McCann Interview and VideoTranscripts
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Re: McCann Interview and VideoTranscripts
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The McCann's Stockholm Interview book promotion
Fredrik Skavlan [Host]: Kate and Gerry McCann welcome to Stockholm.
Kate and Gerry: Thank you.
Host: It’s been almost five years eh since, since eh Madeleine disappeared and now you Kate are reliving the whole thing by writing a book about what happened. Why are you doing that?
Kate: Well I actually started to keep a diary back in May 2007 I was advised to do it actually, and at the time I felt it would be important for Madeleine really, so that when we found her we’d be able to fill in the gaps in her life, and then I also thought it would be good for Sean and Amelie as well, so that they would have an account of the truth of everything that happened.
Host: Your twins?
Kate: That’s right.
Host: If we could start by going back eh to May 3rd 2007, what’s your strongest memories of Madeleine from that day?
Gerry: I think the strongest memory I have is, of really, the photograph it was the last photograph we have of her and eh ye know, we’d had a lovely holiday. Madeleine was having a great time and just after lunch we went over to the pool area and eh she was sitting there paddling in the pool and I was sitting next to her and she turned round and she’s just beaming. And then the last time I saw her which was probably minutes before she was taken when she was lying asleep. It’s terrible, I’ve said this a few times but I had one of those poignant moments as a parent where I went into the room the door was open, I just paused for a second and I looked and she was sound asleep, and I thought how beautiful she was. The twins were asleep in the... their cots and I thought how lucky we were. And within ye know, minutes that was shattered!
Host: What happened is that you went to eat with the other parents that you were on vacation with?
Kate: That’s right.
Host: This was not far from the apartment?
Kate: It’s about 50 metres as the crow flies but that’s about 70 metres on foot.
Host: Yes, and as you sat there in this restaurant you went back and forth on shift to check on the children is that right? And what happened when the last time you went to check?
Kate: Well it was 10 o’clock when I went to check on Madeleine and em I walked into the sitting room of the apartment and I noticed that the children’s bedroom door was open further than we’d left it. We always use... close it quite far over but just enough so some light gets in and it was quite open. And it was our friend Matt who had checked on the children at half past nine when he was checking on his daughter next door, and I thought to myself well maybe, maybe Matt‘s left the door open when he checked on them. So, I walked over the bedroom door and I was about to close it to again, and as I did that, it kind of slammed shut, and I thought oh there must be a draught and I checked the door behind me and I hadn’t left that open.
And then I opened the door again of the children’s bedroom just to leave it open a little bit and that’s when I really looked in. And I couldn’t quite make out Madeleine in her bed and I just looked and looked and erm it was obviously quite dark, it must be a parental thing when you don’t switch a light on in case you’re worried about waking them but then I realised she wasn’t actually there and then I thought she must have wandered through to our bedroom and maybe that would have explained why door was open. So I went into our bedroom and she wasn’t there and that was the first time really that the panic hit and I just ran back into her bedroom, and literally at that point the curtains which were closed just kind of flew open and that’s when I noticed that the window was open as far as it could go and the shutters outside had been raised all the way up. And I just knew straight away that someone had taken her.
Host: So, this was your first thought?
Kate: Yeah, absolutely, there’s no way a young child could have got out.
Host: This decision of not eating in the apartment it has been lot of discussion about that not staying in the apartment, to go to eat with the other parents as you did every night.
Gerry: We felt incredibly safe and we were in a very quiet holiday resort. We were with a group of friends we hardly saw anyone of an evening and it was so close that it didn’t feel very different to eating outside in your garden, with the kids upstairs in the bedroom, and literally we were only going back erm to check that no one had woken up and of course at the time someone stealing your child was the furthest thing from our minds...and erm...
Host: This was really not something you thought twice about?
Gerry: Yeah, no, it was it just felt em...
Kate: I think if we’d had to think about it or, even say to each other ‘do you think that’s okay?’ it wouldn’t have happened. But it just felt like a really natural thing that we’ll eat at the restaurant on the complex.
Gerry: I think the hardest thing with this is, ye know with hindsight we made a mistake erm it was a collective mistake but unfortunately we can’t change that, and erm whatever anyone may think about our decision making that night Madeleine’s completely innocent and you know she’s been taken and erm it’s hard for us because ye know no one could feel more guilty than we did to... to... to, think that your behaviour gave someone an opportunity, a risky opportunity , but one that they took, and ye know we persecuted ourselves for that, but you’ve got to look forward you can’t go back we can’t change that unfortunately, and erm what we’ve tried to do is, is always to look forward.
Host: Were you the worrying kind of parents, I mean..?
Gerry: I’ll answer that! I would say - I wasn’t but Kate was! I would have said that Kate was a bit over protective. Whereas I grew up in a big family the youngest of five and you feel, oh you know, indestructible but Kate was much as an only child maybe I don’t know, but definitely much more protective of the children than me.
Host: There were...eh you, you came in contact very, very quickly with the Portuguese Police...
Gerry: Sure...
Host: Eh how was that experience?
Gerry: We were expecting a Metropolitan type response and I remember saying to the officers “where’s the helicopters? I want helicopters with heat seeking equipment.” And ye know the officer kind of laughed at us and said “you know this isn’t you know we don’t have a Royal Navy” and this thing... and you just... and I’m sure every single parent can understand this because everyone has lost a child momentarily and the terror and how frightening it is, be it in a supermarket or a playground or a park, and you just want everything done and you want... you want the world to stop, and, and scream, and the response ye know was slow. And that’s been one of the hardest things for us, because ye know, Madeleine could have been moved very easily and the Spanish border is only about 90 minutes away and obviously you are on the Mediterranean, and one of the aspects of why we are campaigning internationally is because she could have been taken anywhere.
Host: What happened was that as time went by, you didn’t really trust the Portuguese police and they didn’t trust you?
Gerry: We were there for three/ three and a half months we felt we had been completely eliminated from the enquiry we’d been interviewed...the circumstances, ye know em and then ye know for whatever reason, and possibly pressure, and a desire for this case to go away, it was portrayed in media that there was very strong evidence that Madeleine was dead people have said DNA and other things, and that we were responsible for hiding her body...and..
Host: Was there not DNA in the car, in the car that you hired?
Gerry: And we want to be absolutely clear about these things there are two aspects- We didn’t hire that car for 3 and half weeks until after Madeleine was taken, and the second aspect is there is no DNA match. Eh you know when you see the files there’s a mixed sample of DNA that comes from 5 people and obviously some of it matched Madeleine’s. But of course, all, of our DNA matches Madeleine’s. To be fair, ye know it was incredibly frustrating from the time we were arguido, through to the file being closed the following July but the Prosecutors final report was very clear, actually unequivocal, there was no evidence Madeleine was dead. And there was no evidence that we were involved but certain people have chosen to ignore that information.
Host: Which one of these media speculations was most shocking, was most hurtful?
Kate: I mean there were loads, but I guess the worst thing is if they say she is dead, and there is no evidence because if she is dead there is no search.
Gerry: I think the other thing just to go back to that Frederik is that - We had an interview with the police which Kate details in her book, an unofficial interview, and basically two of the senior officers were saying to us em “Tell us what happened, we know what happened.” And I was in tears, saying “Do you have evidence that Madeleine is dead because if you do, as her parents we need to know.” And they were saying “it’s coming, it’s coming”. And that ye know, the pressure that was put on us to confess to a crime of hiding your own daughter’s body and to say that you were going to pursue us for murder. And it’s not unique to Portugal, this happens with police the world over, it’s happened to many different people it’s happened to other parents in similar situations to us.
Host: How is your daily life, it’s been five years, how is your daily life affected by this...or do you have a daily life?
Kate: Yeah we’ve reached a new normality I guess. You know our life will never be what it was ye know it’s never gonna be truly normal again after what’s happened but we’ve got to a place where we are obviously functioning and Gerry works full time. I haven’t returned to medical practice but I’ve worked on the campaign and investigation. Six months of my life was spent going through the Portuguese police files, nine months was spent writing a book, and of course we’ve got two other children. We’ve got Sean and Amelie, and it’s ye know, it’s actually quite a luxury, but a nice luxury to be able to take them to school and be there for them when they come home, so...
Gerry: It’s probably important to emphasise ye know, we do spend obviously a lot of our spare time focused on it. The last year we’ve slept a lot better knowing the review is taking place. But if you had a casual observer looking at us as a family they would see a family of four. They’d see a happy family of four, and they wouldn’t really see they wouldn’t suspect that we’ve been erm ye know suffered a great trauma... em but for Kate and I... Sean and Amelie are as happy as any 7 year olds that we know and for Kate and I, we get enjoyment from life and we do, we do, do that, but until Madeleine is back with us there’s always going to be a void and there’s a limit, whereas before you could be, you could have unbridled joy, anything now, there is always a tinge its often the family things because Madeleine is not there with us.
