Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
The Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann™ :: Team McCann :: Clarence Mitchell: McCann's Government-appointed Spokesman
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Exclusive: 'Twice in the past ten years, I thought we'd found Madeleine McCann'
Clarence Mitchell
28 April 2017 • 9:30pm
A former BBC reporter, Clarence Mitchell was appointed to assist Kate and Gerry McCann as their media spokesman following the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine, in Portugal in 2007. Mitchell now works for a public relations company and continues to assist the McCanns when necessary. Here is his incredible account of the youngster's disappearance, the police operation to find her and the subsequent 10 years of anguish....
Twice in the ten years I have worked with the McCanns, I genuinely thought we were within reach of finding their missing daughter, Madeleine.
The first moment came very early on, just weeks after her disappearance on May 3, 2007. I had been sent by the British government to the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz to assist Kate and Gerry in dealing with the already huge media interest. Shortly after I arrived, I started to get phone calls, always at three o’clock in the morning, always the same ghostly man’s voice, repeatedly naming a farm where she was being hidden.
The British police recorded the calls and it turned out there was indeed a farm, fitting his description exactly, near Seville, over the border in Spain. As it was raided, and turned out to look exactly as he had painted it in those calls, I really felt we were on to something. But she wasn’t there, and those tip-offs – like so many others that we received from hoaxers, ransom seekers, conmen and psychics – were never explained.
The second came at the end of 2007. I was now being employed by Kate and Gerry as their press spokesman, and they were back at home in Leicestershire with their twins, Sean and Amelie. Spanish private investigators working on their behalf had found a blonde-haired girl who spoke English in a village in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. All the information coming back to us suggested heavily that it could be Madeleine, so much so that an aircraft was put on stand-by, with its engines running, waiting to fly to pick her up.
Kate and Gerry sat tight. They had learned by that stage to be sceptical, not to give in to natural hope only for it to be dashed. They preferred to wait until the Moroccan authorities had checked it out. And when they did, it became clear she was not Madeleine.
On the tenth anniversary of her disappearance, I continue to assist Kate and Gerry as required, keeping a weather eye on reports and sightings, such as the “significant lead” that Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said this week that Scotland Yard’s Operation Grange is following up.
Beyond that, rightly, the Metropolitan Police do not go into operational detail publicly. So, wherever this latest lead may take them, be it Portugal or elsewhere, this time around, like Kate and Gerry, I will sit tight and simply let the authorities do their job before getting my hopes up.
I had spent 20 years as a BBC journalist before becoming a civil servant and helping the McCanns. I met Gerry first. It was some two weeks after Madeleine had gone missing, and he had flown back to England to collect some of her belongings and see members of their large, close extended family.
Obviously, he was distressed, but also very rational. As I have subsequently learnt by spending time with the couple at close quarters, Gerry deals with trauma by compartmentalising it and being in control. His emotions, then as now, are poured into what he can do practically to raise awareness of Madeleine’s disappearance.
In Portugal, I found Kate very friendly, grateful for the support I could offer, but already wary of the media attention. Even though she realised that it was invaluable in keeping awareness high, she – more so that Gerry – found it very intrusive.
That was before it turned into something altogether more cruel, with the McCanns becoming widely vilified for making a mistake in the way in which they chose to care for their children on that fateful night in Praia da Luz. They had left them in an unlocked holiday apartment, though still checking on them regularly, because there was no baby-listening service at their complex.
They were always the first to admit their mistake, but what a price they are still paying. God forbid it is a price they may have to pay for the rest of their lives. I was with them, in private, away from the cameras on many occasions, when they were in absolute grief and misery.
For all the doubters, they have never done or said anything at any time that has given me any cause for suspicion that they were anything other than the innocent victims of a dreadful crime. Before that first meeting with Gerry, I was briefed by British police working alongside the Portuguese on the case. They told me then, categorically, that they had “cleared the ground beneath their feet”.
In other words, the British authorities believed that Gerry and Kate were categorically not guilty of any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
Yet the Portuguese police turned against them, naming them as arguido, a technical term conferring certain legal rights that is clumsily and misleadingly translated into English as “suspect”. You can become an arguido over the most minor traffic offence.
By that time, though, I had been called back by the government to London, but Kate and Gerry were ringing me at four in the morning saying: “We’ve been out here in Portugal too long, we’ve been stitched up, we’re about to be arrested, it’s all dreadful.”
Other than being sympathetic, I couldn’t do anything to help them. So when the offer came to work for them full-time, I took it in an instant.
What stands out, looking back over ten years, is the sheer lunacy of the accusations made against them.
There was, for instance, the theory entertained by the Portuguese police that their daughter had somehow been killed accidentally and that they then had used their hire car to remove her body and bury it in a secret location. I was there when the keys to that car were handed over to them, at their apartment; they hired it several weeks after Madeleine had disappeared.
Even if they had already got their daughter’s body out of the holiday apartment and stored it somewhere (a fridge was suggested, ridiculously), the police theory would mean that, in the full view of the world’s media, who were camped on their doorstep around the clock, the McCanns would have had to put her into the boot and then shaken off the ever-present paparazzi to dispose of her. It was as implausible as it was utterly offensive.
Later, in the autumn of 2007, when we were all back in England, a team of Portuguese police officers came to interview me about the times I had ridden in that car with Kate and Gerry. Did I notice any unusual smells in the hire car, they asked? It was beyond laughable. It also revealed, I felt, frightening ineptitude.
By then, a whole, vile cottage industry had grown around the case, with retired police officers who had nothing to do with the investigation appearing on Portuguese TV to suggest, for example, the McCanns had been at a swingers’ party on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance. It all compounded their pain.
Kate, in particular, got deeply angry. There was no shouting, sobbing or throwing things. It was more of a simmering but intense rage that things could be so misrepresented and so blatantly unfair.
