A Considerate Criminal by Dr Martin Roberts

By Dr Martin Roberts28 October 2009

A CONSIDERATE CRIMINAL

No, not the ocean-going child trafficker selling his prey on to a comfortable life in the Antipodes. Nor yet the dark-skinned Algerian (mafia boss, drug dealer, child snatcher), who apparently could not have cared less whether Madeleine was 'placed' with paedophiles, a family, or even a family of paedophiles. The title concerns the individual who went to such extraordinary lengths, not simply to do his master's bidding, but to comply in a manner more thoughtful even than that of the parents whose child he was intent on appropriating.

The burglar's principle is akin to that of the professional boxer: Get in. Get the job done. Get out. No messing. Someone stealing a child from its own domicile (the rarest of child abduction scenarios) would surely not embellish the proceedings unnecessarily, any more than might a jewel thief. And yet, in the case of Madeleine McCann, we have a child removed from her bed, some would say by a stalker, in pursuance of an almost apologetic crime.

A 'cold case review', conducted for the Daily Express not long ago by Donal MacIntyre, found favour with investigators working for the McCanns. MacIntyre postulated that Madeleine's eventual abductor carried out a 'dry run' the evening beforehand, disturbing the children in the process. more