Gerry McCann's Blog - Highlights

27th July 2007 - Day 80

Spent the whole day travelling from the Algarve to Washington where I will be visiting the National and International Centers for Missing and Exploited Children and meeting politicians involved in recent legislation on missing children. The flights for our campaign manager and myself were kindly donated by an airline.

There is a very upsetting story on the front page of a British National Newspaper today. The headline suggests that Kate and I face prosecution for neglecting our children by dining 50 yards away and checking on them regularly. We know that there has been criticism in some quarters of our actions but at the time, we felt our actions were responsible. We were essentially performing our own baby listening service although we have talked of the guilt we felt at now being there at the moment Madeleine was taken.

We have been advised that legally our behaviour was well within the bounds of responsible parenting and subsequently been assured that no action will be taken. These types of criticism, particularly at this stage, as well as being hurtful are extremely unhelpful in the search for Madeleine. From the moment we discovered Madeleine missing Kate and I have done everything in our power to try and help get her back.

Our opinion now is completely clouded by what has happened to us and of course has sent shock waves through thousands of families. The real issue is that we should not have a constant fear of abduction of our children from their bedrooms, gardens or streets for that matter.

What Kate and I did was at worst naïve and no one should forget that the real criminal is the predator who has taken a completely innocent child in such a premeditated fashion. It is this act that has wreaked havoc on our family and affected millions of other people

Day 988 : 15/01/2010

DAY 988 -1 & 2

Court Case( Injunction) in Lisbon 14th January 2010

We are currently in Lisbon for the trial to determine whether the injunction against Mr Amaral's book and DVD should remain in place. This trial is about whether the book is a true reflection of the official judicial process in to Madeleine's disappearance and whether its contents damage the ongoing search for Madeleine, her siblings and our reputations.

Mr Amaral's book and DVD contains some information from the PJ files but there is a lot in the files which is not in Mr Amaral's book. Hence it is highly selective and therefore biased. Mr Amaral's book contains his opinions rather than fact. His opinions differ from the findings in the PJ file. The conclusions of the latter are: 1.there is no evidence that Madeleine is dead and 2. there is no evidence that Gerry or I are involved in Madeleine's disappearance. This is very different to the theories and conclusions of Mr Amaral. It is logical and common sense that spreading these theories as Mr Amaral did (and continues todo) damages the search to find our little girl. If the general public (and the Portuguese people in particular) are bombarded day in and day out with such theories, this will eventually 'colour' their understanding and judgement -lies and inaccuracies become fact. If people subsequently believe that Madeleineis dead and that we are involved in her disappearance then they will not look for Madeleine, will not consider any suspicions about others which they may have and will not come forward with information. We consider this highly detrimental to the search for Madeleine.

There are few points which have been raised in the last few days which I would like to address specifically:

Abduction theory:For us, there is only the abduction theory possible because we were not involved in Madeleine's disappearance and we know Madeleine did not wander off by herself. It is obvious and right that the police should consider other theories initially.

The window: I described to the police officers exactly what I found that night, as it was and is highly relevant and I knew that every little detail could be helpful in finding my daughter which is our only aim. The window which is a ground floor window was completely open and is large enough for a person to easily climb through it. Whether it had been opened for this purpose remains unknown. It could of course have been opened by the perpetrator when inside the apartment as a potential escape route or left open as a 'red herring'

The dogs: We realise that the behaviour of the dogs was the turning point in the investigation for the PJ. The use of dogs has proved to be problematic and unreliable in previous cases

(please refer to the Jersey ?Haut de La Garenne' case and other research published about their use and reliability). It is vital to note that alerts by such dogs are classified as intelligence rather than evidence, as police officers familiar with their use will verify. These alerts must be supported by forensics in order to be used as evidence. The results of the forensic examinations did not identify any blood or Madeleine's DNA. To suggestor use the dogs? reactions as evidence is simply wrong and abusive.

The proposed reconstruction: The suggestion of a reconstruction of our movements and other key witnesses at the crime scene and/or surrounding area in the early days following Madeleine's abduction was declined by the PJ as 'not usual' for Portugal. When the PJ finally requested a reconstruction to take place in 2008, Gerry and I were still arguidos and as such would have attended for a reconstruction. Some key witnesses (including some of our friends)declined to attend the planned reconstruction as they were not convinced of the aims and usefulness of it. In particular, as the reconstruction was not to be shown to the media (and hence the general public), they did not feel it would help to find Madeleine. Had the intention been to show it to the general public, it may have 'jogged' memories and encouraged people to come forward with information. It should be added that other key witnesses were not invited to attend.

Our team is confident that the injunction will remain in place because none of thewitnesses thus far have been able to prove in court that Mr. Amaral's right to express his opinion is superior to the rights of our family to peace, respect and protection of reputation, and above all, the right to continue the searchfor our daughter Madeleine effectively and without hindrance. As has been made clear this week, Mr Amaral's ?thesis' is not supported by any evidence. The search for Madeleine must go on until we find her and bring her abductor(s) to justice.

