Kate and Gerry McCann on a recent visit to Portugal where they once again seek to suggest the key to this case lies in finding this mystery abductor of Madeleine. Comments posted in Portuguese newspaper Correia da Manha indicate that both the Portuguese and British expats, find their presence unwelcome. They are sick of the McCanns media circus and the farce they persist in and sick of the impact upon the area of the continuing stigma the McCanns and the disappearance of Madeleine have upon the area. These people are clearly in no doubt, it was the McCanns themselves who brought that stigma to such a lovely area and they just want to move on. The McCanns find themselves in the position where the money they can make out of a daughter they obviously caused to disappear has now ran out along with any sympathy they may have had in the early stages before people became completely clear this was no one in a million chance of some phantom boldly stepping in and stealing Madeleine without leaving a slightest sound for neighbours to hear or any forensic trace. It was, what it typically is when children just disappear and the parents get a detailed investigation of them, the parents themselves that made that child disappear. Quite why Kate continues to grope the thigh of Gerry on the press pictures we see is beyond my comprehension. But there has always been something that is so highly inappropriate about this couple.
The reporting on the McCann case by papers such as The Daily Express etc was not a good day for Justice. It cannot be right that British newspapers feel they are not interfering in the course of justice because the case is being investigated in Portugal and therefore allow themselves carte blanche to just publish and be damned regardless of the impact upon a serious investigation into the degree of criminality involved by Madeleine's parents and more importantly still, whether she was/is still alive. We were told quite categorically there was Madeleine's blood and body fluids/hair in the apartment and hire car, that did not translate into fact, other than one miscroscopic speck of blood behind the sofa was thought to be a good match to Madeleine's. By no means can it be taken from that she died there. This could be accounted for by a scab knocked from her knee, a tiny cut, whatever. It shocks me that in spite of the clear forensic reports setting this out people still choose to refer to her apparent blood splattered up the walls. It could not even be identified as blood but the DNA extracted was found to be from a European male, clearly not Madeleine. It does not seem to occur to these people this human brown substance splattered up the wall could have been something far more unpleasant than blood like vomit or.. The facts in the McCann case are quite bad enough, it is a great pity people want to be salacious rather than look for the truth or be concerned about justice for Madeleine and other children. Quite why people cannot understand that courts will protect the rights of the McCanns to a peaceful life without harassment whilst they continue to be no more than police suspects, I do not know. I think it is more a case of they do not want to understand. Criminal law is a completely separate issue to libel law played out in the civil courts for cash. Criminal law is not used by individuals it is the State prosecuting you and unless you have acquired substantial assets as a result of criminality they are not after your cash, they are after your liberty! That is why there are so many safeguard in place to ensure people are treated fairly when suspected of crime and children who are still alive and have been sexually abused are not named or otherwise identified. I would just ask these people if it was your grandchild or your relative would you not expect the same for them?
In the latest Smith case the mother stands accused of killing both of the children after the father was extradited back to UK for child rape offences. So again we have this complex cross jurisdictional issue. What is libellous can simply mean what cannot be proven. I do not agree with the report below inasmuch as it appears to suggest an admission of libel against the McCanns by certain newspapers has anything at all to do with whether or not they are guilty in the disappearance of Madeleine. Libel law is for those who say their reputation has been damaged and so they are entitled to stop the publication of those damaging statements and to obtain monetary compensation for the damage caused. But this is clearly open to serious exploitation and there are so many cases in UK that illustrate how the devious, the dishonest and the downright greedy have sought to use this law which so often is for those who seem to be completely lacking in normal human morals.
Bloggers have a lot of freedom to say far more than the press are allowed to say, let us hope the actions of a minority who just go completely over the top in their conduct and claims do not spoil this right to freedom of speech for all of us. Some may wonder, just like me, why nonsensical letters based on what the News of the World say are written to senior members of the police and government, some may wonder why leaflets insisting Madeleine was not abducted she was killed by the McCanns got delivered to their neighbours. I wonder how these people can be so certain when they cannot even tell the difference between the blood of Madeleine and the DNA extracted from some bodily substance of a European male. If you are reading I would have a long hard look at your conscience and ask yourself why you are commenting on this case, that may take some soul searching.
Dead children's father held on sex charges
Updated on 19 May 2010
Police name the two British children found dead in a Spanish hotel room as their father appears in court in the UK on child sex abuse charges after being extradicted from Spain.
Lianne Smith, 43, the children's mother is now being questioned by police over their deaths.
Her former partner, Martin Smith was brought back to the UK from Barcelona yesterday and appeared at Carlisle Magistrates' Court this morning.
Smith, 45, faced six counts of gross indecency with or towards a girl aged under 16 between April 30, 1995 and February 1, 2001; six counts of rape of a girl aged under 16 between February 1, 2001 and April 29, 2005, and one count of attempted rape of a girl aged under 16 between April 30, 1997 and February 1, 2001.
No pleas were taken and Smith was remanded in custody until 7 June when he is due to appear at Carlisle Crown Court.
In a statement, Cumbria Police said: "During the court hearing it was disclosed that Spanish police have informed Cumbria Constabulary that Martin Smith's wife, 43-year-old Lianne Smith, has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of his two children Rebecca, five, and Daniel, 11 months, in Spain.
Local press reports in Carlisle, where Smith was believed to be living, said that he called himself a professional medium, and had appeared on the television show Most Haunted as an expert on parapsychology.
Have lessons been learned from the Madeleine McCann case?
