‘This could’ve been another Maddie..my child could’ve been taken forever’

A YOUNG Irish boy has escaped an abduction bid in the Canary Islands — by karate chopping his evil would-be kidnapper.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/irishsun/irishsunnews/4487893/This-couldve-been-another-Maddiemy-child-couldve-been-taken-forever.html

A suspected paedophile known to police grabbed Kildare lad Jack Butler near his family holiday bungalow in Lanzarote last Friday.

But the brave 12-year-old fought off the beast — and later identified him from a mugshot.

Spanish cops are now hunting the suspect — who’s alleged to be behind an indecent assault on a little girl just a short time earlier.

Last night, Jack’s mother Jane told the Irish Sun: “My greatest fear is it could have been another Madeleine McCann situation, that my child could have been taken from us and never seen again.

“The thought of what could have happened to Jack makes me feel physically sick. I threw up after we attended the police station.”


Jack was just 20 metres away from Jane, dad David and four younger siblings — near their Puerto del Carmen bungalow — when the depraved predator pounced.

The monster tried to drag Jack into an underground car park.

Jane explained: “We were in a restaurant and Jack was cold, so we let him go back to our bungalow, 20 metres away, to get a jumper. He was on his way back when the man grabbed him.

“He’d been hiding behind a wall in a car park. He must have been watching and waiting.

“Jack managed to break free by karate chopping him on the arm.

“He ran to us and told us what had happened and that he heard the man driving off in his car with screeching tyres.”


Jane told how Jack was able to describe what the man wore — and even noticed he had a scar from his nose to his cheek.

She added: “The police arrived and told us they’d keep and eye out for him and to come in and make a statement the next day.

“They pulled up photographs of eight different men — and Jack immediately picked him out.

“The detectives told us that the man had already flown to Madrid at 9am that morning, but that the police there knew where he lived and would pick him up.

“Although we’re not due home until August 22, we wanted to leave straight away as the kids can’t sleep at night and are afraid to leave the windows open.

“But the police asked us to stay as they need Jack to go to court if they are to prosecute him.

“Jack has been very brave, but he is really shook up.

“When Madeleine McCann went missing I told my kids that if someone steals you it’s because they’ve no children of their own.

“But Jack now knows that’s not the truth and we have had to explain to him that this man’s intentions were not good.”

How predictable. Anyone would think there is a court case or something coming up that they need to deflect attention away from.

12 year old boy - v - 3 year old girl ?

what a pity this 12 year old karate champion wasn't babysitting for the McCanns on May 3rd - then Maddie would not have been abducted.

He would have been only 7 then so possibly unable to fight off the frightening-looking array of suspects, especially the faceless one with a few strands of hair.

The range of silly stories is limitless - almost anything can be likened to the Madeleine story and by "story" I do of course mean a fictional one.

Just seen this on twitter, Same journalist who features in this article............

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/the-sun-paid-man-to-make-louis-walsh-sex-claim-court-3108874.html

Geez, paid to pretend to be a sex predator by the Sun! What else isn't Murdoch paper capable of? I have heard it all it now bloody hell!

I wonder what Louis Walsh had done to upset the Sun hierarchy?

I can think of some more deserving people to be lured into a trap!

Jean wrote:I wonder what Louis Walsh had done to upset the Sun hierarchy?

I can think of some more deserving people to be lured into a trap!

That's really disgusting because Louis Walsh said he felt suicidal. Can you imagine if he'd carried it out? Don't these fish and chip rags ever stop to think of the potential consequences of their actions?

Judge orders Sun to hand over documents about false Louis Walsh stor

The Sun has been ordered to hand over documents relating to a story about music manager Louis Walsh, one of the judges on ITV's The X Factor.

An Irish high court judge ruled that Walsh is entitled to the discovery of documents connected to a Sun story, which alleged that Walsh had made a sexual attack on a man in a night club toilet.

After it was published in June last year it emerged that the allegations were false and the man responsible for making them, Leonard Watters, was later prosecuted, and jailed, for having made them.

The court was told that The Sun has unreservedly accepted that the allegations made in its article, headlined "Louis probed over 'sex attack' on man in loo", were false and that Walsh had been completely exonerated.

