Madeleine McCann: Lawyer says 'Kate and Gerry McCann guilty of neglect for leaving her - and they weren't charged'

Madeleine McCann: Lawyer says 'Kate and Gerry McCann guilty of neglect for leaving her - and they weren't charged'

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Gareth Morgan made the shocking claim while acting for a drink-driving mum who left her five-year-old son, who has Asperger syndrome, home alone at night
Search agony: Gerry and Kate McCann with image of how Maddie might look today Search agony: Gerry and Kate McCann with image of how Maddie might look today
Reuters

A lawyer accused Madeleine McCann’s parents of child neglect as he defended his own client in an “outrageous” courtroom speech.

Gareth Morgan made the shocking claim while acting for a drink-driving mum who left her five-year-old son, who has Asperger syndrome, home alone at night.

Yesterday a friend of Kate and Gerry McCann, both 45, blasted the comparison as ­“insensitive and plain wrong”.

The mum, 44, was caught after she crashed into a car at traffic lights. When the police went to her home they found the “extremely vulnerable” boy there.

The woman, who cannot be named, admitted neglect and was spared jail. But Mr Morgan pleaded for her freedom on the basis that Kate and Gerry McCann were never prosecuted for leaving daughter Madeleine alone in their holiday flat.

He told magistrates in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales: “The parents of Madeleine McCann were guilty of child neglect for leaving their little girl much longer than my client. They were never prosecuted.

"The mother in this case is ashamed and remorseful at putting her young child at risk in the way she did.”

The McCanns left three-year-old Madeleine in their apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz while they dined with friends at a nearby tapas bar in May 2007.



Last night a close pal of the couple, of Rothley, Leics, said: “The comments are insensitive and plain wrong. Kate and Gerry will be furious. The circumstances are totally different and not comparable.

“If Kate and Gerry were guilty of child neglect, and they were absolutely not, they would have been dealt with. As it is, there are two police inquiries in two different countries trying to find out what happened to Madeleine, and comments made by a lawyer in an unrelated case is offensive, outrageous and inaccurate.

"It is his opinion, but it is a disgrace that a defence lawyer is commenting on Kate and Gerry in this way. They will not be happy about that.”

Merthyr Tydfil magistrates heard the mum was more than two-and-a-half times the limit when she drove to a supermarket cashpoint shortly before midnight.

On the way back she smashed into the rear of a car being driven by Bronnie-May Dunn, 21, who had stopped at a red traffic light.

Miss Dunn suffered head injuries in the crash but the woman shouted at her: “That was your f****** fault.”

Police followed the woman home but she told them: “I can’t be arrested, my son is in the house and he’s only five.”

Prosecutor Stephen Head said: “Sure enough, when police went into the house they found the boy asleep under a blanket on the settee.”

The woman pleaded guilty to child neglect, drink-driving and leaving an accident. She got a 12-month supervision order, was ordered to carry out 120 hours’ unpaid work and told to attend a course. She was also banned from driving for 22 months.

Probation officer Graham Craig said: “His mother accepts full responsibility and knows a potentially catastrophic situation could have developed while she was out.”

The McCanns would not be drawn on Mr Morgan’s claim last night. Spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “We will not comment on details in a court case.” Mr Morgan could not be reached.

Meanwhile, British police hunting for Madeleine are poised to make their first arrests. They are heading to the Algarve and want to quiz three burglars behind raids in Praia da Luz. Records show the men made numerous calls to each other after she disappeared.

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http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/360395/Drunk-mum-spared-jail-for-leaving-boy-at-home-as-she-was-not-as-bad-as-the-McCanns


Lawyer Gareth Morgan begged magistrates not to send the 44-year-old to prison.

She had admitted leaving her five-year-old, who has Asperger’s syndrome, on his own at home.

He claimed the defendant was less neglectful than Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine vanished in Portugal in 2007.

Mr Morgan said: “The McCanns were guilty of child neglect for leaving their little girl much longer than my client. They were never prosecuted for it.”

Mr and Mrs McCann reported their daughter, then aged three, missing after they had been dining 50 metres from their holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

The tot and her one-year-old twin brother and sister had been left to sleep.

Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court, Mid Glam, heard the defendant left the house on October 30 to visit a nearby cashpoint.

The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, crashed her car at a red light while two-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit.

While being arrested she told police officers her son was at home alone. He was found asleep on the sofa.

