[user104658]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I don't want to speak for TS but what i took him to mean re the Steve Avery case was people were happy to speculate and to suggest that it may have been Teresas brother or ex B/f or Brendans brother and step dad etc, I don't think he was specifically referring to you Ammi just a general observation on how one thing is ok to do but the other is not

That's pretty much it Niamh and no it wasn't directed at Ammi... just generally people getting up-in-arms about any speculation on the McCann case. People generally don't have much problem with speculation over... welll... pretty much anything at all that has a high media profile. But the McCann's seem to get "special consideration" because they are (or were) basically a prefab of "good old English". Two white, middle class, middle England, middle aged, well spoken, well educated doctors. Just two respectable people and wonderful parents (or course, they were middle class doctors!) who were doing absolutely nothing wrong and fell on the wrong side of fate, and on the right side of a Union Jack teacosy.

If it was little Tiffany snatched out of a grubby hotel room in Faliraki while parents Wayne and Candice were out doing shots at the club down the road, they would be absolutely slaughtered in the press, in public chit-chat, and on forums, and far fewer people (if anyone) would be strapping up their ranty-boots to defend them. The reality is, the situation would be exactly the same.