I_Will_Freckle

No one knows that for sure. In fact, no one knows whether she is dead or not.

willmore

Very true, I will change my statement to reflect that. Thanks.

Fleaflyfloflum

I find it a little annoying that some are full of fire and brimstone, damning these people is such a vitriolic way.
He who is without sin cast the first stone as they say.

Yes, they are guilty as hell of making a bad decision and making the wrong choice. Tell me all you damners out there, have you gone through your life being Mr and Mrs Perfect?? Please dont say you havent as i will readily cast you as a liar.
Anyone on this forum who has raised children to adulthood will tell you the same thing if they are truly honest. Every single one of us has made mistakes and said, or done things we should not have done and this includes childcare.
Holier than though attitudes help no on in this case. We all get it wrong at times. The difference for these people has been the dire consequences. And please dont think i condone what they did because i certainly do not. I am just appaulled at some peoples hypocrosy.

Whatever the outcome, these people will have to live the rest of their lives tormented by their wrong decisions, they really dont need pummelling into the ground anymore.

I am not even saying they are innocent or guilty of killing the child, i just find it incredible how the lynch mob mentality takes hold before knowing the true facts. Reminds me of medieval witch burning.

JenJen

It's all quite sad isn't it, not just Maddie's disappearance but all this too.

Did they make a very big mistake leaving their kids in the room on their own, yes I believe they did.
I understand that, that particular resort has babysitting at an extra charge, we've been to similar places, but we have never used it because I dont know the ppl who would be left in charge of my children, ok they may be qualified but a stranger left with my kids NO, so unless there is another adult we know and trust available we don't go out as a couple which is a bit sad as we're only young but that was our choice when we had the kids.

Someone on this thread said the parents ought to have their other children taken away from them, I don't quite know what good this would serve at all, unless the other children were indeed found on other occasions to be neglected. Why would you want to cause the other children more emotional harm than they have probably already been through knowing that their older sister is missing and all the emotional upset that has evidently gone along with the situation.

It won't be the first or last time a parent has 'neglected' their child, it probably happens more often than we realise. Visiting friends last year up north, parents allowed their 3 yr old little boy to wander the estate..... this was quite common in this area apparently.
Someone I used to know used to pop over the road to her friends for a 'quick chat'and to drop some post or a parcel off, I remember ringing her house I knew she should be there as I knew her daughter should be in bed, on the 3rd time I rang her daughter answered - said she didnt' know where mummy was but she wasn't home but the front door was open so mummy couldn't have gone far, my friends little girl was only 4 at the time, I kept chatting to her for half an hour until she said her mummy was home. IF you want all the parent sjust in this country put in jail for incidents that are neglecful we would end up with prisons full of them and no room to put dangerous criminals

Wether they are or are not charged with neglect I personally think they are suffering as a result of what has happened over the last 4 months.

Robert Murat - could he be a genuine suspect or could he be someone who is by nature overly helpful and who loved the attention he got from the media, told a few fibs to make himself look more important than he was, who really knows?

Funny isn't it how the media is well renowned for over exaggerating things, yet some people are obviously taking alot of it as fact.
As has been said many a time Portugal laws prevent any substantial information being given to the general public or media, so we don't know much at all about what is REALLY going on.

If the media are to be believed though and I don't think all of it is rubbish just most of it lol, there were reports last month saying that the family would be coming back to this country for various reasons including trying to settle the other children back into a more normal familiar environment, i'm sure it said soemthing about them being very unsettled in Portugal, can't remember where i read it now it was about a month ago. So I don't believe the family fled Portugal because of the last few days.

I'll reserve my outspoken judgements for when the truth is revealed if it ever is.

How would you feel if people in your neighbourhood came up to you and said oh so and so says you've done this, we think you ought to rot in hell, you got abuse screamed at you everytime you left the house, when you know you've not done anything?????????

Wouldn't it be nice to think we are all entitled to the right of being innocent UNTIL proven guilty.

I do still have the hope that Maddie could be found alive, and if not hopefully it would at very least bring the family some closure.

Anyway carry on

KarmaLiber

...and Politicians

that explains a great deal, thanks for that..

You don't need to be a law student to understand that there are two sides of a coin

Quite agree,
This comment leaves me feeling really cold and I may have misunderstood what you are getting at.
The Mccanns may have made a mistake by opting to leave the children unsupervised for limited periods of time, but it doesn't equate to a poor investigation ( hence my earlier comment about the Police being antiquated) and being accused of their murder, based on flimsy forensics ( hence my earlier comment about the Police being 'perverse').

I know firsthand that its not a perfect world. I've had many years of experience of lawyers and the complicated justice system, and from your details, I know that I've had more firsthand knowledge and experience than you. That's just the way it is.

You make the comment that I shouldn't critise the Portuguese system, as there are problems with the Uk system - what a crazy thing to say for a law student! But of course you are inexperienced! And of course I would love to say the english system is perfect - but I can't. CPS in my experience are crap! but at least they would stop a case coming to Court based on spurious DNA results - case won't stand up - you've already heard how the whole crime scene has been disintegrated and a key piece of potential DNA ( i.e the fluffy toy) has been carried all over the area including the car.Kate has never left it.

Wilgar makes good comments about other Mothers charged with murdering their children and later released. Take it as 'law student reading'

As for comments about the Doctor murdering 200 patients - you may be thinking of Shipman - erm, did he murder his daughter?, did he have one? You are so way off the mark I do not think much of your gut instinct, i'm afraid.

Karma

KarmaLiber

I hope no great disaster ever befalls you, Mr Perfect.

Vash the Stampede

People keep harping on about it because it's an issue at the crux of this whole tragedy.

People are horrified by the crime. They are also horrified by the parents' negligence.

I feel compassion for the McCanns too. But it doesn't stop me realising that their daughter would still be with them if they'd kept her at their side.

I don't damn them to hell for leaving Maddie alone; I don't think they should be jailed for leaving her alone, and I don't believe they should have their other children taken away because they left her alone.

I am simply aghast that they did.

Amazulu

They do have a point though.
Maddie's parents failed her when she needed them most.
The punishment for them will go on forever.

FlyingLawyer

Karma,

I believe this is not a competition to see who is more experienced or has more knowledge, I was the first one to put my hand up and stated that I don't own the truth, and that I was just a law student when I made that comment, obviously being just a law student I am still in the process of "learning", that's just the way it is.

With regards to the reading you have suggested I will keep it in mind for another time, I have plenty of stuff to read for now.

Regards.

PS - By the way, do you work within the criminal field (Police/Lawyer?) I need some advice with regards to another matter.

JenJen

MEOWWWWWWWW

FlyingLawyer

Woof Woof...

KarmaLiber

I'm afraid I don't help cats

FlyingLawyer

okidoki, no worries.

Thanks anyway.

willmore

Just so you know, Im a female. Jim and I are certainly not perfect parents. We have two very young kids and as with many other young parents, in the learning process of parenting. We are trying to teach our kids the moral and ethical values that our immigrant parents/grandparents taught us.

However we do know the meaning of being responsible parents, and the fact that kids should never ever be left alone.

Wilgar

None of us are perfect parents so just stop all the bickering which is going absolutely nowhere.This poor child is still missing.

Anyway to all in Oz there is a programme scheduled this eve 6.30pm channel,9 or 10 featuring the MaCaans and Lindy Chamberlain which may or may not shed more light on this sad subject.