Lisbon Libel Trial McCanns v Amaral

Easyjet fly to lisbon from Luton and gatwick, BA from Heathrow, TAP from both Gatwick. I think it would be pretty easy to get a flight. Ryanair are starting in Novemeber too from Stanstead. Like you say the 'fund' is paying so the price won't matter. Perhaps Phillip Green will led them his 'jet' again?  

Now don't get me wrong , but considering Gerry and Trish had paid a lot of money to come to Portugal and already one session had been cancelled because the Judge had to leave, was Amaral's Lawyers family illness so severe that he couldn't wait a few hours before going to the Hospital??? The spacing between trial dates is also very wide, I just hope this doesn't turn into a Circus which will benefit the McCanns.

If I'm not mistaken, Gerry is complaining about the facts of the "file" not the "book". I know the book is based on the file but I do think I heard him say "file". I thought this trial was supposed to be about the damage the book has caused the McCanns.

interested wrote:If I'm not mistaken, Gerry is complaining about the facts of the "file" not the "book".  I know the book is based on the file but I do think I heard him say "file".   I thought this trial was supposed to be about the damage the book has caused the McCanns.

It is interested, also the video. Amaral I think is claiming that "Madeleine died in 5a was one of the theories in the PJ summing up file which also gives other possibilities. Since nobody knows what really happened to Madeleine the Judge will centre on the "damage" Amaral's Book caused to the health of the Family and whether it hindered the search for Madeleine.

Panda wrote:
Now don't get me wrong , but considering Gerry and Trish had paid a lot of money to come to Portugal and already one session had been cancelled because the Judge had to leave, was Amaral's Lawyers family illness so severe that he couldn't wait a  few hours before going to the Hospital??? The spacing between trial dates is also very wide, I just hope this doesn't turn into a Circus which will benefit the McCanns.

gerry and trish did not pay a lot of money to get to portugal - the fund would be paying. MCCanns don't do paying out of their own pocket.

It is indeed irritating to all concerned that there have been two Friday afternoon cancellations. The point is that if the son is having surgery and the situation is grim as we are led to believe, his father as defence attorney, could hardly be expected to concentrate on his demanding role and do his best for his client. he put his child first; if only the McCanns had done that!

i agree though Panda, there is a danger that the McCanns will spin this to their advantage and imply the child was merely having his tonsils out or something of that nature.

 

James wrote:

Panda wrote:
Now don't get me wrong , but considering Gerry and Trish had paid a lot of money to come to Portugal and already one session had been cancelled because the Judge had to leave, was Amaral's Lawyers family illness so severe that he couldn't wait a  few hours before going to the Hospital??? The spacing between trial dates is also very wide, I just hope this doesn't turn into a Circus which will benefit the McCanns.

gerry and trish did not pay a lot of money to get to portugal - the fund would be paying. MCCanns don't do paying out of their own pocket.

It is indeed irritating to all concerned that there have been two Friday afternoon cancellations. The point is that if the son is having surgery and the situation is grim as we are led to believe, his father as defence attorney, could hardly be expected to concentrate on his demanding role and do his best for his client. he put his child first; if only the McCanns had done that!

i agree though Panda, there is a danger that the McCanns will spin this to their advantage and imply the child was merely having his tonsils out or something of that nature.

Hi James, I am sure they will, especially having travelled all that way. let's see what the Press makes of it , pity the Judge did not say exactly what the health problem was , because Amaral's Lawyer was not burdened with lots of witnesses to interview. All we need now is for Amaral to fall ill when he is called to give evidence. 

Oh gosh, let's hope that nobody else falls ill or we'll be deafened by the cackling of the pros over their cauldrons from Land's End to John o'Groats.

East Midlands airport is only a stone's throw away from Rothley. We've flown to Portugal from there but don't know if you can nowadays. So hardly out of Gerry's way for a quick nip to Lisbon and back.

https://www.eastmidlandsairport.com/emaweb.nsf/Content/faro

Yes, you can fly to Faro from East Midlands Airport.

Not Born Yesterday wrote:Oh gosh, let's hope that nobody else falls ill or we'll be deafened by the cackling of the pros over their cauldrons from Land's End to John o'Groats.

I think Clarence has already penned a comment for tomorrows' Press.

@ Dazed and Confused......it's not the flying time , plus train or Car, it's what work Gerry took time off from to go to Portugal, plus the other Witness.