Their real fury, though, was that such lazy reporting of wild untruths would actually mislead people and so hinder the search for Madeleine. That was why they took legal action against Gonçalo Amaral, the Portuguese police officer who wrote a very unpleasant book about them after being removed from the investigation. If people in Portugal, or elsewhere, believe the claims of an officer who never interviewed them, then Kate and Gerry feared that the public would simply assume Madeleine was dead and forget her.
The pressure would have broken other couples. Occasionally, I would catch them in tears, or hugging each other. But they seem to have coped. If anything, it has brought them together even more, rather than split them apart.
The McCanns are private people. I have never been privy to their innermost thoughts. It is not that sort of relationship. We haven’t even discussed politics. I am hoping to stand as a Conservative candidate in the forthcoming election, and my flag is blue; theirs, I’ve always believed, is red. It certainly didn’t affect our friendship.
They have thrown themselves into looking after the twins, trying as best to create a home where reminders of Madeleine are all around them, where she is still very much part of the family, and where they can shield Sean and Amelie against this constant gaze that the family is still under.
We have a good understanding with the British media that, until they are 18, the twins should never be photographed, but we can’t always enforce it. A local paper here or a foreign agency photographer there has occasionally managed to include them “by accident” in a photograph at a school sports day or other public event.
Despite the support they have received, there are still bills to pay. Before Madeleine’s disappearance, Kate was a locum GP, but she has never returned to work. Gerry continues as a senior cardiologist. (It is a tiny point, but symbolic of how almost every fact is twisted in this story. Gerry is not a surgeon, as often inaccurately reported. He is the man who keeps you alive and your essential tubes open when you are having your heart operation under the surgeon’s knife.)
Kate and Gerry hate being recognised. When I was with them, we would sometimes walk into a restaurant and the whole place would go quiet as they entered. People are mostly sympathetic. Many just don’t know what to say to them.
Nobody in my experience has ever been bold enough to accuse them of anything unpleasant to their faces. All of the worst, ugly nonsense is online – that Gerry is not Madeleine’s real dad, that paedophilia is somehow involved, that there’s a huge global government conspiracy to cover something up.
One of the most ridiculous and offensive theories I have come across online – and there are many – is that Madeleine had somehow been hidden at the church in Praia da Luz inside a coffin, beneath a body awaiting burial.
I continue to believe Madeleine was abducted for some reason. Kate is sure that, just short of her fourth birthday, Madeleine would not have been capable of wandering out of the apartment, closing the curtains, sliding doors and two small gates behind her.
And so the couple keep her bedroom in Leicestershire ready for her return, with the presents there for all the birthdays and Christmases with them that she has missed. It is very much a family-only place. In all my time in their house, that door has remained shut.
They hope and pray that, wherever she is, Madeleine is being looked after. What sustains them is that there is absolutely no evidence of physical harm coming to her. So they will always believe firmly that it is as logical to think she might be alive as it is illogical to assume the worst.
As told to Peter Stanford
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Clarence Mitchell
28 April 2017 • 9:30pm
A former BBC reporter, Clarence Mitchell was appointed to assist Kate and Gerry McCann as their media spokesman following the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine, in Portugal in 2007. Mitchell now works for a public relations company and continues to assist the McCanns when necessary. Here is his incredible account of the youngster's disappearance, the police operation to find her and the subsequent 10 years of anguish....
Twice in the ten years I have worked with the McCanns, I genuinely thought we were within reach of finding their missing daughter, Madeleine.
The first moment came very early on, just weeks after her disappearance on May 3, 2007. I had been sent by the British government to the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz to assist Kate and Gerry in dealing with the already huge media interest. Shortly after I arrived, I started to get phone calls, always at three o’clock in the morning, always the same ghostly man’s voice, repeatedly naming a farm where she was being hidden.
The British police recorded the calls and it turned out there was indeed a farm, fitting his description exactly, near Seville, over the border in Spain. As it was raided, and turned out to look exactly as he had painted it in those calls, I really felt we were on to something. But she wasn’t there, and those tip-offs – like so many others that we received from hoaxers, ransom seekers, conmen and psychics – were never explained.
The second came at the end of 2007. I was now being employed by Kate and Gerry as their press spokesman, and they were back at home in Leicestershire with their twins, Sean and Amelie. Spanish private investigators working on their behalf had found a blonde-haired girl who spoke English in a village in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. All the information coming back to us suggested heavily that it could be Madeleine, so much so that an aircraft was put on stand-by, with its engines running, waiting to fly to pick her up.
Kate and Gerry sat tight. They had learned by that stage to be sceptical, not to give in to natural hope only for it to be dashed. They preferred to wait until the Moroccan authorities had checked it out. And when they did, it became clear she was not Madeleine.
On the tenth anniversary of her disappearance, I continue to assist Kate and Gerry as required, keeping a weather eye on reports and sightings, such as the “significant lead” that Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said this week that Scotland Yard’s Operation Grange is following up.
Beyond that, rightly, the Metropolitan Police do not go into operational detail publicly. So, wherever this latest lead may take them, be it Portugal or elsewhere, this time around, like Kate and Gerry, I will sit tight and simply let the authorities do their job before getting my hopes up.
I had spent 20 years as a BBC journalist before becoming a civil servant and helping the McCanns. I met Gerry first. It was some two weeks after Madeleine had gone missing, and he had flown back to England to collect some of her belongings and see members of their large, close extended family.
Obviously, he was distressed, but also very rational. As I have subsequently learnt by spending time with the couple at close quarters, Gerry deals with trauma by compartmentalising it and being in control. His emotions, then as now, are poured into what he can do practically to raise awareness of Madeleine’s disappearance.
In Portugal, I found Kate very friendly, grateful for the support I could offer, but already wary of the media attention. Even though she realised that it was invaluable in keeping awareness high, she – more so that Gerry – found it very intrusive.
