McCanns: Is a private prosecution the only way to get them into court?
I am seriously considering bringing a private prosecution out against the McCanns because I feel that this is the only way that Madeleine will get the justice she deserves. I am not sure what happened about this attempt by Anthony Bennett. But I suspect that it fell by the way side because there are only specific offences which allow you to bring a private prosecution in England for offences committed in another jurisdiction, for example, Portugal. Whilst I have not been able to find any legal authority to bring a private prosecution in the UK for child neglect committed abroad, however, there is legal authority to bring a private prosecution for murder if the victim or perpetrator is a UK citizen.
UPDATE: According to wikipedia: "on 21 July 2007, the Crown Prosecution Service lawyers held "informal discussions" to consider whether any offence may have been committed under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, which deals with ill-treatment, cruelty, neglect and abandonment of children under 16". This would explain why Anthony Bennett's private prosecution attempt did not really get off the ground.
Originally, the McCanns, in phone calls to relatives and friends on the night of the 3rd of May and early hours of the 4th of May, alleged that an abductor broke into the locked apartment via the shutters. On the 10th of May, the Portuguese police were asking questions of the McCanns: "about why the three children were left alone in an apartment, with the patio doors unlocked, while they dined at the restaurant".
Whilst it is interesting to hear about the second version of events, I am more interested in learning why the McCanns felt they needed to invent and publish the first version of events.
7 comments:
How successful do you think it would be ? Am curious as to what you think.
Should be possible.
nunyaa: Such a course is fraught with difficulties one of them being their powerful backers. A problem I am looking at is I don't want it to be a all or nothing murder charge, because if it was accidental death they would walk. I need the alternative charge of manslaughter just in case. So far I have not found any authority which supports a private prosecution for a manslaughter committed in another jurisdiction.
merkin: As you say, it should be possible. Their putting out the false break in version and the abductor line, more than indicates that they were trying to shift the blame for Madeleine's disappearance.
Go for a child neglect charge. Set up an account where people can contribute to help you fight your case. If we all gave a fiver, there's enough of us to raise a lot of money.
Their backers are no longer powerful. After this Thursday's election, Gordon Brown will be on the way out. I know I said I'll no longer comment on this case, but this is a positive development, not the tittle tattle in the papers.
Anything possible under the Human Rights Act 1998?
Might be another line of attack.
Just a thought, but would it be possible to bring any charges under Portuguese law with a private prosecution? Could they be summonsed to appear before a Portuguese court?
The Health and Safety executive carry out private prosecutions.
At some point in the future, they might consider manslaughter through neglect. However, the timescale would be considerable.
A few years back, I was successful in pursuing a private criminal prosecution in a non-EU country and the difficulties were enormous, even though I was resident in that country at the time.
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