Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell

The spokesman for the McCanns reveals what he thinks really happened to Maddie

And why Kate and Gerry seemed to show no emotion

1 year ago
Hayley SoenHayley Soen

One of the biggest mysteries of this generation is what happened to Madeleine McCann. It's one of the most talked about news stories the UK has ever seen, and the most high profile missing child case ever. So much so, that the Netflix documentary released this month, The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, has basically halted the world and got everyone talking about the case again. And one person with insight into the case is McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell.

Clarence Mitchell was working in a civil service job when he answered a phone call to the conversation that would land him in the middle of the Madeleine McCann case. It was in May 2007, and Madeleine had just gone missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia du Luz, Portugal. Clarence Mitchell then left for Portugal, and became the official spokesperson for the McCanns in Madeleine's case.

12 years on, this is what the McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell thinks happened to Madeleine. He also explains the reason Kate and Gerry appeared to be so emotionless during their ordeal.

McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell thinks Madeleine was 'taken to order'

In an interview with The Telegraph, ex BBC reporter and McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell, has shared his opinion on what happened to Madeleine McCann.

He said he doesn't believe the "ridiculous" conspiracy theories circulating about Madeleine's disappearance. He said: "One of the most ridiculous conspiracy theories I have heard was that Madeleine was born as the result of a government cloning project.

"People also assumed the worst. That [the McCanns] were getting drunk, that they were having fun and that they did not care about their children."

Instead, he offers a rare insight into the case, that isn't heard much in Madeleine's story. At the time, Portuguese laws said information regarding the investigation was to remain private. Because of this, the McCann perspective was never really heard. Clarence Mitchell may not work as much with the McCanns now, but he still has an idea about what might have happened to Maddie.

He told The Telegraph: "I asked the British authorities what they think happened and if there was any family involvement, and they assured me it was just a rare case of stranger abduction.

"It’s very rare, but it can happen."

He says a sexual motive is an "obvious" possibility, and Kate and Gerry remain hopeful, as there have been "other cases, where a missing child has been found alive after many years." Plus, "the complete absence of any evidence that Madeleine has been physically harmed" is the reason Madeleine could still be alive.

Clarence believes Maddie was chosen, and abducted. "A child was taken to order from that room."

Clarence Mitchell thinks the McCanns are completely innocent

Speaking to The Telegraph, McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell explained his involvement with the case. He said: "Some of the coverage had been very negative, and so I thought this was a chance to help them [Kate and Gerry].

“We have a good working relationship. Friendly but professional. We do not socialise, it is not necessarily appropriate, but the media coverage is still pretty intrusive and they see me as a part of dealing with it."

The McCanns have received a lot of bad press since the disappearance of Madeleine, and a lot of the conspiracy theories out there discuss the possible involvement of Kate and Gerry. Mitchell said this speculation isn't true, "a lot of it is misinformed, misguided and based purely on assumptions or lack of knowledge." He thinks the negative press is mainly down to prejudice, and people deciding they don’t like the McCanns. A huge reason why the public began to dislike the McCanns was because of the huge reward fund that was raised to help find Maddie.

Clarence Mitchell also addressed criticism of Kate and Gerry, labelling them as neglectful. He said: "There is even those who say that the parents know what happened. They don’t. It is just not true. But try explaining that in the noise of social media and general coverage."

Why did Kate and Gerry McCann come across so cold and emotionless?

Then there is the real reason why Kate and Gerry behaved the way they did in the public eye. Kate and Gerry's lack of public emotion caused a lot of speculation, despite Kate saying she "cries for Madeleine every day".

According to Mitchell, the McCanns were told by police to be cold and emotionless, as this would stop anyone that had taken her from getting kicks out of seeing the upset they created. He said: "One of the reasons they were so controlled was because they were told very early on that often, in the case of paedophilic kidnaps, the perpetrators watch media coverage and enjoy seeing the distress that they have caused.

"So, the police told them not to cry. Not to show any over-emotion. Kate and Gerry, both doctors and both logical, were not going to let that bastard have that satisfaction and so were very rigid."

But Mitchell understands that to your average person, this behaviour might be odd. "For someone who does not know that, they might think it looks a bit suspicious. It is almost like the public were expecting the parents to react in a certain way."

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I'm fascinated that Clarence Mitchell is still popping out of the woodwork after all these years.  Is he totally financed by the vast amounts of taxpayer's money that has been thrown at this case?  Or is the government still paying him to protect the McCanns from prosecution?   He's even turning up for something as irrelevent (to the case) as Gerry's mother's funeral.  Is it a full time job for him?
I'd like to hear his comments on the Scotland Yard statistics that nearly 85% of child abductions, abuse & murders are carried out by the family or close family friends.  Yet in this case, Scotland Yard detectives were sent out to PdL apparently to prove the opposite.....

Don't quote me but back in the day, didn't Clarence Mitchell say, or imply, that he had become good friends with the McCanns - keeping it professional at all times (?).

Whatever, he appears to be on-hand whenever the need arises. That to me speaks volumes. I do however feel he overreached himself, he got too greedy thinking his notoriety would lead to greater things - epic failure. He now seems to be grappling in the gutter looking for stars.

