McCanns - man who accused them gets jail sentence

[anonymous-user]

Mr B agreed to do so in settlement of a claim made against him. He chose to settle rather than defend the claim. If he had fought that claim and lost, the court could have ordered him to stop making the defamatory statements. An undertaking has the same legal effect as an injunction. Note also that several newspapers paid libel damages for making similar allegations. Well resourced newspapers with good lawyers. They paid up because they could not prove the allegations they had made.

Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 22 February 23:44

[Getragdogleg]

Ozzie Osmond said:

the usual PH suspects

The Irony of you appearing to make that statement is not lost, You seem to crop up in most contentious threads, wait until there is a consensus or a majority opinion and then post the opposite, possibly in an attempt to inflame or just for the sheer hell of it, I don't know which.

WRT the McCanns, I have tried to avoid making statements that defame or accuse, but I still think there is more to the whole sorry affair than meets the eye, I view I am still allowed to voice.

The "Clean up" comments were regarding the closure of the original thread, I can see some users overstepped the mark by some way (the "murderers" comment was one such but the thread contained useful discussion and I feel it's continued absense is pretty poor form and does look a lot like PH was advised to remove it by the "biggger boys", of course I hope I am wrong and it was just for a tidy up.

[singlecoil]

My guess is they came down hard on Bennett "pour encourager les autres".

[iwantagta]

Saying nasty things that are not neccessarily true or false - 3 months prison suspended.
Being extremely bad parents (at best)- Cash & fame.

[anonymous-user]

The site below is rare on the internet in being a site which attempts to set out some counters to the curious deluge of hatred directed at the parents of Madeleine McCann, and some of their friends, by mostly anonymous internet sleuths.

The site makes some simple points, such as that the Attorney General of Portugal has stated that there is no evidence of criminal conduct by the parents. I suppose that the haters might say that Portugal is a Mickey Mouse country, and so it must have a Mickey Mouse Attorney General, but I do not share that view of the country or of its most senior Law Officer. Note anyway how one Portuguese ex detective is regarded by the haters as the brilliant love child of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Inspector Morse and Philip Marlowe. His former colleagues, and all the Brit cops who have looked at the case and decided that the parents have no case to answer, are all regarded as Inspector Clouseau's less talented brothers.

http://mccannhateexposed.pbworks.com/w/page/505664...

[Skywalker]

Isn't the specific of the Bennett case, that he broke his 'bond' to the court as opposed to the veracity / falsehood of what he was saying / publshing?

As I read the reports the rights or wrongs of his theories are not what was in question in this case.

[singlecoil]

Breadvan72 said:

The site below is rare on the internet in being a site which attempts to set out some counters to the curious deluge of hatred directed at the parents of Madeleine McCann, and some of their friends, by mostly anonymous internet sleuths.

The site makes some simple points, such as that the Attorney General of Portugal has stated that there is no evidence of criminal conduct by the parents. I suppose that the haters might say that Portugal is a Mickey Mouse country, and so it must have a Mickey Mouse Attorney General, but I do not share that view of the country or of its most senior Law Officer. Note anyway how one Portuguese ex detective is regarded by the haters as the brilliant love child of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Inspector Morse and Philip Marlowe. His former colleagues, and all the Brit cops who have looked at the case and decided that the parents have no case to answer, are all regarded as Inspector Clouseau's less talented brothers.

http://mccannhateexposed.pbworks.com/w/page/505664...

Lots of emotive expressions there, plus some outrageous exaggerations. There may be some haters, as you say, but the majority of the people who have taken an interest in this fascinating case are actually quite open minded, and simply want them to answer some very obvious questions.

And in the interests of fairness, I should point out that 'no evidence' means nothing other than no evidence. It doesn't indicate innocence, and it doesn't indicate guilt.

[Getragdogleg]

Breadvan72 said:

The site below is rare on the internet in being a site which attempts to set out some counters to the curious deluge of hatred directed at the parents of Madeleine McCann, and some of their friends, by mostly anonymous internet sleuths.

The site makes some simple points, such as that the Attorney General of Portugal has stated that there is no evidence of criminal conduct by the parents. I suppose that the haters might say that Portugal is a Mickey Mouse country, and so it must have a Mickey Mouse Attorney General, but I do not share that view of the country or of its most senior Law Officer. Note anyway how one Portuguese ex detective is regarded by the haters as the brilliant love child of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Inspector Morse and Philip Marlowe. His former colleagues, and all the Brit cops who have looked at the case and decided that the parents have no case to answer, are all regarded as Inspector Clouseau's less talented brothers.

http://mccannhateexposed.pbworks.com/w/page/505664...

