News: Virgin boss pledges £100,000 to McCann legal fund
Flights > News > # 1468 (17/09/2007)
Sir Richard Branson has pledged £100,000 to help the parents of missing Madelaine McCann with their legal bills.
The Virgin Atlantic boss promised the money after becoming concerned that the McCann’s could not afford legal fees needed if they are charged in relation to the disappearance of four-year-old Madelaine. She went missing while on holiday in the Algarve on May 3.
Branson’s spokesman said: "This is a chance to give them a fair hearing. When the McCanns said that under no circumstances would they touch the Find Madeleine fund and would sell their house if needs be, Richard felt he had to do something.
"He is a father and there is a missing child out there. If Richard can help a bit to take the burden off the family then that is all to the good."
"In the midst of all of this speculation and rumour, we must remember there is a family in pain and a little four-year-old girl is still missing. We must not lose sight of this fact. It is the only solid fact we know.
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As someone who admires Richard Branson a great deal, I am somewhat disappointed with his actions here. Branson claims that we we must not lose sight of the fact that a little girl is missing. True, but one of the few facts we know about this mysterious case is that the McCann's claim to have left their children unattended. Assuming that this was the case, then they have already effectively pleaded guilty to a major crime. It is easy to see why there is so much media speculation surrounding other possible explanations for what happened, but there is no question that the McCann's have been recklessly irresponsible.
If it turns out that the McCann's do have an additional legal case to answer, then they are, of course, innocent until proven guilty. But the idea that two wealthy doctors somehow need special assistance to fund a possible defence case, in a country which is both the longest standing ally of the UK, and a fellow member of the EU, is, quite frankly, both patronising and xenophobic.
The McCann parents might paint themselves as the model professional couple, but this merely makes the way they recklessly left their children unsupervised even less excusable, especially considering there were creche facilities available. The boss of a major international tourism company, to whom millions of families each year bestow their trust, should not be condoning such behaviour, let alone contributing to their legal fund.
James Avery, managing director of Flightmapping.com
