UK woman found dead after being accused of 'trolling' Madeleine McCann's parents

[JustAnotherFarang]

This was Brenda Ryans open apology to the McCanns for the pain and anguish that she had caused them. It is both apt and right that everyone reading this forum should hear what she had to say.

"Dear Kate and Gerry McCann

I write this apology to you with a very heavy heart, a heart that knows now how much pain and suffering I caused you, your family and friends by allowing a forum to exist that was none other than a “cess-pit”.

I had no right to stand in judgement of a family who are bearing the most inconceivable pain ever, the loss of a child and a family who need people to help not hinder.

You, your family and your friends did NOT deserve to have your lives torn apart by malicious posts written on a forum I hosted and by posts written by myself. Even though I had no control of what those people wrote I did hold the ultimate power to delete. My failure to do that simple action will never be excusable, along with my failure to control a rabid situation which added to the pain you, as parents of a missing child, were already suffering.

I know deep down, no matter how many times I say “I’m sorry”, it will never take that pain you both must have felt and still continue to feel if you read those posts and that, on my part, is unforgiveable.

One day I hope you find it in your heart to forgive a stupid blinkered woman, who should have known better, for her sins. A woman who allowed her own gut-instinct and feelings to rule her judgement, instead of allowing the facts and evidence which was evident to prove that your daughter is a missing child and a child that needs to be found.

I don’t expect your forgiveness because to be honest if I was standing in your shoes at this precise moment, I would probably find it hard to forgive a person who caused my family so much unnecessary pain.

My selfish actions gave a platform and an arena to a man who is beyond contempt in my eyes. A man who will stop at nothing in his attempt to tarnish the family and friends of a missing child with his horrendous accusations and his actions that cause as much pain to a child’s family, ever imaginable. A man who will stop at nothing in order to satisfy his own insatiable quest to inflict as much pain and suffering as he can on the family of a missing child. A man that proclaims he cares for your daughter but leads people to believe that Madeleine is not a findable living child.

Whether he would have gained such an audience if the3arguidos had never been created I don’t know. And for allowing this man to have free access to a forum that caused you so much pain, I sincerely apologise to you both and realise my actions were so wrong. And knowing full well that my actions of allowing him to post on that forum gained him popularity, and for that action I can only offer you both my unreservedly sincere regrets and profound apologies.

As they say hindsight is such a wonderful thing and when I say I wish I could turn back the clock I truly mean it. If I could have had access to a crystal ball for just one split second back in November 2007, no way would I have ever clicked on that submit button that created that monster of a forum.

Your daughter deserved better than that, you deserved better than that. She deserved my attention to be focussed on helping to find her not condemning innocent people and standing in judgement without knowing all the facts. So many forum myths were created by that forum, and I want to dispel those myths by writing about the truth and by trying to put right the so many wrongs I did to your family.

The truth is in the files and definitely not in someone’s mind or what they think is the truth.

I failed to see that even though you were bearing the hardest pain any parent could ever imagine, you still found it in yourselves to help the plight of missing people. You ran, cycled and raised awareness and money for Charity. You campaigned tirelessly for Amber Alert and instead of giving you credit I gave you condemnation. You both did not deserve that.

I have read your book Kate, and I feel as if, through your words, I have got to know the real Kate McCann and not the Kate McCann the media at times wanted to portray, especially the Portuguese media. I have felt your pain and shared your laughter, especially at you running to the top of that hill in New Zealand.

I have cried so many tears at reading how desperate you both were for information and news about your daughter’s whereabouts and please may you one day both find it in your hearts to forgive me.

My jaw has dropped to the floor when I read about the questioning, the conduct of the Police, how unprofessional they were at times, and the information you told us all about children being molested whilst on holiday.

I close by saying, may your pain end soon with Madeleine being found alive and returned home to you both. Where Madeleine may once again be in the warmth, comfort and love of her family a place where she should never have been taken from. May God listen to your pleas and answer your prayers soon.

