THE parents of Madeleine McCann face an inquiry over the way they left their three children alone in a holiday apartment on the night she vanished.

Crown Prosecution Service lawyers are having “informal discussions” to see whether any offence was committed.

And in Portugal a campaign has begun in an attempt to see the couple jailed for neglect.

 

Gerry and Kate McCann have said they checked on the children regularly while with friends in a nearby tapas bar.

The development comes as Portuguese police prepare to question prime suspect Robert Murat for a third time.

 

They will quiz him this week over reports of messages discovered on his home computer discussing a mobile phone

picture of a “small British girl”.

 

The Sunday Express has learnt that ­sinister rumours on the internet and malicious allegations in the Portu­guese press about the McCanns’ private life have provoked complaints to British police deman­d­­ing that the couple be arrested.

Senior detectives in Portugal have been accused of leaking details about the investigation to the local media in an attempt to blacken the McCanns’ name.

 

Despite the country’s strict prejudice law, forbidding police to talk to the public, vital details in the inquiry have found there way on to internet chat rooms.

 

Yesterday Mr McCann said he and his wife were outraged by the cruel slurs which have forced him to take legal advice in case the CPS decides to prosecute.

An article last week in Portugal’s Sol magazine accused the McCanns and the other families in their holiday group of hiding behind a “pact of silence”. It said the McCanns’ friends had constantly altered their version of events and that they were a “very strange group that never stayed with their children”.

 

The accusations have triggered “high-level informal talks” among CPS lawyers about the conduct of Madeleine’s parents, who are both well-respected doctors.

 

Senior lawyers are considering whether an offence was committed under the 1933 Young Persons Act, which deals with ill-treatment, cruelty, neglect and abandonment of children under 16.

 

If charges were brought and the McCanns found guilty, they could face up to two years in jail.

 

The family’s spokes­woman, Just­ine McGuinness, said: “If they could turn back time there are things that they might have done differently, with the benefit of hindsight. But it is impossible to say whether, had there been an adult in the apartment at the time of the abduction, it would have stopped a predator.

 

“There are, sadly, several cases of children being taken by an adult with criminal intention while they have been very close by their parents.”

Despite overwhelming support for the couple since four-year-old Madeleine vanished 80 days ago, the CPS has received complaints from members of the public blaming the toddler’s parents for “abandoning” her when they went out for a meal with friends in the evening.

 

Lawyers are also keen to establish why the McCanns did not leave anyone to babysit Madeleine and two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie despite the resort offering a free childminding service.

 

A CPS source said: “There are a number of aspects that need to be considered.”

Last night Mr McCann, who today arrives in America to discuss child protection issues with US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, said: “Kate and I find this type of criticism deeply hurtful and unhelpful. As each hour passes our pain and anguish increases.

 

“Anyone who knows us knows we love our children. We have always taken our responsibilities as parents with the utmost seriousness. The authorities have assured us they regard the criticisms as without foundation."

 

Source: Sunday Express

The McCann's have some serious questions to answer about their conduct and their actions, it is time the media stopped thinking of them as untouchable and started asking serious questions about them

 

If that was a single mum on a Brixton council estate the kids would be in care and the single mum would be behind bars facing child neglect charges by now

Good stuff. They've been irresponsible and need to explain why. And I saw the photo of the complex printed in the Daily Telegraph (or a different paper, not sure) this weekend - the place they were dining looked a good deal more than the so-called '50 yards' from the apartment.

Interesting how the father has gone swanning off to America

 

So much for his statement about how he was not going to let his other kids out of his sight and would not leave Portugal house again till Madeleine was found

 

He has clocked up more Air Miles than Judith Chalmers since that statement :manson:

Good! Who in their right mind leaves three young children alone in an unlocked room in a foreign country?! It's insane.

Can the CPS prosecute them though? Surely it happened in Portugal so isn't it up to the authorities there?

Well it was bound to happen at some point. I am sick of hearing about the whole thing though, with the very same points being made over and over. She has to be dead, yet I can see this still being in the news years from now.

It's about time people actually looked at the parents' role in all of this, as heartless as it might sound. I'm glad that everyone in here seems to share that view though :D

tbh i cant see what good it would do jailing the parents, even if they are guilty of neglect. they still have 2 other kids that need their attention. im not convinced that any good will come out of it.

Vic and Rob make valid points ... they did absolutely the wrong thing, and it was insane to leave the kids, and yes, I think they should explain themselves.

 

But, as far as Madeleine is concerned, the damage has been done. I fail to see what good it'll do to separate two more kids from their parents?

Edited July 22, 200717 yr by Andrewy

Dont send them down, im not for that at all - Its just that from what they've said on TV, it seems they're still convinced it was fine to do what they did. I think it's important for them to be heard saying that they were in the wrong and admitting that if they hadn't acted like fools, none of the resulting events would've happened.

Am not sure of the laws regarding child care in Portugal

 

......... but it is illegal in this country to leave a child unsupervised - whether they are asleep or not.

 

Whilst I agree that it will not help the 2 children left behind to send their parents to jail - I do feel that if a law has been broken then the should be accountable.

 

 

I also agree with Craig - how hypocritical of the father to fly to America to talk about child protection - first rule of child protection - don't leave them alone!

 

But it is impossible to say whether, had there been an adult in the apartment at the time of the abduction, it would have stopped a predator.

 

and what a ridiculous statement - what parent wouldn't die trying to stop a predator?

Well, it's about time they were investigated, and frankly I DO hope they get sent down for neglect, and I DO hope they get restricted access to their other kids... Yes, it'll be shame for the other two kids, but it's not as if there aren't grandparents or other extended family who could look after them, and the grandparents will more than likely be TEN TIMES the care-givers that the McCanns ever were..... Some folks simply dont deserve to have kids, and abuse and neglect is every bit as likely to happen in a so-called "nice, middle class suburban home" as it is on some barrel-end estate with chav parents.... The facts are if this had happened in the latter case, the "investigation" into the parents would not have taken anything like this long to come about....

and what a ridiculous statement - what parent wouldn't die trying to stop a predator?

 

Totally agree, it is a ridiculous statement to make.... If indeed it was some sexual predator who took the girl, he would've been watching the apartment, studying the parents' habits over a period of several days.. He had plenty of time to go in there and take Maddie, they made it bloody easy for him through their own utter stupidity and neglect... So, I'm sorry, but they MUST be held accountable for that...

Well, it's about time they were investigated, and frankly I DO hope they get sent down for neglect, and I DO hope they get restricted access to their other kids... Yes, it'll be shame for the other two kids, but it's not as if there aren't grandparents or other extended family who could look after them, and the grandparents will more than likely be TEN TIMES the care-givers that the McCanns ever were..... Some folks simply dont deserve to have kids, and abuse and neglect is every bit as likely to happen in a so-called "nice, middle class suburban home" as it is on some barrel-end estate with chav parents.... The facts are if this had happened in the latter case, the "investigation" into the parents would not have taken anything like this long to come about....

 

Exactly. had that been a single parent from a council estate in Brixton who left 3 kids alone while going off to pizza hut and leaving the front door unlocked and then someone went in and took one of her kids she would have been arrested there and then and her remaining 2 kids taken into care and she would have been jailed for child neglect with no chance of seeing her remaining 2 kids again ever except under court supervision so it should be no different for the McCann's just because they have a few quid in the bank