Or maybe he's just self isolating, you know, the proverbial source close to ....

Franco99 wrote:I'm fascinated that Clarence Mitchell is still popping out of the woodwork after all these years.  Is he totally financed by the vast amounts of taxpayer's money that has been thrown at this case?  Or is the government still paying him to protect the McCanns from prosecution?   He's even turning up for something as irrelevent (to the case) as Gerry's mother's funeral.  Is it a full time job for him?
I'd like to hear his comments on the Scotland Yard statistics that nearly 85% of child abductions, abuse & murders are carried out by the family or close family friends.  Yet in this case, Scotland Yard detectives were sent out to PdL apparently to prove the opposite.....

You only have to look at the DM website to see the horrific child murders day after day, it's become such an everyday thing you just think "oh another one" and it passes you by but it's becoming so frequent that it's becoming scary.

Those poor children don't stand a chance with their vicious, nasty, so-called caring parents or step-parents, when they can smash the child's head against a wall without any feeling, beat them to a pulp, break their limbs, stub cigarettes out on them, or starve them for days on end as they're too busy going down the pub to be bothered with them, then they cry "oh whoa is me" when they're arrested and handcuffed and dragged down to the local police station only to be given a 6 month suspended sentence.

Clarence thinks the MacCanns are totally innocent,no,no,no.
He says they are innocent but he knows they caused the death of
Madeleine ,that is why he was totally rejected in two elections.He got into bed with the McCanns (literally maybe)and is now paying the price.

Exactly ^^^ !

He was over greedy. Another one who didn't anticipate the PJ files being released into the public arena.

Beware, the dog you feed could turn around and bite you on the bum!

Former BBC man to speak for McCanns

Profile: Clarence Mitchell

James Sturcke
Published on Tue 18 Sep 2007

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The McCanns and their new spokesman, Clarence Mitchell. Photograph: David Jones/PA

Clarence Mitchell, speaking outside Gerry and Kate McCann's home in Rothley, Leicestershire, confirmed he had resigned from a senior post in the civil service to handle the intense international press interest in the case of Madeleine, who vanished while on holiday with her family in Portugal.

Mr Mitchell, a former BBC reporter, spent a month with the family as the representative of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, during the summer.

Speaking with the couple at his side, Mr Mitchell said he had spent up to 14 hours a day with the couple and had never seen anything to suggest they had had anything to do with the four-year-old's disappearance.

"All I saw was a loving family that has been plunged into a dreadful situation - two parents trying to cope amidst their loss. To suggest that they somehow harmed Madeleine accidentally or otherwise is as ludicrous as it is nonsensical. Indeed, it would be laughable if it was not so serious," he said.

Mr Mitchell said he was "proud" to be able to help the McCanns deal with the pressure of the media interest.

The McCanns have been named by Portuguese detectives as official suspects.

Mr Mitchell said his job in the Cabinet Office as head of the media monitoring unit was "untenable" from the moment he accepted an invitation from the family, supported by their legal team and financial backers, to represent them.

"More importantly, I have [resigned] because I feel so strongly that they are innocent victims of a heinous crime that I am prepared to forego my career in government service to assist them."

He said the McCanns were happy to continue cooperating with the Portuguese authorities and that attention must return to finding Madeleine, who disappeared on May 3 from the family's holiday home in the Algarve resort of Praia de Luz while the parents dined nearby.

"The focus must now move away from the rampant, unfounded and inaccurate speculation of recent days, to return to the child at the very centre of this: Madeleine," he said.

Mr Mitchell said the family would like to appeal to the media to stop taking photographs of, or filming, the McCanns' younger children, two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

Mr Mitchell was reported to have been earning around £70,000 in his post at the Central Office of Information.

Later he told Sky News that his new job was being paid for by a "generous financial backer who wishes to remain anonymous". He was not receiving money from Mr or Mrs McCann or the Find Madeleine appeal.

As for accusations about DNA evidence against the McCanns, Mr Mitchell said that there "were wholly innocent explanations and Gerry and Kate will be able to explain everything if it gets to that stage. To suggest they harmed Madeleine is just plain daft."

During his time with the McCanns in the summer, Mr Mitchell spent most of the day with the family accompanying them on trips around the Algarve and to a number of countries to publicise the case.

Earlier, the Correio da Manha newspaper reported that Judge Pedro Daniel dos Anjos Frias had rejected a police request to have the McCanns brought back to Portugal for further questioning.

Instead Mrs McCann could be re-interviewed this week by British police acting on behalf of Portuguese authorities.

A UK police source said it would be "unusual" for British officers to carry out interviews on behalf of a foreign police force but stressed that "anything is possible" in a major inquiry. It is more common for officers from other countries to visit Britain to question witnesses or suspects in person with the assistance of the local force.

Sir Richard Branson has donated £100,000 towards the couple's legal costs, stating he "trusted them implicitly" and wanted them to have a fair trial if they were brought before a Portuguese court.

The Virgin boss confirmed that he had been in talks with other wealthy people to encourage them to contribute to a legal fund, and said at least one other anonymous donor had already been signed up.

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Speaking with the couple at his side, Mr Mitchell said he had spent up to 14 hours a day with the couple and had never seen anything to suggest they had had anything to do with the four-year-old's disappearance.

