Two words to haunt any mum: ‘If only . . .’

Two words to haunt any mum: ‘If only . . .’

By Amanda Platell

PUBLISHED: 23:10 GMT, 5 October 2012 | UPDATED: 23:48 GMT, 5 October 2012

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There can be no mother in Britain more moved by the plight of little April Jones than Kate McCann.

Like April’s mother, Coral, Kate knows the searing pain of losing a young daughter she thought was safe. And she knows the torment of that constant nagging thought, ‘If only…’

If only she hadn’t left her outside. If only she’d been with her family.


When Madeleine McCann went missing five years ago, the beautiful little girl was almost four years old — a year younger than April. Over the ensuing weeks, Gerry and Kate suffered the cruel vilification of strangers who accused them of parental neglect.

How could any loving parents leave Maddie and their young twins alone in an apartment in an Algarve resort while they and their friends wined and dined nearby, the critics asked.



Mercifully, Coral Jones has not been subjected to similar accusations. Yet. She and April’s father had allowed their daughter to play out later than usual as a treat on Monday, it has emerged, because she’d just been given a glowing report at a school parents’ evening.

The little girl with cerebral palsy often played outside with her friends in the evening. Locals prided themselves on their safe community.

Judging by the way that community has pulled together — hundreds of them searching for April — my belief is that the majority will think: ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’

For what parent does not have a tale of the moment they thought they had lost their child — whether in a supermarket, on holiday, or in the park.

The terrible truth is that no child is ultimately safe away from their parents, whether it be a luxury resort in Portugal or a rural idyll in Wales.

Reporters sent to April’s home town say the only words they have heard for days are: ‘Is there any news?’ Well, yesterday came the devastating development that police had arrested Mark Bridger on suspicion of murder.

But before the trolls take to the internet, let nobody doubt that whatever unfolds in the days ahead, April’s parents will be their own harshest critics. They deserve all the sympathy in the world.

FFS THISIS NOT ABOUT THE MCANNS

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2213651/Two-words-haunt-mum--If---.html

Not about mccanns.....you could have fooled me.

This infuriates me. The gutter press taking us all for idiots.

April was outside her own home, playing with friends, as a special treat for doing so well at school. It doesn't matter what time of the day it was, because she WILLINGLY got into the car with a PERSON SHE KNEW.

Absolutely NOT COMPARIBLE to being in an unlocked apartment, in a foreign country, night after night, all alone, late at night.

Of course April's parents are in no way at fault.

The same cannot be said for the McCann's.

weissnicht wrote:Not about mccanns.....you could have fooled me.

no what i meant was they are leeching on aprils case as always wanting the attention focused on them ....................

wantthetruth wrote:This infuriates me. The gutter press taking us all for idiots.

April was outside her own home, playing with friends, as a special treat for doing so well at school. It doesn't matter what time of the day it was, because she WILLINGLY got into the car with a PERSON SHE KNEW.

Absolutely NOT COMPARIBLE to being in an unlocked apartment, in a foreign country, night after night, all alone, late at night.

Of course April's parents are in no way at fault.

The same cannot be said for the McCann's.

exactly april was doing someething all kids have the right to do when i was a child we played outside to after dark

If only we hadn't left Madeleine aged 3, Sean aged 2, and Amelie aged 2... all alone in an unlocked holiday apartment 5 nights in a row to go out with our friends, say the two British doctors Kate and Gerry McCann

pennylane wrote:If only we hadn't left Madeleine aged 3, Sean aged 2, and Amelie aged 2... all alone in an unlocked holiday apartment 5 nights in a row to go out with our friends, say the two British doctors Kate and Gerry McCann

oh but penny it was THEIR holiday too remember

Justiceforallkids wrote:

pennylane wrote:If only we hadn't left Madeleine aged 3, Sean aged 2, and Amelie aged 2... all alone in an unlocked holiday apartment 5 nights in a row to go out with our friends, say the two British doctors Kate and Gerry McCann

oh but penny it was THEIR holiday too remember

Morning carly

....yes it was THEIR holiday too.... and a long time ago Kate decided she'd "persecuted herself enough" for leaving her 3 toddlers nightly to fend for themselves, and wiping out her 3 year old in the process.

O b...... h.......! Amanda Platell.

It's absolutely NOT a similar case.

