Jan Moir: Don't blame April's parents for letting her play outside

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2213154/April-Jones-abduction-Dont-blame-parents-letting-play-outside-says-Jan-Moir.html?openGraphAuthor=%2Fdebate%2Fcolumnists%2Fcolumnist-1012602%2FJan-Moir.html

Don't blame April's parents for letting her play outside

By JAN MOIR
PUBLISHED: 01:53, 5 October 2012 | UPDATED: 10:09, 5 October 2012
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This week, Machynlleth became the place that refused to give up hope. Almost since the moment she went missing, hundreds of residents of the Welsh market town joined the police search for five-year-old April Jones. All anyone knew was that a man had taken April away in a van — a terrifying scrap of information.
Volunteers, family and friends beat down the panic as they joined mountain rescue volunteers, police-trained search officers, dog handlers, RNLI boats, a team of kayakers, a marine unit and experienced local cavers in the hunt. All of them ransacking the surrounding countryside, above and below ground, with increasing desperation.
Those who couldn’t take part tied pink ribbons to the fence outside April’s home as the wait for news continued. There has been little in the way of comfort for parents Paul and Coral, but they must have taken some tiny solace in the ribbons fluttering on their fence — a silent message of support and love from the community.


As anything approaching normal life fades into the margins, the efforts of both the police and the locals have been inspiring. It’s always good to be reminded that a crisis can still bring out the very best in ordinary people.
April lives in the kind of old-fashioned, working-class community where everyone knows everybody else. On her home street, Bryn-y-Gog, the houses are circled like wagons, with a communal play area in the middle. In this tiny neighbourhood, surrounded by fields and hills, parents could depend on each other to keep an eye out for their kids.
On the evening of April’s disappearance, her mother and father went to a short parents’ meeting at the local school, leaving her playing in the communal garden with her friend. There was nothing to worry about. Why should there be?
As time marches on, all we can do is sympathise with the agony of a mother and father going through a hell that is no fault of their own. They must not be blamed — and they must not blame themselves.

Of course, some will criticise, but there are always those who will censure the parents of missing children rather than condemn the real evil at the heart of the tragedy — the person or persons unknown who have taken the child away.
It remains a disgrace that loving parents Gerry and Kate McCann still have to endure the malice of strangers who have convinced themselves of some dark parental involvement in the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine, while somewhere out there, whoever took her still walks free.



Don't give up hope: The pink ribbons all over the market town are a symbol of support for April's family

In an emergency like this, parents are always in the wrong, no matter what they do. Last month, a National Trust report claimed that children were being cut off from nature by mollycoddling mums and dads who refused to let them play outside and get dirty. It also warned that children are increasingly leading ‘sedentary and sheltered’ lives due to health and safety fears and the rise of telly and video games.
On a sunny autumn evening, April was outside playing on her bicycle with her chums. What could be more innocent? Children can’t grow up on a leash and, really, what parents haven’t allowed their offspring out of their sight?
This summer, David Cameron — who sent a message of support to April’s family — accidentally left his eight-year-old daughter in a country pub. Nancy was quickly returned home with no harm done — he was lucky. To their enduring despair, the McCanns and many like them did not share his good fortune.

Whatever happens next in this small Welsh town, it seems unlikely that life will ever be quite the same again. April’s little girl sweetness makes her disappearance so incredibly piercing for everyone. That, and the knowledge that she has cheerfully endured cerebral palsy and other health difficulties make her seem especially vulnerable.
Her smile in photographs speaks of a little girl who knew nothing of the bad things in life. As the pink ribbons multiply across Machynlleth, we can but hope — however desperately — that this story might yet have a happy ending.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2213154/April-Jones-abduction-Dont-blame-parents-letting-play-outside-says-Jan-Moir.html#ixzz28Q6uQcFJ
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It remains a disgrace that loving parents Gerry and Kate McCann still have to endure the malice of strangers who have convinced themselves of some dark parental involvement in the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine, while somewhere out there, whoever took her still walks free.


We all know who she is talking about, don't we?

I agree with the title of this topic. You´re right bb1.

Very well stated Jan Moir.

Must confess to tears over it though.......

That'll be her Hate Spammed. They are so effing predictable. But the more journalists they hate spam, the better.
Some of them are going to have a field day when Bennett gets convicted.

I agree with you lily: well done Jan Moir.