"All I saw was a loving family that has been plunged into a dreadful situation - two parents trying to cope amidst their loss. To suggest that they somehow harmed Madeleine accidentally or otherwise is as ludicrous as it is nonsensical. Indeed, it would be laughable if it was not so serious," he said.

Mr Mitchell said he was "proud" to be able to help the McCanns deal with the pressure of the media interest.

I wouldn't touch Mitchell with a barge pole - unless it was to push him away in compliance with social distancing.

I recollect that Clarence Mitchell purportedly resigned from his job in the COI, where he was in charge of squashing and eliminating any unpleasant stories about the government's dealings.  He makes it sound as if he shot out to Portugal, on his own volition, on a mission of mercy - barely having time to resign his high-paid job for the Cabinet - purely to help the McCanns!   Does that sound a believable story?

He has subsequently said that he is not being financed by 'Madeleine's Fund'.  Yet in interviews for The Independent (1/3/2009) & The Daily Telegraph (24/4/2008) he stated that 40% of his salary is paid from that Fund!

This is a man who is an acknowledged expert on keeping the lid on unpleasant news and he was out to Portugal as soon as Madeleine had supposedly 'been abducted'.  Has he ever thrown in his job before to assist parents of missing children??

One additional piece of news I saw recently stated that the Priest from Pria del Luz, who kindly gave the McCanns the key of his church for several days (& nights) has left his job and apparently even left Portugal....    Has anyone else heard this?   Does anybody know if it's true?   It could put things in a totally diffent light.   I remember he was quoted at that time as saying that he wished he's never met the McCanns!

PROFILE: Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCann family

November 28, 2007 by Hannah Marriott

Clarence Mitchell has only been in PR for a few months. But at the CIPR's presidential reception three weeks ago, he was certainly the star turn.


Once word got around that the spokesman for the McCann family was in attendance, the great and the good of the PR ind­ustry were almost queuing up to talk to him, all eager to find out a little more about the mystery of Madeleine’s disappearance.

Mitchell is a seasoned hard news reporter, who worked for the BBC for nearly 20 years, and then for the Government’s Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) for two years, before being seconded out to handle the media in Portugal for the McCanns tow­ards the end of May.

As a reporter, Mitchell says he was ‘always seen as a fireman’, and would be flown in ‘when there was trouble kicking off in Northern Ireland’, or in other dangerous locations such as Iran and Iraq. He also covered the death of Princess Diana, the murder of Milly Dowler and the Fred and Rosemary West mass-murders.

Like any reporter, Mitchell became used to being dispassionate. He describes one of his ‘lucky breaks’ as being on the motorway behind the Kegworth air crash on the M1 in 1989: ‘It sounds dreadful, but that’s journalism – you need to be in the right place at the right time.’

In his current role, of course, Mitchell is far from neutral – indeed, he is vehemently convinced of the McCanns’ innocence, a fact that has not been lost on the press covering the story. One national newspaper journalist describes Mitchell’s work with the McCanns as a ‘crusade to right what he perceives as a real injustice’.

Mitchell wears his commitment to the family almost literally on his sleeve, sporting a pair of bright yellow and green campaign wristbands. He also has a yellow and green ribbon pinned to his lapel, signifying the search for a missing person and strength.

Mitchell was first sent to meet Gerry McCann at East Midlands airport two weeks after Madeleine’s disappearance. The pair flew back together to Portugal. Mitchell then spent an intense month of 15-hour days with the family.

He had to return to his government role, and others handled the McCanns’ PR. But even then, he says, the family still called him for advice in his own time. ‘We had bec­ome friends,’ he says. ‘But I couldn’t help them beyond the odd phone call, bec­ause officially the Government couldn’t be seen to be involved.’ In September, he quit his government role in order to work for the family, at a time when much of the media seemed to be turning against the McCanns.

Mitchell is clear about the reasons for this change of feeling: ‘I have to be careful what I say, but somebody who has good connections with the police decided early on, it appears, that they were somehow involved, and decided to plant stories.’

The Portuguese press ran these stories – ‘they have a very lurid end to the tabloid market, just as we do,’ he says – and then the British press picked them up.

Mitchell is obviously angry with the press, many of whom he believes were simply ‘recycling rubbish’: ‘As a former journalist myself, some of the behaviour of the British press has been shameful.’

Mitchell played a great part in quashing the most negative of these stories. He exp­lains that he had a very simple strategy: ‘When I came aboard Gerry and Kate were being accused left, right and centre. What people don’t always understand is that the papers aren’t running these stories necessarily because they believe them – they are good angles. They will also run an equally good angle from the other side.’

Mitchell also gets fired up at accusations from some sections of the press that the McCanns have been too concerned with PR. He says that the majority of the time he is turning down requests for interviews.

And at the beginning of the campaign, when then McCanns were raising awareness, the strategy was different. As someone with three young children, Mitchell says: ‘I would say that any family in this situation – myself included – would hit the phones and do what they could.’

Mitchell admits that he does get angry. But one journalist covering the case says that the fact that Mitchell ‘is not afraid to say what he thinks’ can only be a good thing for the McCanns.

When Mitchell left the BBC in 2005 it was because he had reached a plateau, having being passed over for the role of royal correspondent and realising he would never present the Ten O’Clock News.

