You're a British middle class, professional, couple in your late 30s, on holiday abroad with your 3 year old daughter, and 2 year old twins, at the Mark Warner resort in Praia da Luz in Portugal. You're holidaying with a group of friends. You all decide to have an adults only evening, drinking and eating and engaging in a quiz in a Tapas Bar. Mark Warner offers a creche facility where you can leave your children in a safe environment up to 11.30pm, whilst you enjoy yourselves. But, you choose not to use this facility. Mark Warner offers you a baby monitor instead, but you choose not to use this either. Another alternative is a private baby sitting service offered at 10 Euros (approx £7) per hour, again this is not used. Instead, it is claimed, that you decide with your friends that you will all, at regular intervals, take it in turns to go and check upon the children yourselves. Given the options available, this would appear to be the least safe option. And, yet, Kate McCann has said, if she for one minute thought it was not safe to leave the children home alone she wouldn't have done it. And, Gerry McCann has said, that they left the patio doors unlocked in case of fire, and to enable entry to the apartment for those checking up on the children. To be aware of fire danger is surely one reason not to leave the children alone?
I don't know what the law is in Portugal about leaving young children unattended by adults. Certainly, in the UK, it is illegal to neglect and or abandon young children for between 2-3 hours.
The Portugese police are saying that they believe Madeleine to be dead. The McCanns are saying that Madeleine has been abducted, and they have a find Madeleine fund which has managed to get almost a £1M in donations. This fund is dependent upon Madeleine still being missing, who would continue to donate if the McCanns stated that they believed that Madeleine was dead?
The McCanns are aware that under Portugese law they cannot talk about specifics because of the police investigation. So, they dodge awkward questions why they left their children in the first place. And, why there is inconsistencies in their groups accounts about who checked up on who and at what times, and who claimed to see what at what times does not appear to hold up to scrutiny. Kate McCann accepts that staying in Portugal appears to be illogical, and yet the McCanns intend to stay there in spite of growing unfriendliness amongst the locals. They want an end to the circus. If the McCanns returned to the UK, they would be free to answer questions and not be bound by Portugese law. It is doubtful that the police and social services would see the McCanns as responsible parents as the McCanns appear to think they are.