That was before it turned into something altogether more cruel, with the McCanns becoming widely vilified for making a mistake in the way in which they chose to care for their children on that fateful night in Praia da Luz. They had left them in an unlocked holiday apartment, though still checking on them regularly, because there was no baby-listening service at their complex.
They were always the first to admit their mistake, but what a price they are still paying. God forbid it is a price they may have to pay for the rest of their lives. I was with them, in private, away from the cameras on many occasions, when they were in absolute grief and misery.
For all the doubters, they have never done or said anything at any time that has given me any cause for suspicion that they were anything other than the innocent victims of a dreadful crime. Before that first meeting with Gerry, I was briefed by British police working alongside the Portuguese on the case. They told me then, categorically, that they had “cleared the ground beneath their feet”.
In other words, the British authorities believed that Gerry and Kate were categorically not guilty of any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
Yet the Portuguese police turned against them, naming them as arguido, a technical term conferring certain legal rights that is clumsily and misleadingly translated into English as “suspect”. You can become an arguido over the most minor traffic offence.
By that time, though, I had been called back by the government to London, but Kate and Gerry were ringing me at four in the morning saying: “We’ve been out here in Portugal too long, we’ve been stitched up, we’re about to be arrested, it’s all dreadful.”
Other than being sympathetic, I couldn’t do anything to help them. So when the offer came to work for them full-time, I took it in an instant.
What stands out, looking back over ten years, is the sheer lunacy of the accusations made against them.
There was, for instance, the theory entertained by the Portuguese police that their daughter had somehow been killed accidentally and that they then had used their hire car to remove her body and bury it in a secret location. I was there when the keys to that car were handed over to them, at their apartment; they hired it several weeks after Madeleine had disappeared.
Even if they had already got their daughter’s body out of the holiday apartment and stored it somewhere (a fridge was suggested, ridiculously), the police theory would mean that, in the full view of the world’s media, who were camped on their doorstep around the clock, the McCanns would have had to put her into the boot and then shaken off the ever-present paparazzi to dispose of her. It was as implausible as it was utterly offensive.
Later, in the autumn of 2007, when we were all back in England, a team of Portuguese police officers came to interview me about the times I had ridden in that car with Kate and Gerry. Did I notice any unusual smells in the hire car, they asked? It was beyond laughable. It also revealed, I felt, frightening ineptitude.
By then, a whole, vile cottage industry had grown around the case, with retired police officers who had nothing to do with the investigation appearing on Portuguese TV to suggest, for example, the McCanns had been at a swingers’ party on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance. It all compounded their pain.
Kate, in particular, got deeply angry. There was no shouting, sobbing or throwing things. It was more of a simmering but intense rage that things could be so misrepresented and so blatantly unfair.
Their real fury, though, was that such lazy reporting of wild untruths would actually mislead people and so hinder the search for Madeleine. That was why they took legal action against Gonçalo Amaral, the Portuguese police officer who wrote a very unpleasant book about them after being removed from the investigation. If people in Portugal, or elsewhere, believe the claims of an officer who never interviewed them, then Kate and Gerry feared that the public would simply assume Madeleine was dead and forget her.
The pressure would have broken other couples. Occasionally, I would catch them in tears, or hugging each other. But they seem to have coped. If anything, it has brought them together even more, rather than split them apart.
The McCanns are private people. I have never been privy to their innermost thoughts. It is not that sort of relationship. We haven’t even discussed politics. I am hoping to stand as a Conservative candidate in the forthcoming election, and my flag is blue; theirs, I’ve always believed, is red. It certainly didn’t affect our friendship.
They have thrown themselves into looking after the twins, trying as best to create a home where reminders of Madeleine are all around them, where she is still very much part of the family, and where they can shield Sean and Amelie against this constant gaze that the family is still under.
We have a good understanding with the British media that, until they are 18, the twins should never be photographed, but we can’t always enforce it. A local paper here or a foreign agency photographer there has occasionally managed to include them “by accident” in a photograph at a school sports day or other public event.
Despite the support they have received, there are still bills to pay. Before Madeleine’s disappearance, Kate was a locum GP, but she has never returned to work. Gerry continues as a senior cardiologist. (It is a tiny point, but symbolic of how almost every fact is twisted in this story. Gerry is not a surgeon, as often inaccurately reported. He is the man who keeps you alive and your essential tubes open when you are having your heart operation under the surgeon’s knife.)
Kate and Gerry hate being recognised. When I was with them, we would sometimes walk into a restaurant and the whole place would go quiet as they entered. People are mostly sympathetic. Many just don’t know what to say to them.
Nobody in my experience has ever been bold enough to accuse them of anything unpleasant to their faces. All of the worst, ugly nonsense is online – that Gerry is not Madeleine’s real dad, that paedophilia is somehow involved, that there’s a huge global government conspiracy to cover something up.
One of the most ridiculous and offensive theories I have come across online – and there are many – is that Madeleine had somehow been hidden at the church in Praia da Luz inside a coffin, beneath a body awaiting burial.
I continue to believe Madeleine was abducted for some reason. Kate is sure that, just short of her fourth birthday, Madeleine would not have been capable of wandering out of the apartment, closing the curtains, sliding doors and two small gates behind her.
And so the couple keep her bedroom in Leicestershire ready for her return, with the presents there for all the birthdays and Christmases with them that she has missed. It is very much a family-only place. In all my time in their house, that door has remained shut.
They hope and pray that, wherever she is, Madeleine is being looked after. What sustains them is that there is absolutely no evidence of physical harm coming to her. So they will always believe firmly that it is as logical to think she might be alive as it is illogical to assume the worst.
As told to Peter Stanford
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
Verdi wrote:I make no apologies for again uploading this abominable nonsense. A prime example of the lengths some will go to protect the name McCann - I only hope he can sleep at night.