He describes his post at the Government’s MMU as an ‘inward-facing, administration role’, adding: ‘Sometimes when there was a big story I’d be thinking, I know where I’d be today.’

Now, he’s back at the heart of the story. Indeed, Steve Anderson, the Mentorn Media creative director, who was the exec­utive producer on this month’s Panorama Special: The Mystery of Madeleine McCann, goes as far as to stay that this was the job Mitchell was ‘meant to do’.

Mitchell seems completely driven by personal conviction and adrenaline, and it is understandably difficult for him to predict what he will be doing next. Officially, he says, he is now communications director for multi-millionaire Brian Kennedy – the McCanns’ main benefactor – so he will still be employed when the situation is res­olved. After that he will look into opportunities, either with Kennedy or elsewhere.

At the end of the interview, Mitchell cannot help but bring the message home: ‘Don’t forget that in the middle of all this there is a little girl out there, alive, and she needs to be found and brought home.’
TURNING POINTS...

What was your biggest career break? There have been a few at different times. Getting into papers in the first place, after a couple of years in a boring job I didn’t like, in a bank. And being on a motorway when an aircrash happens in front of you, from a reporter’s point of view, is a big break. Having the Prime Minister as your local MP is a big break. I’ve been in the right place at the right time many times. And without the government role I would never have been in touch with Gerry and Kate, so you could say that was a break as well.

What advice would you give someone climbing the career ladder? Know what you want to do, absolutely focus on it and keep ploughing away. Eventually people will start taking your seriously. That applies to journalism, to PR, to any walk of life.

Who was your most notable mentor? I haven’t had a mentor as such. I’m pretty much
self-driven, although there have been people I have respected. My very first newspaper editor, Dennis Signy, was very influential and I’m very grateful to him. A number of BBC editors have also been very kind. That said, you make your own luck.

What do you prize most in new recruits? Drive, a degree of ambition, but properly focused. Passion underscored with scepticism.

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Clarence Mitchell

Senior Counsel

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Clarence Mitchell has more than 30 years of communications, senior level engagement and government relations experience gained at the highest levels of the UK media, HMG Civil Service, the Conservative Party and, latterly, public relations.

As a network agency Managing Director, he has provided strategic C-suite counsel to a wide range of governmental, corporate and personal clients, with his particular specialisms in media relations, public affairs, international reputation and crisis management, stakeholder engagement and media training.

His public affairs clients have included the Iraqi Prime Minister, the Government of Iceland, Microsoft, Bank of America, Lloyds Banking Group, Heineken, Hewlett Packard and Costa Cruises.

Within his crisis management portfolio, Clarence provided strategic counsel to Costa’s Chairman and CEO during the Costa Concordia cruise liner disaster in Italy in January 2012. He also chaired a seminar on UK police-media relations post Leveson for the Metropolitan Police Senior Leadership Group, co-presenting with the Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.

Prior to his move into public relations, as a senior civil servant, he was Director of the Government’s Media Monitoring Unit, based within the Cabinet Office, leading a 30-strong team of Information Officers advising No 10 Downing Street and all of the major Departments of State on how best to respond to the 24/7 news agenda. He was seconded to the Foreign Office in 2007 to assist the McCann family with media handling following the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine in Portugal.

For the Conservative Party, Clarence was Head of Election Media Monitoring, based at Conservative Campaign HQ, during the 2010 UK General Election campaign, before later becoming a Conservative Parliamentary candidate, fighting the Brighton Pavilion seat during the 2015 General Election campaign.

Previously, as a senior journalist, he was an on-air BBC News Correspondent, Royal Correspondent, Political Correspondent and Presenter during a 20-year career with the Corporation, and prior to that a UK national and local newspaper correspondent, including his first reporting role on the Hendon & Finchley Times where he covered his local MP Margaret Thatcher.

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CommsCon 2016: Clarence Mitchell - The Hunt for Madeleine McCann

1:02:15



Clarence Mitchell, the man who kept the story of the disappearance of three-year-old British child Madeleine McCann in the media for eight years, opened CommsCon 2016. The former BBC reporter discusses how he worked with the McCann family, international police forces, British government and international media to keep the story of Madeleine’s disappearance in the news - and what he did to fight defamation, handle daily requests from upward of 300 journalists and manage overwhelming expectation from all angles.

Sponsored by media intelligence company iSentia, CommsCon helps PR and communications professionals better understand their discipline and the issues the ever-changing industry is facing.

He's certainly likes to hear his own voice.

To say there was no professional Nanny service at the time is a lie.

He said the Millennium restaurant too far away, How on earth does he think all the other hundreds of holyday makers managed at the Ocean Club.

Clarence Mitchell was displayed and displayed himself as a one man band.

I couldn't watch that ego fest. Five minutes was enough. He's just another of those immoral, amoral creatures on the Madeleine band wagon.

Jim Gamble was also encouraged to interfere with the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine Mccann.

Colin Sutton gave a frank account of being warned off by a senior Scotland Yard colleague that he would not be able to investigate the case with a free rein.

CaKeLoveR wrote:I couldn't watch that ego fest. Five minutes was enough.  He's just another of those immoral, amoral creatures on the Madeleine band wagon.

