Madeleine McCann one year on - You keep asking yourself: 'Why did they think it would be all right to leave the children?’

Apr 29 2008 by Paddy Shennan

IN the concluding part of his series marking the first anniversary of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, Paddy Shennan hears how her grandmother is still struggling to come to terms with the bitterly regretted decision taken by nine people on that fateful night.

"I COULD shake all of them, every single one of them," says Susan Healy, the mother of Liverpool-born Kate McCann.

It all comes back to that night. That fateful, nightmarish night of Thursday May 3, 2007 – and that fateful decision.

The night that Kate and Gerry McCann have relived and regretted time and time and time again. The night their daughter, Madeleine, was abducted while they dined in the tapas bar of their holiday complex in the Algarve with seven friends.

No one needs to tell them they made a mistake. And no one could possibly punish them more than they have punished themselves.

The anguish and sheer frustration surrounding their fateful decision continues to be painfully felt – by both Kate and Gerry and others, including Kate’s parents.

Mum Susan says: "I can read articles that say Kate and Gerry should never have left their children and I can accept that. You find yourself over and over again in your head thinking: ‘Why did they think it would be all right?’

"Why did they think – ALL of them – it was OK to do this?

"I think they were misled into thinking it was OK – but there was no CCTV, no security.

"There is this acceptance among couples with young children, like Kate and Gerry and their friends, that these are good resorts and safe environments.

"I could shake all of them, every single one of them."

She adds: "I understand Kate and Gerry and the others ate in a restaurant without their children. It’s something we had to address and Kate and Gerry have had to address it every single day.

"But at the end of the day they thought they had taken adequate provision . . . no one looks after their children better than Kate and Gerry. That’s why it’s so amazing they can be in this situation."

And yet, fuelled by some bizarre behaviour by the Portuguese police and some wildly unsubstantiated reporting by some Portuguese newspapers (happily repeated by some British papers), the hate brigade has had a field day.

Lurking on websites and often hiding behind pseudonyms, these pathetic and cowardly cretins have acted like judge and jury, after first putting the boot in on Kate and Gerry McCann – Kate, especially.

Their casual, callous cruelty and almost-gleeful responses to various developments in this heartbreaking and horrifying human tragedy have been outrageous, breathtaking – and utterly depressing. A little girl is missing, but all some want to do is bitch and gloat and goad.

Kate and Gerry McCann don’t read the newspapers any more, but their families do and, sometimes, they see what has been posted on the internet by poisoned minds, simple minds and sick minds.

“It gets me upset from time to time, when I’m stupid enough to read it,” says Kate’s mum, Susan.

Kate’s dad, Brian, adds: “We’ve had a couple of nasty letters here. I can’t believe they would actually bother their backsides to buy a stamp and post the letter. They must be warped.”

Why do they bother? Susan, sadly, probably hits the nail on the head when she says: “I think they just get a certain pleasure out of it. But it worries me that we have these people in our society – no wonder the world is the way it is.”