Madeline - April - Callum

I cannot begin to imagine the anguish of losing a child. And in recent years I’ve begun to think that the murder by the state of certain offenders may not be such a bad thing after all. And the McCanns can only be commended for their persistence in keeping their daughter in the public eye all of these years, and for getting the police enquiry re-opened.

But I can’t help asking – when did it become OK to leave an infant alone in an insecure hotel room? Checking every 30 minutes may, in some circumstances, be enough for the child’s welfare (though in this case Madeline had complained about waking alone the previous night!) ...but, Jeez, I wouldn’t leave a shaver in an insecure hotel room let alone an infant! When did parenting become part-time?

And – years after this well publicised event – when did it become OK to let a 5-year-old play out on the street completely unsupervised? Or to let a 3-year old wander about a hotel, past a swimming pool?

Jamie Bulger lost his life because his mum was distracted; she made a mistake. But Madeline, April, and Callum were knowingly placed in danger.

Our littles were never put at risk in this way. Parenting is a 24/7 role and you don’t get down-time unless you have another adult you can rely upon. Poor Kate McCann summed it up in the BBC programme on Monday, talking about her feelings of guilt: “Why did we think that was OK?”