Carter Ruck blog: The Leveson Inquiry – victims of the media turn the tables on the press

The Leveson Inquiry – victims of the media turn the tables on the press

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Isabel Hudson

The Leveson Inquiry has been making headline news on an almost daily basis since it began to hear the evidence of a number of victims of the media. While the Inquiry was largely prompted by the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, it is considering evidence on far wider issues of press conduct, of which the testimony of Kate and Gerry McCann has proven a powerful example.

After their daughter Madeline was abducted in the Algarve, the McCanns were the subject of an unprecedented number of highly defamatory and utterly baseless articles. These ranged from allegations that the couple had killed their daughter and disposed of her body, to the equally abhorrent suggestion that they had sold Madeleine into white slavery in order to pay off debts. Yet due to Portuguese laws of judicial secrecy, the McCanns were forbidden from speaking out. “We were being tried by the media and unable to defend ourselves” Gerry McCann told the Inquiry.

The McCanns explained that they were ultimately able to obtain some redress through the libel complaints which Carter-Ruck brought on their behalves, and which led to front page apologies in a number of newspapers as well as donations of substantial damages to the Find Madeleine fund.

The couple explained to the Inquiry, however, that their victimisation by the press went much further than this. They had repeatedly been ‘doorstepped’ and harassed by photographers who had caused considerable distress to their younger daughter and son, while a journalist had also managed to deceive Mr McCann’s mother into handing over a private photograph of the family.

For Kate McCann, the worst moment came in 2008 when lengthy extracts of her personal diary were splashed over the front page of the News of the World, without any warning. The diary had been seized by Portuguese police who subsequently handed it back. Mrs McCann told the Inquiry:
“I felt totally violated. I had written these words at the most desperate time of my life, and it was my only way of communicating with Madeleine…I just recently read through my diary entries at that point in that week, and I talk about climbing into a hole and not coming out because I just felt so worthless that we had been treated like that.”

The Inquiry is expected ultimately to make recommendations as to how the culture, practice and ethics of the press may be improved and better regulated, and in light of the evidence from the McCanns and the many other media victims it is difficult to see how the Inquiry could conclude that anything short of a full overhaul in press regulation is necessary. In the meantime the Inquiry is clearly providing an important platform for the victims of egregious press behaviour, who have previously struggled to have their voices heard against the might of the media machine.

http://www.carter-ruck.com/Blog/?p=104
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Images of press intrusion here: http://thepottingshedder.blogspot.com/2011/11/leveson-niggle.html
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Addressing Brenda Ryan's comment on that blog:

BrenR1958 says:


December 1, 2011 at 10:40 am


"Jen that is the danger, those lies and
made up headlines are still to this day being peddled as fact and people
are still believing them."

What, you mean like those lies told about the McCann's Irish family & Granny Eileen owning the pub in Donegal? Lies and made up headlines designed to fleece the good hearted Irish public? Lies that YOU perpetuate on your own site, showing the video & transcripts of this scam! Yes, you are a part of the fraud too Brenda; you are aiding and abetting the con.

Carter Ruck have NO comeback of me making these allegations of fraud because it's damn true!

Brenda Ryan is the one who hosted the 3 Arguido's forum isn't she and had an avatar calling Kate McCann a bitch?
She was very vitriolic, as was Bonnybraes, about Kate McCann and the rest of Team McCann. Both of them have said far worse about the McCanns than is ever posted here (or allowed to be posted here). Isn't she also best mates with Laffin Assasin who threatened to torch the McCanns house with a molatov cocktail and Debbie Butler who was labelled as the McCanns stalker. Does she really think the McCanns or Carter Ruck have forgotten about that? Or was it all a game to her just as it was to Bonnybraes who is now part of Team McCann and sending info to Carter Ruck. It's hard to keep up with who's who.

The Carter Ruck blog seems to have disappeared?

Daisy wrote:The Carter Ruck blog seems to have disappeared?

Seems so Daisy. Whooshed??


foxylady93Hannah Lane

#McCann The new CR blog has been removed and Bren Ryan's blog is ''invitation ony'' . Some coincidence lol

17 minutes

It's still there http://www.carter-ruck.com/Blog/?p=104

CR worked for me 2 seconds ago 18:32 2/12/11

Working again for me now. The whole blog site was definitely down for a while, none of the other blogs worked either; just got "page can not be displayed" notice.

Interesting to see whether Maureen Lang's comment is going to be removed by Carter-Ruck.

"It can no longer be argued that no one in The PJ was responsible for these leaks, and often false information.
This was a deliberate attempt to influence Public Opinion against The McCanns in the absence of Evidence.
And I would dearly like to know exactly who was responsible, although I doubt that this information will come as a surprise to anyone."

That is clearly libellous.

Oh dear, CR is advertising their clients innocence as if they are keeper of the truth and nothing but the truth, totally disregarding law enforcers' opinion she is likely dead.

It makes you wonder whether mccanns are their biggest account, as in bigger paying clients?
The way they blind support the mccanns, if not sinister, means biased perhaps. I understand they are paid to represent their clients but a blog about Leveson Inquiry dedicated to mccanns case only seems odd when everyone in the world knows the mccanns were infamous for ruthlessly using the media for their own ends.

The mccanns not cooperating with police to eliminate themselves did nothing to progress the search for their daughter, this bit is even stated by the AG. Plus I would like to know who died in Apt 5a because no one did prior to mccanns occupation of that unit?

Gillyspot wrote:Interesting to see whether Maureen Lang's comment is going to be removed by Carter-Ruck.

"It can no longer be argued that no one in The PJ was responsible for these leaks, and often false information.
This was a deliberate attempt to influence Public Opinion against The McCanns in the absence of Evidence.
And I would dearly like to know exactly who was responsible, although I doubt that this information will come as a surprise to anyone."

That is clearly libellous.

Libel is like racism. It only works in one direction.

The comment facility on their blog seems to only work in one direction too.

They don't seem to want to moderate and publish my comment about Kate's diary, that I posted on their blog at 2.23pm yesterday despite them clicking on my name at 18 minutes past 4 yesterday which brought them to this forum so they could verify that it was actually me who posted it.

Seems they don't want comments that question the McCanns version of events.

Get 'em Gonçalo wrote:
Seems they don't want comments that question the McCanns version of events.

It is not that they 'don't want comments', it is that they dare not advert to the possibility that their clients may have lied to them