Host: How has it affected your relationship?
Kate: Well we’re very lucky in that our relationship was very good very strong before this happened and I’m not sure we’d have survived if that wasn’t the case I mean I don’t think there could be anything more traumatic than what’s happened to us plus all the additional stuff on top of that.
Host: You said you’ve written the book for the twins, how much do they know?
Kate: Probably as much as we do to be honest now.
Gerry: Virtually yeah!
Kate: We did take advice from a child psychologist and he said to be as honest and as open with them but let them take the lead so if they ask you a question you respond as fully as you can and that’s exactly what we’ve done. So we’ve got to the point now where they understand that a man has taken Madeleine. They, they view it like burglary, that she’s been stolen and you shouldn’t take something that doesn’t belong to you but they understand ye know that there are lots of people helping us. They, they, understand why we are in Sweden today, the purpose of that is to ask for more help really...
Host: Can they really remember?
Kate: Well obviously they were very young, but they have re-counted things that happened prior to May 2007, which has kind of thrown me a little bit. Obviously they have been surrounded by Madeleine ever since. There’s pictures all around the house and Madeleine’s bedroom is still there, they’ve obviously seen things on the television and they know that my job really has changed from being a doctor to looking for Madeleine.
Gerry: And I think it’s important to say that they still see Madeleine as a big part of their life, and as parents that’s incredibly comforting and they’ll say things like “We’re going to go on a an aeroplane and we’re going to look for that man, and when we find him we’re going to...”and I’ll say we’ll give him to police, but they even talk about that. But I think if we don’t find Madeleine in the next...period we will face more difficult times as they get older and they are on internet and they start seeing some of the vile material which is there.
Host: In your book you mention that you have been perceived as, as cold in a way?
Kate: Well someone’s always got an opinion and I think we’ve learned how judgemental people can be and I mean I think its maybe part of human nature, we are all quick to judge from a position of ignorance.
Host: Is there a right way of grieving a wrong way of grieving?
Kate: Well exactly, I mean how should a mother or father grieve when their child is abducted and... erm...
Gerry: I think the other thing people probably don’t understand is that when we’ve done media and in particular in the early days you had to really psyche yourself up to go on there and deliver the message, you know we set objectives...
Host: Were you advised on how to behave?
Gerry: We...I mean the very initial things we weren’t, but when we did the first sort of direct appeal to the abductor, em Kate... we were... and I was told that Kate should speak as the mother, female voice and that she should not show any emotion in case that gave the abductor some sort of kick so that particular appeal, but I think as much as anything ye know Kate had probably cried 16 hours a day for 4 days, by time we did that, and we were just drained, you cannot physically cry 24 hours a day, I mean it’s impossible.
Kate: The day we did the appeal to the abductor which was on the Monday and I spoke to Alan the councillor and I said, I feel really numb and I felt really bad that I felt numb I just... and he said “Kate you can’t cry for 24 hours a day, you know this is, this is natural” but..(lets out sigh) it’s hard I mean if you laugh people will say how can they laugh when their child has been abducted if you don’t laugh you’ll either get called cold or you’re on the edge of a nervous breakdown or, it’s just hard, you’ve just got to be who you are.
Host: Do you have days that when you can forget, when you can sort of not think about it?
Kate: No I don’t think there is any day when Madeleine is not on my mind you know she is always there but... For 18 months/2 years I never thought I’d enjoy myself again I never thought I’d allow myself to enjoy anything again, and with time you adapt and I realised that actually it is okay to do that and it is important to do that, you need to get rest you need to enjoy life, and you have to be well and happy ye know for each other, for Madeleine when she gets home, for Sean and Amelie, and thankfully ye know, we are in a position now where we get a lot of enjoyment out of things, Sean and Amelie in particular.
Host: Today almost 5 years later what do you believe happened to Madeleine?
Kate: Well my view hasn’t changed you know since 4th May really, and that is, that a man took Madeleine. And that man was the person who our friend Jane Tanner saw carrying a child away from the area of the apartment. And sadly I don’t really know anything else since.
Host: How long can, do you think you can find the strength to continue this search?
Kate: As long as it takes. I don’t think any parent would ever be able to give up on their child and even the weeks where we are absolutely shattered erm or there’s another injustice that comes your way, you get up the next morning and think ‘right let’s go again’ because Madeleine is part of our family we all need her back and she needs to be with us...just need to keep going.
Gerry: I mean There are times when you just think - I cannot do this, any more, em its too much - and particularly the attention that’s comes through the media, but as Kate says that bond with us, and with Madeleine and for Sean and Amelie, and even if you wanted to I don’t think we could stop.
Host: Please know that our thoughts are with you thank you so much for coming here to Stockholm and telling us, reminding us about Madeleine is still missing.
Broadcast by STV, Skavlan Talk Sow, March 23, 2012
[Acknowledgement: Joana Morais Blogspot]
Fredrik Skavlan [Host]: Kate and Gerry McCann welcome to Stockholm.
Kate and Gerry: Thank you.
Host: It’s been almost five years eh since, since eh Madeleine disappeared and now you Kate are reliving the whole thing by writing a book about what happened. Why are you doing that?
Kate: Well I actually started to keep a diary back in May 2007 I was advised to do it actually, and at the time I felt it would be important for Madeleine really, so that when we found her we’d be able to fill in the gaps in her life, and then I also thought it would be good for Sean and Amelie as well, so that they would have an account of the truth of everything that happened.
Host: Your twins?
Kate: That’s right.
Host: If we could start by going back eh to May 3rd 2007, what’s your strongest memories of Madeleine from that day?
Gerry: I think the strongest memory I have is, of really, the photograph it was the last photograph we have of her and eh ye know, we’d had a lovely holiday. Madeleine was having a great time and just after lunch we went over to the pool area and eh she was sitting there paddling in the pool and I was sitting next to her and she turned round and she’s just beaming. And then the last time I saw her which was probably minutes before she was taken when she was lying asleep. It’s terrible, I’ve said this a few times but I had one of those poignant moments as a parent where I went into the room the door was open, I just paused for a second and I looked and she was sound asleep, and I thought how beautiful she was. The twins were asleep in the... their cots and I thought how lucky we were. And within ye know, minutes that was shattered!
Host: What happened is that you went to eat with the other parents that you were on vacation with?
Kate: That’s right.
Host: This was not far from the apartment?
Kate: It’s about 50 metres as the crow flies but that’s about 70 metres on foot.
Host: Yes, and as you sat there in this restaurant you went back and forth on shift to check on the children is that right? And what happened when the last time you went to check?
Kate: Well it was 10 o’clock when I went to check on Madeleine and em I walked into the sitting room of the apartment and I noticed that the children’s bedroom door was open further than we’d left it. We always use... close it quite far over but just enough so some light gets in and it was quite open. And it was our friend Matt who had checked on the children at half past nine when he was checking on his daughter next door, and I thought to myself well maybe, maybe Matt‘s left the door open when he checked on them. So, I walked over the bedroom door and I was about to close it to again, and as I did that, it kind of slammed shut, and I thought oh there must be a draught and I checked the door behind me and I hadn’t left that open.
And then I opened the door again of the children’s bedroom just to leave it open a little bit and that’s when I really looked in. And I couldn’t quite make out Madeleine in her bed and I just looked and looked and erm it was obviously quite dark, it must be a parental thing when you don’t switch a light on in case you’re worried about waking them but then I realised she wasn’t actually there and then I thought she must have wandered through to our bedroom and maybe that would have explained why door was open. So I went into our bedroom and she wasn’t there and that was the first time really that the panic hit and I just ran back into her bedroom, and literally at that point the curtains which were closed just kind of flew open and that’s when I noticed that the window was open as far as it could go and the shutters outside had been raised all the way up. And I just knew straight away that someone had taken her.
Host: So, this was your first thought?
Kate: Yeah, absolutely, there’s no way a young child could have got out.
Host: This decision of not eating in the apartment it has been lot of discussion about that not staying in the apartment, to go to eat with the other parents as you did every night.
Gerry: We felt incredibly safe and we were in a very quiet holiday resort. We were with a group of friends we hardly saw anyone of an evening and it was so close that it didn’t feel very different to eating outside in your garden, with the kids upstairs in the bedroom, and literally we were only going back erm to check that no one had woken up and of course at the time someone stealing your child was the furthest thing from our minds...and erm...
Host: This was really not something you thought twice about?
Gerry: Yeah, no, it was it just felt em...
Kate: I think if we’d had to think about it or, even say to each other ‘do you think that’s okay?’ it wouldn’t have happened. But it just felt like a really natural thing that we’ll eat at the restaurant on the complex.
