privé d’intervenir dans l’enquête de la PJ.

"I found it strange that he talked a lot about the little girl, especially about the work of the police and the status of the investigation. Also, he was very vague about his past," Lori Campbell had told other journalists after having shared her suspicions with the British police and the UK ambassador to Portugal, who did not hesitate to intervene in the PJ enquiry.

Brian Kennedy avait rencontré Murat

Les enquêteurs de la Police Judiciaire et leurs collègues britanniques s’interrogent toujours à propos des réelles intentions du multimillionnaire Brian Kennedy après la récente révélation de que celui-ci est retournée au Portugal, à la fin de l’année passé, pour y rencontrer Robert Murat, un des arguidos de l’enquête à la disparition de Madeleine McCann.

Brian Kennedy had met Murat.

The PJ investigators and their British colleagues still question the actual intentions of the multi-millionaire Brian Kennedy after the recent revelation that he returned to Portugal at the end of last year, to meet Robert Murat, one of the arguidos in the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

Le multimillionnaire soutient financièrement Kate et Gerry McCann depuis plusieurs mois, c’est lui qui prends en charge une partie des honoraires et frais de l’agence de détectives espagnole Metodo 3 et la totalité des salaires de Clarence Mitchell, le responsable en communication du couple.

The multi-millionaire has been supporting Kate and Gerry McCann financially for several months. It is he who pays a portion of the fees of the Spanish detective agency, Metodo 3 and the whole salary of Clarence Mitchell, the couple's media spokesman.

Avec nouveau contrat Metodo 3 "se doit de penser que Maddie est en vie

L’agence de détectives Metodo 3, basé à Barcelone, à vu le contrat avec Kate et Gerry McCann prolongée pour six mois de plus, comme l’a confirmée son directeur, Francisco Marco, dans une entrevue à la télévision espagnole.

With a new contract Metodo 3 must think that Maddie is alive.

The detective agency Metodo 3, based in Barcelona, has had its contract with Kate and Gerry McCann extended for six more months, as confirmed by their director, Francisco Marco, in an interview for Spanish television.

Plus prudent que par le passé, le controversé directeur de Metodo 3 n’a pas affirmé catégoriquement que Madeleine soit toujours en vie, comme il l’avait fait à plusieurs reprises par le passé. Selon Francisco Marco, quand il parle à la famille de Madeleine il se doit de penser que l’enfant est encore en vie sinon "il est très difficile de faire son travail."

More circumspect than in the past, the controversial director of Metodo 3 did not state categorically that Madeleine was alive, as he had done several times in the past. According to Francisco Marco, when he talks to Madeleine's family he must believe that the child is still alive otherwise, "it is very difficult to work for them."

Francisco Marco à encore affirmé que son équipe aurait suivi des signalements de Maddie dans 25 à 30 pays, sans toutefois préciser comment son agence, très limité en personnel, aurait pu le faire.

Francisco Marco further stated that his team had followed up sightings of Maddie in 25 to 30 countries, without being precise about how his agency, of very limited staff, could have done this.

Pour le directeur de Metodo 3, "les parents de Madeleine sont absolument innocents" même si le détective reconnaît baser base son opinion sur ses convictions personnelles prises après avoir vu le comportement des parents avec les deux autres enfants du couple (Sean et Amélie) et un entretien de cinq minutes avec Kate McCann.

For the director of Metodo 3, "Madeleine's parents are completely innocent," even if the detective admits basing his opinion on his personal convictions after having seen the parents' behaviour towards the couple's two other children (Sean and Amelie) and a five minute interview with Kate McCann.

"Ils étaient dans un pays étranger, ne parlaient pas la langue, alors quand leur enfant a disparu leur première réaction a été de prendre contact avec des personnes et les médias au Royaume-Uni," à conclu Francisco Marco.

"They were in a strange country, did not speak the language, so when their child disappeared their first reaction was to make contact with people and the media in the UK," concluded Francisco Marco.

Nouveau cas de négligence par des parents britanniques à Algarve

Un nouveau cas de négligence, mettant en cause un couple de nationalité irlandaise et ses trois enfants, devra être examiné aujourd’hui par le Tribunal de Faro (Algarve). Selon le magistrat de permanence, la GNR - l’équivalent de l’ancienne gendarmerie belge - à été alerté ce week-end par le personnel d’un hôtel de Loulé signalant la présence d’un couple complètement ivre, dans un état proche du coma éthylique, en compagnie de trois enfants.

