It is an offence under section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 to neglect or abandon a child under the age of 16 for whom a parent or carer has responsibility. At the very least, Gerry and Kate McCann abandoned 18 months old twins Sean and Amelie for at least 2 hours when they went out for a tapas meal. And, if Madeliene was also there, at the time, then it is clear that she was also abandoned for the same length of time. It has been claimed, in some reports, that the children were checked every half hour. However, there are weaknesses in these version of events. It is claimed that Kate McCann discovered Madeliene missing at 10pm. And, that their family friend, the so-called witness, joined the McCanns for dinner at 9.30. So, who was checking on the children at 9.30? Nobody. A report claims that she claims to have seen what she saw at 9.30. Another report claims that it is believed that Madeleine was taken between 9.10pm and 9.15pm. If this is to be believed, then the children had been neglected and/or abandoned for at least 45 minutes. We are talking about a 3 year old, and two 18 month old babies, being left to fend for themselves, by two professional adults who should have known better. It might not have been so bad, but still a criminal offence, to have left children of this age for 20 minutes. But at least double that time? It might not have been so bad had the children been locked in, however, the rear patio doors to the apartment had been left unlocked to allow easy access for regular checks by the parents in the group. A report claims that one of the group might have checked the apartment, but not checked on the children, only that it was quiet, and left. This was thought to have occurred after 9.10, but nobody seems sure of anything. If the front of the McCanns apartment faced the tapas bar, why leave the back patio doors open when it could not be seen from the tapas bar? Would it not have been safer to have left the front door open? So, when did one of the McCanns or anybody else last check on the children? If it was 9 'o clock, that still leaves them being neglected and/or abandoned for one hour. If that is the case, that's three times longer than the minimum 20 minutes to satisfy a criminal prosecution in this country. Obviously, culpability is decided on a case by case basis. Both the McCanns are doctors. Gerry McCann has become a spin doctor with the media. The children were left unguarded and unchecked for a minimum of one hour. What is to say that they were not checked for 2 hours?
UPDATE: A local newspaper today reported that Mr and Mrs McCann had failed to check on their children, including two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, on the night Madeleine disappeared.
The couple claimed they were checking on the apartment every half hour as they dined at a tapas restaurant with friends, only 100 yards away.
But the Diario de Noticias, which has consistently attacked the parents’ actions, today discredited their account. The paper claimed that staff at the Mark Warner complex told them “they did not leave their table to go and check on the children while they were having dinner.”
UPDATE: As the McCanns allegedly put all three children to bed at 7pm, and Kate McCann checked on them at 10pm, that now makes it 3 hours the children were neglected and/or abandoned.