The appearance of Clarence Mitchell was not a joking matter

Clarence Mitchell on PM show ' Radio 4 on 20th Jan 2011 ' Phone Hacking

Clarence Mitchell interviewed concerning the way he believes the media hacked his phone during the time he was working for the McCanns.

Transcript

EDDIE MAIR For years there have been allegations about what methods were used by some journalists to get stories including hacking into messages on mobile phones. But have such methods been used more recently' After inquiries triggered by PM, the man who speaks for the parents of Madeleine McCann, who was abducted from a Portuguese resort almost four years ago, believes someone attempted to access information about his mobile phone account and his voicemail. There's no evidence to suggest who may have been responsible but Clarence Mitchell is to speak to the police about it. John Mennell (sp?) reports.

BBC ANNOUNCER The hunt for Madeleine. Police widen the search and Interpol join the investigation.

JOHN M Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday apartment in Portugal in May 2007.

KATE MCCANN Please, please do not hurt her. Please don't scare her.

JOHN M There was intense media interest.

(Sounds of journalists calling to Kate McCann)

JOHN M The story continued to make headlines for months.

BBC NEWSREADER The parents of Madeleine McCann are to leave Portugal this morning'

CLARENCE MITCHELL This is a typical piece of coverage. This was in late July, 2008 just after Kate and Gerry had their arguido status lifted.

JOHN M Clarence Mitchell became Kate and Gerry McCann's spokesman so was seen by journalists as a key to potential new angles.

CLARENCE MITCHELL I had journalists, some of them almost in tears on certain days, saying they were under such pressure from their news desks they needed a front page splash by four o'clock that afternoon. And if I didn't get it to them the implication was they would almost be fired.

JOHN M In September last year I learnt of talk that the McCann story may have been a possible target of phone hacking so I contacted Clarence Mitchell.

CLARENCE MITCHELL I was always concerned, if some journalists were up to this sort of thing, that I might be a target but I had no proof. The BBC through yourself approached me so I approached my phone company, Vodafone, and asked them to go back over my records which is what they've done.

JOHN M What happened?

CLARENCE MITCHELL They were very good. They said they could look back. They don't keep all of the records, each and every single phone call, I think for more than a year. However, what they were able to do was go back much further on their customer service number and there are records for that going back several years.

JOHN M And you've been provided with this document which is, er, quite a hefty thing, thirty', thirty-six pages long'

CLARENCE MITCHELL Yes, these are the records of all calls regarding my number to Vodafone Customer Services. It details everything from bill payments, payments received or any queries or problems you have with your phone.

JOHN M The phone company, Vodafone, did flag up three entries here. They highlighted them in yellow.

CLARENCE MITCHELL That's right. The first ones were on the 29th of February, 2008. The operator lists it saying a gentleman had called wishing to check the phone as he gets calls each night from the number and wanting information and is, quotes, 'a witness on the CID trial for McCanns'. Well that doesn't make sense. It certainly wasn't me that made that call. I would never use that phraseology and there is, there was no such thing as a CID trial for the McCanns. Its ridiculous. That appears to me to be a blatant attempt to get information about whose number it was and what was happening. Thankfully the operator didn't give him any.

JOHN M And just to be clear, this was somebody phoning about your account but it was not you. You did not make this call.

CLARENCE MITCHELL The entries that Vodafone have flagged up I know absolutely that I did not make these calls to Vodafone Customer Service.

JOHN M And if we turn over the page?

CLARENCE MITCHELL We go on a few months to July, 2008 and again bear in mind that this was at the height of the Madeleine story when it was receiving front page coverage virtually every day in the tabloids. This is a longer entry and basically it claims that the person ringing, not me I stress, had received a text message claiming that a third party had been trying to access their voicemail. But there was nothing on the account showing that. Well that's because it isn't true. I never got such a text. Somebody else is again fishing for information here. The Vodafone operator believed they were talking to me as the account holder. That's why they listed it as customer.

JOHN M It seems because there are no records of calls made to or from your phone number any more, it's impossible to tell who did this.

CLARENCE MITCHELL It is impossible to state with any accuracy who was behind these calls. I do know they weren't me. It would be naive of me given the situation I was in at the time and the amount of journalistic inquiry and traffic that I was receiving on that number. It would be naive of me to think that it wasn't journalistic in its nature. There's no other reason for anybody else to try and get into my number. I am assuming that it was journalistic in its nature but I have no way of knowing who, why or what they were doing it for. I know the journalists in Portugal with us and back in Britain at that time were under immense pressure to deliver fresh angles, fresh stories every day. This may, I stress may, have been another attempt just to get under the skin of the story.

JOHN M Of course, there was an ongoing police investigation at this time. Is it possible that the police may have attempted to do this'

CLARENCE MITCHELL I don't think they would have done it that way. I'm sure they have legal routes to getting hold of that material and will work closely with the phone companies if required in any particular situation. I, er,,, No, I'm categoric about this. This was cack-handed, pretty low-level, amateurish attempt and thankfully, as I say, Vodafone did the job and stalled it.

JOHN M How has this left you feeling'

CLARENCE MITCHELL Well I'm angry and I'm shocked by it but not surprised.

