John McCann interview: 9 May 2007

Madeleine's family come together BBC News video

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09 May 2007

John McCann has just returned from Portugal where his niece Madeleine was kidnapped.

(00:03:20)


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Transcript

By Nigel Moore

BBC: We'll speak now to Madeleine's uncle, John McCann. Now, John - just returned from Portugal late last night - joins us from his home in Glasgow. We're very grateful for you to, errr... to be speaking to us this morning, John. Thank you, so much. The thoughts of everyone watching are with you and your family. What are they like, errm... Gerry and Kate, this m...? How... how are they feeling?

John McCann: Well, they've moved along since what happened last Thursday/Friday. Errm... Obviously we were all devastated then and, you know, there was a... a feeling of helplessness but in the last few days they've had a lot of support and they've been buoyed by that support, both in Portugal and at home, and, errm... they're much more positive about things that can be done to get Maddie back.

BBC: Yes, what... what were you able to do out there? Obviously, you were off... able to offer a lot of support to your brother. Are the family very close?

JM: Errm... (laughs) I suppose that's all relative, errr... yeah, we... we get on really well. We've got a good dynamic amongst us all and it was amazing actually to, errm... to realise how strong the extended family is, errm... some fantastic people, like, errr... Mike and Nicky who are still out there, errm... helping Gerry and Kate with some of the... the handling with the twins, you know, so it's... some good stuff has come out of a very adverse situation.

BBC: Yes, I mean, and they'll need an awful lot of support because you... you just wonder how they're able to cope with looking after the twins as well, when all this is going on and there's so much media attention on them.

JM: You're right, it... it is very difficult and you guys have been pretty good actually in terms of, errm... you've not been too intrusive, errr... and been very helpful at getting people to... to rally round and support us and to get information back to the police because, at the end of the day, that's what we need is... is leads to be followed, so that Maddie can get back to us.

BBC: What are your thoughts, John, on how the police have handled this investigation so far? Because you'll know that in the newspapers a lot of them this morning are calling the Portuguese police 'clueless'.

JM: I... I don't think that's a... a useful avenue to explore. I'd rather take it forward in a different way and get people saying, 'Right, let's move on. What can we do now? What... what's the best way to tackle this now?' And I think Gerry and Kate want us to focus like that as well, so, please, you know, let's focus on what can be done now. Any information; let's get on with working on that.

BBC: Yes, okay, so you're quite happy and... and the family are quite happy with the way the police are investigating this, so far?

JM: Everybody's working to the same end, you know, nobody... nobody's trying to stop us getting Maddie back. Everybody wants Maddie back and everybody is working, as far as I could perceive out there, to... to get that wee girl back to us.

BBC: Of course. What's Maddie like? What's she like as a character? What's she like as an individual?

JM: Errm... (laughs) She's, errr... she's a mixture of her parents. She's very bright, very quick, very energetic, a right wee individual. Errm... My two kids love her to bits, errr... her and the twins, errm... she's so fun, errr... she can be... she can be a bit stroppy at times, errr... but what... what interesting kid can't be? Errm... She's a wee darling, errr... really fantastic wee girl.

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JM: Everybody's working to the same end, you know, nobody... nobody's trying to stop us getting Maddie back.

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What an odd thing to say. Why would anyone try to stop them getting (we never called her) Maddie back?

Cheerful, upbeat sort of chap isn't he, considering this was less than a week after his niece disappeared.

John McCann: "She can be a bit stroppy at times."

Eileen McCann: "That girl could throw a tantrum if she wanted to."

Kate McCann: "My struggle to control very difficult Madeleine."

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I wonder how many children don't throw tantrums?

Seems an odd thing for members of the family to think about when she'd just gone missing.

I've just come across this old interview.
 
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I suppose nothing should surprise me about how the McCanns behave, but poor grief-stricken Uncle John certainly managed to keep his feelings under control, didn't he, when talking at this early stage of the new family business.

thanks for posting that...the arrogance runs in the McCann family I see......." IF THE POLICE CAN WORK WITH US.....".

  I see the video of Maddie which made me feel very uncomfortable  as soon as I saw it, is there....in her Disney outfit being filmed by a person who seems to make her feel very uneasy, so unsure of herself, so fed up and sad looking. I would like to know who was holding that camera.

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:I've just come across this old interview.
 
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I suppose nothing should surprise me about how the McCanns behave, but poor grief-stricken Uncle John certainly managed to keep his feelings under control, didn't he, when talking at this early stage of the new family business.

Astounding arrogance. Astounding lack of emotion. Unbelievably upbeat given what happened six days prior. Interesting hand gesture at 24 secs when speaking of giving information to 'other authorities'.

justagrannynow 1 wrote:Cheerful, upbeat sort of chap isn't he, considering this was less than a week after his niece disappeared.