A new case of negligence by British parents in the Algarve.

A new case of negligence, involving a couple of Irish nationality and their three children, will be examined today by the court in Faro (Algarve) According to the residing magistrate, the GNR - the equivalent of the former Belgian gendarmerie - were alerted this weekend by staff at a Loulé hotel, reporting the presence of a totally drunk couple, close to a state of alcoholic coma, accompanied by three children.

Constatant l’état des parents, les agents de la police ont pris en charge les trois enfants, un bébé d’un an et ses frères de trois et six ans, jusqu’à l’arrivée d’une assistante sociale.

Noting the state of the parents, the police officers took charge of the three children, a one year-old baby and his two brothere aged three and six, until a social worker arrived.

Pendant que le couple, de 32 et 35 ans, a été conduit sans connaissance par une ambulance vers l’hôpital de Loulé (Algarve), les enfants, après avoir été examinés par un médecin, ont été confiées au Refúgio Aboim Ascensão, un centre d’accueil et d’aide à l’enfance, où ils sont arrivés vers cinq heures du matin.

While the couple, aged 32 and 35, were taken unconscious by ambulance to the Loulé hospital (Algarve), the children, after having been examined by a doctor, were admitted to the Refúgio Aboim Ascensão, a reception centre for helping children, where they arrived around five o'clock in the morning.

Le même jour ou, à Praia da Luz, ont signalait le premier anniversaire de la disparition de Madeleine McCann, que ses parents avaient laissé sans surveillance dans leur appartement de vacances, ce nouveau cas de négligence renforce la conviction des autorités portugaises de qu’il est nécessaire sensibiliser les milliers de touristes, à majorité des britanniques que chaque année choisissent le sud du Portugal pour ces vacances, à propos des consignes de sécurité à prendre avec des enfants.

On the same day when, in Praia da Luz, the first anniversary was marked of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, whose parents had left her without supervision in their holiday apartment, this new case of negligence reinforced the conviction of the Portuguese authorities that it is necessary to make the thousands of tourists, the majority British who each year choose the south of Portugal for their holidays, aware of the security measures to take with their children.

Malgré la mise en danger des enfants, le magistrat du Ministère Public (MP), contre l’avis du responsable du centre d’aide à l’enfance, a accordé que les parents puissent récupérez les enfants après leur sortie de l’hôpital. Le couple risque une peine de prison allant de 2 à 5 ans pour mise en danger, voire abandon d’enfants.

In spite of the children being put in danger, the magistrate of the Public Ministry (MP), against the opinion of the head of the centre for helping children, decided that the parents could recover their children after they left the hospital. The couple risk a prison sentence of 2 to 5 years for placing children in danger by abandoning them.

Selon Luis Villas-Boas, responsable du centre d’accueil et d’aide à l’enfance, "il s’agit d’un cas grave de négligence" ou, heureusement, un drame à été évité grâce à la réaction du personnel de l’hôtel qui avait fait appel aux pompiers et à la police.

According to Luis Villas-Boas, head of the centre for helping children, "it is a serious case of negligence," where happily, a tragedy has been averted thanks to the reaction of the hotel staff who had called the fire service and the police.

Selon les agents de la police locale, dans le frigo de l’appartement de vacances occupé par cette famille il n’y avait rien de prévu pour les enfants, uniquement de l’alcool pour les parents.

According to the local police officers, in the fridge of the holiday apartment occupied by this family there was nothing planned for the children, only alcohol for the parents.

L’information est reprise aujourd’hui par la presse britannique et portugaise ou, une fois encore, ont constate la différence de traitement donné par les journalistes des deux pays : si les portugais ont gardé l’habituel anonymat du couple, la presse britannique n’a pas hésité à divulguer l’identité des parents et, par conséquence, des enfants.

The information was taken up today by the British and Portuguese press where, once again, the difference in treatment by journalists of the two countries, was noted: if the Portuguese maintained the usual anonymity of the couple, the British press did not hesitate to divulge the identity of the parents and, as a consequence, of the children.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

5/05/08