Gerry: I think the hardest thing with this is, ye know with hindsight we made a mistake erm it was a collective mistake but unfortunately we can’t change that, and erm whatever anyone may think about our decision making that night Madeleine’s completely innocent and you know she’s been taken and erm it’s hard for us because ye know no one could feel more guilty than we did to... to... to, think that your behaviour gave someone an opportunity, a risky opportunity , but one that they took, and ye know we persecuted ourselves for that, but you’ve got to look forward you can’t go back we can’t change that unfortunately, and erm what we’ve tried to do is, is always to look forward.
Host: Were you the worrying kind of parents, I mean..?
Gerry: I’ll answer that! I would say - I wasn’t but Kate was! I would have said that Kate was a bit over protective. Whereas I grew up in a big family the youngest of five and you feel, oh you know, indestructible but Kate was much as an only child maybe I don’t know, but definitely much more protective of the children than me.
Host: There were...eh you, you came in contact very, very quickly with the Portuguese Police...
Gerry: Sure...
Host: Eh how was that experience?
Gerry: We were expecting a Metropolitan type response and I remember saying to the officers “where’s the helicopters? I want helicopters with heat seeking equipment.” And ye know the officer kind of laughed at us and said “you know this isn’t you know we don’t have a Royal Navy” and this thing... and you just... and I’m sure every single parent can understand this because everyone has lost a child momentarily and the terror and how frightening it is, be it in a supermarket or a playground or a park, and you just want everything done and you want... you want the world to stop, and, and scream, and the response ye know was slow. And that’s been one of the hardest things for us, because ye know, Madeleine could have been moved very easily and the Spanish border is only about 90 minutes away and obviously you are on the Mediterranean, and one of the aspects of why we are campaigning internationally is because she could have been taken anywhere.
Host: What happened was that as time went by, you didn’t really trust the Portuguese police and they didn’t trust you?
Gerry: We were there for three/ three and a half months we felt we had been completely eliminated from the enquiry we’d been interviewed...the circumstances, ye know em and then ye know for whatever reason, and possibly pressure, and a desire for this case to go away, it was portrayed in media that there was very strong evidence that Madeleine was dead people have said DNA and other things, and that we were responsible for hiding her body...and..
Host: Was there not DNA in the car, in the car that you hired?
Gerry: And we want to be absolutely clear about these things there are two aspects- We didn’t hire that car for 3 and half weeks until after Madeleine was taken, and the second aspect is there is no DNA match. Eh you know when you see the files there’s a mixed sample of DNA that comes from 5 people and obviously some of it matched Madeleine’s. But of course, all, of our DNA matches Madeleine’s. To be fair, ye know it was incredibly frustrating from the time we were arguido, through to the file being closed the following July but the Prosecutors final report was very clear, actually unequivocal, there was no evidence Madeleine was dead. And there was no evidence that we were involved but certain people have chosen to ignore that information.
Host: Which one of these media speculations was most shocking, was most hurtful?
Kate: I mean there were loads, but I guess the worst thing is if they say she is dead, and there is no evidence because if she is dead there is no search.
Gerry: I think the other thing just to go back to that Frederik is that - We had an interview with the police which Kate details in her book, an unofficial interview, and basically two of the senior officers were saying to us em “Tell us what happened, we know what happened.” And I was in tears, saying “Do you have evidence that Madeleine is dead because if you do, as her parents we need to know.” And they were saying “it’s coming, it’s coming”. And that ye know, the pressure that was put on us to confess to a crime of hiding your own daughter’s body and to say that you were going to pursue us for murder. And it’s not unique to Portugal, this happens with police the world over, it’s happened to many different people it’s happened to other parents in similar situations to us.
Host: How is your daily life, it’s been five years, how is your daily life affected by this...or do you have a daily life?
Kate: Yeah we’ve reached a new normality I guess. You know our life will never be what it was ye know it’s never gonna be truly normal again after what’s happened but we’ve got to a place where we are obviously functioning and Gerry works full time. I haven’t returned to medical practice but I’ve worked on the campaign and investigation. Six months of my life was spent going through the Portuguese police files, nine months was spent writing a book, and of course we’ve got two other children. We’ve got Sean and Amelie, and it’s ye know, it’s actually quite a luxury, but a nice luxury to be able to take them to school and be there for them when they come home, so...
Gerry: It’s probably important to emphasise ye know, we do spend obviously a lot of our spare time focused on it. The last year we’ve slept a lot better knowing the review is taking place. But if you had a casual observer looking at us as a family they would see a family of four. They’d see a happy family of four, and they wouldn’t really see they wouldn’t suspect that we’ve been erm ye know suffered a great trauma... em but for Kate and I... Sean and Amelie are as happy as any 7 year olds that we know and for Kate and I, we get enjoyment from life and we do, we do, do that, but until Madeleine is back with us there’s always going to be a void and there’s a limit, whereas before you could be, you could have unbridled joy, anything now, there is always a tinge its often the family things because Madeleine is not there with us.
Host: How has it affected your relationship?
Kate: Well we’re very lucky in that our relationship was very good very strong before this happened and I’m not sure we’d have survived if that wasn’t the case I mean I don’t think there could be anything more traumatic than what’s happened to us plus all the additional stuff on top of that.
Host: You said you’ve written the book for the twins, how much do they know?
Kate: Probably as much as we do to be honest now.
Gerry: Virtually yeah!
Kate: We did take advice from a child psychologist and he said to be as honest and as open with them but let them take the lead so if they ask you a question you respond as fully as you can and that’s exactly what we’ve done. So we’ve got to the point now where they understand that a man has taken Madeleine. They, they view it like burglary, that she’s been stolen and you shouldn’t take something that doesn’t belong to you but they understand ye know that there are lots of people helping us. They, they, understand why we are in Sweden today, the purpose of that is to ask for more help really...
Host: Can they really remember?
Kate: Well obviously they were very young, but they have re-counted things that happened prior to May 2007, which has kind of thrown me a little bit. Obviously they have been surrounded by Madeleine ever since. There’s pictures all around the house and Madeleine’s bedroom is still there, they’ve obviously seen things on the television and they know that my job really has changed from being a doctor to looking for Madeleine.
Gerry: And I think it’s important to say that they still see Madeleine as a big part of their life, and as parents that’s incredibly comforting and they’ll say things like “We’re going to go on a an aeroplane and we’re going to look for that man, and when we find him we’re going to...”and I’ll say we’ll give him to police, but they even talk about that. But I think if we don’t find Madeleine in the next...period we will face more difficult times as they get older and they are on internet and they start seeing some of the vile material which is there.
Host: In your book you mention that you have been perceived as, as cold in a way?
Kate: Well someone’s always got an opinion and I think we’ve learned how judgemental people can be and I mean I think its maybe part of human nature, we are all quick to judge from a position of ignorance.
Host: Is there a right way of grieving a wrong way of grieving?
Kate: Well exactly, I mean how should a mother or father grieve when their child is abducted and... erm...
Gerry: I think the other thing people probably don’t understand is that when we’ve done media and in particular in the early days you had to really psyche yourself up to go on there and deliver the message, you know we set objectives...
Host: Were you advised on how to behave?
Gerry: We...I mean the very initial things we weren’t, but when we did the first sort of direct appeal to the abductor, em Kate... we were... and I was told that Kate should speak as the mother, female voice and that she should not show any emotion in case that gave the abductor some sort of kick so that particular appeal, but I think as much as anything ye know Kate had probably cried 16 hours a day for 4 days, by time we did that, and we were just drained, you cannot physically cry 24 hours a day, I mean it’s impossible.
Kate: The day we did the appeal to the abductor which was on the Monday and I spoke to Alan the councillor and I said, I feel really numb and I felt really bad that I felt numb I just... and he said “Kate you can’t cry for 24 hours a day, you know this is, this is natural” but..(lets out sigh) it’s hard I mean if you laugh people will say how can they laugh when their child has been abducted if you don’t laugh you’ll either get called cold or you’re on the edge of a nervous breakdown or, it’s just hard, you’ve just got to be who you are.
Host: Do you have days that when you can forget, when you can sort of not think about it?
Kate: No I don’t think there is any day when Madeleine is not on my mind you know she is always there but... For 18 months/2 years I never thought I’d enjoy myself again I never thought I’d allow myself to enjoy anything again, and with time you adapt and I realised that actually it is okay to do that and it is important to do that, you need to get rest you need to enjoy life, and you have to be well and happy ye know for each other, for Madeleine when she gets home, for Sean and Amelie, and thankfully ye know, we are in a position now where we get a lot of enjoyment out of things, Sean and Amelie in particular.
Host: Today almost 5 years later what do you believe happened to Madeleine?