The judge ruled on Friday that Walsh was entitled to all documents associated with the investigation by the newspaper's crime writer Joanne McElgunn. He also directed that the newspaper should provide all documents identifying or referring to any payments made or offered by the newspaper to Watters and statements of McElgunn's expenses.

The documentation must include the booking of a hotel room for Watters, bank statements, text messages, emails and records of phone calls.

The orders, made by Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill, also apply to The Sun's editor, Dominic Mohan, its Irish editor Michael McNiff and the editor of its Bizarre column, Gordon Smart


Walsh has sued The Sun's publishers, News Group Newspapers, for damages - including aggravated and exemplary damages - for defamation .

The judge said that in his claim Walsh had alleged that McElgunn had met Watters in a hotel, bought him dinner and offered him money if he would agree to make a complaint to police about being indecently assaulted by Walsh.

Walsh further alleged that McElgunn had paid Watters €700 and promised to make further payments after the story was printed.

The judge said News Group relied on a defence of qualified privilege, claiming that, by consenting to the publication of Walsh's rebuttal of the allegations against him, he was consenting to the publication of the existence of the allegations.

But Mr Justice O'Neill said that while journalistic privilege existed to protect the proper functioning of journalism, the allegations made by Walsh, if true, could well merit the description of improper journalism.

In its report of the judge's ruling, The Sun said the high court was told that the paper did not pay or encourage anyone to make false statements to the police.

The paper's barrister, James McGowan, said News Group rejected Walsh's allegations that money was paid to Watters, who was jailed for making false allegations.

McGowan said: "A full defence had been delivered and the newspaper denied encouraging or paying any person to make a statement or complaint to gardai."

The judge said communications between the newspaper's journalists and persons other than Watters and members of the police would be protected from disclosure by journalistic privilege.

Are we missing the obvious here?
This Walsh story, and the 12-year old karate kid story, were penned by the the same crime editor at the Sun named Joanne McElgunn. Coincident?

The last time we have some nonesense from the Sun the witness turned out to be some wannabe journalist .

Who is this Jane Butler?

I have found two - one is a consultant nurse (cardiology), the other a Communications and Freedom of Information Officer

http://ie.linkedin.com/in/janembutler

http://www.bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk/our-services/barts-and-the-london-heart-and-chest-centre/meet-the-team/nurse-managers/show/jane-butler/

She's not very likely to be employed by the Barts Health Trust in London and, if the story is accurate, she's way too dim to be the one in Ireland. We don't know for sure that she has the same surname as her son so Butler may not be her name.

sharonl wrote:A YOUNG Irish boy has escaped an abduction bid in the Canary Islands — by karate chopping his evil would-be kidnapper.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/irishsun/irishsunnews/4487893/This-couldve-been-another-Maddiemy-child-couldve-been-taken-forever.html

A suspected paedophile known to police grabbed Kildare lad Jack Butler near his family holiday bungalow in Lanzarote last Friday.

But the brave 12-year-old fought off the beast — and later identified him from a mugshot.

Spanish cops are now hunting the suspect — who’s alleged to be behind an indecent assault on a little girl just a short time earlier.

Last night, Jack’s mother Jane told the Irish Sun: “My greatest fear is it could have been another Madeleine McCann situation, that my child could have been taken from us and never seen again.

“The thought of what could have happened to Jack makes me feel physically sick. I threw up after we attended the police station.”


Jack was just 20 metres away from Jane, dad David and four younger siblings — near their Puerto del Carmen bungalow — when the depraved predator pounced.

The monster tried to drag Jack into an underground car park.

Jane explained: “We were in a restaurant and Jack was cold, so we let him go back to our bungalow, 20 metres away, to get a jumper. He was on his way back when the man grabbed him.

“He’d been hiding behind a wall in a car park. He must have been watching and waiting.

“Jack managed to break free by karate chopping him on the arm.

“He ran to us and told us what had happened and that he heard the man driving off in his car with screeching tyres.”


Jane told how Jack was able to describe what the man wore — and even noticed he had a scar from his nose to his cheek.