Indeed

Gerry is so like John isn't he - not in looks fortunately for him - but in terms of insufferable arrogance.

So within a week we're told that that the "such loving" parents were already over the devastation of the "abduction" and were fully focused on working with the Portuguese police (no sniggering at the back there) to get their daughter back.

Get 'em Gonçalo wrote:John McCann: "She can be a bit stroppy at times."

Eileen McCann: "That girl could throw a tantrum if she wanted to."

Kate McCann: "My struggle to control very difficult Madeleine."

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I wonder how many children don't throw tantrums?

Seems an odd thing for members of the family to think about when she'd just gone missing.

Were they explanations of Madeleine's temperament by relatives in case K & G McCann were accused of her disappearance shortly after 3 May 2007 and would exonorate them from any misdeed that befell Madeleine because of her "difficult" nature.

I notice that the bags under her eyes have not been removed from the photo but what a beautiful, natural photo**.  Why wasn't that used instead of the makeup ones or other unsavoury ones.  It's heartbreaking to look that at that photo, an innocent little girl who did no harm to anyone, but has been used and abused for the past 6 years in making £millions for all and sundry.

ETA:  **Well that is of course if it is Madeleine.

Newintown wrote:

Get 'em Gonçalo wrote:John McCann: "She can be a bit stroppy at times."

Eileen McCann: "That girl could throw a tantrum if she wanted to."

Kate McCann: "My struggle to control very difficult Madeleine."

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I wonder how many children don't throw tantrums?

Seems an odd thing for members of the family to think about when she'd just gone missing.

Were they explanations of Madeleine's temperament by relatives in case K & G McCann were accused of her disappearance shortly after 3 May 2007 and would exonorate them from any misdeed that befell Madeleine because of her "difficult" nature.

I notice that the bags under her eyes have not been removed from the photo but what a beautiful, natural photo**.  Why wasn't that used instead of the makeup ones or other unsavoury ones.  It's heartbreaking to look that at that photo, an innocent little girl who did no harm to anyone, but has been used and abused for the past 6 years in making £millions for all and sundry.

ETA:  **Well of course that if it is Madeleine.

Don't forget the "there is the good Madeleine, and there is the bad Madeleine" from grammy Healy.

"to make sure Madeleine gets back soon"
"So that Maddie can get back to us"
"You must come back. x"
"I need you to come back, Madeleine"

Such passive statements that give the whole game away right back to the very first night. They didn't search because they knew there wasn't any point.

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:Gerry is so like John isn't he - not in looks fortunately for him - but in terms of insufferable arrogance.

So within a week we're told that that the "such loving" parents were already over the devastation of the "abduction" and were fully focused on working with the Portuguese police (no sniggering at the back there) to get their daughter back.

Brother John (prefers to be called Jack - no sniggering again!) Always reminds me of an evil little gnome, the sort you find  under Fly Agaric mushrooms or indeed under stones. ..

That particular stone should have been left unturned, along with all the others which unleashed many unpleasant slithering creatures.
 
Tigger, I actually don't know what the sniggering significance is of the name Jack. When I was a child (back in the stone age) it was a nickname for John but now it is very much a name in its own right.
 
There is no doubt in my mind that, whatever happened to Madeleine, John McCann knows exactly what it was.

It's a strange family, right. Madeleine's grandmother, Eileen, interviewed a day after Madeleine being "gone", didn't spend one single word on her granddaughter, yet said [non verbatim]: "He's a DOCTOR, he has saved people's LIVES. And this is how he's being REPAID." Strangest comment I've ever seen ...

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:That particular stone should have been left unturned, along with all the others which unleashed many unpleasant slithering creatures.
 
Tigger, I actually don't know what the sniggering significance is of the name Jack. When I was a child (back in the stone age) it was a nickname for John but now it is very much a name in its own right.
 
There is no doubt in my mind that, whatever happened to Madeleine, John McCann knows exactly what it was.

I know it's a perfectly good name but it's a smarter and usually more upmarket name than a mere John. Trying to be a bit more dashing, social climbing, was my point.

Châtelaine wrote:It's a strange family, right. Madeleine's grandmother, Eileen, interviewed a day after Madeleine being "gone", didn't spend one single word on her granddaughter, yet said [non verbatim]: "He's a DOCTOR, he has saved people's LIVES. And this is how he's being REPAID." Strangest comment I've ever seen ...

I think of my own family and I know that had something happened to my Son, my Mother wouldn't have been able to string a sentence together let alone speak to the press so soon after the 'abduction' and neither would she have wanted to.

As for the profession of the McCanns it just shows how bizarre the family are to think that because their children chose to be doctors 'who save lives' that they above all people ought not to have their 'selflessness' repaid...that word repaid is the weirdest isn't it. The selfless doctors didn't manage to take care of their daughter Madeleine when they went on holiday, although GM did manage to save a drunk person in the streets of PDL and a sick person on his first flight out of Portugal after Madeleine's disappearance.

