The McCanns have admitted that, though they believed it was safe to do so at the time, it clearly was a mistake to leave the children alone in the apartment. They have said that this decision will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Their actions in this respect were not found after full investigation by the Portuguese authorities to have constituted neglect, that accusation against them was specifically rejected.
Given those facts, what does the continued hounding of the parents over this issue actually achieve? What is its purpose?
Do the people who engage in this activity do so as public-spirited citizens who feel duty bound to warn the McCanns of the perils of such behaviour? Seriously? Do these people not realise that the loss of a daughter has already had that effect?
Do they do it as a public service perhaps, as the clarion call of danger? Is the motive to warn others of the perils? Well the same answer applies? Is the loss of Madeleine, not warning enough?
Or do they do it as surrogate judge, jury and punishment officer, taking over where they have decided the Portuguese and UK authorities have failed? Do they believe that this hounding is a deserved punishment for the McCann's behaviour and though the legal authorities have deemed otherwise their attitude is that these parents are, by the court of lynch mob opinion, to be seen as guilty? Remember the one specific allegation of a crime by the McCanns which was dismissed by the Portuguese authorities was that of neglect so it can only be lynch mob justice which hands down punishment.
Whichever motive those hounding the McCanns have for their action and it may not be one of the above, there is a consequence to their action which they appear to ignore.
We cannot affect what happened back in 2007 in any way, but our behaviour and more specifically their behaviour can and does have effects today. The continued hounding of the McCanns and their Tapas friends for whatever reason has consequences beyond the effect on the parents of Madeleine and their friends. It has direct effects on the lives of the other children caught up as part of the families.
The name calling, the threats, the accusations of all kinds without any proof of any of them is simply abuse not only of the parents and the Tapas group themselves but of their children who will be taunted over these allegations throughout their school lives and beyond. And not one of the allegations is even remotely backed up with proof.
It is simply not good enough to repeat the mantra that the McCanns shouldn't have left the children and that its their fault all this happened.
The reality is that those doing the hounding should also take responsibility now for their actions too. It is their actions which now constitute child abuse. It is their allegations which they simply cannot prove (no-one can) about the McCanns and the rest of the group which will form the basis of the taunts directed at those young children. It is the hounders who are ensuring that those young children cannot escape from such abuse.
There is simply no excuse for abusing children even if that abuse is by proxy through attacks on the parents, particularly when there isn't any proof at all that the allegations being made are true.
If any of those who think it is clever to hound the McCanns have children, then I hope they think carefully about how they would feel if their children were the target of vile abuse because of some mistake they may have made in the past? Perhaps they think it is right for children to be abused in this way? It certainly is beginning to look that way to me.
I read the first 2 paragraphs of your text and it was so biased I didn't care to read the rest, so I won't pronounce about it.
Whatever move you wish to make, the fact is that what the McCann testified (I am not saying that is the truth, in fact I doubt it very much), leaving 3 children under 4 y.o. alone in an apartment, and that is crime, even more so in the UK. In fact, all of the Tapas9 committed a crime if they all left their children alone.
They all made attempts to dismiss that by stating that they made 15 min checks. That is not only not reasonable as doesn't diminishes the fact that if they left the children alone at the apartments it's a crime.
If they weren't condemned it was because they were clever enough to create the pandemonium that was the first months around them with diplomats, PRs, media... and your little neighbour.
The PJ wanted to take action, but the Ambassador was very persuasive to the Pm and the Minister of Justice and from that to the Attorney General, and Mr. Blair even sent a member of the Staff,....and so on...and the McCann arranged great sponsors to go on TV, the journos, giving interviews to this world and Mars, and gallivanting around the world as if they were the stars of Hollywood, not giving a shyte for the twins that were left to their fate, first with the Nannies from the Ocean Club that they didn't trust to babysit them at night, and then with relatives that got their new summer outfits and paraded around the beach and the pools as if it was a big party.
And Madeleine, where was she in all of this?
She was a marketing ploy (as her father said in the interview to the Vanity magazine), it didn't matter that if by exhibiting her distinctive marks they put a death robe over her...The Fund was raised, the money was coming and the life was great.
They never had had such a life. They could even pay their 2 months old mortgage out of the donations.
Mrs McCann could go 2/3 times a week to the hairdresser, for the photo shootings...everyone was great.
But where was Madeleine?
She "woshshh..cluck", said Mrs McCann to her friend O'Connor.
She wooshclucked and left her family living the life they never had, on top of the donations they asked to look for her, which they never did.
But no, they were not neglectful, just greedy. After all why did Madeleine get "in the situation she got herself into" (Gerry McCann, 2007, on TV)????
