Recording Misinformation

[Jayelles]

I apologise for my complete lack of imagination in naming this thread. I intend this to be a thread where we can record those "facts" and "claims" and pieces of "evidence" which turned out to be false. If anyone can think of a better name for the thread, then maybe we could ask Riviera to change it.

I want to start with one which is in today's news:-

Since naming them as official suspects, Portuguese police have leaked several allegations against Kate and Gerry, both 39-year-old doctors from Rothley, Leics.

They claimed they could have disposed of Maddie’s body on a “suspicious” trip to Spain on August 3. And they say Spanish police were also examining CCTV footage of the day trip to the city of Huelva just over the border.

But yesterday Spain’s civil guard denied any involvement, adding weight to the McCanns’ insistence that they are being smeared by unnamed police sources.

Spokesman Antonio Castilla said: “We are not investigating the McCann parents in any way, shape or form. The reports are false.”

[JBRnotforgotten]

I think the title is fine for this thread , I also had thought about starting one called false accusations and misleads..This is a great site to post all the untrue facts..

[Pelicanette]

I think the Portuguese police tried to bluff and badger the McCanns into a confession, and it did not work. Kate and Gerry stood firm in their innocence.

The "masses" of hair from Madeleine that were supposedly in the rental car turned out to be a joke. There were mere "fragments" of hair and none of them could be matched to Madeleine.

The "bodily fluids" that were supposedly in the car could not be matched to Madeleine either or to any crime. Those fluids were urine, not blood or other fluids from a cadaver.

The police have said that they cannot even prove that Madeleine is dead and they have not found a body, but they accused the parents of killing her. How can that be, if they do not even know the child is dead?

The so-called sniffer dogs seem to be "alerting" every fifteen minutes and on a variety of people, places and things. Many of those leaks cannot be true. Or either the dogs are completely unreliable.

Rumors about the entries in Kate's diary are just that...rumors. But so what if she wrote that it was sometimes difficult to handle three young children and that the dad was not always helpful. Ninety-nine per cent of mothers would say that, whether they wrote it down or not! It is not proof of murder or of lack of love for the kids.

I see no proof of anything at all. The police have not done their jobs. Their main job is to find Madeleine, dead or alive, and they have not.

[Jayelles]

Regarding yesterday's slur against Gerry McCann:-

Madeleine's father was earlier branded "negligent" over claims his daughter's abductor was hiding in their holiday apartment.

A senior Portuguese police officer also described Gerry McCann's theory as "ridiculous".


Madeleine went missing on May 3. Gerry believes someone was hiding in his daughter's bedroom when he checked on Madeleine and her siblings in Praia Da Luz on the night of May 3.

But the head of Portugal's police federation, Carlos Anjos, told Diaria de Noticas: "Since their daughter disappeared, Gerry and Kate have followed a strategy of almost daily announcements of new facts.

"Four months after his daughter's disappearance - a period in which he was interviewed various times by the Policia Judiciaria - he remembered that a man was hidden in his apartment where his three children were sleeping, at a time in which he went to check if the kids were okay.

"If he was suspicious that there was a man in the apartment, and then he calmly went to dinner, then words cannot describe how negligent he is as a father."

Clarence Mitchell, the family's spokesman, said Mr McCann's fears came to him only after Madeleine's abduction and Mr Anjos had "totally misunderstood" what he said.

He said: "This was in the original witness statement.

"There is nothing that has come out recently that should be of surprise to the officers."


http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91210-1286675,00.html

This doesn't surprise me in the least.

[andU]

Regarding yesterday's slur against Gerry McCann:-



http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91210-1286675,00.html

This doesn't surprise me in the least.

Nor am I surprised; very pleased, though!

[Jayelles]

This isn't really "misinformation" as such but is perhaps more of a "misunderstanding. It follows on from a private discussion I had with an American friend.

Some people in the US think/assume the McCanns are wealthy because they are both doctors but in fact, they probably aren't all that wealthy! Certainly not in the league of US doctors anyway!