A tragedy has occurred but inevitably there is now going to be a focus on the quality of the Spanish criminal investigation, the human rights of those involved (the deceased as well as the defendant mother) and how the local media and British press behave, writes media lawyer Duncan Lamont.
Put bluntly, have any lessons been learned from the coverage of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal three years ago?
The Spanish authorities investigate crimes in a different way to us with much earlier, and much, much more hands on, judicial involvement.
A judge from a court in the nearby town of Blanes (close to Lloret de Mar) will oversee the investigation and has already been to the Hotel Miramar and spoken to staff.
But the right to a fair trial is as important to Spaniards as here in Britain and article six of the European Convention of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to a fair trial, applies there too.
Lianne and Rebecca Smith had been reported as being missing from Staffordshire since December 2007.A tragedy has occurred but inevitably there is now going to be a focus on the quality of the Spanish criminal investigation, the human rights of those involved (the deceased as well as the defendant mother) and how the local media and British press behave, writes media lawyer Duncan Lamont.
Put bluntly, have any lessons been learned from the coverage of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal three years ago?
The Spanish authorities investigate crimes in a different way to us with much earlier, and much, much more hands on, judicial involvement.
A judge from a court in the nearby town of Blanes (close to Lloret de Mar) will oversee the investigation and has already been to the Hotel Miramar and spoken to staff.
But the right to a fair trial is as important to Spaniards as here in Britain and article six of the European Convention of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to a fair trial, applies there too.
Staffordshire Police said they had moved to Lichfield from Cumbria, before moving on again.
In a statement, Staffordshire Police said it was "very saddened" at the developments.
"It is believed that they were with Martin Smith, who was under investigation at that time by Cumbria Police for serious sexual offences," the force said.
"Our officers have worked closely with Staffordshire Social Services, Cumbria Police and, once it was established that the family were believed to be abroad, Interpol and other law enforcement agencies to trace the family.
"We are continuing to offer our full support to the investigation in Spain and Cumbria Police."
The bodies of Rebecca and Daniel were discovered yesterday.
Spanish television reported yesterday that Lianne Smith had called the hotel reception asking them to call an ambulance, but when the emergency services arrived there was nothing they could do for the children, who were thought to have died of asphyxiation.
The family of three had been staying in the beachfront hotel on holiday. El Mundo newspaper reported on its website that they arrived on Monday night.
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Have media learned lessons from Madeleine's case?
Updated on 19 May 2010
A British mother is in the custody of the Spanish police on suspicion of murdering her two young children on Spain's Costa Brava.The father is a suspected paedophile arrested recently in Barcelona who appeared before magistrates in Carlisle earlier today.
A tragedy has occurred but inevitably there is now going to be a focus on the quality of the Spanish criminal investigation, the human rights of those involved (the deceased as well as the defendant mother) and how the local media and British press behave.
Put bluntly, have any lessons been learned from the coverage of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal three years ago?
The Spanish authorities investigate crimes in a different way to us with much earlier, and much, much more hands on, judicial involvement.
A judge from a court in the nearby town of Blanes (close to Lloret de Mar) will oversee the investigation and has already been to the Hotel Miramar and spoken to staff.
But the right to a fair trial is as important to Spaniards as here in Britain and article six of the European Convention of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to a fair trial, applies there too.
The reporting of alleged crimes committed abroad by the British media can give a misleading impression of both how local cases are reported "over there" and how our criminal investigations are reported.
This is because the law of contempt of court, to protect the rights of defendants but also the prosecution, works in the individual jurisdictions.
The English and Welsh Courts protect the administration of justice in their jurisdiction. The Scottish courts ensure fair trials in Scotland and there are laws in Spain to ensure defendants are not prejudiced there.
In fact Spanish laws are, by and large, tougher – the investigators give less information to the media, defendants can remain anonymous until after conviction and the media by and large let the local investigators get on with their jobs (even if the process can be relatively slow).
Conversely Spanish newspapers can report on cases here in more detail that our courts allow by our media. The British media is not usually interested in Spanish cases, but when it is it is aware that it can report more than the local media because it cannot (it would argue) prejudice the course of justice in Spain.
Reporting the courts and ongoing police investigations is usually covered by qualified privilege which means that as long as you are contemporaneous and accurate, you cannot face a libel claim from a defendant who is subsequently found innocent and therefore (they might argue) should never have been tainted with suspicion of murder or whatever.
Things can go catastrophically wrong when there is such public interest in an alleged crime that the media overstep the boundaries and conduct their own investigations (interviewing potential witnesses can be prejudicial, as can offering to pay them money!) and even speculating wildly about guilt and innocence.
The parents of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared, presumed abducted three years ago, were the subject of a torrent of media speculation and allegation and subsequently won substantial damages (as have others associated with the case) from the British media for the publication of defamatory untruths about them.
In Spain the process may be about to start again as there have already been reports of a confession, suffocation – all matters that turn out to be wrong or misleading.
We know there are two innocent victims. But whether it could be murder, manslaughter or madness, is not as simple as may first appear.
This case may (or may not) capture the world's attention in a way that Madeleine McCann's disappearance did but the media in Britain, and indeed in Spain where there has been more detailed and speculative reports than usual, need to remember the obligation of fairness and accuracy – all the local police have officially revealed is that that the mother of two deceased minors has been detained so they can find out what happened.
Something tragic has occurred but there is no reason to that the Girona police will not scrupulously comply with everyone's rights under the Europe wide human rights principles and in particular the right to a fair trial for all involved, victims included.
Hopefully their work will not be sidetracked into investigations into media reports of the case.
Duncan Lamont is a media solicitor with Charles Russell LLP.