Did anyone in that family have any real feelings for Madeleine? because if they did they certainly didn't show them. The family's descriptions of Madeleine are also weird imo.

I was transfixed the first time I saw John McCann - the interview began with him and his son having a wrestling match on the floor which must have been contrived by PR to present a happy family image but was simply inappropriate under the circumstances. JM spent the rest of the interview manically twinkling and grinning from ear to ear which was bizarre given his little three year old niece was missing and her parents were telling the world she'd been abducted by a paedophile.

This is the interview with Eileen McCann and the bizarre "this is how he is repaid" comment at around 3 minutes in.
 
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No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:This is the interview with Eileen McCann and the bizarre "this is how he is repaid" comment at around 3 minutes in.
 
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***
Thanks for posting the video, NFWTD.
It is weird, isn't it ?

ETA I had a big discussion with Maman, my private Miss Marple, about it.
However, I promised myself not to engage in serious discussion anymore after midnight.

So I bid you et al a good night  

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:This is the interview with Eileen McCann and the bizarre "this is how he is repaid" comment at around 3 minutes in.
 
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   I think here Maddie's grandmother, clearly anguished, is referring to fate, or God, letting such a dreadful thing happen to her son. I don't see this as a bizarre concept on her part, " repaid" is a poor choice of word as opposed to a phrase such as " and this is what happens to him ". The important point for me : she is being honest and spontaneous, and compared to some of what we heard from people closely associated with the family and the event, quite something.

John McCannwas nicknamed Nookie Bear over on 3As, used to make me laugh that. 

Yes, on reflection, I agree with Russian Doll. The comment is along the lines of "after all I've done for you, this is how you repay me". I hope that attitude's not as prevalent today as it was when I was younger.

It's a bad idea to treat someone well merely in the hope of getting something in return.

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:This is the interview with Eileen McCann and the bizarre "this is how he is repaid" comment at around 3 minutes in.
 
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That little clip reminds me of Karen Matthews and Mick Philpott - her eyes are rubbed red raw but there are no tears.

Watch the woman sat next to her (sorry I don't know who she is). There's no emotional connection between the two of them and she's in her own little world like she's wondering whether she switched the heating off or what to have for lunch. Eileen McCann bursts into tears and her reaction is not to console her but to look away. All very odd.

That's her daughter Trisha Cameron, Gerry's sister.

Another one in my opinion who knows exactly what happened to Madeleine.

What I find interesting about this video with Trisha and her mother is the fact that this is a news article by Sky less than 24 hours after MBM went missing.

We have these comments:

'they say she has been abducted'

'at 10pm when her mother went to check after Gerrys 9.30s check'

'the twin brother and sister were still sleeping either side of MBMs bed'

'the borders were closed very quickly'

'the airports are on alert and they are very strict about children travelling without their parents'

and we have the video and the pink top photo already in the media and being shown to the world to see what MBM looked like.

Now, where and when was the pink top picture taken and when was the video taken and how did these get into the media so quickly (less then 24 hours) as well as being put up in airports and shop fronts etc as per the news report if they were at home in Rothley?? 

If they were at home in Rothley how did these get out so quickly yet GM had to return home for other pictures??

Jon Corner was distributing photographs before midday on the 4th. According to the protocol used by the US CMEC for missing children. Wasn't he well informed! Lucky too he had all those although the pink t shirt and the red dress were already printed out within 2 to 3 hours after the official time of disappearance.
It's from the horses' mouth - I.e. the book.

aquila wrote:

No Fate Worse Than De'Ath wrote:I've just come across this old interview.
 
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I suppose nothing should surprise me about how the McCanns behave, but poor grief-stricken Uncle John certainly managed to keep his feelings under control, didn't he, when talking at this early stage of the new family business.

Astounding arrogance. Astounding lack of emotion. Unbelievably upbeat given what happened six days prior. Interesting hand gesture at 24 secs when speaking of giving information to 'other authorities'.

Perfectly put. All I want to say, but you did it better.

Get 'em Gonçalo wrote:JM: Everybody's working to the same end, you know, nobody... nobody's trying to stop us getting Maddie back.

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What an odd thing to say. Why would anyone try to stop them getting (we never called her) Maddie back?

Indeed.....That's the oddest thing Ive read since being on this forum. And days after her disappearance, wow !!!

tigger wrote:Jon Corner was distributing photographs before midday on the 4th. According to the protocol used by the US  CMEC for missing children.  Wasn't he well informed!  Lucky too he had all those although the pink t shirt and the red dress were already printed out within 2 to 3 hours after the official time of disappearance.
It's from the horses' mouth -  I.e. the book.

Im learning so much from this thread. TY