Kate: Well my view hasn’t changed you know since 4th May really, and that is, that a man took Madeleine. And that man was the person who our friend Jane Tanner saw carrying a child away from the area of the apartment. And sadly I don’t really know anything else since.
Host: How long can, do you think you can find the strength to continue this search?
Kate: As long as it takes. I don’t think any parent would ever be able to give up on their child and even the weeks where we are absolutely shattered erm or there’s another injustice that comes your way, you get up the next morning and think ‘right let’s go again’ because Madeleine is part of our family we all need her back and she needs to be with us...just need to keep going.
Gerry: I mean There are times when you just think - I cannot do this, any more, em its too much - and particularly the attention that’s comes through the media, but as Kate says that bond with us, and with Madeleine and for Sean and Amelie, and even if you wanted to I don’t think we could stop.
Host: Please know that our thoughts are with you thank you so much for coming here to Stockholm and telling us, reminding us about Madeleine is still missing.
Broadcast by STV, Skavlan Talk Sow, March 23, 2012
[Acknowledgement: Joana Morais Blogspot]
____________________
“ The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made" - Groucho Marx
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Re: McCann Interview and VideoTranscripts
by Verdi 13.12.22 17:16
'Every day is incredibly hard without Madeleine' Algarve Resident
3rd July 2007
IN THEIR first press interview for some time, Gerry and Kate McCann spoke with a small group of invited journalists on Tuesday. Answers to the questions below are predominantly Gerry's, with Kate's comments marked as such.
How would you summarise the past 60 days?
Every day is incredibly hard without Madeleine, but there have been a number of plusses as well. Everyday without Madeleine is incredibly difficult.
What is your daily routine?
It starts off normally. We get the kids up and ready. We check telephone calls and have a look at emails etc. We have a few meetings during the day and, in the evenings, things return to normal and are spent as a family. We have frequent meetings and our family have been very supportive in helping us find Madeleine. That's been very important to us.
What kind of campaigns do you have planned for the future?
Can't give too many specifics on the future, but it will be very much event-driven. The important thing is to make as many people as possible aware of Madeleine. The response to the campaign has been incredible. We want to remind people from time to time that we are still looking and Madeleine still has not been found.
Kate: To keep them looking.
Will you spend Christmas in Portugal if Madeleine is not found?
Kate: I think at the moment we are just taking one day at a time. We are not looking that far ahead.
Gerry: We are committed to staying and we feel closer to Madeleine here. Also, as it has been such an active investigation, with so much information coming through, for the time being, we would like to stay here. It is more practical.
What about your jobs?
Right now, we are not capable of working as doctors. We still feel a lot can be done by ourselves. What we don't want is to look back in another three or four months and say we wish had done this. At the minute, the decision is we will stay in Portugal, though we are regularly reviewing our situation.
Kate: Our main job and our main priority is to find Madeleine.
Do you believe she might still be here in Portugal?
Kate: There is a possibility, but we just don't know where she is. We have to say that we don't know. But I do feel closer to Madeleine.
Gerry: We definitely don't want to set a certain focus with the trips that we've made. We went to Spain because of its close proximity. We want people to come forward with information, but we are not sure enough that she was taken from here. She could be in this region and we don't want to dismiss that.
What did you tell Sean and Amelie when they ask about their older sister?
We have taken professional advice to know how to deal with the twins, and I think that how we deal emphasises on how we tell them about it, but it is paramount that Sean and Amelie are fine now.
Why do you think your ordeal has attracted more attention than possibly any other child abduction in history?
It is an interesting question. There are a number of circumstances and I think that the fact that the abduction was of foreign children in a foreign country played a part. Another aspect of this is that we and our family and friends have decided to campaign to maximise the media exposure, and electronic media which started a chain, and that had a huge impact over the first 24 hours.
There is no doubt that the media has done a huge amount and want us to find Madeleine.
How do you view the support you have been receiving from the Portuguese people?
I could not have imagined that we would get so much support and so quickly. It has been a great help really and that has comforted us. It has been like being at home. The first few days the Portuguese people gave us a lot of strength when we were down.
What should people tell police about?
Kate: Lots of things. I am totally reassured that the Portuguese police are 100 per cent committed to finding Madeleine.
Gerry: I think you have seen it yourself that in the last two months a lot has changed and the flood of information between us and police has improved and we thank the Portuguese police. We have a very good working relationship with them. Our determination to find Madeleine is matched by theirs.
How do you perceive latest developments in Spain linking Madeleine's disappearance to an illegal child abduction network?
I haven't gone into that too much in detail and I know the Spanish have a secrecy order, so I cannot tell you if there has been an extortion attempt but the Portuguese Police are keeping us informed.
What has been your hardest moment since Madeleine's abduction?
Every day is hard, very, very difficult. We have positive days as well when we have done big events or some sort of coverage, campaigning. The only important thing for us is getting Madeleine back, and we hope that what we are doing increases the chances of that.
Planning any other visits to other countries?
We haven't got any specific plans but we are looking to have international dimension and we are working with different organisations to help that. But right at this minute we haven't got any planned. From time to time I will go back to England to sort out some personal stuff.
What message do you have for Madeleine's abductors?
Kate: It is not too late to give her back.
Kate and Gerry concluded the interview by repeatedly saying thank you to the Portuguese people, expressing gratitude for their support and patience.
[Acknowledgement: pamalam at gerrymccannsblog]
3rd July 2007
IN THEIR first press interview for some time, Gerry and Kate McCann spoke with a small group of invited journalists on Tuesday. Answers to the questions below are predominantly Gerry's, with Kate's comments marked as such.
How would you summarise the past 60 days?
Every day is incredibly hard without Madeleine, but there have been a number of plusses as well. Everyday without Madeleine is incredibly difficult.
What is your daily routine?
It starts off normally. We get the kids up and ready. We check telephone calls and have a look at emails etc. We have a few meetings during the day and, in the evenings, things return to normal and are spent as a family. We have frequent meetings and our family have been very supportive in helping us find Madeleine. That's been very important to us.
What kind of campaigns do you have planned for the future?
Can't give too many specifics on the future, but it will be very much event-driven. The important thing is to make as many people as possible aware of Madeleine. The response to the campaign has been incredible. We want to remind people from time to time that we are still looking and Madeleine still has not been found.
Kate: To keep them looking.
Will you spend Christmas in Portugal if Madeleine is not found?
Kate: I think at the moment we are just taking one day at a time. We are not looking that far ahead.
Gerry: We are committed to staying and we feel closer to Madeleine here. Also, as it has been such an active investigation, with so much information coming through, for the time being, we would like to stay here. It is more practical.
What about your jobs?
Right now, we are not capable of working as doctors. We still feel a lot can be done by ourselves. What we don't want is to look back in another three or four months and say we wish had done this. At the minute, the decision is we will stay in Portugal, though we are regularly reviewing our situation.
Kate: Our main job and our main priority is to find Madeleine.
Do you believe she might still be here in Portugal?
Kate: There is a possibility, but we just don't know where she is. We have to say that we don't know. But I do feel closer to Madeleine.
Gerry: We definitely don't want to set a certain focus with the trips that we've made. We went to Spain because of its close proximity. We want people to come forward with information, but we are not sure enough that she was taken from here. She could be in this region and we don't want to dismiss that.
What did you tell Sean and Amelie when they ask about their older sister?
We have taken professional advice to know how to deal with the twins, and I think that how we deal emphasises on how we tell them about it, but it is paramount that Sean and Amelie are fine now.
Why do you think your ordeal has attracted more attention than possibly any other child abduction in history?
It is an interesting question. There are a number of circumstances and I think that the fact that the abduction was of foreign children in a foreign country played a part. Another aspect of this is that we and our family and friends have decided to campaign to maximise the media exposure, and electronic media which started a chain, and that had a huge impact over the first 24 hours.
There is no doubt that the media has done a huge amount and want us to find Madeleine.
How do you view the support you have been receiving from the Portuguese people?
I could not have imagined that we would get so much support and so quickly. It has been a great help really and that has comforted us. It has been like being at home. The first few days the Portuguese people gave us a lot of strength when we were down.
What should people tell police about?
Kate: Lots of things. I am totally reassured that the Portuguese police are 100 per cent committed to finding Madeleine.
Gerry: I think you have seen it yourself that in the last two months a lot has changed and the flood of information between us and police has improved and we thank the Portuguese police. We have a very good working relationship with them. Our determination to find Madeleine is matched by theirs.
How do you perceive latest developments in Spain linking Madeleine's disappearance to an illegal child abduction network?
I haven't gone into that too much in detail and I know the Spanish have a secrecy order, so I cannot tell you if there has been an extortion attempt but the Portuguese Police are keeping us informed.
What has been your hardest moment since Madeleine's abduction?