JOHN M What have Kate and Gerry McCann said to you about what has happened to your phone?

CLARENCE MITCHELL Well, I'm afraid they've got a very dim view of the British press, certainly some sections, so there's a sort of world weariness about this. Yes of course, they're angered by this and will be upset but again like myself in some respects not surprised that somebody could be so stupid as to possibly try this.

EDDIE MAIR Clarence Mitchell talking to our reporter John M?

[Acknowledgement pamalam of gerrymccannsblog]

What McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell really thinks happened to Madeleine

By Madeline Goodwin 3 June 2019 • 5:20pm



This article was originally published in March 2019.

When Clarence Mitchell picked up the phone at work one morning, he expected yet another routine conversation.

But it was a phone call that plucked him from the mundane life of a civil service job and dropped him right in the heart of one of the biggest missing children’s cases the world has ever seen.

An ex-BBC reporter, Mitchell was by then working in a government-led arm on media monitoring, but had asked ex-colleagues to keep him in mind for any big stories that broke. “I thought it might be something like bird flu, or foot and mouth. A general crisis that flares up from time to time,” explains Mitchell.

But this was May 2007, and a three-year-old Madeleine McCann had just been snatched from her hotel room in Praia du Luz, Portugal, taken from her bed while her parents dined in a nearby restaurant.

“The ambassador [to Portugal] had sent a couple of press officers down there, but they were overwhelmed by the media response. He asked for some extra help from London,” Mitchell recalls.

“I was sent out and told it would just be a fortnight or so." Mitchell is still helping the family. Fascination with Madeleine's case has never abated - a recent Netflix series, The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, was released in March - and Mitchell has been handling Gerry and Kate's media dealings ever since.

“Some of the coverage had been very negative, and so I thought this was a chance to help them," the 57-year-old says.



“We have a good working relationship. Friendly but professional," he adds. "We do not socialise, it is not necessarily appropriate, but the media coverage is still pretty intrusive and they see me as a part of dealing with it."

Mitchell had to consider the impact that taking on such a case would have on him - his own children were 10, eight and one at the time. “I could not help but think of my kids when I was at the height of it... I was away from home a lot of the time as well," he recalls.

“That said, I treated it as a job. Although it was upsetting, and I could see the pain it was causing the family, I could not afford to get emotionally attached to the situation. I just had to look at the set of facts in front of me, and treat it as dispassionately as possible."

He admits that it was "upsetting," but adds that, "without being callous, I had to keep the actual emotion to one side. Not wanting to sound cold-hearted, but I do not think it has affected me particularly badly. I tried to be as impartial as possible, and still try to this day.”

Over the years, the McCanns have faced a great deal of criticism over their parenting, and perceived role in Madeleine’s disappearance. “A lot of it is misinformed, misguided and based purely on assumptions or lack of knowledge," Mitchell says. Mostly, though, it is "prejudice. People deciding that they don’t like the McCanns.”



Mitchell estimates that "thousands" of people have told him they have seen the little girl in a dream - including a lot of psychics - while "one of the most ridiculous conspiracy theories I have heard was that Madeleine was born as the result of a government cloning project.

“People also assumed the worst. That [the McCanns] were getting drunk, that they were having fun and that they did not care about their children."

Further criticism of Gerry and Kate has labelled them "neglectful. There is even those who say that the parents know what happened. They don’t. It is just not true. But try explaining that in the noise of social media and general coverage.”

The McCanns' restrained emotional response to the cameras in the immediate aftermath of Madeleine's disappearance provoked questions: how could they be so contained after something so terrible had happened?

“One of the reasons they were so controlled was because they were told very early on that often, in the case of paedophilic kidnaps, the perpetrators watch media coverage and enjoy seeing the distress that they have caused," Mitchell explains.



“So, the police told them not to cry. Not to show any over-emotion. Kate and Gerry, both doctors and both logical, were not going to let that b------ have that satisfaction and so were very rigid.

He understands, though, that “for someone who does not know that, they might think it looks a bit suspicious. It is almost like the public were expecting the parents to react in a certain way.”

Things were worsened still by what he calls "a spin-cycle of madness." The papers were full of "McCann fury", he remembers; "the tabloids exaggerated and distorted the information." He is also critical of the Portuguese authorities, as "there would be certain bits of information that could have only come from interviews with the Portuguese police, who wouldn't then confirm anything due to Portuguese laws prohibiting the discussion of legal cases.”

Since the McCanns entered the public eye in 2007, they have received mountains of abuse; Mitchell, too, has had his fair share of online trolls.

“I get slammed online all the time for defending them," he says, adding that while he ignores it as best he can, "it is hurtful and it is unnecessary. The McCanns ignore the online negativity and so do I. We only act if there are specific, actionable threats which are always reported to the police.”

Certain tabloids have cashed in on public fascination with Madeleine, Mitchell believes, as "every time they put [her] on the front page, circulation would go up" - whether there really were new developments in her case or not. Front page apologies from a number of red tops followed, while "substantial damages" were paid.



A major source of ill feeling towards the McCanns has been the considerable funding the case has received. The Find Madeleine Fund was established in 2007, made up of public donations as well as settlement money from the Express newspaper group, and proceeds from Kate McCann's book.