The woman, from Merthyr Tydfil, was given a 12-month supervision order after pleading guilty to child neglect, drink-driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

Oh dear! They gonna sue the lawyer? They can't sue the newspapers for just quoting what was said in the court! Oh dearie me!

For me, this seems to be clear evidence that the newspapers are waiting to jump on the McCanns.

I saw it in Welsh paper yesterday, didn't think the usual tabloids will print it.
'http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/limit-crash-mum-left-year-old-home/story-20436401-detail/story.html
Ooooops.

Star headline

"Drunk mum spared jail for leaving boy at home as she was 'not as bad as the McCanns'"

weissnicht wrote:I saw it in Welsh paper yesterday, didn't think the usual tabloids will print it.
Ooooops.

Star headline

"Drunk mum spared jail for leaving boy at home as she was 'not as bad as the McCanns'"

  

I was speaking to someone yesterday who didnt even know about the dogs but she had been to pdl and said the tapas was further away than the mccanns have admitted.

kitti wrote:I was speaking to someone yesterday who didnt even know about the dogs but she had been to pdl and said the tapas was further away than the mccanns have admitted.

It is. It's in a gated area, only open to members of the Ocean Club, hardly like dining in your back garden as Gerry spouts.

AnnaEsse wrote:Oh dear! They gonna sue the lawyer? They can't sue the newspapers for just quoting what was said in the court! Oh dearie me!

For me, this seems to be clear evidence that the newspapers are waiting to jump on the McCanns.

Pretty sure they can't sue the lawyer for anything said in court either. Tough   

cannot believe yhis can of worms hasnt been opened earlier - come may madeleine can be declared dead cant she ? and uk will be doing this anyone know ?

44 yewar old mum - is that it no names - why is the neglect being thrown out again ? something isnt right here - we all know that kate has said she left madeleine more than once - is this all the future hold NEGLECT or is it just me thinking shame the mcanns via press and thats it

But ..but..sure then the same should go for all child neglectors in UK. Not one rule for mccanns and other for the rest.

weissnicht wrote:But ..but..sure then the same should go for all child neglectors in UK. Not one rule for mccanns and other for the rest.

I think Fiona Phillips should be fully supported   

SHE left her child in a hotel room, alone, and went to dinner....she has ADMITTED it!

That of course is why the nice but dim Fiona supports the McCanns - she did a similar thing (with boys aged about 5 and 3) to what they claim to have done.

If I was able to believe their story that Madeleine disappeared in the circumstances in which they describe, I would probably support them too.

There is of course far, far more to this than a simple parental misjudgement.

Yesterday a friend of Kate and Gerry McCann, both 45, blasted the comparison as ­“insensitive and plain wrong"

How can it be "PLAIN WRONG".......the time lines are there and even Kate (because she knew the matter would be reported) said Madeleine had cried.

While I disagree what the Mother did , especially since the Lad has Aspergers, The Lawyer was right to draw comparisons....the McCanns wasn't one night , it was every night.

Last night a close pal of the couple, of Rothley, Leics, said: “The comments are insensitive and plain wrong. Kate and Gerry will be furious. The circumstances are totally different and not comparable.

Quite right, they're not comparable.  This lady only left one child, on one night, to nip out to the shop.  The McCanns left three children, five nights on the trot, to go down the pub with their pals.

Iris wrote:

Last night a close pal of the couple, of Rothley, Leics, said: “The comments are insensitive and plain wrong. Kate and Gerry will be furious. The circumstances are totally different and not comparable.

Quite right, they're not comparable.  This lady only left one child, on one night, to nip out to the shop.  The McCanns left three children, five nights on the trot, to go down the pub with their pals.

Funny how a "Friend" can be depended upon to deny any culpability by the McCanns.While most of the Press are ready to print anything , without any more seeking verification , the McCanns are starting to reap what they have sown and it must be embarassing for Gerry at work because his colleagues must think like us that the 3 Burglers is rubbish.

This Lawyers' comments won't help Kate as her Ambassador for Missing Children job .

I don't know if it is wishful thinking but maybe all this rubbish about 3 Burglars and thinking Redwood is non compus mentis proves untrue and an unexpected announcement by him will stun all of us....in your dreams Panda I hear you say

  

Totally agree Panda. After 6 years of nothing, no real leads, no real sightings, no other real suspects these child neglectors are the only suspects still in the frame. I am having the same dream as you. In what way can they be eliminated as suspects?