Every day is hard, very, very difficult. We have positive days as well when we have done big events or some sort of coverage, campaigning. The only important thing for us is getting Madeleine back, and we hope that what we are doing increases the chances of that.
Planning any other visits to other countries?
We haven't got any specific plans but we are looking to have international dimension and we are working with different organisations to help that. But right at this minute we haven't got any planned. From time to time I will go back to England to sort out some personal stuff.
What message do you have for Madeleine's abductors?
Kate: It is not too late to give her back.
Kate and Gerry concluded the interview by repeatedly saying thank you to the Portuguese people, expressing gratitude for their support and patience.
[Acknowledgement: pamalam at gerrymccannsblog]
____________________
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Re: McCann Interview and VideoTranscripts
by Verdi 22.10.23 16:53
HEADLINES TODAY: WED 03 NOVEMBER 2010
CHANNEL 4 INTERVIEW with the McCanns (Part 1 OF 2)
Transcript..
Darshna Soni You are calling for a review of the investigation. Explain to us why.
Gerry McCann I think the first thing to tell the general public is that the authorities haven't been doing anything proactive in the search for Madeleine for well over two years now and we think it is fundamental for any major incident that a case review is undertaken to look at all the avenues that could be explored that might lead to new information coming into the enquiry.
DS You say that they have been doing nothing proactive. What have they been doing for the last two and a half years' People might be surprised to hear that.
GM Well'
Kate McCann Well I think if information comes in, certainly to the British authorities, if they are able to they will have a look at it and if they feel its necessary they will send it over to Portugal. But they are actually waiting for information to come in rather than trying to bring information in that could find her.
DS Do you think it makes it difficult for them, though, because you have got your own private investigators looking for your daughter' Does that make your relationship with the police difficult'
GM It shouldn't. I mean its not competition. They should be working together if anything. The fact if there wasn't private investigators there would be absolutely no-one looking for this so I don't see why' Its not a threat. We don't have the resources. They don't have statutory powers. There's a lot more the authorities can do. We do have people, though, on the end of a phone line, looking at emails, interviewing witnesses and generally following up new lines of enquiry and they've passed a number of those on to the authorities. But, you know, this is an unsolved serious case and particularly given the profile we think that a full case review should be undertaken and that has to be collaborative with the Portuguese authorities.
DS Leicestershire Police have said to us that they haven't shelved the investigation because it was never their investigation to shelve because it was being led by the Portuguese. What more would you expect Leicestershire Police to do'
KM I mean I think it is important to say although Portugal has primacy with regards to the investigation it doesn't mean that there isn't things the British authorities can do. And certainly a review is one of the crucial, significant things that they can take part in.
GM I mean I think what we are asking for today is for the governments to do more. Leicestershire have, you know, largely played their part and they have done that to the best of their ability. But this needs to be done at higher level. It needs to be done between the governments and there has to be an agreement and err' parameters set in terms of the review, how it is going to be done and what it leads to. And the last Home Secretary, Alan Johnston, ordered a scoping exercise that was undertaken by CEOP and as far as we can see, after six months nothing has been done with that scoping exercise and we just don't think that's acceptable.
DS So the previous Home Secretary looked into the feasibility of having a review. Has there been a change in the attitude of the new government now that we have a change of government.
GM Well it is difficult to know because we are not getting any metrics to measure what the government are doing against so there's no time lines, there's no deliverables and time's just ticking on. We were told that we would be told the contents of that report. We haven't seen it. We haven't been told. And really although the government say there are sensitivities, we fully understand that but they should be doing more and they are, should be responsible for ensuring that Madeleine gets the best investigation possible.
KM We are not aware of any progress since the CEOP report was handed in to the government at the end of March. And even allowing for a change of government in the last six months we're not aware of anything that has carried on from that report being given in.
DS When you met with Theresa May, the new Home Secretary, what promises did she give you' Did she tell you what was in that scoping report'
KM Well, I think that's just it. There weren't any promises. In fact she said, 'I don't want to make any commitments'. But, basically, what we need to know is what are they doing, what are they going to do with that report, have they read the report'
DS Do you think she had even read it'
KM Well she hadn't when we met her. She said that which was a bit disappointing. Hopefully now she has but we need to know where are we going now because we truly believe its going to help the search for Madeleine. We know its not easy but it doesn't mean its not possible.
DS I just wanted to ask you. You've chosen to do the interviews now three and a half years on. People will be wondering how on earth you keep going and how you keep this story in the news after such a long time.
GM Well we don't '(Slight laugh') Although we offered to do things like this really I think it is a reflection that the public are very interested and'
KM I think the public care about Madeleine and that's why its still a story for want of a better word. Which is great because without the public support I don't know where we'd be, erm'
GM I think that's crucial, you know. The government won't do anything without pressure and its the public. The government are accountable to the public who elected them and that's what we're asking for is the public to ask our government to do more and to work with the Portuguese government as well and we should be putting pressure on both of them to solve this. We can't stop doing what we do. We need to find Madeleine. We are living a life that's somewhat in limbo between our previous life which was very, very happy and somewhere now where we've got a different life but without Madeleine in it. And we can't really get off that treadmill until we find her or at the very least what's happened to her.
DS And how do you keep going' How do you keep hoping' There must be days when it is very, very difficult.
KM Well we've worked so hard. I mean, understandably, we're Madeleine's parents and we are going to do everything that we can and we work really hard. And there are days when it feels that obstacle after obstacle is thrown in your way and obviously the clock keeps ticking, the calendar keeps turning. And there's days that we just look at each other and think 'God I wish it was all over', you know erm. But basically we wish Madeleine was back with us. Full stop.
GM You know, '
KM You know, but we can't stop while we are in this situation we just have to keep going. It doesn't matter how tiring it is. It doesn't matter how many blocks are put in our way. We have to keep going because a little girl is still out there missing. You know this is not solved this case. She's still missing and there's an abductor out there, there's a criminal out there who is free to do this over and over again if we let him. You know, so that's another reason why the governments and the authorities should be doing more.
GM I was just going to say one of the simplest things is Sean and Amelie's attitude because they talk about Madeleine all the time and when we are having one of those days when you just want to opt to go away and you are exhausted and they just say, 'When Madeleine comes home' and there's no reason why she can't come home that we know of and its happened for other children and they know how hard we are working and they want Madeleine home as well and that really does give us renewed energy and vigour to carry on what we are doing.
KM In Sean and Amelie's words, 'Madeleine's missing. We need to find her.' And its quite simple when you put it like that, you know.
DS So you still believe that your daughter is alive and out there somewhere'
KM Certainly, we know there's a good chance that she's still alive. I mean at the minute she's just missing, you know. I mean, so you have to assume she's alive cos there's nothing to say otherwise. There's many cases, as you know, that have hit the media of children and many cases that haven't hit the media of children who've been found years down the line so you just have to keep going.
GM I mean you could imagine if we just gave up and years down the line we found her. There's no justification for giving up.
DS And so you will keep on searching for as long as it takes.
GM Yeah. And we can't stop. I don't think any parent could stop.
KM I don't think you could live comfortably. I just don't think physically that you could, or mentally you could actually reach that decision, you know.
DS When you mentioned the public support and how important it is to you. How do you feel about the fact that there are still people who feel that you had something to do with it and there are web sites set up to (''''''''')' It must be quite hurtful still after all this time.
GM I think the key thing is that the motives of people who wish to persuade others that Madeleine is dead without any evidence to suggest that have to be questioned. You know, we are here to try and make sure that there is as good a search as possible and that's as far as I can see the way the vast majority of the public want to see it happening. And I think they'll be shocked to find that the authorities have not been doing anything. Our focus is in making sure there is a good search not stopping one for a missing child
CHANNEL 4 INTERVIEW with the McCanns (Part 2 of 2)
DS So are you still quite hurt by some of the things you read'
KM Well a lot of the rubbish I don't read, to be honest. Because, as Gerry said, you have to question the motives of people like that. People who want to insist on something without evidence. People who want to bring, you know, more pain and suffering to a family who are already vulnerable, who are already suffering. You really have to question those people and I don't value their opinion because, you know, I wouldn't behave like that so, you know, you can't be, you know, detracted, distracted from what is important which is Madeleine by people like that. The majority of people are good people. They're the quiet majority and I strongly believe they are the ones who want to find Madeleine.
DS And you are appealing for more funds. What happened to the money that you had previously' There's around, I understand, '350,000 left. What happened to the previous money that was donated'
GM OK. I think the first thing to say is that the priority today is very much about asking the public to help us with the petition to get the government to do more. We have been fortunate, although its not helped us get where we want, by having a fund. And the fund was set up in response to people offering money and it was set up properly and the fund is very accountable and it has independent auditors and we have a fund administrator who's got lots of experience. The vast amount of. The vast majority of the money in the fund has been spent directly on search fees. Its obviously supported other things, awareness campaigns, we have a part-time co-ordinator now. We have media liaison to deal with things like this here and in Portugal in trying to get our messages across, but the most of the money, the vast majority of it has been spent'
KM we've had to fund an investigation for two years now which as you can imagine with several more than that personnel, it costs money'
GM Staff, expenses, interviewing. We run a 24hr help line which is available. We run a web site. That costs money, updating it. Communications. You know, all of these things do add up and without having the fund there wouldn't be a meaningful search today.