I truly am sorry for adding to your pain and maybe one day, you both, will find it in your hearts to forgive me.

Bren Ryan"

[katana]

Here's the video when she was doorstepped by the reporter. Looks crestfallen when the police are mentioned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW9UoQ3EOow

[poweratradio]

Time to lock this thread me thinks & feels.

[BestBitterPhuket]

So here are Brenda Leyland's tweets

http://greptweet.com/u/sweepyface/sweepyface.txt

Although it is being reported that she abused the McCanns she had no contact with them and I don't believe that either of them are on Twitter. What she actually seems to be doing is pointing out all of the discrepancies and lies the McCanns have told about the case on her Twitter feed. From what I've read of it (there's a lot of Tweets and it goes on for nearly a year) she is openly discussing the case with other people on Twitter so she may well be entitled to do this under free speech. The way the media are reporting it and using the "I am entitled to do that" without context makes it seems like she was a dangerous person who was sending the McCanns abuse directly and showing no remorse for it, but it doesn't appear to be the case when you read through what she was discussing.

What you fail to address is that when the media attention turned upon her, she chose to kill herself rather than accept the consequences of her actions, which where undeniable. So therefore we can rightly assume that whilst she had anonymity she was more than happy to discuss the details of a case that she knows so little about.......... but once the spotlight turned upon her she was not willing to have her life undergo microscopic inspection. Dare I also suggest Kun Matt that if you ever encountered a tragic situation you too would not want your personal and private life exposed in front of the media and the keyboard jackals who would bay for your blood. There is such a thing as innocent until proven guilty and we should respect that fact before casting further aspersions.

JAF

Well said! People like "kunmatt" and this woman troll represent the lowest form of life on the internet. Truly disgusting.

[KunMatt]

Not to cast any aspersions about the portuguese police investigation but why have the UK police not issued any warrants and/or extradited the McCanns if their case is so conclusive. If I recall, the UK police have seen this so called evidence and found it to be unsatisfactory and without merit. Maybe you think that the UK police are trying to protect the parents because...........oh, you are right, this is getting very silly.

The Portuguese case is based on hearsay and misinformation which was released to the media in an attempt to muddy the waters so that this case did not reflect badly upon their investigation and the tourist industry on the whole. If there was one iota of truth in it all then the UK police would not hesitate to arrest the parents or at least bring them in and hold them for questioning. To suggest otherwise is preposterous and not worthy of any further debate for fear of feeding the trolls.

Of course I could be wrong and they could be guilty but I will leave that to those that have the real qualifications and years of expertise to decide. May I suggest that you too could consider the parents innocent until proven guilty and stop wasting your time frequenting websites that make all these spurious assumptions based on detective skills gleaned from television programs such as CSI and Miss Marple.

JAF

16 posts before this one I said "You are also saying that the entire Portuguese police force are incompetent and that ALL of the evidence that they uncovered during their investigation is totally incorrect or fabricated for whatever reason". Why didn't you just agree with that statement then and be done with it instead of dragging this on for even longer?

And I haven't said that the McCanns are guilty of anything, this is another attempt of yours to make me sound bad and put words in my mouth which are not true. I simply posted here yesterday so people would realise that there is another side to the McCanns than their media image and maybe people would look into it for themselves and form their own opinion. I thought I had done it in a way to provoke some interest but instead several people like yourself only defended the thing I was trying to question.

[daveAustin]

Who cares what certain people think in the way they have carried themselves! Their daughter was kidnapped and possibly murdered, F.F.S! Don't blame them for standing up for themselves and shouting down people who think they either did it or question their character. If it happened to me, I would be exactly the same as would the majority of parents out there. Bloody armchair detectives/psychologists/warriors/trolls make me puke!

