UK Toddler abducted....

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestersh ire/6623127.stm

I dont feel sorry for the parents. I feel sorry for the child. Who in their right mind would leave such a young child on their own in a hotel, regardless of checking on them every 30 mins.

in minutess you could die from smoke inhalation, it takes seconds for as child to eat or drink something poisonous, seconds for them to hurt themselves, cut themselevs and bleed to death in 30 mins.

I think it's outragious. Why leave the child in the room, while you have dinner. terrible. I have no sympathy. Poor child.

[Oneeyedvic]

I still have recived no response to the question:

"Correct me if I'm wrong. A lot of hotels offer a baby monitoring service. This is where the reception holds an open line to the room to listen out for a baby / child crying.

Do most people deem this to be acceptable?

A quick google search shows that Thomson (I believe the UKs most used package holiday provider) offers them in a lot of their hotels."

[Goodsoulette]

I wouldn't do it again! Its not for me Im afraid.

[xanderma]

Well, vic, I don't see it as acceptable to use baby listening services. I know it's offered in many hotels, and is obviously popular with many families, but that doesn't make it right in my book. As someone pointed out earlier in this post, you are still at the mercy of the person listening - they may take a while to respond, track you down etc. Keep your family together, and enjoy the experience, that's what holidays mean to me.

P.S. 4 in the morning, insomnia's a great thing! (Not)

[netibiza]

I have previously stated that I, for one, do not trust baby-listening services and would never use one.

[libertie]

I personally don't feel any more sympathy for these parents because they are doctors, after all why should they know better just because they have a medical degree! Every day we as parents make decisions regarding our children and their safety...a 3yr old child died last week here in Scotland in an accident in a playpark, playing on her own because her mother could see her from the kitchen window, the mother clearly thought her child would be safe...unfortunately she wasn't! These parents made a huge error of judgement, but to crucify them for it and to suggest that it serves them right just doesn't sit right with me!

[xanderma]

I don't think anyone here has suggested that it 'serves them right', unless I've skipped some of the posts, but many people cannot understand the rationale of the parents' actions.
Surely no one could be completely without sympathy for them, but it doesn't mean we have to accept that their behaviour was right or sensible. Even without the benefit of hindsight, can it ever have seemed a good idea to do what they did?

[netibiza]

xanderma well said, you are perfectly right. I cerainly feel so sorry for the parents, but still fail to understand how abnyone could leave children unattended.

[smudge]

......I would hope that the majority of people on & off AB are thinking on the same lines xanderma.

I do feel very sorry for the parents, as they must by now be torturing themselves for taking the calculated risk of leaving their three little ones on their own - sadly, they are now paying the price.

Having said that & as I mentioned earlier, you are usually advised not to leave valuables in hotel rooms or apartments, but to use a safe - just in case someone breaks in & steals them - surely this must also apply to young children.......

[netibiza]

Hi there smudge isn't it dreadful?? Apparently it wasn't the first time they left the children unattended over there. Why oh why do people leave their common snese behind when they go on holiday!!

[netibiza]

*sense*

[smudge]

Hi dear Neti - I have been thinking about you, even tho' I don't pop into AB as much as I used to. Hope you & yours are well. ^8^

Yes, it's awful - I didn't realise they had left their children before. In that case, they should be thanking their lucky stars that all three weren't taken!

Also, I quite agree about not wanting to use baby listening services - to me, it's just the same as the parents popping back & forth every now & then - anything could happen in the mean time!

I would hope that this case has made lots of parents & grandparents sit up & think twice in the future.....

[xanderma]

I'm sure I heard somewhere that Maddie turns 4 soon - Friday comes to mind, but I could be making that up. That just makes it even worse somehow - it's going on too long now....

[NikkiB]

Tonight, seeing the holiday complex diagram in 3D on the television, one can appreciate now just how FAR away the parents were from their apartment. Not only was it 50 yards across a busy square, but half of their apartment was hidden from view AND little Maddy's window was the other side of the building. The parents never had any view of the children's window. Even if they'd sat at the restaurant window, they would never have been any the wiser about someone suspicious near the children's bedroom window.

Equally worrying now and more pressing, the BBC spoke to a Portuguese policeman who was doing "house to house" today. Whenever the police encounter an empty or unresponding property, they simply move on to another dwelling. Keystone Kops.

[alijangra]

Does anybody happen to know if either of the parents actually looks after the children day to day, or are they at nursery? I heard someone making this point today. Are they used to just having someone else take care of their kids?

[netibiza]

NikkiB>/B> I agree, I also saw the map and it was way too far and out of sight. I was getting the mpression it was in full view and opposite the tapas bar. What a dreadful mistake they made.

alijangra have no idea,but with them both being medical people I would suppose they used either a nanny or some type of child-care as surely they would both be working at some oint in the day.

[netibiza]

*Sorry I wasn't shouting,get confused with this bold business* I know I should preview, but can't be bothered.

[netibiza]

So the Mccanns left their children alone EVERY night whilst on holiday -perfect opportunity for a paedophile to watch and wait.

I couldn't do it for 1 minute let alone every night.

[smudge]

Yes, you're right Neti - just read this on the Daily Mail site:

"The night that Madeleine McCann was abducted was not the first time that her parents had left her alone while on holiday, according to reports in Portugal.

The newspaper Correio da Manha says that the McCanns had left their children alone before during their holiday in the Algarve - a routine that, while normal at Praia da Luz, may have made it easy for her kidnapper to plan the abduction.

"Police have reconstructed the holiday routines of the McCanns and have come to the conclusion that the children were left alone on other occasions," the newspaper says.

It reported that throughout the week the McCanns and their friends made a habit of suppers by the pool while the children - Madeleine, her twin siblings, and three other children - slept alone in the apartments. The night she was abducted, Madeleine's parents had been checking on her roughly every half hour".

I say again - I bet they had valuables locked up in a safe in that very room......the mind boggles!

[smudge]

Just watched this little girl's mother at another Church service today - she looks so drawn & absolutely at her wits end now, poor woman.

I hope & pray her daughter will soon be found & reunited with her family.........

[sifellis]

Here's an point from my family who are all police officers....all of little sympathy.

Roughly 92% of all people who go on to the TV to appeal to the person who has commited a heanous crime against their loved ones have themselves been the perpetrator.

I'm not accusing the McCann's of anything but as the daily mail said 'police have to search down all avenues' after all, stranger....and much worse things have happened in the past.