Clarence Mitchell talking about the crying "incident" is worthy of condemnation. His mentioning of Rachel Oldfield not hearing anything the night before Madeleine was reported missing is puzzling, in my opinion. Is he suggesting that Madeleine was lying about such serious episode? Why in God's name is Mitchell concluding how Madeleine felt in that moment?
"In no way was she unhappy."
Brother, you never even met Madeleine. How can you say with certainty how she was feeling?
Guest- Guest
Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
Clarence Mitchell wrote:The McCanns are private people. I have never been privy to their innermost thoughts. It is not that sort of relationship.
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The Skavlan interviews - September 2014
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
____________________
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
Edgeley Park millionaire brings Maddie's dad to Stockport [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
30/1/2008
HEARTBREAK dad Gerry McCann took time out from the frantic search for his missing daughter Madeleine to watch Sale Sharks beat Harlequins at Edgeley Park on Friday.
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Mr McCann and his legal adviser Clarence Mitchell were guests of Sharks' millionaire owner Brian Kennedy.
Mr Kennedy, a previous owner of Stockport County, who sold the football club to the supporters' trust, has been a staunch supporter of the McCann family's campaign to find Madeleine.
The youngster's disappearance in Portugal last May, just days before her fourth birthday, sparked a worldwide hunt, and since then Gerry and his wife Kate have been at the centre of the media spotlight.
It has been widely reported that the McCann family's spokesman Clarence Mitchell's £75,000 salary, is being paid by Mr Kennedy and further help is being given by his lawyer Ed Smethurst.
Mr Kennedy told the Stockport Express yesterday: "Gerry McCann came out (to the match) for a couple of hours to help clear his mind. I wouldn't want this to compromise our campaign to find Madeleine. I remain absolutely committed to the campaign to find Madeleine and my support goes on."
[Acknowledgement: Pamalam, gerrymccannsblogs]
30/1/2008
HEARTBREAK dad Gerry McCann took time out from the frantic search for his missing daughter Madeleine to watch Sale Sharks beat Harlequins at Edgeley Park on Friday.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Mr McCann and his legal adviser Clarence Mitchell were guests of Sharks' millionaire owner Brian Kennedy.
Mr Kennedy, a previous owner of Stockport County, who sold the football club to the supporters' trust, has been a staunch supporter of the McCann family's campaign to find Madeleine.
The youngster's disappearance in Portugal last May, just days before her fourth birthday, sparked a worldwide hunt, and since then Gerry and his wife Kate have been at the centre of the media spotlight.
It has been widely reported that the McCann family's spokesman Clarence Mitchell's £75,000 salary, is being paid by Mr Kennedy and further help is being given by his lawyer Ed Smethurst.
Mr Kennedy told the Stockport Express yesterday: "Gerry McCann came out (to the match) for a couple of hours to help clear his mind. I wouldn't want this to compromise our campaign to find Madeleine. I remain absolutely committed to the campaign to find Madeleine and my support goes on."
[Acknowledgement: Pamalam, gerrymccannsblogs]
Legal advisor ?Mr McCann and his legal adviser Clarence Mitchell were guests of Sharks' millionaire owner Brian Kennedy.
____________________
“ 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: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
Hi Verdi, UK "Reservoir Dogs", Gerry Not smirking there is HE, wrong type of Ball?Verdi wrote:Edgeley Park millionaire brings Maddie's dad to Stockport [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
30/1/2008
HEARTBREAK dad Gerry McCann took time out from the frantic search for his missing daughter Madeleine to watch Sale Sharks beat Harlequins at Edgeley Park on Friday.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Mr McCann and his legal adviser Clarence Mitchell were guests of Sharks' millionaire owner Brian Kennedy.
Mr Kennedy, a previous owner of Stockport County, who sold the football club to the supporters' trust, has been a staunch supporter of the McCann family's campaign to find Madeleine.
The youngster's disappearance in Portugal last May, just days before her fourth birthday, sparked a worldwide hunt, and since then Gerry and his wife Kate have been at the centre of the media spotlight.
It has been widely reported that the McCann family's spokesman Clarence Mitchell's £75,000 salary, is being paid by Mr Kennedy and further help is being given by his lawyer Ed Smethurst.
Mr Kennedy told the Stockport Express yesterday: "Gerry McCann came out (to the match) for a couple of hours to help clear his mind. I wouldn't want this to compromise our campaign to find Madeleine. I remain absolutely committed to the campaign to find Madeleine and my support goes on."
[Acknowledgement: Pamalam, gerrymccannsblogs]Legal advisor ?Mr McCann and his legal adviser Clarence Mitchell were guests of Sharks' millionaire owner Brian Kennedy.
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
Carlos Anjos wrote:'He is a liar and a Machiavellian....
'He lies with as many teeth as he has in his mouth....
Clarence Mitchell and the McCanns:
21 Issues of Concern
Here we examine 21 of the many issues that have caused people concern about Mitchell’s role in the Madeleine McCann case. At the end of our leaflet we explain how to obtain more information on the Madeleine McCann case, including our 60-page booklet: ‘What Really Happened to Madeleine McCann? - 60 Reasons which suggest she was not abducted’.
1. Allegedly being involved in tipping off the McCanns that the Portuguese police had been, or were going to, track their e-mails and ’phone calls
The McCanns were tipped off that the Portuguese police were monitoring their e-mails and ’phone calls. There was naturally concern over how this information leaked to them. A former Portuguese police officer has admitted working for the Spanish private detective agency, Metodo 3. He in turn had an inside contact in the Portuguese police who supplied Metodo 3 with information about the investigation. Clarence Mitchell was asked in an interview by Simon Israel on Channel 4 how the McCanns were tipped off. He refused to answer.