She added: “The police arrived and told us they’d keep and eye out for him and to come in and make a statement the next day.

“They pulled up photographs of eight different men — and Jack immediately picked him out.

“The detectives told us that the man had already flown to Madrid at 9am that morning, but that the police there knew where he lived and would pick him up.

“Although we’re not due home until August 22, we wanted to leave straight away as the kids can’t sleep at night and are afraid to leave the windows open.

“But the police asked us to stay as they need Jack to go to court if they are to prosecute him.

“Jack has been very brave, but he is really shook up.

“When Madeleine McCann went missing I told my kids that if someone steals you it’s because they’ve no children of their own.

“But Jack now knows that’s not the truth and we have had to explain to him that this man’s intentions were not good.”

It was in your mind so much to warn your children , yet you still allowed him to be on his own ................

tuom wrote:

sharonl wrote:A YOUNG Irish boy has escaped an abduction bid in the Canary Islands — by karate chopping his evil would-be kidnapper.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/irishsun/irishsunnews/4487893/This-couldve-been-another-Maddiemy-child-couldve-been-taken-forever.html

A suspected paedophile known to police grabbed Kildare lad Jack Butler near his family holiday bungalow in Lanzarote last Friday.

But the brave 12-year-old fought off the beast — and later identified him from a mugshot.

Spanish cops are now hunting the suspect — who’s alleged to be behind an indecent assault on a little girl just a short time earlier.

Last night, Jack’s mother Jane told the Irish Sun: “My greatest fear is it could have been another Madeleine McCann situation, that my child could have been taken from us and never seen again.

“The thought of what could have happened to Jack makes me feel physically sick. I threw up after we attended the police station.”


Jack was just 20 metres away from Jane, dad David and four younger siblings — near their Puerto del Carmen bungalow — when the depraved predator pounced.

The monster tried to drag Jack into an underground car park.

Jane explained: “We were in a restaurant and Jack was cold, so we let him go back to our bungalow, 20 metres away, to get a jumper. He was on his way back when the man grabbed him.

“He’d been hiding behind a wall in a car park. He must have been watching and waiting.

“Jack managed to break free by karate chopping him on the arm.

“He ran to us and told us what had happened and that he heard the man driving off in his car with screeching tyres.”


Jane told how Jack was able to describe what the man wore — and even noticed he had a scar from his nose to his cheek.

She added: “The police arrived and told us they’d keep and eye out for him and to come in and make a statement the next day.

“They pulled up photographs of eight different men — and Jack immediately picked him out.

“The detectives told us that the man had already flown to Madrid at 9am that morning, but that the police there knew where he lived and would pick him up.

“Although we’re not due home until August 22, we wanted to leave straight away as the kids can’t sleep at night and are afraid to leave the windows open.

“But the police asked us to stay as they need Jack to go to court if they are to prosecute him.

“Jack has been very brave, but he is really shook up.

“When Madeleine McCann went missing I told my kids that if someone steals you it’s because they’ve no children of their own.

“But Jack now knows that’s not the truth and we have had to explain to him that this man’s intentions were not good.”

It was in your mind so much to warn your children , yet you still allowed him to be on his own ................

The bogus-ness of that story is so obvious!

12 year old karate kid near his holiday bungalow - umbiguous - could mean anywhere vs a vulnerable 3-year girl left to sleep in the apartment where adults were (supposedly) doing rota check?

The pertinent question is (if true) why did Sun's journalist/s have to resort to that kind of tactics? What's the motive?
Cant be just about bottom line? It doesn't make sense at all. Why with a choice of tabloids, only the Sun was approached to tell these stories?

aiyoyo wrote:s nip
The pertinent question is (if true) why did Sun's journalist/s have to resort to that kind of tactics? What's the motive?
Cant be just about bottom line? It doesn't make sense at all. Why with a choice of tabloids, only the Sun was approached to tell these stories?