“The family asked for help in finding their daughter, as anybody would, and the Government chose to support them," Mitchell says, "I do agree though, what do you say to the parent of another missing child? The mother of Ben Needham, for example, has occasionally been upset that the McCanns' case gets so much coverage.”

It is our digital age, however, that Mitchell believes has made all the difference.

“Madeleine has been, arguably, the most high-profile missing child case in the internet era. It was not a decision of our making.”

Nowadays, he does little work with the McCanns, and remains uncertain over Madeleine's fate. “I asked the British authorities what they think happened and if there was any family involvement, and they assured me it was just a rare case of stranger abduction.

“It’s very rare, but it can happen." A sexual motive, he says, is an "obvious" possibility. Kate and Gerry remain hopeful that, as per "other cases, where a missing child has been found alive after many years," there remains hope: that, coupled with "the complete absence of any evidence that Madeleine has been physically harmed," gives them the sense that their eldest daughter may well still be alive.

Though Mitchell hopes the mystery "could all end on one phone call tomorrow, so far, it hasn’t.

“A child was taken to order from that room.”

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Not So Bright

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Section:
THE FOG

‘Titanic of a PR’ Clarence Mitchell moves on from a series of toxic clients and becomes spokesman for Cambridge Analytica

April 2018

The name ‘Clarence’ is of Latin origin and has the meaning “bright.” In the case of a PR man named Clarence Mitchell, however, whether this truly applies has once again been left open to question after he took on Cambridge Analytica as his latest client.

Previously head of election media monitoring for the Conservative Party and a Parliamentary candidate also, Mitchell’s portfolio of involvements include a stint as “strategic counsel” to the chairman of Italian cruise line Costa after their 952-foot long Costa Concordia – commanded by “Captain Coward” AKA “Captain Calamity” Francesco Schettino – crashed into rocks and killed 32 people in January 2012.

Other “notables” on Clarence’s roster have numbered an Iraqi Prime Minister, the somewhat incompetent Government of Iceland and most importantly Gerry and Kate McCann – a couple whose daughter “disappeared” after they didn’t bother to pay for childcare on the evening of 3rd May 2007. With connections to Theresa May and the recipients of a government funded search that has cost well in excess of £12 million, the McCanns have long been linked with Mitchell and this connection has certainly aided them in what frankly is the most pointless search ever.

Now describing himself as “the new face of Cambridge Analytica” on Twitter, Mitchell appeared at a press conference for his new clients earlier this week. Later in an interview with Channel 4 News, he described the operation as not being “some Bond villain” and said he was “perfectly proud to… defend the company.” He added:

“You say why are [Cambridge Analytic] not speaking to Channel 4. Well I say, I am speaking to Channel 4. Some companies would say: ‘We’re not speaking to ‘[Channel 4] after their expose.’”

“Cambridge Analytica has not [used a honeytrap] ever… I can’t discuss it whilst the independent investigation is being conducted… It would be wrong for me to pre-judge it.”

“Cambridge Analytica did not harvest the data… The figure for the data received by [Cambridge Analytica] was mind boggling… But I can guarantee that everything has gone from the systems… It’s a mess certainly… But I am clearing up their mess for them… I’ve come in to assist them to get them through this crisis where I can.”

Clarence Mitchell has once again proven that there are people out there willing to defend the indefensible. Who out there might need him next? Perhaps Bashar al-Assad, Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump should give him a tinkle-tankle for a bit of a chit-chat.

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Who said crime doesn't pay..

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Madeleine McCann - Clarence Mitchell speaks .....

He's easily bought, isn't he?

Ah but who pays the ferryman?

McCann spokesman Mitchell tells of phone security fear

Published

21 January 2011

By Jon Manel
PM, BBC Radio 4

The spokesman for the family of Madeleine McCann says he will contact the police because he believes someone attempted to access information about his mobile phone account and voicemail.

Clarence Mitchell became the family's point of contact for the media after three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from the holiday apartment where her family was staying in Portugal in May 2007.

Journalists from dozens of news organisations around the world regarded him as a key to potential new angles.

I contacted Mr Mitchell after I learned of talk that the McCann story may have been a possible target of phone hacking.

He asked his mobile phone provider, Vodafone, to check his account details. There had been allegations for years about how some journalists got their stories.
'Blatant attempt'

"I was always concerned that if some journalists were up to this sort of thing that I might be a target but I had no proof," he said.

Mr Mitchell was told that records of calls made and received were routinely destroyed after about a year.

However, he was provided with some information including details of calls made to Vodafone about his account.

Two instances were drawn to his attention, the first one on 29 February 2008.

Mr Mitchell said: "The operator lists it, saying 'a gentleman called wishing to check the phone', as he gets calls each night from the number and wanting information and is a 'witness on the CID trial for McCanns'.

"Well, that doesn't make sense. It certainly wasn't me that made that call. I would never use that phraseology and there was no such thing as a CID trial for the McCanns. It's ridiculous.

"That appears to me to be a blatant attempt to get information about whose number it was and what was happening. Thankfully the operator didn't give them anything."
'Fishing for information'

Another call was made to Vodafone customer services in July 2008.

Mr Mitchell said: "Basically it [the entry] claims the person ringing - not me, I stress - had received a text message, claiming that a third party had been trying to access their voicemail but there was nothing on the account showing that.