2. Being forced to deny the McCanns’ initial claim of a break-in
On the evening that Madeleine was reported missing, the McCanns claimed an abductor had broken into the children’s room by ‘jemmying open the shutters’. They repeated that claim many times - a claim the media reported extensively. But the managers of the Mark Warners resort where the McCanns were staying, and the police, soon discovered that the shutters had not been tampered with. This forcing the McCanns to dramatically change their story - one of many changes of story - to say: ‘the abductor must have walked in through an unlocked patio door”. Asked about this discrepancy, Mitchell was forced to concede on the record: “There was no evidence of a break-in. I'm not going into the detail, but I can say that Kate and Gerry are firmly of the view that somebody got into the apartment and took Madeleine out the window as their means of escape. To do that they did not necessarily have to tamper with anything. They got out of the window fairly easily”. It is however most unlikley that an abductor could have ‘got out of the window easily’ leaving no forensic trace.
3. Smearing Robert Murat
A curious feature of the Madeleine case was the targeting of Robert Murat, a dual Portuguese-British citizen, as a suspect. A journalist who worked closely with Clarence Mitchell, Lori Campbell, suspected Murat of involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance and reported him to the Police. Three of the McCanns’ close friends, the so-called ‘Tapas 7’, also reported seeing Robert Murat close to the McCanns’ apartment the evening Madeleine went missing, a claim he denied. The McCann camp made a concerted attempt, for whatever reason, to smear Murat. Clarence Mitchell himself played a key role in this: He said:
“An outcome similar to Holly and Jessica [Soham children murdered by Ian Huntley] is possible. I don't want to, and I can't, talk about Robert Murat, but some journalists who worked with me in Soham, and that were now in Portugal, saw resemblances between that case and Robert Murat. And I won't say more”.
He was very lucky that Murat did not sue him for libel, since in 2008 Robert Murat collected a reported £550,000 in libel damages from news media and journalists whom he claimed had smeared and libelled him.
4. Being forced to retract his claim that ‘Madeleine is probably dead’
During early 2008, Clarence Mitchell was forced to concede that ‘Madeleine is probably dead’. This caused grave embarrassment for the McCanns, who were determined publicly to maintain that Madeleine was still alive. His statement could also have had serious implications for the Fund, which can only continue to operate and keep asking for donations on this premise. Dr Gerald McCann was forced to publicly rebuke his PR chief by insisting on his blog two days later that they remained hopeful that Madeleine was still alive.
5. Failing to explain that the ‘Helping to Find Madeleine Fund’ was not a charity
Interviewed by James Whale, Mitchell repeatedly refused to correct Whale when he referred to the McCanns’ fund as a ‘charity’. In fact, the Helping to Find Madeleine Fund is registered as a ‘private trust’; its aims are not charitable and include making payments to the McCanns.
6. Asking people to send money in envelopes to ‘Gerry and Kate, Rothley’
Asked on the same James Whale show how people could contribute to the fund, Mitchell said: “Just put money into an envelope and send to Kate and Gerry McCann, Rothley, it’ll get there”. That was unprofessional - monies should have been directed to the registered office for the Fund, namely London Solicitors Bates, Wells & Braithwaite. For example, monies sent in the post could be stolen en route or would not be properly accounted for.
7. Claiming that the Fund was ‘independently controlled’
Pressed about control of the ‘Helping to Find Madeleine Fund’, Clarence Mitchell claimed that the Fund was ‘independently controlled’. This is untrue. The Trust’s Directors consist mainly of members of the McCann family and their friends or acquaintances.
8. Retreating on whether or not the McCanns would take a lie detector test
The McCanns were anxious to convince the world that they were telling the truth about how Madeleine had suddenly gone missing. To bolster their claim, Clarence Mitchell announced: “Kate and Gerry McCann would have no issue with taking a lie detector test”. However, two months later, he announced: "Of course they are not going to take any lie detector test”.
9. Making a film for TV about the McCanns’ distress ‘one year on’ whilst at the same time claiming the McCanns were not doing so
Clarence Mitchell told the media: “The McCanns don't want to do anything about 'woe is us a year on'. That is what the tabloids would like us to do, but we are not following their agenda, we are following our own agenda” (one of many references to ‘our agenda’). Weeks later, there was a two-hour long pre-recorded TV interview: ‘Madeleine McCann - One Year On’, clearly prepared long before his public statement, and certainly with his personal knowledge.
10. Issuing a ‘Crimewatch’-style video clip with a description of an abductor
It has always been the McCanns who have given out descriptions of a possible abductor. The Portuguese police from early on doubted the truthfulness of claims by Jane Tanner, one of the McCanns’ ‘Tapas 7’ friends, that she had seen an abductor. In early 2008, Clarence Mitchell announced that the McCann team were looking for a moustachioed man seen in Praia da Luz around the time Madeleine went missing. He did this in a widely-shown video clip in which he acted like a Crimewatch presenter. At a meeting at the London School of Economics on 30 January 2008, this performance, plus his commanding stance and choice of words, prompted one member of the LSE audience to ask: “Are you the police?” There was much laughter.
11. Claiming that “…whatever the Portuguese police might find in their investigation, the McCanns will have an innocent explanation for it”
To this bizarre statement, Mitchell added the equally strange comment: “There are wholly innocent explanations for any material that the police may or may not have found”, prompting many to ask: “How could the McCanns and Clarence Mitchell know in advance what the police might find and know that there would be ‘an innocent explanation’ for everything?
12. Claiming it didn’t matter if Dr Kate McCann changed her clothes on 3 May
One of the key issues in the Madeleine McCann case is whether the McCanns and their ‘Tapas 7’ friends have been telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the events of 3 May 2007, the day Madeleine was reported missing. In late 2008, a French journalist, Duarte Levy, claimed to have seen photos taken that evening conclusively proving that Dr Kate McCann had left the table during the evening and changed her clothes. That would blow a hole in her claim that she was at the Tapas bar the whole evening. She would have had to explain why she changed her clothes. Mitchell’s official response to these claims was: “So what if she did leave the table and change her clothes?” He refused to elaborate.