The McCanns are both NHS doctors - i.e. paid by the State. Gerry will certainly have a good salary but he'll earn a fraction of the salary of a US doctor. Also, house prices are high where they live and they quite probably have a big mortgage! Neither of them came from privileged backgrounds so they almost certainly didn't start out with "money".

Add to that the fact that Kate is a part-time GP locum - i.e. she filled in a few hours here and there if a GP was off sick. Kind of like a part-time supply teacher. Add to THAT the fact that she's probably not worked much at all in the past 4+ years due to having had two maternity leaves.

Finally, a significant indication of their down-to-earth-ness is the fact that Maddie was enrolled to attend an ordinary State school (as opposed to a private/fee paying one).

You can tell from Kate's accent that she is "ordinary". Gerry has a broad Glaswegian accent, but sounds more refined (well - as refined as a Glaswegian can sound!). He also comes from a working class background so he may have refined his accent naturally through moving to England (where they get subtitles for Scottish tv programmes) ... and speaking at medical conferences.

[Pelicanette]

I have friends who are British, and they said that doctors there normally do not make huge salaries.

Still, on some forums peopled almost entirely by British posters, many of them look upon the McCanns as rather "upper crust," it seems.

I get the impression that some classes there do not like the McCanns because of class issues, but I could be wrong about that.

[andU]

IMO, the first 'class' that they are in is the class of parenthood. I haven't given any thought to how much or how little they have; stature and class may no difference to me. They are human beings; they are parents. Their hearts are breaking and they have to be in fear of the outcome of this entire fiasco.

[JBRnotforgotten]

IMO, the first 'class' that they are in is the class of parenthood. I haven't given any thought to how much or how little they have; stature and class may no difference to me. They are human beings; they are parents. Their hearts are breaking and they have to be in fear of the outcome of this entire fiasco.

I agree I dont care if they are broke they want their child back.....Any body whom has the will power can get people to help with a search like the mccanns are you dont have to be rich to talk to reporters or news people and print ads and so on

[Jayelles]

I agree I dont care if they are broke they want their child back.....Any body whom has the will power can get people to help with a search like the mccanns are you dont have to be rich to talk to reporters or news people and print ads and so on

You are so right. Cases like this bring out the best...and worst in people. On the one hand, you will get people who seem to get high on kicking the parents to the kerb (curb?) And on the other hand, you will find the wee Granny who doesn't have two beans to rub together giving some of her meagre pension to the search fund.

[Pelicanette]

Class should certainly play no part in a case like this. I see Kate and Gerry as very normal people, nothing unusual or strange about them at all. Yes, they made a mistake leaving the children alone, but that does not indicate a disregard for their kids or a lack of love. And it certainly is not proof that they in any way harmed Maddy. I think Maddy is still alive somewhere. I really do.

[Lili007]

Class should certainly play no part in a case like this. I see Kate and Gerry as very normal people, nothing unusual or strange about them at all. Yes, they made a mistake leaving the children alone, but that does not indicate a disregard for their kids or a lack of love. And it certainly is not proof that they in any way harmed Maddy. I think Maddy is still alive somewhere. I really do.

I hope you're right. Maddy hasn't been seen nor heard from since.

I have no doubt that "Kate" and "Gerry" are "normal pleple. You must know them well, much better than I do.

The thing is... when you make a "mistake" with your child... there's no turning back. She's gone. Hopefully, her parents' night out was worth it, which of course it was not.

Hopefully, when parents take time off to drink it up, dinner up and just generally have a good time in the tropics... they shouldn't leave their children unsupervised. Not unless they want their children back at the end of the night, IMO.

JMO

[SaraSidle]

I hope you're right. Maddy hasn't been seen nor heard from since.

I have no doubt that "Kate" and "Gerry" are "normal pleple. You must know them well, much better than I do.

The thing is... when you make a "mistake" with your child... there's no turning back. She's gone. Hopefully, her parents' night out was worth it, which of course it was not.

Hopefully, when parents take time off to drink it up, dinner up and just generally have a good time in the tropics... they shouldn't leave their children unsupervised. Not unless they want their children back at the end of the night, IMO.

JMO

I am right with you there Lili007..completely. IMO