Thank you, Pedro.

I know crying is preferable to pitchforking and fortunately we all are of like mind here.

The haters can do what they want. The hate will never leave them. Ever.

What a legacy.

lily wrote:Thank you, Pedro.

I know crying is preferable to pitchforking and fortunately we all are of like mind here.

The haters can do what they want. The hate will never leave them. Ever.

What a legacy.

That's the thing, Lily. It will be with them for the rest of their miserable lives. And it will get worse everytime they are proved wrong.

That's the thing, Lily. It will be with them for the rest of their miserable lives. And it will get worse everytime they are proved wrong.

Ah yes, Sabot. Of course it will.

Very true, Sabot. And it is very telling that the Truthseekers avoid the actual truth like vampires avoiding Holy Water.

Not one of them has mentioned Cristovao's disgrace at the hands of the PJ, or the other charges facing him, despite that thug being one of their idols, and the source of the 'six corpses' fabrication.

You would think something like that would be worthy of comment, wouldn't you? Can you imagine the uproar if a close associate of the McCanns was in as much trouble as Cristovao is? There would be fury-filled, 100-page threads on every hate site, irate rants from the hatebloggers, and even more obscene remarks than usual from the twitforkers.

But because the thug is a close associate of their beloved Goncalol - silence. Not a word. Nothing about his stealing €800 from the PJ, or the rape allegations.

The hypocrisy is staggering.

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/local/april-jones-web-troll-identified-by-police-1-4996054

April Jones web ‘troll’ identified by police

Published on Friday 5 October 2012 09:20

Police are investigating “sick” comments made on Facebook about the abducted five-year-old April Jones by a Chorley man.

Users of the social networking site were outraged after seeing a “disgusting” message posted by the man.

April, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was last seen playing on her bike at 7.30pm on Monday near her home in Machynlleth, mid Wales.

Networkers alerted police about the comments, also relating to missing youngster Madeleine McCann.


And they responded with hundreds of angry posts. many including threats, which prompted a response seemingly from the man’s mother, who condemned his actions and pleaded with other users to stop the tirade.

One post seen by the Evening Post on the suspect’s account said: “could of just started the greatest facebook argument EVER !!!”

The response, believed to be from his mother, said: “You should stop and think things out before opening ya gob - that little girl may have had her life cut short too soon the anguish her parents family and friends are going through right now is beyond thinking about.”

However, the posts from the account continued, including messages such as “do you ever get bored off seeing your own name”.

nd in response to hundreds of abusive messages, the Facebook user then said: “It’s just a joke that went to far these people who write all this don’t even know me it’s just all abit out of hand”

One Facebook user from Chorley, who asked not to be named, said she was “disgusted” by the messages.

The mum said: “It’s absolutely unbelievable. I’ve got a little girl who’s six and it doesn’t bear thinking about what her parents are going through.”

She said the message poster had claimed his Facebook account had been hacked.

A Lancashire Police spokesman said the force had received a complaint in the early hours of yesterday morning.

She said: “We are still investigating. We have managed to identify who has made the postings, so our inquiries are continuing. The postings have been removed, so they are no longer in the public domain.”

Facebook is also investigating the incident.

Mechanic Mark Bridger, 46, was arrested on Tuesday.

He is still being quizzed by police in connection with April’s disappearance. Police were given until 5pm today – an extra 36 hours – to question Bridger, the main suspect.

==============

Wonder which of the sickos that was?

I wonder too, Bonny?

This simply cannot go on, Lily. Something has to be done about these things who attack crime victims and their families.

I bet it will/is coming as such a shock to the people who do get caught? The rest will soon get the idea?

Utterly incompetent British police. They should have got the Portuguese police in to investigate instead of letting this bunch of numpties do it.

Yes, it would really have helped if the police had just decided that April's parents DONE IT, and beaten a false confession out of her mother.

I reckon we are in for a few surprises as the police, etc., get better and better at catching these scumbags, Lily, especially as fb and twitter now seem to be co-operating.

Or, rather, what is revealed is going to be no shock to us, but might be a bit of an embarrassment for the We-hate-the-McCann-family trolls.

The time has come, Bonny.

I think your saying is appropriate here about reaping the whirlwind?

lily wrote:I wonder too, Bonny?

There isn't a lot to choose from, is there. But at least one of them will disappear very shortly.

I would say so, Sabot.