13. Saying that ‘none of the Tapas group’ were wearing watches the night Madeleine went missing - and then being forced to retract that statement
Clarence Mitchell had come under pressure from journalists to explain why there were so many major contradictions between the McCanns’ and the Tapas 7’s versions of events on 3 May 2007, when Madeleine ‘disappeared’. There were also many discrepancies in their timelines. Mitchell tried to explain, responding: “None of them were wearing watches or had mobile phones on them that night”. Those journalists then confronted him with the sheer unlikelihood that all nine had neither watch nor mobile ’phone, pointed out that the McCanns and others had used their mobile ’phones that night, and produced pictures of the McCanns and their Tapas 7 friends taken in Praia da Luz that week which showed that they were always wearing watches. Clarence Mitchell was forced into an embarrassing retreat, conceding: “Some of them were wearing watches and had mobile ’phones, some of them weren’t”. It is also now known from the McCanns’ statements to the Police, which have been publicly released, that the McCanns both had mobile ’phones with them that evening. As their official spokesman, Mitchell must surely have been briefed on this before he made his statement.
14. Falsely claiming that the McCanns had been ‘utterly honest and utterly open’
On 11 April 2008, Clarence Mitchell made this bold claim: “Kate and Gerry have been utterly honest and utterly open with the police and all of their statements from the moment that Madeleine was taken”. He later said, referring to himself and the McCanns: ‘We have nothing to hide’. When addressing a largely student audience during what were called ‘The Coventry Conversations’, Mitchell said: “We are always willing to co-operate with the Portuguese police”. These were astounding claims to make given that…
• Dr Kate McCann was asked 48 questions by the Portuguese police when interviewed on 7 September 2007 and refused to answer any of them.
• The McCanns had refused point blank to take part in a reconstruction of the events of 3 May 2007, the night Madeleine McCann was reported missing.
• The McCanns’ statements contained changes of story, contradictions with the accounts of others, evasions and obfuscations.
15. Claiming it would be ‘hugely entertaining’ to devise a cast list for a proposed film about Madeleine going missing
On 7 January 2008 it was widely reported in the media that the McCanns and their advisers were in talks with media and film moguls IMG, who made the film ‘Touching the Void’, about a possible film about Madeleine’s disappearance. Clarence Mitchell was asked whether Gerry and Kate would play themselves in any film or if their roles would be played by celebrity actors. He said: “It may be hugely entertaining and a bit of fun to speculate on a cast list, but we are a million miles away from that sort of thing”. On another occasion, he said of Madeleine: “If she is dead, she is dead”. These and other comments made some wonder how much ‘feel’ or concern for Madeleine’s welfare and fate Mitchell really had.
16. Claiming it was a British cultural custom for parents to put children to bed early so they could enjoy the rest of the evening
Interviewed by Irish TV station RTE, Clarence Mitchell tried to explain why the McCanns left three young children under four on their own, several nights in a row, whilst on holiday, and out for the evening wining and dining. He told his TV audience: “There is a cultural difference between Britain and Portugal. It is a British approach to get your children washed, bathed and in bed early in the evening, if you can, so you can have something of the evening to yourself. That’s the British way of doing things. It doesn't mean it's wrong. It doesn't mean it's right”. Many British parents objected strongly to Mitchell’s description of them..
17. Trying to deny that the McCanns had left the children alone every night
In an interview with Jon Gaunt of TalkSport, Clarence Mitchell was trying to explain why the McCanns had left their children alone ‘that night’ (i.e. the night of 3 May when Madeleine was reported missing). He was quickly corrected by Gaunt who reminded him: ‘But they left them alone every night’. Mitchell had no answer.
18. Blaming Romany gypsies for abducting Madeleine
Clarence Mitchell on one occasion pointed the finger of suspicion at Romany gypsies for having abducted Madeleine. It appeared he had no basis whatsoever for smearing this group of people. He has never apologised for making it.
19. Using an image of Mari Luz without her parents’ permission
Months after Madeleine went missing, another child, Mari Luz, went missing, though in very different circumstances. Sadly she has since been found dead. The McCanns printed posters of Madeleine together with Mari Luz - without gaining the parents’ prior permission. Her parents were very upset, and complained. Clarence Mitchell reacted by stating: “It’s a shame that they are complaining about us in a press release. How can they be angry with is for wanting to help when all we’re trying to do is find their own daughter?”
20. Being ‘encouraged’ that Madeleine ‘may have been abducted by paedophiles’
In early 2008, stories were put about by an unknown Portuguese lawyer, Marcos Aragão Correia, that Madeleine McCann had been abducted by paedophiles, raped, murdered and her body dumped in a dammed lake. At the time, a new drawing of a possible abductor was released, and part of the Arade Dam was searched. A friend of the McCanns was quoted as saying: “We fear that a group of two or three paedophiles may have been fishing around the apartments, casing them with a view to taking children". Mitchell then commented:
“Developments such as this give Mr and Mrs McCann renewed hope. That is exactly the sort of call we want. We think the image is of such a quality that anyone who knows him will be able to identify him. Kate and Gerry are quite buoyant at the moment - every time we do something like this and move things forward it gives them strength. We’re very encouraged by this - putting all this information out, these images out, is helping Gerry and Kate in one way; simply by doing it we have got some momentum and are pushing the agenda forward on our side of the equation”.
Many asked why Mitchell and the McCanns could use such words as ‘buoyant’ and ‘encouraged’ in relation to Madeleine’s having been raped and murdered. The use of the word ‘agenda’ once again prompted the question: What was their ‘agenda’?