Having spent a while looking through that site I get the same sort of unpleasent feeling I get when I look through many of the other specialist McCann sites. I find it troubling that anyone expends as much energy compiling that material and placing it on a website, that goes for either side of the fence.

I am interested in the case because it is unusual, so far unsolved and seems to have veered off into the realms of big hiiting law firms and "he-said" she-said".

[Randy Winkman]

iwantagta said:

Being extremely bad parents (at best)- Cash & fame.

And a dead/missing daughter - they are hardly winners are they?

[FiF]

I agreed with Breaders on the matter of the other thread and it was wise for PH to remove it for consideration. Didn't write anything on THE thread or the feedback thread as long ago felt that a long and sturdy barge pole between myself and THAT thread amounted to strategic positioning.

For the record, I think, based on evidence available, they have nothing to answer for than doing something that, as a parent, I wouldn't have done. Namely, leaving a young child on their own, while they jollied it up in a restaurant which was not next door. For that alone I do not regard them favourably. Sorry but there it is, out there.

Thinking the best of people, because I'm a nice person,honest I am, even if a grumpy argumentative old git with a nose that twitches like an extremely itchy thing at most whiffs of skullduggery, the decision to go for dinner and leave her will live with them for the rest of their lives and that is enough from me on matters McCann.

Pick the bones out of that. I do realise that some PH members will twist my words above to mean that I'm actually making accusations of alien abduction, furious probing of various orifices, and copious consumption of vast quantities of Portuguese plonk, and with that they'd only be dealing with consideration of a PH lawyery involvement never mind anyone nearer the operational focus.

Crumbs, I nearly went over the top and mentioned the war. Phew!

[bigandclever]

Breadvan72 said:

The site below is rare on the internet in being a site which attempts to set out some counters to the curious deluge of hatred directed at the parents of Madeleine McCann, and some of their friends, by mostly anonymous internet sleuths.

The site makes some simple points, such as that the Attorney General of Portugal has stated that there is no evidence of criminal conduct by the parents.

http://mccannhateexposed.pbworks.com/w/page/505664...

I think that might be the wrong link?

site said:

This site is not a hate list, but rather a compilation of comments by people who have demonstrated a sustained level of online anti-McCann activity. No opinion is offered by the authors.

another page said:

The purpose of this wiki is to highlight a sample of what the McCanns have contended with on a daily basis for four and a half years

[anonymous-user]

FiF said:

I agreed with Breaders on the matter of the other thread and it was wise for PH to remove it for consideration. Didn't write anything on THE thread or the feedback thread as long ago felt that a long and sturdy barge pole between myself and THAT thread amounted to strategic positioning.

For the record, I think, based on evidence available, they have nothing to answer for than doing something that, as a parent, I wouldn't have done. Namely, leaving a young child on their own, while they jollied it up in a restaurant which was not next door. For that alone I do not regard them favourably. Sorry but there it is, out there.

Thinking the best of people, because I'm a nice person,honest I am, even if a grumpy argumentative old git with a nose that twitches like an extremely itchy thing at most whiffs of skullduggery, the decision to go for dinner and leave her will live with them for the rest of their lives and that is enough from me on matters McCann.

Pick the bones out of that. I do realise that some PH members will twist my words above to mean that I'm actually making accusations of alien abduction, furious probing of various orifices, and copious consumption of vast quantities of Portuguese plonk, and with that they'd only be dealing with consideration of a PH lawyery involvement never mind anyone nearer the operational focus.

Crumbs, I nearly went over the top and mentioned the war. Phew!

FiF, I think that you summarise the position very well. I don't even think badly of the parents. I think that they made a stupid mistake - they relaxed too much on holiday, and wrongly assumed that the compound was a safe enclave. That was an error of judgment, for which they have received as their punishment a lifetime of agony, made worse by the malign nonsense of the internet experts, all of whom pretend that they are 'only interested in the facts', and disavow tinfoil hattery, before resuming their cheery discussions of the obvious Rosicrucian angle.

As for 'Big Boys' getting to the Sacred Thread, the only Big Boys on PH are the Mods.

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 23 February 11:17

[JustinP1]

Breadvan72 said:

The site below is rare on the internet in being a site which attempts to set out some counters to the curious deluge of hatred directed at the parents of Madeleine McCann, and some of their friends, by mostly anonymous internet sleuths.

The site makes some simple points, such as that the Attorney General of Portugal has stated that there is no evidence of criminal conduct by the parents. I suppose that the haters might say that Portugal is a Mickey Mouse country, and so it must have a Mickey Mouse Attorney General, but I do not share that view of the country or of its most senior Law Officer.

Breadvan, in your profession you see the 'other side' of the legal process more than most.

