McCanns shut down official find Madeleine Twitter account after being trolled by supporters of Ben Needham's family
By Emma Glanfield for MailOnline
Published: 16:18 EST, 6 October 2015 | Updated: 18:25 EST, 6 October 2015
The official Twitter account behind the search for missing youngster Madeleine McCann has been shut down after being trolled by supporters of Ben Needham's family.
Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of three-year-old Madeleine who disappeared in Portugal in 2007, decided to close the official Twitter account after receiving 'toxic content' and 'hatred'.
The parents said it was a 'great pity' that they had to take such action to close the social media page but said the 'abusive comments' were hampering the search for their daughter.
Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of three-year-old Madeleine who disappeared in Portugal in 2007, have decided to close the official @findmadeleine Twitter account after receiving 'toxic content' and 'hatred'
The decision to close the @findmadeleine account comes after administrators behind the McCann family blocked the Twitter account which supports the campaign to find missing Ben Needham
The decision to close the @findmadeleine (pictured left) account comes after administrators behind the McCann family blocked the Twitter account which supports the campaign to find missing Ben Needham (right)
It comes after administrators behind the McCann family's appeal blocked the Twitter account which supports the campaign to find Ben Needham, who went missing in Kos in 1991, aged 21 months.
At the weekend, the official @findmadeleine Twitter feed blocked the @FindBenNeedham account.
They said they did not want to be 'associated with some of the types of people they [@FindBen Needham] follow'.
It came after Ben's mother Kerry Needham publicly questioned the £10.1million which has so far been spent by Operation Grange to find Madeleine.
Worldwide searches to find both Madeleine, who disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia De Luz, and Ben – who went missing from the Greek Island of Kos – remain ongoing. Both sets of parents believe their children could still be alive.
Announcing the decision to shut down the official @findmadeleine Twitter account, a spokesman for the McCanns wrote on the 'Official Find Madeleine Campaign' Facebook page: 'It's time to remove ourselves from a place that allows so much toxic content to be directed at us and does not permit us the ability to protect ourselves from people who want to damage the search for Madeleine.
'When I started our Facebook and Twitter accounts in 2008, I convinced Kate and Gerry it was a great way to raise awareness. Since that time, I have witnessed overwhelming kindness.
'There is no doubt that the good far outweigh the bad. The vast majority of people care about Madeleine deeply and want to see her come home to her family where she belongs.
'I have been dismayed, however, at some of the hatred and sheer viciousness directed at Kate and Gerry through our social media accounts for no logical reason at all.'
Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Gerry and Kate McCann, said there was no ongoing negativity or bad blood between the family and the Needhams. Both sets of parents believe their missing children may still be alive
Ben Needham's mother Kerry publicly questioned the £10.1million which has so far been spent by Operation Grange to find Madeleine. Shortly afterwards, the McCann family stopped supporting his campaign online
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Ben Needham's mother Kerry publicly questioned the £10.1million which has so far been spent by Operation Grange to find Madeleine. Shortly afterwards, the McCann family stopped supporting his campaign online
'At times, it has had me in tears. It is hard to accept that some people can be so cruel to a family that has already experienced the worst pain imaginable.
'Further, in the past three weeks on Twitter, we have found ourselves in the uncomfortable position of being expected to "follow" people who align themselves with accounts that abuse us in the most vile ways on a regular basis.
'As a result, deleting our Twitter account is the only option left to protect ourselves and the search for Madeleine.'
Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for the McCann family, said there was no ongoing negativity between the family and the Needhams.
Deleting our Twitter account is the only option left to protect ourselves and the search for Madeleine
Official Find Madeleine Campaign
'Kate and Gerry have always supported the campaign to find Ben Needham,' he said. 'Indeed, they have promoted it on the Find Madeleine Campaign social media platform.
'However, it is a great pity that due to continued, ill-informed and abusive comments by some social media users, the decision was made to close the Find Madeleine Twitter account.
'Kate and Gerry continue to wish Kerry Needham the best and hope that one day she will be reunited with Ben, just as they continue to hope that they will similarly be reunited with Madeleine.'
Following the announcement, the 'Help Find Ben Needham' Facebook page responded to thank members of the public for their support.
A statement added: 'All recent posts regarding Twitter have been deleted and can we please ask you to keep this page about Ben and we all move on. We thank you all for your continuing support. #helpfindben'
Last month, a former police chief called for the worldwide search for Madeleine to be scaled down.
Forensic police officers preparing to examine a hole in an area of wasteland in the ongoing hunt for Madeleine
The Metropolitan Police took over the hunt in 2011 after Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry made a personal plea to David Cameron.
No arrests have been made in four years and the Met has been facing ongoing calls to wind down the inquiry, including from former Flying Squad chief John O'Connor.
He said: 'You can't keep chasing shadows, chasing sightings all over the world.
'It depends on whether the detectives are making any real progress. If there are no firm leads, and by that I mean no substantial operational things like active surveillance on suspects, then I'd have thought they should be considering winding it down now.
'Are there more recent cases that could be progressed with the right resources? It's about priorities.'
John Tully, who chairs the Met Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, also said the case is 'impacting on workloads'.
However, Scotland Yard responded to the calls by claiming the case wasn't 'impacting on other operations in London'.
OPERATION GRANGE: POLICE'S £11MILLION BILL IN SEARCH FOR MADELEINE
Madeleine was on holiday with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann and two younger twin siblings when she went missing from their apartment in Praia da Luz.
Portuguese police carried out an investigation into her disappearance but the case was closed in 2008, after the McCanns were cleared of being suspects.
They continued the hunt for their daughter using private detectives until Scotland Yard agreed to open its own inquiry, Operation Grange, in 2011.
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