Gerry McCann calls for stronger press regulation as he recalls ‘monstering’ | Press regulation

Madeleine McCann’s father has called for greater scrutiny of the UK media as he described how the “monstrosity” of some sections of the press made him feel like he was being “smothered and buried”.

Gerry McCann said his family was tortured by “abuses” from the press and that the media “repeatedly interfered” with the investigation into his daughter’s disappearance in 2007.

He said the attack had caused “huge harm” to his family. “For 15 months or more we were subjected to attention and misleading headlines that forced us to take legal action to stop this,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“We were lucky. We survived. We had tremendous support. But I swear to you, there were times when I felt suffocated, and it was primarily the media that made it known, not the situation we were in.” argument [suspect].

“We knew the legal process. We knew what was going on, the way things were portrayed, that you were strangled and buried, and we felt like there was no way out.”

McCann and his wife Kate are among more than 30 people who have signed a letter calling on Keir Starmer to revive the second part of the Leveson inquiry, which is planned to examine the relationship between the media and the police.

McCann said it was unacceptable that press regulation was “no longer a priority” more than a year after Labor came to power. He said his family had been subjected to “monstrosity” by some sections of the media and that the press had been “camped out” outside his home in Rothley, Leicestershire, for months following Madeleine’s disappearance.

Describing the intrusion, he said: “Journalists coming to the house, photographers literally banging their cameras on our car window, with our terrified two-year-old twins behind us and how sad that is for you as a parent… These are half-truths. Making up stories to fit the agenda rather than the facts that are ruining people’s lives.”

He said the behavior showed why tighter press regulation was needed. “We were getting ready for bed, we were on the news at night, and there were front page headlines about us and what supposedly happened,” he said.

“It almost drags you down to the bottom, and you can see how people succumb to it and feel like they can’t get out of it. It’s very damaging, and we need that protection, too. It needs to be redressed. And for most of the mainstream media right now, there’s no redress. They don’t investigate, they don’t support complaints.”

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said the second stage of the investigation had been ruled out and the media environment was now very different. He told the Today programme: “We made it clear before the election that we would not start the second part of the Leveson inquiry.”

“We share the previous government’s view that the situation has changed profoundly since the second part of Leveson was proposed: people are now more likely to get their news online from a wide range of sources, which has presented new and different challenges.”

He added on BBC Breakfast: “Getting on track is a really difficult thing because we have to balance the rights and needs of victims and survivors with the need for a free press. But I recognize that action is needed in this area and I’d be really happy to meet Mr McCann to discuss this.”

Madeleine disappeared from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in 2007, when she was three years old. Gerry McCann said it was “absolutely appalling” that the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation.

“Published material, witness statements and many other things that were supposed to be confidential had to be passed on to the police. So if you were the perpetrator, you knew a lot more than you should have.”

He said his hope that he would find his daughter was “faint but not extinguished.” “I would love to find him alive but we need to find out what happened and bring those responsible to justice; as long as the perpetrator remains at large, other children and people are at risk,” he said.