The latest ‘lead’ in the McCann disappearance case is a sort of ‘hearsay meets inadmissible’ hotch-potch of uncheckable third-hand allegations and disappearing evidence.

‘I know who took Maddie’ said a former paedophile to The Sun.
Well actually, not the former paedophile: this is his son talking. Mr Paedophile died of cancer last April.
And actually, the son doesn’t actually know who took Madeleine – he just knows that his late dad met a bloke in a bar who said he knew who had done it. But his dad’s dead now, so we’ll never know who this person was.
But the son got a letter from his deathbed dad who’s now dead – so we have that!
Er, actually, no we don’t – because seefingizzright, the son burned the letter.

Why on God’s earth, we ask ourselves, would he do that to the biggest money-spinner since the Hitler Diaries?

Well, it’s the silly season – and it sells papers. But to be fair to the tabloids involved, the one ‘development’ in the story is that Madeleine was apparently not abducted for sex – but rather, stolen to order for a rich family who couldn’t have children.

If you were rich and childless, is this really what you’d do to adopt a kid….when one trip to Asia or South America could get you a soccer team of kids quite legally? Ah no, but hang on – rich, childless couples are racist aren’t they? And picky. Sorry. I forgot that bit. Right: they prefer to steal a kid whose picture will be on the front page of every newspaper forever.

The whole thing reads like bollocks from start to finish to me – but yer pays yer money and yer takes yer choice. Incidentally, nice ‘related story’ touch on the Currant Bun’s website: ‘Maddie Beach Perv Nicked’. This was a story about a bloke arrested for taking pictures on the beach at the infamous Portuguese resort. Er….that’s it.

Rupert Murdoch, eh? Such a civilising influence.