21. Explaining why the McCanns deliberately left their three children alone again the night after Madeleine and Sean had been crying the night before
On SKY News, Clarence Mitchell was interviewed, following a pre-recorded interview with the McCanns in which they admitted, for the first time, that two of their children had been crying on the night before Madeleine went missing. There was public outrage that the McCanns were told by their children that they had been crying the previous night whilst they were out wining and dining, only to then leave them alone again the very next night. The SKY News presenter asked: “Why did Kate and Gerry choose to leave the children the same way the very next night?” Clarence Mitchell’s reply is instructive. Here it is in full:
“That is one interpretation. Let me put it in context. On the morning of May the 3rd, the day Madeleine later went missing, she came out, and said to Gerry and Kate at breakfast, very briefly as an aside, in no way was she unhappy or crying and then, in no way was she reprimanding her parents as some reports papers have wrongly, er, said. She simply said: “Why didn’t you come see - come and see me and Sean when we were crying, last night?”, and Kate and Gerry were puzzled by that, because in their checks - they had been checking her every 25/30 minutes, the same as they did the next night, when she went missing - they had found nothing to suggest that she was in any way distressed or upset, they found her asleep each time. There was nothing wrong. Rachel Oldfield, one of their friends, was in the apartment next door, in the room adjacent to Madeleine’s bedroom.
“She too was there all evening and heard no crying through the walls. There was nothing to suggest this had happened. So it was a puzzle to Kate and Gerry when Madeleine mentioned it. They tried to question her about it, and she just walked off laughing, and, er, happy, she was [note the past tense] a child and she and, and so, so she dropped it. Now they of course had a serious discussion about what had possibly gone wrong and they decided to check her more thoroughly that next night, and that’s what they did. And in the context of what happened later - her disappearance - they felt that that conversation, puzzling as it was, was very important to bring to the police’s attention. They wonder why, if she cried, why she cried. Was something, or someone already in that room to make her cry and they fled when she cried? Who knows? They can’t prove that, but they told the police in confidence - legally protected documentation has been in those files for 11 months - and why does it appear on the very day they were at the European Parliament? Somebody in the police doesn’t want Kate and Gerry to widen the agenda [that word again!], for whatever reason. It’s wrong. It’s illegal, and the Portuguese government needs to stop this…from happening in the future” [NOTE: The ‘leak’ came from a Spanish journalist known to be very sympathetic to the McCanns].
During this long reply, we see the master media manipulator at work. He makes light of two children crying while their parents were not with them. He justifies the McCanns’ decision to go out wining and dining and leaving all three children alone again the very night after the children told them of their crying. He claims, without evidence, that the Police leaked the story about the McCanns’ children crying on their own the night before. He claims the police have done something illegal. Some might admire him as a master of his craft, and indeed one writer has already said that the McCanns’ public relations campaign will for years to come be a textbook example of how to control the media and manipulate public opinion. But, we may ask, if this is true, whose interests has Clarence Mitchell been serving? Is he someone who helps us get to the truth? Or someone who does his best to stop us getting to the truth?
[Acknowledgement: The Madeleine Foundation]
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
Clarence 'Clarrie the Pink' Mitchell campaigns for the Brighton and Hove constituency on behalf of the Conservative party
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
As I've said a number of times already, any evidence they may or may not have found that gave them cause for suspicion of Gerry and Kate err can be wholly and easily explained, should it come to that.
Clarence Mitchell
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
Former BBC royal correspondent shortlisted by Brighton Pavilion Conservatives
Posted On 24 Jul 2013 at 9:10 pm
By : Frank le Duc
The former BBC reporter who acts as spokesman for the family of missing Madeleine McCann has been shortlisted by Brighton Pavilion Conservatives.
Clarence Mitchell has represented Kate and Gerry McCann for almost six years after their daughter disappeared during a holiday in Portugal.
His previous jobs include heading the government’s Media Monitoring Unit and a 20-year career with the BBC.
He worked as a royal correspondent, political reporter and presenter during his time at the corporation, having trained as a reporter at the Westminster Press Training Centre in Hastings.
Since September 2011, Mr Mitchell, who was born in 1962, has been a managing director at public affairs firm Burson-Marsteller UK.
He is one of three candidates to have been shortlisted for the parliamentary seat. The winner will challenge Green MP Caroline Lucas for a place in the House of Commons at the next general election which is due to be held in May 2015.
One of Mr Mitchell’s rivals is Michelle Lowe, a marketing communications specialist and the deputy leader of Sevenoaks District Council.
The other is solicitor Jean-Paul Floru, who serves as a member of Westminster City Council. He is the author of What the Immigrant Saw, a book looking at Britain through the eyes of an immigrant from Belgium.
The Brighton Pavilion hustings are being held tomorrow (Thursday 25 July) and will be chaired by Councillor Ann Norman, who represents Withdean ward on Brighton and Hove City Council.
She said: “I’m delighted that our members have three excellent candidates to choose from.”
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Who could possibly resist a former government media manipulator and ongoing spokesman for the prime suspects in the case of a missing three year old child - their own daughter, to represent the conservative party, Brighton and Hove constituency.
No contest!
Posted On 24 Jul 2013 at 9:10 pm
By : Frank le Duc
The former BBC reporter who acts as spokesman for the family of missing Madeleine McCann has been shortlisted by Brighton Pavilion Conservatives.
Clarence Mitchell has represented Kate and Gerry McCann for almost six years after their daughter disappeared during a holiday in Portugal.
His previous jobs include heading the government’s Media Monitoring Unit and a 20-year career with the BBC.
He worked as a royal correspondent, political reporter and presenter during his time at the corporation, having trained as a reporter at the Westminster Press Training Centre in Hastings.
Since September 2011, Mr Mitchell, who was born in 1962, has been a managing director at public affairs firm Burson-Marsteller UK.