[Tep]

This event now define's this woman's life. A life of 63 years with the epithet of 'Troll'. People have been arguing back and forth since the first person learned to speak. Does the use of social media fundamentally change the nature of discourse? Should the written and unwritten rules and norms be changed? Maybe the social pressure of the 'likers' and the 'haters' is a game changer. Maybe the instantaneousness of the media is a game changer. Is the anonymity and ability for people to adopt disguises a game changer? A Troll is dead, who cannot be pleased with this? Who hasn't been flamed on social media for expressing thoughts and ideas and would have loved to reach down the wire and throttle that person?

She seemed perfectly nice and normal on the clip.

My first reaction was that of course she was a nasty bitch. But she probably wasn't. At least not to everyone. After more thought, I think she was correct on that clip. She was entitled to say what she said. It may not have been nice. It may not have been true. But I think she was entitled and removing that entitlement would be a dangerous development. Naturally, there are laws defining what can and can't be said. These are not consistent among countries and cultures. There is an argument that free speech is not absolute. You cannot shout fire in a crowded theatre etc. Did this woman's speech rise (or sink) to that level? I don't know but I still think that irrespective of whether there was ill-will or some other agenda, she was entitled to have her say. The recipient can switch off the computer or choose to ignore or respond in a whole number of ways.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Tep

[KunMatt]

This event now define's this woman's life. A life of 63 years with the epithet of 'Troll'. People have been arguing back and forth since the first person learned to speak. Does the use of social media fundamentally change the nature of discourse? Should the written and unwritten rules and norms be changed? Maybe the social pressure of the 'likers' and the 'haters' is a game changer. Maybe the instantaneousness of the media is a game changer. Is the anonymity and ability for people to adopt disguises a game changer? A Troll is dead, who cannot be pleased with this? Who hasn't been flamed on social media for expressing thoughts and ideas and would have loved to reach down the wire and throttle that person?

She seemed perfectly nice and normal on the clip.

My first reaction was that of course she was a nasty bitch. But she probably wasn't. At least not to everyone. After more thought, I think she was correct on that clip. She was entitled to say what she said. It may not have been nice. It may not have been true. But I think she was entitled and removing that entitlement would be a dangerous development. Naturally, there are laws defining what can and can't be said. These are not consistent among countries and cultures. There is an argument that free speech is not absolute. You cannot shout fire in a crowded theatre etc. Did this woman's speech rise (or sink) to that level? I don't know but I still think that irrespective of whether there was ill-will or some other agenda, she was entitled to have her say. The recipient can switch off the computer or choose to ignore or respond in a whole number of ways.

I read in an interview yesterday that Gerry Mccann said that he and his wife have almost no online presence and they do not read any social media so this story about Leyland trolling the McCanns and sending them abuse is all just the angle that Sky News took up and the McCanns had probably never even known Leyland existed let alone been aware of any of her many, many Twitter posts about them.

As with anything you cannot believe the mainstream media as there is always an agenda, it doesn't take much to see the other side of the story in most cases.

[JustAnotherFarang]

Often what we don't know we will speculate about but the smartest and wisest people will often add "what do know, we are just guessing". Sadly some people become enveloped within conspiracy theories and the accompanying hyperbole that even when presented with rational arguments as to why they are misguided, will just choose to ignore the obvious and look for other reasons why they are right when they are probably wrong..

Brenda Leyland did not make one or two casual tweets regarding this case, in fact she made well over 4000 tweets (4,625 to be exact, the vast majority using the #McCann hashtag). She participated in a forum over a 4 year period that she herself called "a cesspit" where other users would add their tuppence worth, often in the most vile and disgusting ways. In all fairness, she did reply to some of these vile and disgusting tweets by asking why people would find it funny that a little girl had been kidnapped and probably killed. Alas, it did not stop the vilifcation and over time she also made many tweets which would be considered harmful, insensitive and offensive towards the McCanns.