"Well, that's because it isn't true. I never got such a text. Somebody else is again fishing for information here. The Vodafone operator believed they were talking to me as the account holder, that's why they listed it as customer."

Mr Mitchell says he knows "absolutely" that he did not make either call.

On both occasions, he says, "thankfully" the phone company's security measures worked and no information was divulged.

To his frustration, due to the lack of other information now available, he says he cannot trace who might have done this.

"It is impossible to state with any accuracy who was behind these calls. Given the situation that I was in at the time and the amount of journalistic inquiry and traffic that I was receiving on that number, it would be naive of me to think that it wasn't journalistic in its nature.

"This was a cack-handed, pretty low-level, amateurish attempt. I'm angry, I'm shocked by it but I'm not surprised."

Mr Mitchell also said that Kate and Gerry McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, had a "very dim view" of some sections of the British press and therefore had a "world-weariness" about the situation.

"They're angered by this and will be upset, but again, like myself, in some respects not surprised that somebody could be so stupid as to possibly try this," he said.

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Clarence Mitchell

"If she is dead then she is dead, but not by their hand."

Carole Malone, a regular guest on GB News sofa..

HE can't help the way he looks but the McCanns' new PR boss, Clarence Mitchell, looks shiftier than your average car salesman.

However, what he can help is the look of smug self-importance that dominates every TV appearance, a look that says: "This is my moment and I'm going to make the most of it."

Mitchell - like everyone else involved in this case - needs to remember it's not about him, it's not about PR...it's about Madeleine. He will serve the McCanns well if he remembers that.

CAROLE MALONE
Sunday Mirror - 23rd September 2007

Forget Neighbours going to Five – 'McCanns are the real soap'

By John Mair, senior lecturer in journalism at Coventry University

The television world may be all agog at the defection of Ramsay Street from Channel One to Channel Five but the media world and the world’s media are still enthralled by another soap – Kate and Gerry McCann and the saga of their missing daughter Madeleine.

There are only three facts in this story.

Madeleine disappeared from the McCann holiday apartment in the Portugese resort of Praia da Luz on the evening of May 3rd 2007.

She has not been found.

Parents Kate and Gerry are now ‘arguidos’ or official suspects. So too is local expat Robert Murat.

Millions of words have been written worldwide mindful of, and ignoring, those three facts.

Each day literally scores of stories appear all over the world and in all languages (Nearly 2,000 in a Google news search on Tuesday February 12 alone, for example).

On the front page of the Daily Express ‘Missing Maddy’ vies daily with the death of Princess Diana for space.

Former Sun Editor Kelvin Mckenzie calls it ‘the most significant story of my lifetime’. At least two respected British current affairs strands – ‘Panorama’ and ‘Dispatches’ have had a bite at the McCann cherry.

BBC Radio Four has too, Oprah Winfrey is said to want the McCanns exclusively to speak for a large sum and the feature documentary makers like John Smithson are circling for the big one.

Just what is the appeal of the McCann story?

The obvious elements are there – the sheer horror of the crime if it is that. Abducting a beautiful three-year-old from her bed.

Her parents, Kate, and Gerry too, play their part in the ‘soap’ in that they are upper middle class and attractive.

The McCanns are the first private individuals (or suspects according to your view) to have their own ‘spin doctor’ figure to sell their story.

He is Clarence Mitchell, a former BBC Royal Correspondent has worked nearly full time for them for nine months. He resigned a well paid UK Government post to do so. His job he says is to ‘help’ them and be a ‘buffer’ to the media for them. It is a highly controversial role.

In the last three months, I have produced two public events with Clarence. They were packed out – more than 200 at each. There was much heat and some light generated at them, much of it about his role. Clarence held his own. Usually.

The McCann story is a morality tale for our times.

Some have taken against Kate and Gerry simply because they feel they ‘abandoned’ their daughter (and her siblings) for a night of fun with friends. Others simply dislike them because of their class. Others for manipulating the media in their favour through Clarence and cleverness.

The McCanns and Clarence have proved masters at turning the story when needs arise.

‘The McCanns; Guilty or Innocent?’ is a ‘debate’ fanned by the internet. One squeak in Praya de Luz becomes a shout in London in minutes.

‘Stories’ in Portugal’ become ‘fact’ in Britain then go back to Portugal to be embellished even more The printed media have proved adept at recyling.

As Mitchell bitterly puts it “If there were green awards for recycling it should go to the British and Portuguese press”.

It’s not just the professionals. Everybody has a view on the McCanns. Blogs following the Media Society Clarence event at the LSE last month attracted hundreds of postings – most of them lacking in any rhyme or reason. If you want to see raw bile look up the3arguidos.net. It does not make for pleasant reading.

This particular soap opera will have an end in tragedy or in triumph. Then it will be ripe for the historical documentaries to be made and for the media – print and broadcast – to audit itself. That should be fascinating.

Forget ‘Neighbours’ and Channel Five tune into “The McCanns – an everyday story of not so ordinary Leicestershire folk. Playing on a screen or a newspaper very near you”.

John Mair produced ‘The McCanns and the Media’ for the Media Society at the LSE on January 30.

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