Madeleine McCann: Lawyer says 'Kate and Gerry McCann guilty of neglect for leaving her - and they weren't charged'
14 January 2014 12:00 AM By Adam Aspinall
Gareth Morgan made the shocking claim while acting for a drink-driving mum who left her five-year-old son, who has Asperger syndrome, home alone at night
Search agony: Gerry and Kate McCann with image of how Maddie might look today
A lawyer accused Madeleine McCann’s parents of child neglect as he defended his own client in an “outrageous” courtroom speech.
Gareth Morgan made the shocking claim while acting for a drink-driving mum who left her five-year-old son, who has Asperger syndrome, home alone at night.
Yesterday a friend of Kate and Gerry McCann, both 45, blasted the comparison as “insensitive and plain wrong”.
The mum, 44, was caught after she crashed into a car at traffic lights. When the police went to her home they found the “extremely vulnerable” boy there.
The woman, who cannot be named, admitted neglect and was spared jail. But Mr Morgan pleaded for her freedom on the basis that Kate and Gerry McCann were never prosecuted for leaving daughter Madeleine alone in their holiday flat.
He told magistrates in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales: “The parents of Madeleine McCann were guilty of child neglect for leaving their little girl much longer than my client. They were never prosecuted.
"The mother in this case is ashamed and remorseful at putting her young child at risk in the way she did.”
The McCanns left three-year-old Madeleine in their apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz while they dined with friends at a nearby tapas bar in May 2007.
Madeline McCann reconstruction and appeal from Crimewatch
Last night a close pal of the couple, of Rothley, Leics, said: “The comments are insensitive and plain wrong. Kate and Gerry will be furious. The circumstances are totally different and not comparable.
“If Kate and Gerry were guilty of child neglect, and they were absolutely not, they would have been dealt with. As it is, there are two police inquiries in two different countries trying to find out what happened to Madeleine, and comments made by a lawyer in an unrelated case is offensive, outrageous and inaccurate.
"It is his opinion, but it is a disgrace that a defence lawyer is commenting on Kate and Gerry in this way. They will not be happy about that.”
Merthyr Tydfil magistrates heard the mum was more than two-and-a-half times the limit when she drove to a supermarket cashpoint shortly before midnight.
On the way back she smashed into the rear of a car being driven by Bronnie-May Dunn, 21, who had stopped at a red traffic light.
Miss Dunn suffered head injuries in the crash but the woman shouted at her: “That was your f****** fault.”
Police followed the woman home but she told them: “I can’t be arrested, my son is in the house and he’s only five.”
Prosecutor Stephen Head said: “Sure enough, when police went into the house they found the boy asleep under a blanket on the settee.”
The woman pleaded guilty to child neglect, drink-driving and leaving an accident. She got a 12-month supervision order, was ordered to carry out 120 hours’ unpaid work and told to attend a course. She was also banned from driving for 22 months.
Probation officer Graham Craig said: “His mother accepts full responsibility and knows a potentially catastrophic situation could have developed while she was out.”
The McCanns would not be drawn on Mr Morgan’s claim last night. Spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “We will not comment on details in a court case.” Mr Morgan could not be reached.
Meanwhile, British police hunting for Madeleine are poised to make their first arrests. They are heading to the Algarve and want to quiz three burglars behind raids in Praia da Luz. Records show the men made numerous calls to each other after she disappeared.
