Press Archives - The backers

I thought it might be interesting to have a new topic with the heading "Press Archives" subdivided in interesting topic old topics worth keeping for reference purposes. Perhaps if Jill could start a new forum for this?? Anyone having any intersting or old articles could post them here.

Two interesting articles here about B Kennedy and S.Winyard

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Tycoon's Secretly Funding Madeleine's Parents



Dec 9 2007 By David Taylor, Sunday Mail
THE Scots millionaire bankrolling Madeleine McCann's parents has attacked Gordon Brown for failing to back them.
Stobo Castle owner Stephen Winyard hit out at the Prime Minister for his lack of public support for Gerry and Kate McCann.
Winyard said Brown had spoken to the couple several times by phone but after they were declared official suspects by the Portuguese police the calls came to a halt.
He said: "This government was elected to look after its citizens and it's fair to say it's a fundamental principal of our legal system that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
"With that in mind, I would strongly urge that Gordon Brown, who has previously been really supportive, accede to our request for a meeting at ministerial level."
Winyard - who divides his time between Stobo, Peebleshire, and a home in Monaco - has contributed towards the McCanns' legal costs and has offered a £1million reward for Madeleine's safe return.
He has also paid for DNA testing which he says clears the couple of any wrongdoing.
He said: "I think the McCanns are entitled to the best legal defence they can muster to refute these scurrilous allegations.
"I'm absolutely confident they will be exonerated."
The 58-year-old dad-of-three made the £1million offer after Madeleine disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal in May.
After being approached by Glasgow-born Gerry for financial help, Winyard offered the couple £100,000 - matched by tycoon Richard Branson - to cover spiralling costs.
Portuguese police believe that DNA found in a Renault Scenic hire car used by the McCanns after Madeleine's disappearance prove her body was carried inside the vehicle.
And newspapers have alleged that hair samples prove the couple drugged their children the night she went missing.
But Winyard claims tests carried out by Home Office-approved forensic scientists prove otherwise.
He said: "The conclusion of the report was that no DNA was found that in any way implicated Gerry and Kate in Madeleine's disappearance."
SUNDAY EMAIL



Crunch-hit tycoon scales down cash aid for the Madeleine McCann campaign


By Daniel Boffey
Last updated at 12:25 AM on 7th June 2009

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Missing: But the parents of Madeleine McCann are paying to keep their daughter in the public eye


The multi-millionaire tycoon backing Kate and Gerry McCann in their search for their daughter has cut back his financial support after losing an estimated £50million from his fortune.
Brian Kennedy, who pledged to support the McCanns until Madeleine was found, has stopped paying for the couple’s media campaign after the credit crunch hit his business interests.
The Madeleine Fund – which is down to £500,000 and expected to be empty by the end of the year – is now paying for the media relations work of former BBC reporter Clarence Mitchell, although at a reduced rate.
The McCanns continue to regard a high-profile campaign as a crucial part of their efforts to find Madeleine, who went missing two years ago from her parents’ holiday apartment at Praia da Luz in Portugal.
But a source said Mr Kennedy, 49, who made his fortune in home improvements, had stopped paying the team promoting the McCanns’ investigation as part of a ‘costs-cutting exercise’.
Mr Kennedy saw his fortune dwindle from £350million to £300million over the past year, according to a newspaper Rich List.
However, he is still reportedly the joint 178th richest man in the UK through his company Latium, which owns Sale Rugby Club and Everest Double Glazing.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Losses: Brian Kennedy has stopped paying for the Madeleine McCann media campaign


The source said: ‘Mr Kennedy was paying for reputation protection for Mr and Mrs McCann. So when their arguido, or official suspect status, was removed by the Portuguese police, he believed there was no further need to pay Mitchell’s costs.
‘Of course, it was also a way to cut costs given the state of the economy. The fund are paying a reduced rate for Mitchell to deal with the continuing Press attention.’
But the source added: ‘Kennedy continues to talk to Kate and Gerry and his lawyer is involved in the latest legal action against the former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral. His wallet is there if needs be.
'This does not represent a scaling down. For example, his company funds the offices from which the investigators are working.’
The Madeleine Fund amassed over £1million in the first few months of the then three-year-old’s disappearance after an unprecedented public reaction.
However, it was immersed in controversy after it was revealed that money from the fund had covered two mortgage payments on the McCanns’ home.
The fund was also drawn upon heavily by private detective agencies hired by the McCanns and Mr Kennedy, including an American firm, which charged £500,000 for six months work.
It was replenished by defamation action against British media organisations. And this newspaper can reveal that the defamation case against Mr Amaral is expected to reap the McCanns a six-figure compensation fee.
But the couple and Mr Mitchell face the possibility that Mr Amaral, who was removed from the Portuguese police investigation for criticising the British police involved, will launch a legal action against them for defamation.

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Campaign: The media force behind Kate and Gerry McCann to find Madeleine has even seen them interviewed on the Oprah Winfrey show


He claims to have launched his own private inquiry into Madeleine’s disappearance and warned he intended to call a string of witnesses to court to show his reputation had been stained.
Detectives working for the McCanns are still hoping to interview convicted paedophile Raymond Hewlett, who lives in Germany.
On Thursday he was interviewed in Aachen police station by two detectives from West Yorkshire over two offences in the Seventies.
Last night Brian Kennedy’s lawyer, Ed Smethurst, confirmed Mr Kennedy and Latium were no longer paying Mr Mitchell’s salary directly, but added: ‘They remain fully supportive of Kate and Gerry McCann and the search for their daughter.’



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Wonder if Mr Winyard is still backing them?

@ Jill [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] That was quick [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]