You sympathizing with Gezza now, Panda?
 

the slave wrote:You sympathizing with Gezza now, Panda?
 

No, I'm just being fair here , let's be honest we would all be miffed if we had not only the expense but the travel , work arrangements altered etc yet no one knows what exactly the Lawyers' family health problem is/was. It happenedd to me a long time ago over a friend of mine being charged for illegal parking of her car. Since I was with her on the day in question, I was to be her witness, we both took time off work and when we got to the Courthouse were advised the case was dropped.

if G decided to take time off work when it was not known whether he would be heard or not, that's his problem.  he was never on the witness list,  he just put in a request to be heard.  Best he wait to be invited next time eh?  Cant be all that busy if he can take time off on the off chance. How many patients have had their waiting time extended because he was off travelling the world to get others to "search for Madeleine" jimo.  who was the other witness who had to take time off work. Lol at the slave, although I tend to agree, some of your posts Panda seem to sympathise with the McCs,  which of course you are entitled to do.

eta Also Panda it was the McCs who brought this case. do you not have any sympathy for Dr G Amaral for the distress and inconvenience and hardship he has suffered because of this libel trial.

Panda wrote:

the slave wrote:You sympathizing with Gezza now, Panda?
 

No, I'm just being fair here , let's be honest we would all be miffed if we had not only the expense but the travel , work arrangements altered etc yet no one knows what exactly the Lawyers' family health problem is/was. It happenedd to me a long time ago over a friend of mine being charged for illegal parking of her car. Since I was with her on the day in question, I was to be her witness, we both took time off work and when we got to the Courthouse were advised the case was dropped.

Panda, we do know that the lawyer's son had to have surgery.

It was the McCanns who decided to take a Portuguese man and his media/ publishing colleagues to court in Portugal.
It was the McCanns who put family members on the witness list. Which meant they'd have to go to Portugal.
Court adjournments happen all the time, for varying reasons.
It's not the fault of Portugal, or its judiciary, that the McCanns and their rellies can't just jump on a train and be home in an hour when a session gets cancelled.
The McCanns started all this, and if they're bloody well inconvenienced, then tough **** !

I don't think we need to know the details as that is the family's private business. The Judge obviously thought it warranted an adjournment and that's what matters. Nice to see someone putting their child first though.

We don't need to know exactly what the health problem was. In fact, we don't need to know anything. The only person who needs to know is the judge. She was given the documents she needed to see and she decided. And she couldn't have decided any other way really since one of the sessions was stopped because the judge had 'personal issues' to deal with. And we didn't get to hear what they were.
As for GM, if he didn't want to waste a day, he should have waited to see if his intentions were going to be accepted. The session could have gone ahead and he still most likely wouldn't have been heard as all the participants would have to agree and I doubt the defence lawyers would agree to the hearing without having time to prepare themselves properly.

AnnaEsse wrote:

Panda wrote:

the slave wrote:You sympathizing with Gezza now, Panda?
 

No, I'm just being fair here , let's be honest we would all be miffed if we had not only the expense but the travel , work arrangements altered etc yet no one knows what exactly the Lawyers' family health problem is/was. It happenedd to me a long time ago over a friend of mine being charged for illegal parking of her car. Since I was with her on the day in question, I was to be her witness, we both took time off work and when we got to the Courthouse were advised the case was dropped.

Panda, we do know that the lawyer's son had to have surgery.

That's what we have been told I think AnnaEsse, until we know exactly what the treatment was it is hard to make a comment really. I was thinking that if it was routine surgery, the Lawyer could have visited the Hospital after the Courthouse finished for the day. The Press will have a field day with this, bumbling Portugese again, you can imagine it can't you especially when the Judge had halted proceedings because she was unwell.

Claudia79 wrote:We don't need to know exactly what the health problem was. In fact, we don't need to know anything. The only person who needs to know is the judge. She was given the documents she needed to see and she decided. And she couldn't have decided any other way really since one of the sessions was stopped because the judge had 'personal issues' to deal with. And we didn't get to hear what they were.
As for GM, if he didn't want to waste a day, he should have waited to see if his intentions were going to be accepted. The session could have gone ahead and he still most likely wouldn't have been heard as all the participants would have to agree and I doubt the defence lawyers would agree to the hearing without having time to prepare themselves properly.