That is a very important question. The Sun and the OP have been the lead in several of these 'strange' stories, the one feeding off the other. Sometimes the Sun re-printing OP things and claiming them as exclusive, and sometimes saying "it has been reported..." when clearly they were only waiting for the on line edition.
I am fairly sure we know which direction it works, but the motivation for NI to plants stories to order, and exactly on time, is still something of a mystery. (Another mystery !)

The negative effects of yellow journalism in missing persons cases

By Erica Morse
Editor-in-Chief, MPN
Updated 7:50pm CST, July 30, 2012

Editor’s note: the opinions expressed in this article are those of its writer, and not necessarily a reflection upon the staff or publisher of MPN.

(MPN) – I was talking with a law enforcement official today who asked me the following question:

Do they teach reporters that ‘yellow journalism’ is now an acceptable form of media?”

Ugh. Double ugh. As a trained reporter, the question not only hurt, but hurt badly – because he posed a question many of us in the field have been debating since the inception of the Internet.

“Yellow journalism” is the field of reporting non-researched, non-factual information (sprinkled with a few valid details) – which include headlines designed for shock value – for the sole purpose of driving traffic to a publication or website. And in the field of missing persons, yellow journalism has not only become an obstacle – but a heartache – for those with missing loved ones.

My response to that law enforcement official was, “Unfortunately, many of today’s ‘reporters’ aren’t even trained; and the ones who conduct ‘yellow-journalism reporting’ usually have no formal education in the field. It’s all about making money.”

He agreed with my response; but it doesn’t make the answer any easier, when the families of the missing have to read rumors every day, and law enforcement has to fend off questions resulting from those rumors, which are written by anyone with access to a keyboard.

“Yellow journalism” has become a problem in the field of missing persons. As more and more “news sites” crop up — allowing anyone with a computer to create a writer’s account – it’s become out of control, in my humble opinion. Anyone can sign up for said account, may then directly upload articles which aren’t monitored or approved, and voila! – a story is born which appears to come from a “credible” journalist.

In the last few days, I have fielded phone calls and e-mails from family members of multiple missing people who had the unfortunate experience of reading false information on some website about their loved one. The pain felt by these families is as real as the loved one’s disappearance itself. We cannot imagine their pain, as they read speculative, rumor-based articles claiming their loved one has been trafficked, spotted alive in a particular location, or worse – that remains found in an area are “most certainly” their loved one. The obvious question from the families is this: “Why weren’t we notified?” And my response is usually, “Because it’s not true.”

These past couple days have been extremely stressful ones for this reporter, who prides herself on getting the facts straight before going to print. Now, granted, we’re all human – that includes me – and I, too, have made a few mistakes along the way; but I own them (quickly), run a retraction, and apologize to the families. And then I remember what I was taught all those years in journalism classes – both in high school and in college – and put those tools to work, in order to ensure that accurate reporting is taking place.

It got me thinking: am I the only one who is bothered by this new type of “yellow journalism?” It’s always existed, mind you; but with the progression of these “IReport/YouReport” sites, it seems to be out of control. So I reached out to a few people – people I consider to be “experts” in their fields, to get their take on the state of the state of yellow journalism today.

MPN Publisher Shellee Hale offered this insight on the situation, “We live in a crazy society, one that is driving immediate news and information; and when you add social media to the mix, information can get out of control quickly. We can only control what we publish, and policing all the other ‘news’ outlets will only take our focus off the families.”

True. Absolutely true, in my opinion; and her words impacted me in a way that reminded me I don’t want to be that “policeman” – but rather, someone who simply brings attention to the problem, with the hope of trying to find a solution.

Another “expert” whose opinion I value in the field of journalism is one of my original mentors. Lee Schelling trained me – and many other reporters – at our hometown newspaper in the Midwest back in the 1990′s. When I think of ethical journalism, I think of Lee. So I reached out to him for some insight, and his response seemed to mirror my concerns:

The problem with Internet “reporters” is that they run in a world without standards. In traditional journalism, we all know what standards are there by which we have to abide. Having these standards sets a clear difference between reliable news sources and those who exist without standards or who have to answer to a higher power- such as an editor or publisher. In general, too many anonymous sources are used on the Internet, I have found. In “real” journalism, if an anonymous source is to be used, we chase down three people to source it prior to using the information. In the Internet world too often, it seems like people print rumors that have no real source or are the most worthless hearsay.

