john audley

It seems that there was a conspiracy involving a number of persons to set in motion a fund 'to find Shannon' inspired by the Macanns fund that raised a couple of millions. The mother is not totally to blame if she is a part of this conspiracy. If this was the plot then little Shannon must have had some knowledge for her to take part? A child will do what adults wish. How they thought for one moment the chance of getting away with such a plan is ridiculous and, personally I do feel sorry for the lot of them in a strange way, it is a comic opara.
Blame the country that inspires amoral behavior (that will not call it amoral!). We have fast take away food and then blame people for making street litter. (Logic).
One letter in the press said: 'a sink estate mother with seven children is called disjointed whilst a man is called the Mayor of London!
The most concerning sight for me was, when Shannon was found, the Estate population 'celebrated' with a big street bottle party and the burning of leaflets. Did look a little pagan perhaps?

'You should be kind to us normals, there are not many of us left you know'!

samkydd

Perhaps a licence to have children would be appropriate, where you not only have to pass an exam of parental competence but you also have to pay an annual licence fee equilvilant to, say a year's supply of beer and fags per sprog! The fee could be put in a public liability insurance pot for when the children eventually become mindless vandals and thugs, so it would cover the cost of repairs or injury to third parties.Non-compliance would result in compulsory sterility!

Also after two children have been spawned the benefit entitlement should be frozen! This would prevent breeding purely for the sake of financial gain from the benefits system.

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Steve Crook

Very good. Now go and look up Malthus

Steve

davidb

the headline in todays sun about her supposedly being a benefit cheat ,made me think i bet the self employed freelance reporter who came up with the story has got a very good accountant as well ,wonder if theyre totally honest all the time ? bet that took you all by surprise didnt it ? im not in favour of her being made public enemy no1

samkydd

It's very easy to speculate before the facts come to light in any trial. In fact it's usually good fun for people to speculate over such a case. By the time it gets to Court we will probably have forgotten all about it and be speculating on some other person's misfortune/stupidity/criminality!

The real loser of course is the child, who has almost been forgotten about during this trauma! If children can't trust their parents or relatives who on earth can they turn to?

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

davidb

isnt the sun in danger of pejudicing their trial ? ive noticed the story seems to have been dropped from various talk radio shows ,probably for that reason

Steve Crook

There used to be a belief in sub judice whereby newspapers wouldn't speculate on cases before they came to trial. They would merely report that certain people had been charged with certain crimes.

But that idea was abandoned by British newspapers (and some radio & TV shows) some years ago.

People often use adverse press reporting before the trial in an appeal so the press doing a bit of rabble rousing or condemning people before their trial usually only helps them get off. But the press doesn't really care about the result, they only want to sell newspapers and they don't care how they do it

Steve

davidb

how will they find a jury who doesnt have pre concieved ideas about the case ?

Steve Crook

Find people like me who never read any newspapers
But there aren't many of us

Steve

davidb

i suppose to the currant bun ,this story has got everything ,a shameless style family ,a "paedo "stepfather ,an allegation of child neglect ,bet the editor cant sleep at night with the excitement , im not a fan of these people as you may have read in earlier posts ,the jobless welfare dependant culture annoys me ,especially when the poles can find work within 5 seconds of setting foot here , but id like to see them at least have a fair trial ,any of us could be accused of something ,dont like the idea of trial by tabloid newspaper

batman

Present!

Don't miss out on a chance to win a rare film in Bat-Quiz 13 closing date - 31/8/8.

Steve Crook

The Sun certainly has got a shameless style

Newspapers used to be under threat of prosecution for contempt of court if they breached the sub judice idea. But nowadays, newspapers just put such prosecutions down as justifiable expenses

Steve

davidb

they should jail one of the editors then

Steve Crook

Another "justifiable expense" that can be written off
Editors don't have all that much power nowadays.

Go for the owners - Murdoch, Barclay brothers, Desmond, Sullivan etc.
It's only if they are personally fined very heavily (about the GDP of a medium sized country) or jailed, that anything will be noticed. Similar with the few that are controlled by corporations rather than individual owners, like Associated newspapers, Guardian group, Trinity Mirror etc. Lock 'em all up and throw away the key. The world would be a better place without them.

Most fines that are imposed aren't even noticed. Even the "substantial damages" recently imposed on the Express & Star for their shameful coverage of (and fiction about) Madeleine McCann and her parents. But forcing them to print a huge front page apology, they noticed that because there was a chance it would make their readers realise that they just make up a lot of their stories

Steve

samkydd

I don't read newspapers either but unfortunately the news filters through the ether and reaches me, despite trying to avoid it at all costs! I find that people who read the 'papers regularly, or watch it on the box, Net, listen to the radio etc are rarely happy with their lot!

This is understandable for someone like a nurse who is on fairly low income and is dedicated to the job, then reads in the 'paper about a footballer who earns more in a week than he/she could in ten years! The footballer may be worth every penny but after reading it that person may go to work feeling more than a little hard done by! Newspapers often report on benefit cheats receiving £30K a year for spawning children and sitting on their arse all day, when others are putting in 40 hours a week in a crap factory for less than half that amount! Some of these stories may be made-up or exagerated but they still have the desired effect of pissing the working man off!

So stop buying newspapers and get a decent magazine instead!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"