It’s the elephant in the room that media sources, up until now, have been carefully avoiding.
Page 38, clause 75 of the Supreme Court ruling that blew a massive hole in the plans of Madeleine McCann’s parents to block the book by former PJ coordinator Gonçalo Amaral - that suggests they essentially invented their daughter’s abduction - states that as early as October 2007 (only five months after the little girl went missing), the couple’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell “affirmed” that Kate and Gerry McCann “were sufficiently realistic to admit that their daughter was probably dead”.
In other words, nine months before Amaral even wrote the book that the couple claim “hampered the search” for their missing daughter, they were already “sufficiently realistic” to admit that the search would not bring her back to them.
This is another slow-burning stick of dynamite hidden in the lengthy court ruling that also highlighted the panel of judges’ conclusion that the McCanns “have not been proved innocent” in their daughter’s disappearance (click here).
It is not that the UK media has ‘missed’ the damning clause - the Daily Mail did in 2007 reveal that Madeleine’s father did not agree with it - but rather that it appears for now to be choosing to ignore it.
A source working for a several tabloids has been in touch with the Resident to find out if the clause was highlighted by Portuguese papers.
He reiterated his opinion that “the tide in UK is changing”.
But it hasn’t stopped the rehashing of some very old stories as if they were new.
The Daily Star’s this (Thursday) morning reports that the TVI documentary in which Amaral expounds his ‘theory’ that Madeleine died in a tragic accident in the holiday apartment has “appeared on the Internet in English after the couple spent nine years trying to ban it”.
The story claims Madeleine’s parents are “considering legal action”.
But what it fails to make clear is that the documentary has been online for the last eight years. It was uploaded on April 30, 2009 - and well over a million people in UK appear to have seen it.
What will happen next is what everyone following this mystery is wondering.
Our source continues to predict a media onslaught in Praia da Luz for the 10th year ‘anniversary’ of Madeleine’s disappearance, claiming most news services will “just rehash old stuff” but there are plans afoot to “present all the victims in this story who have since died”, including witnesses and former suspects.
Meantime, Clarence Mitchell has been talking to the Sun online, saying that the McCann couple: “want to make it clear that they are not making any money out of Madeleine’s disappearance”.
Any claims that they are, he said are “spurious nonsense” that “fits in with the Portuguese agenda”.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
PORTUGALPRESS
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