Freja53 wrote:Totally agree Panda. After 6 years of nothing, no real leads, no real sightings, no other real suspects these child neglectors are the only suspects still in the frame. I am having the same dream as you. In what way can they be eliminated as suspects?

Hi freja53...nice to see you posting, yes, we are forever hopeful that justice will be done and the McCanns will reap what they have sown. The Portugese Prosecuter went to Court to ask if there was enough evidence to Charge the McCanns. One was the phone calls they made that night, but the Judge ruled it was too intrusive, the second time the Prosecutor asked a Judge if the evidence they had was sufficient to go to trial, the Judge said, "show me the body". You have to wonder whether Gordon Brown's talk with the Portugese Prime Minister , Socrates had anything to do with it......certainly they would have been charged with neglect in many Countries .This deference started because the Tapas 9 were all Doctors and having their own PR guy , I hate to admit it, but Mitchell has done a good job.

That kid was older than Madeleine! And sound asleep, and who wants to bet in a locked house.

And McCanns WERE drinking that night as we know. So I don't think the two cases are all that different. The main difference being the hit and run of course - but as to the neglect - no.

Being in a "resort" (or rather just outside one) doesn't change your responsibility to the kids, nor does being on holiday. They are still 2 and 3 year olds, toddlers in the vernacular, and don't suddenly become more able to cope when left alone than they would if they were at home, just because YOU are getting your vino on over at the bar.

McCanns will spit nails at the comparison but too bad. This has been waiting to happen for 6 years - they have facilitated the neglect of children all over the world by repeatedly stating that they did not leave their kids alone or rather in their terms have been assured (by their lawyers) that they were responsible parents (you never hear them use the word neglect and you can see why, headlines would scream: Kate says "We didn't neglect Madeleine"

She wouldn't even use the first person pronoun, because that is taking too much accountability on herself. It is always we.

Defense attorneys are in general prone to scummy defenses - kind of like discrediting the good work police dogs do in order to get their clients off, or rubbishing the work of the dna clinic

Yes Widowan, the McCanns are more culpable than any other couple i can think of....especially going out after Madeleine told them she had been crying.!!!!The McCanns must be allowing Madeleine's photos to be used in every paper , almost daily now , so they can't complain about anything . If they lose the case against Amaral, that't the end of them .

Best rated comment on the mail on line, with 3710 green arrows:

The comments below have been moderated in advance.
Hillbilly, Dorset, United Kingdom, 2 hours ago

How dare he compare someone who goes out and leaves their child alone to someone who goes out and leaves their child alone......... hang on, actually, there is a similarity. But woe betide anyone who dares stand up and speak out.
3710 green 156 red



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2539093/Madeleine-McCanns-parents-guilty-child-neglect-says-lawyer-bizarre-courtroom-speech.html#ixzz2qNgMkM3S

AnnaEsse wrote:

weissnicht wrote:I saw it in Welsh paper yesterday, didn't think the usual tabloids will print it.
Ooooops.

Star headline

"Drunk mum spared jail for leaving boy at home as she was 'not as bad as the McCanns'"

  

Oh dear!   

frencheuropean wrote:Best rated comment on the mail on line, with 3710 green arrows:

The comments below have been moderated in advance.
Hillbilly, Dorset, United Kingdom, 2 hours ago

How dare he compare someone who goes out and leaves their child alone to someone who goes out and leaves their child alone......... hang on, actually, there is a similarity. But woe betide anyone who dares stand up and speak out.
     3710 green                  156 red



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2539093/Madeleine-McCanns-parents-guilty-child-neglect-says-lawyer-bizarre-courtroom-speech.html#ixzz2qNgMkM3S

Absolutely love the comments! Obviously the tide of public opinion has changed since the days of there only being a few "nutters" who didn't support them. Now it appears that nearly everyone feels that they are at least guilty of child neglect.

What bothers me, and I have seen this in other cases, is when parents escape prosecution for a crime such as neglect or DUI because they have suffered enough due to the loss of a child! At the very least, the parents should be prosecuted and let the court decide if they have suffered enough. Likely Gerry would not still have his job today had he been prosecuted for neglect, which he should have been!

6215 green arrows now for the same comment! Nearly the double of the number in a less than an hour. Impressive.