According to JT there were discussions about the fact one couldn't take photographs of one's children anymore without being thought of as a paedophile. These discussions were before the 3rd .
At 11.00 pm on the 3rd of May Gerry was heard to say on the phone that Maddie had been abducted by paedophiles and that there were paedophile gangs around the area.
So we are to believe that between 10.00 and 11.00 p.m. this information was 'suddenly' available but not before, otherwise the mcCanns would surely not have left three children in the dark with easy access for anyone, an open patio door.

In small Welsh towns it's not normally dangerous to have children playing outside, which is what they should do, for goodness' sakes.
In fact she was observed by a number of children and people, the actual abduction was observed, which is why the alarm was raised very quickly. She was not left alone in the dark - sleeping and with a door open to all and sundry. She was in the company of her friends and observed by the neighbours.
They've got the right man I'm sure and he's waiting until he can get the best deal for himself. The only person he cares about.

the mcanns fuund is running out too nothing like publicity for the mcanns

Er didn't they admit to leaving their children in an unlocked apt and didnt Kate McCann LIE and sayn it didn't even Pass her mind that their was any danger when on that very night she mentioned it to Fiona Payne that she was 'worried' about it....they themselves are admitting, not verbally, that they neglected there own children so it's quite obvious other people will.

tigger wrote:O b...... h.......! Amanda Platell.

It's absolutely NOT a similar case.

According to JT there were discussions about the fact one couldn't take photographs of one's children anymore without being thought of as a paedophile. These discussions were before the 3rd .
At 11.00 pm on the 3rd of May Gerry was heard to say on the phone that Maddie had been abducted by paedophiles and that there were paedophile gangs around the area.
So we are to believe that between 10.00 and 11.00 p.m. this information was 'suddenly' available but not before, otherwise the mcCanns would surely not have left three children in the dark with easy access for anyone, an open patio door.

In small Welsh towns it's not normally dangerous to have children playing outside, which is what they should do, for goodness' sakes.
In fact she was observed by a number of children and people, the actual abduction was observed, which is why the alarm was raised very quickly. She was not left alone in the dark - sleeping and with a door open to all and sundry. She was in the company of her friends and observed by the neighbours.
They've got the right man I'm sure and he's waiting until he can get the best deal for himself. The only person he cares about.

Very good summary of the vast difference between the two cases, tigger

The only factual part of this article is indeed the point that April's mother, I am sure, has been saying "if only" over and over and over.

I have never heard Healy and McCann say if only, we are sorry, we did the wrong thing. Remember Kate says it is the bad man who is at fault not them.

Sometimes I wish Kate Healy and Gerry McCann would just get their money from the fund and go away. I am sick to death of looking at them and hearing about them. Interesting, as usual, that the article is about them and not Madeleine, the actual missing child.

mossman wrote:The only factual part of this article is indeed the point that April's mother, I am sure, has been saying "if only" over and over and over.

I have never heard Healy and McCann say if only, we are sorry, we did the wrong thing. Remember Kate says it is the bad man who is at fault not them.

Sometimes I wish Kate Healy and Gerry McCann would just get their money from the fund and go away. I am sick to death of looking at them and hearing about them. Interesting, as usual, that the article is about them and not Madeleine, the actual missing child.

ditto the thing with little april is she seems to have known this person hence that the stasistics are right that most abductors are known to the child not some spotty faced brazen abductor like the mcanns and co dreamed up

JFAK, exactly. You can bet what you like, if the current investigation in April's case was looking for an unknown person, last seen driving suspiciously through the town in a van, the McCanns would have latched onto this case and would now be milking it for as much free air time as they could.

Those niggly statistics seem to be right on the button again though, not stranger abduction but person known to the family or child. So no public appearances from the two.

And the dogs. There are those silly police out and about with their dogs. Did Gerry not remind them they are notoriously unreliable ? Always interests me to see how the police are unable to give up the services of the dogs in their investigations. They call on them time and time again. Now, just why is that I wonder.

I can't remember which Tabloid Amanda P writes for, but she is just like Lazzeri

How could Kate sit there being interviewed and watched by millions say that when Madeleine asked her why she did not

come when she had been crying and say"we thought it was something and nothing"....and promptly go out again that night.???????

The article is from the Daily Mail Panda but Amanda Platell is freelance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Platell

I certainly agree that she could give Antonella Lazzeri a run for her money when it comes to nauseatingly sentimental unresearched articles.