When you think of the Court Officials , the other Witnesses, opposing Counsel Claudia, not to mention the time it is taking 2 months with big gaps
inbetween hearings it is manna to the McCanns since they wanted to have a videocam hearing.

Panda have you ever sat on a jury in the UK.  People who are called witnesses, lawyers, jury, all are sent home all the time because of legal, personal or family situations relating to all concerned.  Portugal is no different to the UK in responding to cancelling or staying witnesses or hearings for one reason or another.  and let be clear about this Panda, whatever happens in Portugal I would be very surprised to see any clear supportive media articles for Portugal or the Portuguese in this case from the UK.  so one more with xenophobic comments really wont do much harm.  in fact from what I can see this case has led to more people looking at Dr G Amarals book than ever before and people want to know what he and the files have to say.

almostgothic wrote:It was the McCanns who decided to take a Portuguese man and his media/ publishing colleagues to court in Portugal.
It was the McCanns who put family members on the witness list. Which meant they'd have to go to Portugal.
Court adjournments happen all the time, for varying reasons.
It's not the fault of Portugal, or its judiciary, that the McCanns and their rellies can't just jump on a train and be home in an hour when a session gets cancelled.
The McCanns started all this, and if they're bloody well inconvenienced, then tough **** !

    Exactly!! I worked at Sheffield crown court for 4 years, it happens all the time, sometimes even a tiny bit of paperwork would delay a trial or hearing.

Panda wrote:

Claudia79 wrote:We don't need to know exactly what the health problem was. In fact, we don't need to know anything. The only person who needs to know is the judge. She was given the documents she needed to see and she decided. And she couldn't have decided any other way really since one of the sessions was stopped because the judge had 'personal issues' to deal with. And we didn't get to hear what they were.
As for GM, if he didn't want to waste a day, he should have waited to see if his intentions were going to be accepted. The session could have gone ahead and he still most likely wouldn't have been heard as all the participants would have to agree and I doubt the defence lawyers would agree to the hearing without having time to prepare themselves properly.

When you think of the Court Officials , the other Witnesses, opposing Counsel Claudia, not to mention the time it is taking 2 months with big gaps
inbetween hearings it is manna to the McCanns since they wanted to have a videocam hearing.

I don't give a damn and no one here does if they like it or not. It's our system and if we have to deal with it so have they. It was their choice to start the procedings so they have tu
o put up or shut up. If they don't like it they can give up and go back to where they came from.

in total agreement Claudia79

Panda wrote:

the slave wrote:You sympathizing with Gezza now, Panda?
 

No, I'm just being fair here , let's be honest we would all be miffed if we had not only the expense but the travel , work arrangements altered etc yet no one knows what exactly the Lawyers' family health problem is/was. It happenedd to me a long time ago over a friend of mine being charged for illegal parking of her car. Since I was with her on the day in question, I was to be her witness, we both took time off work and when we got to the Courthouse were advised the case was dropped.

Travel time relatively minimal if he could fly from East Midlands, he chose to abandon his work at the last minute to try and rescue a rapidly sinking ship. Not like he was ordered to go. I have not one iota of sympathy for his wasted time.

Claudia79 wrote:

Panda wrote:

Claudia79 wrote:We don't need to know exactly what the health problem was. In fact, we don't need to know anything. The only person who needs to know is the judge. She was given the documents she needed to see and she decided. And she couldn't have decided any other way really since one of the sessions was stopped because the judge had 'personal issues' to deal with. And we didn't get to hear what they were.
As for GM, if he didn't want to waste a day, he should have waited to see if his intentions were going to be accepted. The session could have gone ahead and he still most likely wouldn't have been heard as all the participants would have to agree and I doubt the defence lawyers would agree to the hearing without having time to prepare themselves properly.

When you think of the Court Officials , the other Witnesses, opposing Counsel Claudia, not to mention the time it is taking 2 months with big gaps
inbetween hearings it is manna to the McCanns since they wanted to have a videocam hearing.

I don't give a damn and no one here does if they like it or not. It's our system and if we have to deal with it so have they. It was their choice to start the procedings so they have tu
o put up or shut up. If they don't like it they can give up and go back to where they came from.

I agree with you Claudia.  The McCanns didn't inconvenience themselves enough to take due care of their 3 toddlers on that ill-fated holiday, so they can go screw themselves if they don't like the situation they now find themselves in!