DS You've also spent money on your own investigators as you've said. There have been reports that some of these detectives have taken money but then not delivered. They are dodgy detectives if you like. How can you reassure people that money won't be spent on people like that in the future.
GM Well we've very much had for the last two and a bit years, we've had Dave Edgar who is a very experienced detective who was near retirement. He's been working with us. He's very much accountable for the spend. He feels he can justify every penny. But at the same time I hope the public realise as well as directors of the fund in particular when we were arguido and there was no search going on that it was incumbent upon us to continue a search in very, very difficult circumstances. So we have made decisions along the way which have always, we felt, been in the best interest of the search to find Madeleine and we are very accountable. All the expenses are there err, receipts and we've got quite a tight-knit team working on this but we need them. Without it there would be no-one there to go and interview people and follow up leads.
DS What about the, some people might say, the judgement of the trustees is sometimes questionable because you have had people like Halligen who is now facing extradition'
GM Well, you know, we are doing the best in very, very difficult circumstances. I think that's key. We always take advice, due diligence is done, references are sought and, you know, the fund is accountable and as directors we are responsible for making those decisions.
DS There are also reports that you have fallen out with some of the trustees, with your brother and your boss who have resigned'
GM That's nonsense. That's absolute nonsense. Why do you say we have fallen out' I mean the fund has changed over three years, three and a half years. Its very different, ermm, initially we weren't on the board because we were based in Portugal'
KM Nobody thought, you know, three and a half years ago that we would be in this situation today. Its a big commitment, you know, and things have changed. We've got different phases in the last three and a half years so inevitably there's going to be changes.
DS So its not that you've had differences over the way the money was spent or''
GM No, not at all.
KM Absolutely not.
GM In fact any of the changes we have made recently are to make the fund more efficient and more responsive. Kate and I always feel, you know, there's still an urgency. It doesn't get easier and we don't need a large board as such. We are trying to run the fund like a small business in many ways so that its focused and the directors by and large are hands on and responsible for certain areas. Kate and I are integral to all the parts of it. We've got legal advice. We've got specialist media liaison etc. We've got a retired accountant, and, you know we've got Kate's uncle who is there and is a good governance sort of person. So all of these are taken on board and we've got a very experienced fund administrator as well.
KM Have you talked about the petition'
DS Yeah, I was just going to ask you about that. So, I mean, you have mentioned the petition already. Just how many signatures are you hoping to collect' What are you asking people to sign for' What is the point of the petition'
GM Well the whole point is to call on the governments, both the UK and the Portuguese government to do more in the search for Madeleine and the first thing we feel that's fundamental is that they undertake a complete review of the case preferably it should be independent and we want transparency as well and we are asking the public to help us in that regard.
DS In terms of, you only have '350,000 left now, how can you, how long do you worry that you can keep going (if you dont get donations'''')'
GM Well we are always as directors of the fund, we are always looking at that because one of.., the remit is for us to fulfil the objectives of the fund and the fund is to try and find Madeleine and bring those responsible to justice so there's always an agenda item about finances and we need to look at that. We've done other fund raisers in the past and we'll keep looking at that. We've been very fortunate from the point of view of having so many of the public make donations and a large part of the money we've spent, as you know, has come from libel damages which were paid into the fund. So we'll continue to explore it. We certainly need to be looking at income generation over the next months.
DS There must be huge pressure on you knowing you've always got to look ('''''''').
GM Well, I mean, we'd love nothing more to find Madeleine. And then we wouldn't have to worry about that. You're absolutely right. Our focus is on the search for Madeleine and without the authorities conducting that then the onus is on us and we don't think that's right. The onus should be on the governments to do more. We'd love to give that pressure away. You're right.
DS And you mention the money from the trials. How do you feel now that Amaral's book is going to be on the shelves here'
GM Yeah, so. Well, you know, we've already alluded to it. Anyone who wants to convince people that Madeleine is dead without evidence to support it then will just have to be questioned. But today the focus is on asking the public to help us petition the governments to do more.
DS Do you feel that you should be chasing libel actions' Some people might say why don't you just leave libel stuff to one side' Why try and silence your critics'
KM Well obviously we've talked about this in great detail previously. The reason why we had to take actiion was because we strongly felt it was damaging the search to find Madeleine and as Gerry has just said, that is our ultimate goal, is to find Madeleine.
DS I just wonder, can you update people' Where are you now' I mean recently you went over to Germany. You translated all your literature into German. So can you update people' Where are you now' Have you got any new leads' What's happening (''''''')'
GM I would like to say to you that we did have some hot leads but the very fact that we are calling for a complete review to identify further areas for investigation is telling you that, you know, more needs to be done. All the information needs to be put onto one database because that may be the way that we find the key bit of information, the missing piece of the jigsaw.
DS So at the moment you are worried that there isn't even a central database so the information might not be getting cross referenced (''''')'
KM Yes, I mean there's information in lots of centres that hasn't been brought together and there could be two key bits of information that individually don't seem key but put together could give you some valuable information that could take you one step closer to finding Madeleine so it just seems an obvious and crucial thing to do. And this is why reviews are done time and time again in this country on major investigations.
DS So you must be frustrated that the government has carried out a scoping into whether there should be a review and no action has been taken'
GM Yeah, I mean that's what we're asking for. We want to see what action. We want metrics. We want deliverables. And we want the government to do more. Madeleine is a British subject and the government should be doing more to look out for her interests.
DS And I was just wondering. How can people sign the petition'
GM Its on the ipetitions website. So its [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] then forward slash petitions but its quite a complex link.
DS We'll put it on our website.
GM Thank you.
[Acknowledgement pamalam @ gerrymccannsblog]
CHANNEL 4 INTERVIEW with the McCanns (Part 1 OF 2)
Transcript..
Darshna Soni You are calling for a review of the investigation. Explain to us why.
Gerry McCann I think the first thing to tell the general public is that the authorities haven't been doing anything proactive in the search for Madeleine for well over two years now and we think it is fundamental for any major incident that a case review is undertaken to look at all the avenues that could be explored that might lead to new information coming into the enquiry.
DS You say that they have been doing nothing proactive. What have they been doing for the last two and a half years' People might be surprised to hear that.
GM Well'
Kate McCann Well I think if information comes in, certainly to the British authorities, if they are able to they will have a look at it and if they feel its necessary they will send it over to Portugal. But they are actually waiting for information to come in rather than trying to bring information in that could find her.
DS Do you think it makes it difficult for them, though, because you have got your own private investigators looking for your daughter' Does that make your relationship with the police difficult'
GM It shouldn't. I mean its not competition. They should be working together if anything. The fact if there wasn't private investigators there would be absolutely no-one looking for this so I don't see why' Its not a threat. We don't have the resources. They don't have statutory powers. There's a lot more the authorities can do. We do have people, though, on the end of a phone line, looking at emails, interviewing witnesses and generally following up new lines of enquiry and they've passed a number of those on to the authorities. But, you know, this is an unsolved serious case and particularly given the profile we think that a full case review should be undertaken and that has to be collaborative with the Portuguese authorities.
DS Leicestershire Police have said to us that they haven't shelved the investigation because it was never their investigation to shelve because it was being led by the Portuguese. What more would you expect Leicestershire Police to do'
KM I mean I think it is important to say although Portugal has primacy with regards to the investigation it doesn't mean that there isn't things the British authorities can do. And certainly a review is one of the crucial, significant things that they can take part in.
GM I mean I think what we are asking for today is for the governments to do more. Leicestershire have, you know, largely played their part and they have done that to the best of their ability. But this needs to be done at higher level. It needs to be done between the governments and there has to be an agreement and err' parameters set in terms of the review, how it is going to be done and what it leads to. And the last Home Secretary, Alan Johnston, ordered a scoping exercise that was undertaken by CEOP and as far as we can see, after six months nothing has been done with that scoping exercise and we just don't think that's acceptable.
DS So the previous Home Secretary looked into the feasibility of having a review. Has there been a change in the attitude of the new government now that we have a change of government.
GM Well it is difficult to know because we are not getting any metrics to measure what the government are doing against so there's no time lines, there's no deliverables and time's just ticking on. We were told that we would be told the contents of that report. We haven't seen it. We haven't been told. And really although the government say there are sensitivities, we fully understand that but they should be doing more and they are, should be responsible for ensuring that Madeleine gets the best investigation possible.