He is one of three candidates to have been shortlisted for the parliamentary seat. The winner will challenge Green MP Caroline Lucas for a place in the House of Commons at the next general election which is due to be held in May 2015.
One of Mr Mitchell’s rivals is Michelle Lowe, a marketing communications specialist and the deputy leader of Sevenoaks District Council.
The other is solicitor Jean-Paul Floru, who serves as a member of Westminster City Council. He is the author of What the Immigrant Saw, a book looking at Britain through the eyes of an immigrant from Belgium.
The Brighton Pavilion hustings are being held tomorrow (Thursday 25 July) and will be chaired by Councillor Ann Norman, who represents Withdean ward on Brighton and Hove City Council.
She said: “I’m delighted that our members have three excellent candidates to choose from.”
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...................
Who could possibly resist a former government media manipulator and ongoing spokesman for the prime suspects in the case of a missing three year old child - their own daughter, to represent the conservative party, Brighton and Hove constituency.
No contest!
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
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Would I lie to you .... ?
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Yes, I think you would .... !
Would I lie to you .... ?
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Yes, I think you would .... !
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
Verdi wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Would I lie to you .... ?
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Yes, I think you would .... !
Trust me - it was THIS big !
There's an innocent explanation for anything I say !
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
sandancer wrote:Verdi wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Would I lie to you .... ?
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Yes, I think you would .... !
Trust me - it was THIS big !
There's an innocent explanation for anything I say !
.... but it all started in May 2007 like this, then it kinda like got bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger ....
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
Kate and Gerry sat tight. They had learned by that stage to be sceptical, not to give in to natural hope only for it to be dashed. They preferred to wait until the Moroccan authorities had checked it out. And when they did, it became clear she was not Madeleine.
What a load of bollocks sat tight yeah right trying not to laugh I bet at the expense of a little Moroccan girl .
What a load of bollocks sat tight yeah right trying not to laugh I bet at the expense of a little Moroccan girl .
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For Paulo Sargento, the thesis that Gonçalo Amaral revealed at first hand to "SP" that the blanket could have been used in a funeral ceremony at the Luz chapel "is very interesting".
And he adds: "In reality, when the McCanns went to Oprah's Show, the blanket was mentioned. At a given moment, when Oprah tells Kate that she heard her mention a blanket several times, Kate argued that a mother who misses a child always wants to know if she is comfortable, if she is warm, and added, referring to Maddie, that sometimes she asked herself if the person who had taken her would cover her up with her little blanket (but the blanket was on the bed after Maddie, supposedly, disappeared!!!).
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
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THE FOG
The economy, politics and current affairs Money, power and its guiding forces
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Not So Bright
‘Titanic of a PR’ Clarence Mitchell moves on from a series of toxic clients and becomes spokesman for Cambridge Analytica
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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THE FOG
The economy, politics and current affairs Money, power and its guiding forces
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Not So Bright
‘Titanic of a PR’ Clarence Mitchell moves on from a series of toxic clients and becomes spokesman for Cambridge Analytica
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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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
What McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell really thinks happened to Madeleine
Madeline Goodwin
3 May 2019 • 8:08am
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." But 12 years on, 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.”
This article was originally published in March. It has been republished to mark the 12th anniversary of Madeleine McCann's disappearance today.
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Madeline Goodwin
3 May 2019 • 8:08am
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." But 12 years on, 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.”
This article was originally published in March. It has been republished to mark the 12th anniversary of Madeleine McCann's disappearance today.
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
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.
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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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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.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
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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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
I have read a number of 2007 articles today where it is said that Clarence Mitchell was able to work for the McCanns because Brian Kennedy paid for his services.
The same articles explained that Brian Kennedy also paid for serveral legal people and Crisis Management Services.
Very odd.
The same articles explained that Brian Kennedy also paid for serveral legal people and Crisis Management Services.
Very odd.
Guest- Guest
Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
Plus a few private detectives who turned out to be dodgy dealers with no experience in cases of child abduction.
Odd indeed.
Clarence Mitchell appears to be at the core of this seemingly unfathomable intrigue. He is the lone wolf with all the contacts .... the government, the media, public relations, the diplomatic corps, cardinals, the police, forensic science services - every one of which has played a prominent part in the masquerade.
Man of all seasons - and sources.
Odd indeed.
Clarence Mitchell appears to be at the core of this seemingly unfathomable intrigue. He is the lone wolf with all the contacts .... the government, the media, public relations, the diplomatic corps, cardinals, the police, forensic science services - every one of which has played a prominent part in the masquerade.
Man of all seasons - and sources.
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
You forgot to mention Clarence Mitchell was able to introduce the Prime Suspect to Royalty - The Duchess of Gloucester:
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A wise man once said: "Be careful who you let on your ship,
because some people will sink the whole ship just because they can't be The Captain."
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
Edited to add: Royalty, Haristocracy and Right Honourables!
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
A forerunner for the weekend - a repeat, lest they forget..
Former BBC man to speak for McCanns
Profile: Clarence Mitchell
The parents of Madeleine McCann today stepped up their campaign to maintain their innocence with the appointment of a media expert to act as their spokesman.
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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....................
These PR pundits have no shame. They are ruthless truthless soothless scoundrels - wealthy to boot!
Former BBC man to speak for McCanns
Profile: Clarence Mitchell
The parents of Madeleine McCann today stepped up their campaign to maintain their innocence with the appointment of a media expert to act as their spokesman.
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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These PR pundits have no shame. They are ruthless truthless soothless scoundrels - wealthy to boot!
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Re: 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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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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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
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.....
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.....
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cookiemuncher likes this post
Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
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 ....
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 ....
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Re: Candid Camera: Clarence Mitchell
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.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.....
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.
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The Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann™ :: Team McCann :: Clarence Mitchell: McCann's Government-appointed Spokesman
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