Can The Mccanns Take Any More?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4180046/Kate-Gerry-McCann-fury-libel-battle-defeat.html

One has to empathise with them, the thought of a long missing daughter and now this, what can only be guessed an enormous legal bill to face?

Should they appeal?

[anotheoldgit]

Thank you
vortex, Garaman, and Prudie, for clearing that little matter up.
Some will start a fight over nothing, but then I suppose one must 'sympathise' with them?

[NoMercy]

I sympathise with the McCanns. I cannot begin to imagine the depth of their anguish and despair.

Is our daughter still alive. Is she being cared for or is she being abused? Is she receiving an education? Can she speak English? Does she have a toy to cuddle at night?

What thoughts must torment them every day of their lives...

[andy-hughes]

AOG - I am sure the irony of your statement is not lost on the regulars on here.

[vortex]

NoMercy //What thoughts must torment them every day of their lives.//

Another one high on the list must be: 'why did WE do what we did in leaving our child in such a vulnerable position?'

[NoMercy]

Yes, I've no doubt they've thought about that too, Vortex. Swimming backwards doesn't help though, does it.

At least no one can criticise KM for the work she's done to keep Madeleine in the spotlight.

And let us not forget her campaigning for missing children all over and for a European wide amber alert system for missing children

[jackthehat]

///why did WE do what we did in leaving our child in such a vulnerable position?///

That will, doubtless, be the one thought echoing around and around....and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

[vortex]

//At least no one can criticise KM for the work she's done to keep Madeleine in the spotlight.//

Perhaps not, but there again they have kept themselves in the spotlight through the libel proceedings.

[andy-hughes]

jack - /////why did WE do what we did in leaving our child in such a vulnerable position?///

That will, doubtless, be the one thought echoing around and around....and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. //

I must admit, whenever they are mentioned, I shudder thinking how it must be for them.

We all enjoy the luxury of opinions based on what we read and hear about the circumstances, but what is undeniable is the fact that the McCann's, and others, left their small children alone in rooms when they were not with them - something most parents could not countenance under any circumstances.

But of course, the McCann's have had the intervening time - and a long time it is - to never adjust to that fact, and never forgive themselves, and as you say, I would wish that on anyone.

[anotheoldgit]

I wonder how many of those who have criticised the McCanns for leaving their children, while they joined their friends for drinks etc have either done the same with their children or have not heard of the hundreds who do so at British holiday camps.

Didn't Butlins once have children patrols along with such announcements as "Baby crying in chalet 10"?

[andy-hughes]

AOG - //I wonder how many of those who have criticised the McCanns for leaving their children, while they joined their friends for drinks etc have either done the same with their children or have not heard of the hundreds who do so at British holiday camps.

Didn't Butlins once have children patrols along with such announcements as "Baby crying in chalet 10"? //

Butlins did have flashing message boards in the entertainment rooms to advise parents that a baby or child was crying - I remember being a child in Butlins and banging on the chalet door screaming and crying because my sister was vomiting all over the place - maybe the board was faulty that night!

But those were different times, and on secure compounds in the UK - all of which make them different from the McCann's situation - leaving an unlocked ground floor room with children in it, in a foreign country, is not something that most parents now would consider to be responsible behaviour.

[tamborine]

Most 5* hotels abroad Ive used abroad have kid mealtimes at 6pm & adults at 9pm. Kids are often left in rooms while adults dine. Hotels offered listening monitors to rooms. In hindsight unsafe but I used the system, leaving my kids alone.

[andy-hughes]

Tamborine - I am sure that you found the option of a locked room and a sound monitor gave you a little piece of mind. It's not the same as leaving children out of earshot in a ground floor room with the door open, and the responsibility being left to the 'group' to ensure safety.

[hereIam]

I have always thought that they shouldn't have left the children alone while they went to eat, BUT every time I see Kate McCann's haunted face I am sure she torments herself with this EVERY day. I feel desperately sorry for her and also for Madeleine who I am sure has been dead for a long time - just my opinion.

[NoMercy]

I think she's alive. It was such a carefully orchestrated abduction, I think she was taken by traffickers.

[Cloverjo]

I've said this before when a McCann thread has come around again. I remember being on holiday, aged 7, at
Butlins. My parents were going to go out and leave us alone, with only the 'baby-patrollers' listening at doors for crying children. My dad stayed in with us in the end, as my sister was wailing so much.
I have also left my son in a hotel room on his own while we went for dinner, checking on him every half an hour - exactly what the McCanns and their friends were doing.

[NoMercy]

We got left alone at Butlins too.

The McCanns weren't bad parents, they were just naive. They wouldn't have left their kids for a second if they'd known of the crime that polluted the cobbled streets of the Algarve.

[ummmm]

I lost my son once. Only for a few minutes. I was putting the shopping in the basket of the buggy, turned round and he was gone.

In my mind the McCanns must live that few minutes everyday....for a lifetime.

I also think she's alive.

[andy-hughes]

hereIam - //I have always thought that they shouldn't have left the children alone while they went to eat, BUT every time I see Kate McCann's haunted face I am sure she torments herself with this EVERY day. I feel desperately sorry for her and also for Madeleine who I am sure has been dead for a long time - just my opinion. //

That's my position exactly.

I have never, and would never leave my children alone at that age anywhere, we have always been a family who take all the children of all ages, out with us for dinner, or the evening, but that's simply a difference in approach.

I would never sit in judgement for what happened, and like you, I think the McCanns already do that to themselves, they really don't need to be judged by compete strangers.

[Baldric]

///they really don't need to be judged by compete strangers///

I think everyone is entitled to voice an opinion on what happened, but that does not equate to judging them.

[andy-hughes]

Baldric - I guess that depends what the opinion is, and how it is expressed.