To say she was obsessed with the McCanns would be an understatement. She would tweet about the couple’s various court and select committee appearances for more than three hours straight. She would spend entire mornings or evenings conversing with other sceptics, arguing with McCann supporters, or just spouting her views on the latest angle to the case. When it came to light that people where looking to "out" her, she tried to deflect attention away from herself by dismissing the fact that people were now aware of her location. Only when Martin Brunt added her as a friend on Twitter did the penny finally drop that the show was finally over and days later she deleted her twitter account.

For those who might have the time or inclination to know more of what she actually said in all of her tweets, I have included a website that includes a link to her archived tweets.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/patricksmith/read-the-deleted-tweets-brenda-leyland-sent-the-mccanns#3cbtn8f

Whilst I find it sad that someone would take their own life, I think in many ways it goes to show that when we are on the receiving end of the media spotlight and public vitriole, we too may well wonder where to turn for support. Some will stand up, shout and scream to all and sundry.....others may not be so brave and seek other ways to end the scrutiny.

JAF

[tw25rw]

I've read up heaps on it and much of the campaign against them is based on gossip and here-say with a bit of pseudo science thrown in.

The Portuguese police reports on the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance is probably at the center of many of the allegations, or maybe just a jump off point for them. http://www.mccannfiles.com/id315.html

Not gossip or hearsay by internet trolls but the opinions of all of the police officers who were involved in the investigation and their official conclusions.

Well it's a good thing that not everyone the police think are guilty actually are!

I actually read that site about May/June this year so won't bother again, but I seem to remember that a key witness was a dog that could supposedly not only detect the odour of a recently dead person (as opposed to how they smelt shortly before they were dead) weeks after they had been removed, but could tell the difference between a human corpse and an animal's. His handler admitted that he didn't know what he smelt or how it worked, but he was apparently good at it. And everyone seems to believe it.

[jacky54]

Who cares what certain people think in the way they have carried themselves! Their daughter was kidnapped and possibly murdered, F.F.S! Don't blame them for standing up for themselves and shouting down people who think they either did it or question their character. If it happened to me, I would be exactly the same as would the majority of parents out there. Bloody armchair detectives/psychologists/warriors/trolls make me puke!

They are to blame for neglecting the kids and going out drinking, but wait a mo they are middle class Doctors so they must be treated as the victims. I don't for a minute think they were involved beyond neglecting the children's safety. She is NOT going to be found after all this time so it's time to stop wasting money on it, and it's time for them to move on. They will never be able to forgive themselves, that's their own fault though. What about all the other missing kids whose parents are not well off articulate middle class wine fans?

[jdinasia]

So here are Brenda Leyland's tweets

http://greptweet.com/u/sweepyface/sweepyface.txt

Although it is being reported that she abused the McCanns she had no contact with them and I don't believe that either of them are on Twitter. What she actually seems to be doing is pointing out all of the discrepancies and lies the McCanns have told about the case on her Twitter feed. From what I've read of it (there's a lot of Tweets and it goes on for nearly a year) she is openly discussing the case with other people on Twitter so she may well be entitled to do this under free speech. The way the media are reporting it and using the "I am entitled to do that" without context makes it seems like she was a dangerous person who was sending the McCanns abuse directly and showing no remorse for it, but it doesn't appear to be the case when you read through what she was discussing.

What you fail to address is that when the media attention turned upon her, she chose to kill herself rather than accept the consequences of her actions, which where undeniable. So therefore we can rightly assume that whilst she had anonymity she was more than happy to discuss the details of a case that she knows so little about.......... but once the spotlight turned upon her she was not willing to have her life undergo microscopic inspection. Dare I also suggest Kun Matt that if you ever encountered a tragic situation you too would not want your personal and private life exposed in front of the media and the keyboard jackals who would bay for your blood. There is such a thing as innocent until proven guilty and we should respect that fact before casting further aspersions.

JAF

Well said! People like "kunmatt" and this woman troll represent the lowest form of life on the internet. Truly disgusting.

I think that's a bit harsh, but not entirely off the mark.