The McCanns

[wjp666]

sorry to bring the tone of the forum down, but since libel and slander rules don't really apply here, i thought this might be interesting.

 

i'll go first...

 

GUILTY!

[oldspice]

As evidence stands at the moment, NOT GUILTY!

 

NONE of the forensic evidence has been made public. ALL of it is speculation. The MCCanns would receive a grossly unfair trial if charged because most of what is being said is based on GOSSIP and not evidence.

 

My heart goes out to them.

 

Having said that, they should NOT have left their children alone. To me, it is unthinkable.

 

As evidence stands at the moment, NOT GUILTY!

NONE of the forensic evidence has been made public. ALL of it is speculation. The MCCanns would receive a grossly unfair trial if charged because most of what is being said is based on GOSSIP and not evidence.

My heart goes out to them.

Having said that, they should NOT have left their children alone. To me, it is unthinkable.

You NAILED it Oldspice.
My thoughts exactly.
I have no interest in reading GOSSIP about the situation.
I await concrete proof of what actually happened, should it ever be found. Speculation is just distasteful to the little girl's memory ( if she is sadly dead).
I really hate the media and those who follow it as their God. paulham2007-09-13 19:58:19

[wjp666]

oooh - controversy.

[loulou]

wjp do you think the mother has buried her near to the church?

I think there is a lot we don't know about in this case, which has fuelled speculation. On the face of it, it's unthinkable that apparently doting parents would murder their own little girl, but the Portuguese police must have some evidence to make them suspects.  Personally I would like to think they are innocent but we'll have to wait and see.

 

For the record, if I had children I would not leave them alone in a house for one minute!  Also WJP666, as Chocadmin will tell you, libel rules do apply here.  Slander doesn't has that has to be spoken.

 

Bounty

[naxos]

None of these messages are libellous (yet) and defamation is notoriously difficult to prove because it's largely personal opinion.

As the story is not under a D-notice and evidence, albeit still only alleged evidence and speculation, has been discussed in the public domain, a brief would argue that they are 'fair comment' and part of a 'legitimate public discussion'.

For my own contribution, I wonder what the public and press reaction would have been if the McCann's were off a council estate and had left their three children - all under four mind - alone in a flat whilst they went off to play bingo at the working mens club? Hmmm...

[loulou]

Exactly. Kids should not be left alone in any country. I don't understand why the McCanns didn't want to use the child minding service that was offered to them. I also don't understand how everytime I saw the mother on tv she had a full face of make up on along with her dangly earrings. My make up and earrings would be the last thing on my mind in that situation.

I'm not saying anything we have said is libellous but that it's possible to commit libel on the forum.

[loulou]

It's possible to commit allsorts on forums.

[naxos]

Does anybody else think those fruit allsorts are horrible?

[smurfboy]

In many ways I was hoping we could avoid this topic, but seeing as it's here now I'll add my thoughts.

Paulham's point about the media is interesting, as it appears to me in this case, the papers are declaring the McCanns innocent without trial - which is a very different thing from innocent until proven guilty. The 'party line' seems to be that we should all be horrified the Portuguese police are even considering the McCanns as suspects, let alone questioning them. But what happens if it is proven they did kill the child? The same papers will be ranting and raving about what a disgrace it is that it took so long for the parents to be named as suspects! I only know what I have read in terms of evidence, but while this could have been exaggerated or misrepresented, I do not believe it has been entirely fabricated, so the police are doing 100% the right thing in following it up.

All along in this case I have felt somewhat uncomfortable about how the McCanns have 'played' the media to suit their needs. The fact that they left small children alone in a hotel room/apartment in a foreign country barely gets a mention, as if it's a mistake anyone could make. Yes, in an ideal world you should never have to think 'what if someone takes my child away?' because in an ideal world it wouldn't happen. But it does, so we do have to think like that. As Naxos said, would parents on a council estate get the same sympathy as two doctors are getting?

So guilty or not guilty? Thankfully that's not for me to decide. But I won't apologise to anyone for considering the question - and neither should the Portugeuse police.

As a side note to this, it was reported in yesterday's Metro that a man had been convicted of murdering his daughter. It got a small paragraph on page 16.

[wjp666]

wjp do you think the mother has buried her near to the church?

 

as an ill-informed member of the public with only my frail opinion in hand, i'm sure they probably killed her in one way or another. in my opinion, there was something very wrong with the way they both acted in the weeks following her 'disappearance'. i was personally very dubious about there whole story before it was even revealed they may be suspects. as for burying, it's impossible to say when or where. chances are we'll never know. the church theory is probably just some media influenced guesswork.

 

(and as for slander - i seriously doubt anyone is going to give a flying hoot what members of a chocolate forum think of all this.)

wjp6662007-09-14 16:57:23

[oldspice]

None of these messages are libellous (yet) and defamation is notoriously difficult to prove because it's largely personal opinion.

As the story is not under a D-notice and evidence, albeit still only alleged evidence and speculation, has been discussed in the public domain, a brief would argue that they are 'fair comment' and part of a 'legitimate public discussion'.

For my own contribution, I wonder what the public and press reaction would have been if the McCann's were off a council estate and had left their three children - all under four mind - alone in a flat whilst they went off to play bingo at the working mens club? Hmmm...

 

In this situation, I would be saying exactly the same thing.  They should not have been left alone, but the parents are guilty ONLY of that as the evidence presents itself. As I said previously, NO forensic evidence has been released by the police because they are not allowed to do so. Most of the 'evidence' being sited by people has been gained from gossip leaked to the press.

 

Let's hope there is a happy ending.

Gordon Brown messes with sheep.  There I've libelled the Prime Minister.