[size=150:2hea4fx8]Madeleine McCann
I know it is not about all things Bulgarian, but I want to bring to all members attention the BBC's Crimewatch programme at 9.00pm tonight
After we have seen the programme let's have a debate as to what out thoughts are. It doesn't bare thinking about what the parents have gone through and how we would handle it if it happened to any of us

This is a bit of a sore point with me, what I mean is what kind of parents would leave such young children unattended so they could go out with their friends even though it was only a short distance, I'm afraid they get no sympathy from me whatsoever and what annoys me even more is the British government have just spent an additional 5 million pounds on the case even Cameron has got involved not to mention a host of others, there are over 20.000 children that go missing in London alone every year but we don't see the government handing out vast sums of money to find them! In some of those cases it wasn't the parents fault as is the case with the McCanns as far I as I am concerned. I watched an interview where the mother said quite blatantly that 'We will have to live with the guilt but we were only havening dinner this isn't our fault ' ?? if this happened in the UK there would have been questions asked by the authorities and maybe even a prosecution but here we see the world pouring out their sympathy to those who put their own child at risk in the first place. I do however feel for the child but as said I have no sympathy for either of the parents who are ultimately responsible. I know some on here will disagree with me but we all have an opinion and this is mine.

bigsavak wrote:

I know some on here will disagree with me but we all have an opinion and this is mine.

I agree totally, I was typing my reply (below) as you posted...

This is an extremely tragic story, and I really do hope that there is still a chance she will be found and the abductor/s punished (stealing a child should be punished to the full extent of the law and some). I hope that last nights program helps to do just that.

However, I also have to say (and I know I'll probably upset a lot of people here) that any parents that leave a little girl (under four) and her even younger sisters in an apartment alone, whilst they go out and have a good time in a restaurant/bar (no matter how close it was), have to be held responsible too.

None of my friends of family that have young children would ever dream of doing such a thing.

bigsavak posted, I know some on here will disagree with me but we all have an opinion and this is mine.

You are right, we all have an opinion and that is why I started this thread

Let's be honest, how many of us have done it in the past exactly what the McCann's did that night. My wife and I have two children aged 39 and 42 years old. When they were young I have to admit to doing the same as the McCann's did, but on reflection the world seemed a safer place then, we wouldn't do that now with our young grand-children. Anybody else got any views on the topic

I completely agree with what's been said so far and as a parent there is no way either in the past or now that I/we would have ever left our children without proper supervision. These 2 parents are suppose to be responsible people ie medics but being a parent holds a lot more responsibility yes its tragic and yes I hope the little girl is found safe and well but as for the parents I can not find anything for them in my heart. To be honest I feel more for all those parents who's children have been missing for years and no one seems to give a damn let alone spend 5 million pounds if I recall correctly even Richard Branson chipped in and who payed their spokesman in the beginning of the investigation, I'm sure there are a lot of very sad parents out there that would give their right arm to have had such an investigation and the financial support to be able to travel around the world trying to find their child which is what the McCanns apparently did??? I'm sure this topic will raise many questions as did the investigation but I don't think anyone will ever ask why these so called parents thought it was safe to leave such young children alone in a foreign country while they were out enjoying themselves. Perhaps a good look at their accounts which have been under investigation will show how stupid they have been with spending the donations. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

:Good post:Blink Anybody else willing to add to that

Blink wrote:

I completely agree with what's been said so far and as a parent there is no way either in the past or now that I/we would have ever left our children without proper supervision. These 2 parents are suppose to be responsible people ie medics but being a parent holds a lot more responsibility yes its tragic and yes I hope the little girl is found safe and well but as for the parents I can not find anything for them in my heart. To be honest I feel more for all those parents who's children have been missing for years and no one seems to give a damn let alone spend 5 million pounds if I recall correctly even Richard Branson chipped in and who payed their spokesman in the beginning of the investigation, I'm sure there are a lot of very sad parents out there that would give their right arm to have had such an investigation and the financial support to be able to travel around the world trying to find their child which is what the McCanns apparently did??? I'm sure this topic will raise many questions as did the investigation but I don't think anyone will ever ask why these so called parents thought it was safe to leave such young children alone in a foreign country while they were out enjoying themselves. Perhaps a good look at their accounts which have been under investigation will show how stupid they have been with spending the donations. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Well said Blink - my feelings are that all children are so special and our own are more so but I cannot get past the first step of leavng children unsupervised, Is really is beyond my comprehention - I would not leave my son in one room plaing while I was in another. Infact I would not even leave him in the bath on his own. I was shocked when one of our neighbours left her 4 year old in the bath while she was in the garden. And before anyone say they trust their child etc etc It has nothing to do with how trustwordy your child is, it is all to do with what can and might happen to them when you are not around. How could you live with the consequesnces. ::