Kate McCann

Day 15 - Friday 18/05/2007

Trade mark Filing date for Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned
Case details for Trade Mark 2456061 Intellectual Property Office
Mark text: Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned

Status

Status: Registered
Classes: 09, 16, 36, 41

Relevant dates

Filing date: 18 May 2007
Next renewal date: 18 May 2017
Registration date: 22 February 2008

List of goods or services

Class 09: Downloadable internet publications
Class 16: Printed matter
Class 36: Charitable fundraising; charitable and non-charitable services relating to the provision of assistance to families and others affected by missing children.
Class 41: Non-downloadable internet publications

Day 14 - Thursday 17/05/2007

Fund Launch

Madeleine's Fund : Leaving No Stone Unturned'

This includes £50,000 donated by Portsmouth football club.

Funds taken over the counters of NatWest & RBS, along with the donations made by cheque, have not yet hit the account.

Further updates will be provided on Monday 21st May 2007

The family of Madeleine McCann are to-day launching the Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned appeal. The funds will be used to help find Madeleine McCann, support her family and bring her abductors to justice. Any surplus funds will be used to help families and missing children in United Kingdom, Portugal and elsewhere in similar circumstances.

From this morning, Thursday May 17th:

· members of the public will be able to make donations to 'Madeleine's Fund : Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited' over-the-counter in any branch of NatWest and The Royal Bank of Scotland.

From now:

· Postal Donations can be made with cheques payable to 'Madeleine's Fund : Leaving No Stone Unturned'. Cheques should be posted to the following address:

‘Madeleine’s Fund’
c/o The International Family Law Group
26 Southampton Street
Covent Garden
London
WC2E 7RS

Internet donations can be made into the following account:

'Madeleine's Fund : Leaving No Stone Unturned'

Branch
Natwest
PO BOX 113
Cavell House
2A Charing Cross Road
London
WC2H ONN

Sort Code 60 40 05.
Account Number 32130058

Internet banking donations from abroad

IBAN : GB63 NWBK 6040 0532 1300 58
or
IBAN : GB63NWBK60400532130058
Sort Code : 60 – 40 – 05
Account number : 32130058
Iban bic : NWBKGB2L

All donations will be processed free of charge.

-----------------------------

Funds will be paid to Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited: Company Registration Number - 6248215

3. The objects of the Foundation are:

3.1.1 To secure the safe return to her family of Madeleine McCann who was abducted in Praia da Luz, Portugal on Thursday 3rd May 2007;

3.1.2 To procure that Madeleine’s abduction is thoroughly investigated and that her abductors, as well as those who played or play any part in assisting them, are identified and brought to justice; and

3.1.3 To provide support, including financial assistance, to Madeleine’s family.

3.2 If the above objects are fulfilled then the objects of the Foundation shall be to pursue such purposes in similar cases arising in the United Kingdom, Portugal or elsewhere.

Extracts from Gerry McCann's Blog: The Media Campaign

Day 30 - 02/06/2007 - Saturday.
Relatively quiet day. Did manage to respond to some e-mails regarding campaign issues with some excellent ideas coming through. We did visit a local beach with S***, A***** and the rest of the family who are here and managed to get a bite to eat. Having a huge number of media requests in but want these to be very focussed in areas that will have clear benefits in the search for Madeleine. We did do a German TV and newspaper interview which wiil be released tomorrow to incraese awareness ahead of our planned visit to Berlin later this week. Most of the Sunday newspapers will carry some of the interview as a British reporter sat in and asked a few more questions related to the campaign strategy.

Day 31 - 03/06/2007 - Sunday.
Was encouraged to learn of the large volume of information which has come through the Leicester incident room following the appeal. Hopefully the Portuguese police will have had a good response also and we hope to meet with them in the next couple of days for an update. Chris and Les, who travelled over with the huge inflatable banner which has been positioned near the Spanish border, are heading home today. They were very happy that the director of the Algarve tourist board allowed them to put it up in private property owned by them, with thousands of cars passing every hour and seeing Madeleine’s image and details of her disappearance and reward. Sunday papers have reported our interviews virtually verbatim but very disappointed that the blog was lifted almost in entirety by one newspaper yesterday after expressly forbidding such an approach! The blog is to keep people visiting the website up to date with our progress in the campaign to find Madeleine.

Day 45 - 17/06/2007 -  Sunday.

The first event of our longer term campaign will be on Friday 22nd June- this will mark the 50th day Madeleine will be missing. We will be launching green and yellow balloons from at least 50 centres worldwide to mark the fact that we are still searching as are other parents of missing children.

Day 56 - 28/06/2007
Busy day- some very good phone calls with important child welfare organsations who we will be working closely with in the future. I have no doubt we will be able to sustain a high profile for Madeleines disappearance in the long term.

Day 78 - 20/07/2007 - Friday
Kate and I spent a few hours with our campaign manager discussing longer term strategies to maintain Madeleines profile, in case she is not found soon. We had a long conference call with two organisations that are keen to help us with the campaign but there is still quite a bit of work to be done before this venture can be announced.