KM We are not aware of any progress since the CEOP report was handed in to the government at the end of March. And even allowing for a change of government in the last six months we're not aware of anything that has carried on from that report being given in.
DS When you met with Theresa May, the new Home Secretary, what promises did she give you' Did she tell you what was in that scoping report'
KM Well, I think that's just it. There weren't any promises. In fact she said, 'I don't want to make any commitments'. But, basically, what we need to know is what are they doing, what are they going to do with that report, have they read the report'
DS Do you think she had even read it'
KM Well she hadn't when we met her. She said that which was a bit disappointing. Hopefully now she has but we need to know where are we going now because we truly believe its going to help the search for Madeleine. We know its not easy but it doesn't mean its not possible.
DS I just wanted to ask you. You've chosen to do the interviews now three and a half years on. People will be wondering how on earth you keep going and how you keep this story in the news after such a long time.
GM Well we don't '(Slight laugh') Although we offered to do things like this really I think it is a reflection that the public are very interested and'
KM I think the public care about Madeleine and that's why its still a story for want of a better word. Which is great because without the public support I don't know where we'd be, erm'
GM I think that's crucial, you know. The government won't do anything without pressure and its the public. The government are accountable to the public who elected them and that's what we're asking for is the public to ask our government to do more and to work with the Portuguese government as well and we should be putting pressure on both of them to solve this. We can't stop doing what we do. We need to find Madeleine. We are living a life that's somewhat in limbo between our previous life which was very, very happy and somewhere now where we've got a different life but without Madeleine in it. And we can't really get off that treadmill until we find her or at the very least what's happened to her.
DS And how do you keep going' How do you keep hoping' There must be days when it is very, very difficult.
KM Well we've worked so hard. I mean, understandably, we're Madeleine's parents and we are going to do everything that we can and we work really hard. And there are days when it feels that obstacle after obstacle is thrown in your way and obviously the clock keeps ticking, the calendar keeps turning. And there's days that we just look at each other and think 'God I wish it was all over', you know erm. But basically we wish Madeleine was back with us. Full stop.
GM You know, '
KM You know, but we can't stop while we are in this situation we just have to keep going. It doesn't matter how tiring it is. It doesn't matter how many blocks are put in our way. We have to keep going because a little girl is still out there missing. You know this is not solved this case. She's still missing and there's an abductor out there, there's a criminal out there who is free to do this over and over again if we let him. You know, so that's another reason why the governments and the authorities should be doing more.
GM I was just going to say one of the simplest things is Sean and Amelie's attitude because they talk about Madeleine all the time and when we are having one of those days when you just want to opt to go away and you are exhausted and they just say, 'When Madeleine comes home' and there's no reason why she can't come home that we know of and its happened for other children and they know how hard we are working and they want Madeleine home as well and that really does give us renewed energy and vigour to carry on what we are doing.
KM In Sean and Amelie's words, 'Madeleine's missing. We need to find her.' And its quite simple when you put it like that, you know.
DS So you still believe that your daughter is alive and out there somewhere'
KM Certainly, we know there's a good chance that she's still alive. I mean at the minute she's just missing, you know. I mean, so you have to assume she's alive cos there's nothing to say otherwise. There's many cases, as you know, that have hit the media of children and many cases that haven't hit the media of children who've been found years down the line so you just have to keep going.
GM I mean you could imagine if we just gave up and years down the line we found her. There's no justification for giving up.
DS And so you will keep on searching for as long as it takes.
GM Yeah. And we can't stop. I don't think any parent could stop.
KM I don't think you could live comfortably. I just don't think physically that you could, or mentally you could actually reach that decision, you know.
DS When you mentioned the public support and how important it is to you. How do you feel about the fact that there are still people who feel that you had something to do with it and there are web sites set up to (''''''''')' It must be quite hurtful still after all this time.
GM I think the key thing is that the motives of people who wish to persuade others that Madeleine is dead without any evidence to suggest that have to be questioned. You know, we are here to try and make sure that there is as good a search as possible and that's as far as I can see the way the vast majority of the public want to see it happening. And I think they'll be shocked to find that the authorities have not been doing anything. Our focus is in making sure there is a good search not stopping one for a missing child
CHANNEL 4 INTERVIEW with the McCanns (Part 2 of 2)
DS So are you still quite hurt by some of the things you read'
KM Well a lot of the rubbish I don't read, to be honest. Because, as Gerry said, you have to question the motives of people like that. People who want to insist on something without evidence. People who want to bring, you know, more pain and suffering to a family who are already vulnerable, who are already suffering. You really have to question those people and I don't value their opinion because, you know, I wouldn't behave like that so, you know, you can't be, you know, detracted, distracted from what is important which is Madeleine by people like that. The majority of people are good people. They're the quiet majority and I strongly believe they are the ones who want to find Madeleine.
DS And you are appealing for more funds. What happened to the money that you had previously' There's around, I understand, '350,000 left. What happened to the previous money that was donated'
GM OK. I think the first thing to say is that the priority today is very much about asking the public to help us with the petition to get the government to do more. We have been fortunate, although its not helped us get where we want, by having a fund. And the fund was set up in response to people offering money and it was set up properly and the fund is very accountable and it has independent auditors and we have a fund administrator who's got lots of experience. The vast amount of. The vast majority of the money in the fund has been spent directly on search fees. Its obviously supported other things, awareness campaigns, we have a part-time co-ordinator now. We have media liaison to deal with things like this here and in Portugal in trying to get our messages across, but the most of the money, the vast majority of it has been spent'
KM we've had to fund an investigation for two years now which as you can imagine with several more than that personnel, it costs money'
GM Staff, expenses, interviewing. We run a 24hr help line which is available. We run a web site. That costs money, updating it. Communications. You know, all of these things do add up and without having the fund there wouldn't be a meaningful search today.
DS You've also spent money on your own investigators as you've said. There have been reports that some of these detectives have taken money but then not delivered. They are dodgy detectives if you like. How can you reassure people that money won't be spent on people like that in the future.
GM Well we've very much had for the last two and a bit years, we've had Dave Edgar who is a very experienced detective who was near retirement. He's been working with us. He's very much accountable for the spend. He feels he can justify every penny. But at the same time I hope the public realise as well as directors of the fund in particular when we were arguido and there was no search going on that it was incumbent upon us to continue a search in very, very difficult circumstances. So we have made decisions along the way which have always, we felt, been in the best interest of the search to find Madeleine and we are very accountable. All the expenses are there err, receipts and we've got quite a tight-knit team working on this but we need them. Without it there would be no-one there to go and interview people and follow up leads.
DS What about the, some people might say, the judgement of the trustees is sometimes questionable because you have had people like Halligen who is now facing extradition'
GM Well, you know, we are doing the best in very, very difficult circumstances. I think that's key. We always take advice, due diligence is done, references are sought and, you know, the fund is accountable and as directors we are responsible for making those decisions.
DS There are also reports that you have fallen out with some of the trustees, with your brother and your boss who have resigned'
GM That's nonsense. That's absolute nonsense. Why do you say we have fallen out' I mean the fund has changed over three years, three and a half years. Its very different, ermm, initially we weren't on the board because we were based in Portugal'
KM Nobody thought, you know, three and a half years ago that we would be in this situation today. Its a big commitment, you know, and things have changed. We've got different phases in the last three and a half years so inevitably there's going to be changes.
DS So its not that you've had differences over the way the money was spent or''
GM No, not at all.
KM Absolutely not.
GM In fact any of the changes we have made recently are to make the fund more efficient and more responsive. Kate and I always feel, you know, there's still an urgency. It doesn't get easier and we don't need a large board as such. We are trying to run the fund like a small business in many ways so that its focused and the directors by and large are hands on and responsible for certain areas. Kate and I are integral to all the parts of it. We've got legal advice. We've got specialist media liaison etc. We've got a retired accountant, and, you know we've got Kate's uncle who is there and is a good governance sort of person. So all of these are taken on board and we've got a very experienced fund administrator as well.
KM Have you talked about the petition'
DS Yeah, I was just going to ask you about that. So, I mean, you have mentioned the petition already. Just how many signatures are you hoping to collect' What are you asking people to sign for' What is the point of the petition'
GM Well the whole point is to call on the governments, both the UK and the Portuguese government to do more in the search for Madeleine and the first thing we feel that's fundamental is that they undertake a complete review of the case preferably it should be independent and we want transparency as well and we are asking the public to help us in that regard.