Not Born Yesterday wrote:The article is from the Daily Mail Panda but Amanda Platell is freelance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Platell

I certainly agree that she could give Antonella Lazzeri a run for her money when it comes to nauseatingly sentimental unresearched articles.

Morning NBY they are a disgrace as Reporters ,but then again your have to blame the Editors . I have always said that for such a small Country Britain has too many Dailies each vying for sales, so they print anything.

I wonder if, at some time in the hopefully not too distant future, journalists will be writing articles about the McCanns along the lines of the ones they are now producing on Jimmy Savile - how could we have been so blind not to see what was going on?

I can dream, can't I?!

What comparison can be drawn from a 5 year old playing outside and a 3 year old shut up in a foreign apartment and left alone whilst the parents were out wining and dining? Answer.............there is no comparison whatsoever. Did April's parents go outside and clean every area where their child had been before calling the police? Have they been constantly changing their stories? Have they refused to answer questions? Are they making plans to sue everyone who doesn't believe them? Is the government throwing a few millions at them for their own personal team of detectives? I could go on and on but of course the answers would all be the same.........NO.

It's disgusting that the press ensure that the Mccanns are wheeled out as the tragic couple in all other missing children cases, in fact it's really sickening.
This case is about little April who wasn't left alone each night in a foreign country and who wasn't shoved into a creche each day so that her parents could enjoy their "me time".

I don't suppose Clarence Mitchell, Richard Branson etc etc have turned up yet !

Panda wrote:I can't remember which Tabloid Amanda P writes for, but she is just like Lazzeri

How could Kate sit there being interviewed and watched by millions say that when Madeleine asked her why she did not

come when she had been crying and say"we thought it was something and nothing"....and promptly go out again that night.???????

Good morning Panda

I saw one interview where Kate McCann said in a screeching voice... "why didn't I grab Madeleine by the arm and say, what do you mean you cried and we never came?"

The McCanns first revealed this so called fact, on a programme that was televised on the first anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance. Before this when they had ever been asked about the reports of the children crying when they were out, they had always said those reports were untrue. They said once their children were asleep, they never woke up.

Those of us who have had children, know that children can wake up at any time and this is one of the reasons we never go out and leave them without adult supervision.

If Madeleine really did say those things to her parents, I would imagine it wasn't the first time she had told them about them crying when they went out.

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/PAMELA_FENN.htm

We have had David Cameron commenting on the case Mara Thon but that's about the only similarity!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9586475/April-Jones-disappearance-is-every-familys-nightmare-says-David-Cameron.html

kathybelle wrote:

Panda wrote:I can't remember which Tabloid Amanda P writes for, but she is just like Lazzeri

How could Kate sit there being interviewed and watched by millions say that when Madeleine asked her why she did not

come when she had been crying and say"we thought it was something and nothing"....and promptly go out again that night.???????

Good morning Panda

I saw one interview where Kate McCann said in a screeching voice... "why didn't I grab Madeleine by the arm and say, what do you mean you cried and we never came?"

The McCanns first revealed this so called fact, on a programme that was televised on the first anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance. Before this when they had ever been asked about the reports of the children crying when they were out, they had always said those reports were untrue. They said once their children were asleep, they never woke up.

Those of us who have had children, know that children can wake up at any time and this is one of the reasons we never go out and leave them without adult supervision.

If Madeleine really did say those things to her parents, I would imagine it wasn't the first time she had told them about them crying when they went out.

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/PAMELA_FENN.htm

you dont have to bea parent to know this my niece bella is 3 months old and when she cries i nearly cry too i dont know how the mcanns live with themselves knowing that maddie was crying and they didnt care

I think the remark was a complete work of fiction - either to reinforce the idea that Madeleine was alive and well on the morning of 3rd May (when in fact something had happened to her earlier in the week) or to back up the McCanns' ridiculous statement (a gem even by their normal high standards) that the "abductor" had made a trial run the night before.

Kate created a horrible aggressive image of grabbing the child's arm and demanding to know what she meant. If she thinks that this is the action of a loving parent, heaven help any child in her care.

The McCanns: If only we'd come up with a better story. We were so naive to think Joe Public would be taken in by the tale of jemmied shutters and Eggman making off with our daughter. if only...