McCanns - man who accused them gets jail sentence

[Mermaid]

A retired solicitor who published claims that Madeleine McCann's parents caused her death has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Mr Justice Tugendhat said 65-year-old Tony Bennett deliberately flouted legal undertakings, given in November 2009, not to repeat allegations about the couple.

Bennett's conduct, the judge said, was so serious that nothing less than a custodial sentence of three months, suspended for one year, would reflect the harm he had done.

Finding Bennett guilty of contempt of court, the judge added: "I am sure that he intended to allege that the claimants are to be suspected of causing the death of their daughter, and did in fact dispose of her body, lie about what happened and covered up what they had done

http://news.sky.com/story/1055123/madeleine-mccann...

[Mermaid]

Breadvan72 said:

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

The same Big Boys who said no-one had reported the thread in the 3 months prior till you did?

Tell me something - do you know what percentage of the McCann's resources have so far been allocated to looking for the girl and to litigation?

Do you find their story credible, or Oscar's, or Dewani's, or Huhne's? For me something does not add up, and so I am curious and therefore happy to read other people's interpretation. There was one particularly nasty comment on the McCann thread (& should have been deleted), but if you look hard enough these comments are elsewhere too. Only the McCanns get shielded from the press now, why is that? Closing down threads in not healthy.

Serious questions for me, love to hear your views.

[Mermaid]

singlecoil said:

..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.

As a careful review of the "suspended" thread will reveal.

[Mermaid]

Breadvan72 said:

GV, Those murdering bds! Offing their kid and fibbing about it I can forgive. Hey, we've all done it; but no fker touches my shed.

That's defamation It will get this thread closed down.

[Mermaid]

singlecoil said:

There's a couple of posters on this thread who alternate between trying to invent new meanings for ordinary English phrases, and ridiculing anyone who they feel disagrees with them. I'm starting to think we would be better off not interacting with them,

Are you suggesting they deserve their own private thread

[Mermaid]

Breadvan72 said:

People are free to ask questions about what happened, but the parents of the missing girl have no obligation to answer them. They bear no burden of proof. Those who allege that the parents were in some way complicit in the disappearance of their daughter bear a heavy burden of proof.

Of course, same applies to Dewani, Huhne, the Pope, Oscar - those threads remain open and yet similar type of speculation contained. Does that square up the principles you expressed on the McCann case, Or have i missed something? Or should you be making your way to the other threads mentioned.?

Breadvan72 said:

Mermaid, I'm not here to answer your questions, even if I knew the answers. I am not even very interested in the case. It's a sad story, and I feel sorry for the girl's family and their friends.

Your disinterest is well evidenced. And really it is not your answers that matter. But the questions, posed to others, that you consider are unimportant. Till the questions are answered (and maybe even after ), there will be speculation - wrong to stifle it.

Breadvan72 said:

The Mods decide whether or not the PH site rules have been broken. They don't, I assume, read every word of every thread. If one member of this free club suggests to the Mods that another member or members appears or appear to be disregarding the rules of the club, that we all agreed to when we took up our free membership, then the Mods can take a view on whether that suggestion is valid or not valid. The Mods make the decision, and no one else. This site is made available to us free of charge, and the Mods give up their time to moderate it, applying a light touch. The site asks us all to keep to some very simple rules. Membership here is optional, but conditional on observing those simple rules. If you are troubled by a decision made by the Mods, query it with them, but bear in mind that, at the end of the day, it's their place, and they decide what is acceptable and what is not.

Absolutely, and the main thread had been running well (the Mods did not have an issue with it) till you reported it - the 1st person to do so in 3 months. Care to make public your complaint to the Mods so we can see what suddenly rattled the Mods into immediate action? And you may recall, I did suggest to you that you ought to help the mods in cleaning the thread if you felt so strongly about it, rather than discussion be terminated.

[Mermaid]

Breadvan72 said:

The Mods don't, so far as I know, read every thread 24/7. There is a report button available, precisely, I suspect, because the Mods can't read every word posted. If I notice something that might expose PH to libel risk, it seems a fair quid pro quo for the use of a free and entertaining website to mention that to the Mods, so that they can take a view on whether or not there is a risk. The Mods, and no one else, decided to take the Mad About Maddie thread off to the laundry. As for making public what I said to the Mods, I started a thread, which you may have posted on, and which is still on the site. I am sorry to disappoint you, but there was no secret fix. As for cleaning up the thread, no thanks, why should I? I can't be bothered even to read the whole thing, let alone try to winnow out the libels from the non libellous discussion. Some poor Mod has to do that, because some members of PH apparently think that the site rules are there to be ignored.

The Mods were actively aware of that thread, and not asleep at the wheel.

If you wish to extend your altruism to PH, there are many other threads that could be silenced if strict libel rules are followed - that is your expertise.

May I have a link to the thread you started, and which you believe is still on the site? Thank you.

[Mermaid]

Gene Vincent said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Thank you.

[Mermaid]

Breadvan72 said:

I am sorry, I must have missed the meeting when I was appointed 24/7 Libel Monitor. Do I get a cool badge?

Here we go

[Mermaid]

singlecoil said:

.. You are starting to sound a bit 'pathological yourself.

He probably has the highest post count on the visible McCann threads, hobby horse?

[Mermaid]

Breadvan72 said:

Nope, no babysitters. Spanish countryside. Small hotel, no spare staff, and all total strangers to us and the child. We asked, but they said, sorry, can't help.

So, now kindly answer me, if you will: do you sleep with your eyes open next to your children? If not, by your own measure you are unfit to be a parent and must hand yourself in to social services. I am not sure that you have really thought this one through.

Holiday situation (unfamiliar surroundings) to me is different from the home environment.

[Mermaid]

Breadvan72 said:

...but why drag poor old PH in?

PH can look after itself, and has done long before any of us came to the scene.

[Mermaid]

Breadvan72 said:

Mermaid said:

Breadvan72 said:

...but why drag poor old PH in?

PH can look after itself, and has done long before any of us came to the scene.

True, no doubt, but PH does ask us to follow some rules. One rule is: don't post material that is defamatory of others. Note that the allegation that there were grounds to suspect the McCanns of murder resulted in large newspaper groups with expert lawyers conceding libel and paying big damages. Mr Bennett made the same concession. Motorvator had made an allegation that is close to that. He says that the McCanns are murder suspects. Free legal advice: that is actionable. Motorvator is free to say that in the wider world, and he might or might not be sued for it, but by doing so here he infringes the rules of the club that we all joined when we registered to post in this forum.

Not for you to tell PH how to enforce the rules, don't be a nanny. And as alluded previously, you only woke up to the libel issue many, many months after you had read/seen the thread. Is that the day you read the section on libel in your text book Or what else happened?

Some comments are made in jest (check the Oscar/Dewani./Pope/Harry thread), not malice (you said you had not read the whole McCann thread). It's about context too. But what would the McCanns make of the following comment if they did not like you & you had money.?

"Yesterday (20:09)
GV, Those murdering bds! Offing their kid and fibbing about it I can forgive. Hey, we've all done it; but no fker touches my shed"

The original thread had some issues, but not that many and I suspect you will find as many issues on many other threads you have chosen not to report. PH's (motoring forum primarily) is a good forum to display your legal knowledge, but why be selective?

Enjoy the rest of the week-end