DS In terms of, you only have '350,000 left now, how can you, how long do you worry that you can keep going (if you dont get donations'''')'
GM Well we are always as directors of the fund, we are always looking at that because one of.., the remit is for us to fulfil the objectives of the fund and the fund is to try and find Madeleine and bring those responsible to justice so there's always an agenda item about finances and we need to look at that. We've done other fund raisers in the past and we'll keep looking at that. We've been very fortunate from the point of view of having so many of the public make donations and a large part of the money we've spent, as you know, has come from libel damages which were paid into the fund. So we'll continue to explore it. We certainly need to be looking at income generation over the next months.
DS There must be huge pressure on you knowing you've always got to look ('''''''').
GM Well, I mean, we'd love nothing more to find Madeleine. And then we wouldn't have to worry about that. You're absolutely right. Our focus is on the search for Madeleine and without the authorities conducting that then the onus is on us and we don't think that's right. The onus should be on the governments to do more. We'd love to give that pressure away. You're right.
DS And you mention the money from the trials. How do you feel now that Amaral's book is going to be on the shelves here'
GM Yeah, so. Well, you know, we've already alluded to it. Anyone who wants to convince people that Madeleine is dead without evidence to support it then will just have to be questioned. But today the focus is on asking the public to help us petition the governments to do more.
DS Do you feel that you should be chasing libel actions' Some people might say why don't you just leave libel stuff to one side' Why try and silence your critics'
KM Well obviously we've talked about this in great detail previously. The reason why we had to take actiion was because we strongly felt it was damaging the search to find Madeleine and as Gerry has just said, that is our ultimate goal, is to find Madeleine.
DS I just wonder, can you update people' Where are you now' I mean recently you went over to Germany. You translated all your literature into German. So can you update people' Where are you now' Have you got any new leads' What's happening (''''''')'
GM I would like to say to you that we did have some hot leads but the very fact that we are calling for a complete review to identify further areas for investigation is telling you that, you know, more needs to be done. All the information needs to be put onto one database because that may be the way that we find the key bit of information, the missing piece of the jigsaw.
DS So at the moment you are worried that there isn't even a central database so the information might not be getting cross referenced (''''')'
KM Yes, I mean there's information in lots of centres that hasn't been brought together and there could be two key bits of information that individually don't seem key but put together could give you some valuable information that could take you one step closer to finding Madeleine so it just seems an obvious and crucial thing to do. And this is why reviews are done time and time again in this country on major investigations.
DS So you must be frustrated that the government has carried out a scoping into whether there should be a review and no action has been taken'
GM Yeah, I mean that's what we're asking for. We want to see what action. We want metrics. We want deliverables. And we want the government to do more. Madeleine is a British subject and the government should be doing more to look out for her interests.
DS And I was just wondering. How can people sign the petition'
GM Its on the ipetitions website. So its [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] then forward slash petitions but its quite a complex link.
DS We'll put it on our website.
GM Thank you.
[Acknowledgement pamalam @ gerrymccannsblog]
____________________
“ The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made" - Groucho Marx
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Re: McCann Interview and VideoTranscripts
by Verdi 07.11.23 16:45
BBC Crimewatch: Madeleine McCann update, 28 November 2013
Transcript:
Kirsty Young: Last month we had the latest on Madeleine McCann investigation - the 3-year-old vanished, of course, from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, in May of 2007.
[footage from Crimewatch reconstruction, Kate describes entering the apartment]
Kate McCann: As I opened it a bit, I... I kind of looked into the room. I guess I was looking at Madeleine's bed and I couldn't... couldn't make her out and it was literally at that point the curtains - that I say, were closed - just kind of 'whoooosh!' And then I could see that the window had been pushed right over and the shutters were up. So, I... I kind of knew straight away, then, that Madeleine had been taken.
Kirsty Young: Well, following our reconstruction, we had an unprecedented response with the highest number of calls ever to our studio. The next day, the Met police detectives leading the case travelled to the Netherlands, to appeal on the Dutch version of Crimewatch, before moving on to Germany, where they were joined by Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, to appeal on the German equivalent of our show. Our cameras were there and we spoke to them about how they felt it was all going.
Gerry McCann: From our point of view, and I'm sure for, errr... Metropolitan Police, it's been a fantastic response.
Kate McCann: I mean, one... once again, you know, the general public have shown how supportive they are and how keen they are for us to find Madeleine as well and that gives us great encouragement and hope.
Kirsty Young: Well, I should tell you that a little later on this evening I'm going to be speaking live to the lead detective on the case for the very latest developments.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Kirsty Young: ...special Madeleine McCann appeal. Well, we can now speak live to DCI Andy Redwood, of course, he's the lead detective on the case. He joins us from the actual incident room itself in Belgravia, in London. Thanks for joining me and taking the time. Errm... Can you tell me a little bit about the response and how its, errr... impacting on the investigation.
Andy Redwood: Well, it's been an absolutely fantastic response, Kirsty. Over 3 and a half thousand calls, texts and emails, some really interesting new information - people in Praia da Luz or in the area at the time.
Kirsty Young: Errm... Since, errr... the programme last month, the Portuguese police have announced that they are reopening their investigation and as recently as yesterday, errm... the head of the Met Police said that he thinks there should be a joint investigation. Do you think that's important?
Andy Redwood: Well, it's very important to us that the case has been reopened and over the coming weeks and months we are looking to develop further our relationship with the Portuguese police and authorities and hoping jointly to work together in a focused and determined way to find what has happened Mad... to Madeleine McCann.
Kirsty Young: Andy, can I just ask you briefly, there was coverage of somebody who was described in the press as a 'prime suspect' who had since died. What can... can you tell us anything about that?
Andy Redwood: Well, there are a number of really important lines of inquiry that we are following up at the moment, errm... lots to do. But this evening, Kirsty, what I'd really like to do is to thank the public for the huge and continuing, errr... help that they provided us.
Kirsty Young: Okay, I'm sure you'll update us as the investigation progresses and we thank you for taking the time, Andy, to talk to us, errr... tonight.
[Acknowledgement: pamalam @ gerrymccannsblog]
Transcript:
Kirsty Young: Last month we had the latest on Madeleine McCann investigation - the 3-year-old vanished, of course, from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, in May of 2007.
[footage from Crimewatch reconstruction, Kate describes entering the apartment]
Kate McCann: As I opened it a bit, I... I kind of looked into the room. I guess I was looking at Madeleine's bed and I couldn't... couldn't make her out and it was literally at that point the curtains - that I say, were closed - just kind of 'whoooosh!' And then I could see that the window had been pushed right over and the shutters were up. So, I... I kind of knew straight away, then, that Madeleine had been taken.
Kirsty Young: Well, following our reconstruction, we had an unprecedented response with the highest number of calls ever to our studio. The next day, the Met police detectives leading the case travelled to the Netherlands, to appeal on the Dutch version of Crimewatch, before moving on to Germany, where they were joined by Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, to appeal on the German equivalent of our show. Our cameras were there and we spoke to them about how they felt it was all going.
Gerry McCann: From our point of view, and I'm sure for, errr... Metropolitan Police, it's been a fantastic response.
Kate McCann: I mean, one... once again, you know, the general public have shown how supportive they are and how keen they are for us to find Madeleine as well and that gives us great encouragement and hope.
Kirsty Young: Well, I should tell you that a little later on this evening I'm going to be speaking live to the lead detective on the case for the very latest developments.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Kirsty Young: ...special Madeleine McCann appeal. Well, we can now speak live to DCI Andy Redwood, of course, he's the lead detective on the case. He joins us from the actual incident room itself in Belgravia, in London. Thanks for joining me and taking the time. Errm... Can you tell me a little bit about the response and how its, errr... impacting on the investigation.
Andy Redwood: Well, it's been an absolutely fantastic response, Kirsty. Over 3 and a half thousand calls, texts and emails, some really interesting new information - people in Praia da Luz or in the area at the time.
Kirsty Young: Errm... Since, errr... the programme last month, the Portuguese police have announced that they are reopening their investigation and as recently as yesterday, errm... the head of the Met Police said that he thinks there should be a joint investigation. Do you think that's important?
Andy Redwood: Well, it's very important to us that the case has been reopened and over the coming weeks and months we are looking to develop further our relationship with the Portuguese police and authorities and hoping jointly to work together in a focused and determined way to find what has happened Mad... to Madeleine McCann.
Kirsty Young: Andy, can I just ask you briefly, there was coverage of somebody who was described in the press as a 'prime suspect' who had since died. What can... can you tell us anything about that?
Andy Redwood: Well, there are a number of really important lines of inquiry that we are following up at the moment, errm... lots to do. But this evening, Kirsty, what I'd really like to do is to thank the public for the huge and continuing, errr... help that they provided us.
Kirsty Young: Okay, I'm sure you'll update us as the investigation progresses and we thank you for taking the time, Andy, to talk to us, errr... tonight.
[Acknowledgement: pamalam @ gerrymccannsblog]
____________________
“ The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made" - Groucho Marx
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