In the world of crime reporting this is very important. When crimes occur, the rumors run wild. It takes a trained reporter to sort out the truth from the rumor. That reporter also has to be willing to walk away if verification can’t be made. Just to print a rumor for the sake of having a story is the most dangerous move any media outlet can do. What is sad, as well, is that many of the Internet “reporters” have just enough of the truth in a story to get a person to believe it, but then go into hearsay and don’t make note any difference between the two.

This kind of wanna-be reporting has really cast us all into a bad light and I don’t know what the answer may be to stop it, other than pointing it out when it happens.”

My thoughts exactly. If we can pinpoint when it happens – and point it out – then we can (hopefully) bring attention to the problem; and as a network, find a solution.

The Society of Professional Journalists – of which MPN is a member – holds each of us to an ethical standard of reporting. Their advocates police the “news” sites, and look for ways to decrease the number of yellow journalists, fake reporters, etc. While it is their responsibility to review what’s being written on the web, I still believe each of us in the field has our own responsibility to ensure what we see is legitimate; and if it isn’t, to point it out to someone who can do something about it.

As for the families of the missing, it is my belief our biggest responsibility is to them. Yes, we owe the public the truth; but in the field of missing persons, it is the loved ones we must answer to – the loved ones who deserve only confirmed facts – or else, we run the risk of victimizing them all over again.

http://missingpersonsnews.com/the-negative-effects-of-yellow-journalism-in-missing-persons-cases/

PeterMac wrote:

aiyoyo wrote:s nip
The pertinent question is (if true) why did Sun's journalist/s have to resort to that kind of tactics? What's the motive?
Cant be just about bottom line? It doesn't make sense at all. Why with a choice of tabloids, only the Sun was approached to tell these stories?

That is a very important question. The Sun and the OP have been the lead in several of these 'strange' stories, the one feeding off the other. Sometimes the Sun re-printing OP things and claiming them as exclusive, and sometimes saying "it has been reported..." when clearly they were only waiting for the on line edition.
I am fairly sure we know which direction it works, but the motivation for NI to plants stories to order, and exactly on time, is still something of a mystery. (Another mystery !)

So it appears half the NI's staff was involved in phone hacking, while the other half involved in paying people to fabricate story just to sell papers.
The mind boggles at the office culture of criminality activities just to please the Murdoch, which begs the next important question what's in it for the individual journalists apart from money? What about principle of what is wrong and what is right yet no one thought to blow the whistle? So it's a case of collective conscience sold to the Devil ?
OP and Sun feeds off each other's story is interesting, certainly that suggests manipulation for a purpose but what?

aiyoyo wrote:OP and Sun feeds off each other's story is interesting, certainly that suggests manipulation for a purpose but what?

It would be very interesting to know the answer to this puzzling question because this story seems to suggest that abducted children are unlikely to be ever found (‘This could’ve been another Maddie..my child could’ve been taken forever') which hardly seems very helpful to parents of abducted children who would naturally hold out all hope of their child being found.

http://www.herald.ie/news/my-brave-jack-fought-off-holiday-abductor-with-his-karate-chop-3201867.html

same story in the Evening Herald

Same story on local Kildare radio. You can no longer read the whole article, but here it says allegedly a few times. Maybe they know more .....
http://locally.ie/article/KfmRadio/claims_kildare_boy_fends_off_abductor_on_canary_islands-15-August-2012-134605

Another link to this silly story.

http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/08/15/boy-fights-off-kidnapper-with-karate-chop-in-chilling-echo-of-Madeleine-McCann-holiday-abduction

I'm really surprised that it hasn't made the U K tabloids yet.

Jean wrote:Another link to this silly story.

http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2012/08/15/boy-fights-off-kidnapper-with-karate-chop-in-chilling-echo-of-Madeleine-McCann-holiday-abduction

I'm really surprised that it hasn't made the U K tabloids yet.

Yes, and the 'missing link' story about those mysterious cigarette butts from Olive Press never appeared either..........very odd!