All that I read here is without doubt the way any decent parent would behave which is responsibly, we are all eager sometimes criticize the young for the way they take care of their children or should I say the lack of care but to be honest I don't think many young parents would have done this its completely beyond comprehension to think that you can leave young children alone in a strange country and go off and enjoy yourself, ok they kept coming back every half hour to check on them but that leaves at least 30 mins for anything to happen including a child choking or wondering off or even messing with dangerous items in the kitchen etc. I do believe that this pair of irresponsible parents should have been prosecuted for neglect after all;
we all have a duty of care to one another but for your own children it isn't a duty but its called a parents love to protect their children at any cost even if it means a life style change which is something the McCanns failed to understand which shows by the way they used the funds to go on their jolly's (globe trotting) I make no apology for my comments here and only wish that wherever Madelene is she is safe.

The fact that all the families on that holiday left their children home alone that night was noticeably absent from last nights report, also the fact that the table in the tapas restaurant was block booked by the group for every night of the holiday at 8.30 pm. Not hard for the wrong sort of people to spot a pattern if they watched over a few nights. Its terrible that Maddie is gone, a real nightmare and I hope she's found, but don't leave 3 kids under 4 alone in an unlocked apartment. 100 Million and two iffy e-fits produced. They could report on any number of missing children but they chose maddie - a beautiful upper middle class little girl from a successful 'picture perfect family' It writes itself. Ben Needham and Amy Fitzpatrick, were afforded the same publicity and I'm sure there have been others, but unless you are in the fold, its hard to know why some people become more well known the others. Yes it's a tragedy but until they admit their part in this affair, they will always be seen as blaming everyone else except themselves. They should never have left the children to go off on their own.

110% agree with the general feelings of everyone on here. We wouldn't dream of leaving our 11 year old home alone..even with a famous Ridgeback to look after her. Even when she is in the bath, her Mum is constantly talking to her, or going in to check that everything is fine..and this is a child with more intelligence than many 20 year youngsters I have met.
Situations are caused..they can't happen on their own!!!

Am getting a bit fed up of this I'm afraid. Tragedy the wee one was lost and I hope she is found. But no wonder the Portuguese are bewildered by the publicity. I wonder how many of their kids have gone missing in the intervening period with nothing like what's been provided for the McCanns. Same goes for missing kids in Britain. The McCanns have milked this for all its worth and whatever is found at the end of the day it was their fault for leaving the young child unattended. The parenting skills has been ignored throughout the case - three children under four were left alone, in a holiday apartment, by their parents. If the parents had been black, or the mother a lone parent, they would have been castigated for this but, as they are nice middle class professionals, the media turns a blind eye. There are several things about this case that don't add up but the parental neglect was disgraceful. Whatever happened to the child, it all started because her parents irresponsibly left the children alone. They could have hired a nanny or daycare resorted in Praia da Luz . Everything happened because the children were alone and this was the starting point. And is not even worth it to talk about evidence pointing to parents being guilty. But of course Portugal is an economically weaker country and all this theater to blame the Portuguese police is at least ridiculous. It was not the Portuguese police who left the children alone. And deep down, everyone forgets the most important what were the parents were doing when they left the children alone and why were they left alone??????

"
Officers do not consider the McCanns themselves as suspects or persons of interest to the inquiry."


well - that's good old open-minded investigation for you since when have the McAnns been proven to have no involvement in the disappearance of this child? The e-fits are worthless information given by two people who said that the person that they saw carrying the child in pajamas looked like the father.. and also said, all those years ago, that they weren't confident of the accuracy of their descriptions..... but NOW they're good enough to make e-fits with? This entire sad episode has become a sick joke if the parents had simply co-operated with the police within the first 48 hours, instead of refusing to answer questions along with their friends and associates perhaps this child if still alive would have been found by now. The Met is simply grandstanding to try to show up the Portuguese authorities who did the best they could with what they were allowed to know by the only people who had actual facts, I am not certain whether the McCanns have told the truth about the night their daughter disappeared. Either way the fact they keep throwing the case in our faces irrespective of their own mistakes makes me less and less inclined to give them any benefit of my many doubts.

Just thought I would add a little more. When you do the same thing night after night after night, when your child tells you that she woke up and was looking for you, when the staff at the resort offer their babysitting service (the same staff who are are quite prepared to leave your children with during the daytime at the Kids's Club)... stupid doesn't really cover it something isn't quite right about all this and I'm sure it will come to light one day.

cheekychops wrote:

if the parents had simply co-operated with the police within the first 48 hours, instead of refusing to answer questions along with their friends and associates perhaps this child if still alive would have been found by now.

If the parents had simply stayed with their children (rather than go out and have a good time without them) we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Not a nice topic, but I asked for a good debate and we are certainly getting one here, with plenty of meat on the bones to pick at
If Maddie is still alive I hope she has been well cared for