In fact IMHO, if Portugal and it's legal system were 'Mickey Mouse' there probably would have been a trial. In the alternative though, I think presuming that the Attorney General of Portugal (who IIRC is elected) does not succumb to politics would be false.

I think the mistrust of the public comes down to the timeline of events broadly as:

1)The McCanns pledge never to leave Portugal without their daughter, and through connections actively contact the British Prime minister incumbent who also publicly supports them. They ask for pledges of cash from the British public.

2) The McCanns are officially made 'arguido' (suspects or persons of interest) however, instead of helping with enquiries further, decide not to 'no comment' all questions.

3) Within 48 hours, they've flown out Michael Caplan QC to 'advise' them. You know who he is, but for other posters, this is probably the most famous extradition lawyer in the world after successfully defending Pinochet from being extradited to face torture charges.

4) The McCann legal team (of course now a number of very big hitters) arrange with the British and Portuguese police for them to return to the UK, for them never to return despite the Portuguese police firmly believing that a reconstruction would benefit the case.


Of course, you may well advocate self interest is the reason for these decisions, but with regards to public opinion, they read something else.

And for the Attorney General? Does he really want to take on this political 'hot potato' with a couple supported by the British Prime Minister, and Pinochet's extradition lawyer?

I read his translated report when it came out, and it was interesting reading. The implication wasn't that he was sure that they were not somehow involved at all, it was carefully written, the 'jist' of it being that with the evidence they had, they could not provide a case with a single narrative and explanation which could convince a jury successfully.

Which, as you will know is somewhat different.

Edited by JustinP1 on Saturday 23 February 11:15

[anonymous-user]

The idea that a couple of obscure doctors from the Midlands can summon up the Dark Legions of the Establishment to back them against all comers strikes me as just very slightly implausible, I must say.

[dundarach]

Breadvan72 said:

The idea that a couple of obscure doctors from the Midlands can summon up the Dark Legions of the Establishment to back them against all comers strikes me as just very slightly implausible, I must say.

Don't quite follow that:

1. They are either indeed obscure in which case how the hell did they summon all the support?
2. Are not obscure in which case, given all the support who are they?

The facts are/where little girls goes missing, shortly afterwards the Pope and PM are involved

'How many fingers am I holding up'
'1, 2, Oh I don't know'
'Better Winston'

If the party says there are 2, then there are 2!

[singlecoil]

Breadvan72 said:

The idea that a couple of obscure doctors from the Midlands can summon up the Dark Legions of the Establishment to back them against all comers strikes me as just very slightly implausible, I must say

Breadvan72 said:

the malign nonsense of the internet experts,
tinfoil hattery,
Rosicrucian angle.

Zod has a very similar technique, just taking the piss out of anybody who disagrees wiith his position on anything. Is this standard technique in the legal profession now? Don't put forward supporting arguments, just ridicule the opposition?

In any case, nmost of the posters here don't hold an opposing position, nor are they putting forward malign nonsense, they just want to hear the McCanns make an effort to answer some of the questions they've been carefully avoiding.

[JustinP1]

Breadvan72 said:

The idea that a couple of obscure doctors from the Midlands can summon up the Dark Legions of the Establishment to back them against all comers strikes me as just very slightly implausible, I must say.

Gerry McCann had a number of personal telephone calls with Gordon Brown (before they were made arguido I believe). That is out of the ordinary for a the parents of a missing child to be granted personal audience with top politicians, no?

Here's the link about when Michael Caplan QC was hired:

http://www.thelawyer.com/pinochets-lawyer-hired-by...

Edited by JustinP1 on Saturday 23 February 11:29

[Ozzie Osmond]

Getragdogleg said:

You seem to crop up in most contentious threads, wait until there is a consensus or a majority opinion and then post the opposite

You must be thinking of the threads where the majority opinion is ill-informed or wrong.

[anonymous-user]

Any Prime Minister hearing of any widely reported child disappearance case is likely to say a few words about the case. Cameron makes comments supportive of the victims of Savile - does that mean they are in a conspiracy with the Establishment to mask the fact that they abused themselves and are blaming some poor old kind hearted dead bloke? Gordon Brown is also, despite his great faults, a human being, who lost a child to illness. He might just feel some sympathy for parents who had a child go missing.


Singlecoil, ridicule is appropriate when dealing with the ridiculous.

[anonymous-user]

it is amazing how much time is dedicated to 1 girl, when girls are being abused/taken/missing daily in this country. Why don't the internet detectives work on lesser know media disappearances.

https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/u182co18/appeals

why not start here and instead of dragging on about some middle-class white girl, look at helping others out there less fortunate that a double doctors daughter.

Edited by The Spruce goose on Saturday 23 February 11:46