The Leveson Niggle - Notes from a Potting Shedder

The Leveson Niggle


Some people sure have a strange, flippant way with words...


"Kate McCann felt 'mentally raped' when diary published."


There are dozens of palatable ways to express the angst felt at having your personal diary made public. Why this demeaning retort, but no response to the previously published extracts in the Portuguese daily Correio de Manha, translated and read by all months earlier? The McCanns complained only to the News of the World, who made a large apologetic undisclosed payment to the 'fund'. No such complaints to Correio de Manha? Maybe the fact that suing the Portuguese media normally results in nothing more than an apology with little or no monetary gain had something to do with it? You can't pick and choose when you are "mentally raped".


How did Mrs McCann feel when her personal account of the truth - the book, Madeleine, was made public and serialised by the very same news group? Opening the door on your sex life and dare I say it... page 129 is not a pleasant thing, especially for the reader. Maybe the large serialisation fee News International forked out made things a little easier on her poor, ravaged mind.


Meanwhile, news is out that Mr McCann is due to give evidence at the Leveson inquiry next week. We'll have to wait to hear how he addresses his complaint about the Press Complaints Commission and how it was "hopelessly inadequate" in helping his family fend off media intrusion. Isn't this biting the hand that feeds... by early May it was too late to lock that stable door - the McCanns themselves had romanced the press with their own whirlwind of requests, demands and titillations. So, just why are the McCanns core participants in the Leveson inquiry? By Clarence Mitchell's admission, they weren't hacked. Or were they? They complain about the press, yet courted and invited the media into their lives from day one. Are they just jumping on yet another bandwagon, big risk if they are.


Below are a small selection of staged photographs for the press, there are many, many more available for all to see in the public domain. Mrs McCann writes about such occasions in her book and judging by these pics, a good time was had by all. I don't see any arms being twisted or physical force being applied in an attempt to get the right pose. And I certainly don't see anyone trying to fend off any media intrusion. I do hear an echoing kerching though.

We conclude that the applicants voluntarily decided to limit their right to the intimacy of private life, certainly envisaging higher values like the discovery of their daughter Madeleine's whereabouts, but on voluntarily limiting that right, they opened the doors for other people to give their opinion about the case, in synchrony with what they were saying, but also possibly in contradiction with their directions, yet always within the bounds of a legitimate and constitutionally consecrated right to opinion and freedom of expression of thought.
In the same way concerning the applicants' right to image and a good name : upon placing the case in the public square and giving it worldwide notoriety, the applicants opened all doors to all opinions, even those that are adversarial to them.
Lisbon Appeal Court Decision
14 October 2010
The Appellate Court Judges,
Francisco Bruto da Costa
Catarina Arelo Manso
Antonio Valente

Please click to view the full translated appeal decision on Joana Morais' blog.


The Leveson inquiry can be followed on the Guardian website, with detailed information and links. General enquiries or information can be mailed to generalenquiries@levesoninquiry.org.

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Pictures not copied and pasted can be seen on above link.