A retired
British solicitor, Tony Bennett, has set up a fund
called The
Madeleine Foundation, which aims to bring a
private prosecution against the McCanns for alleged
child neglect.
But
Madeleine's parents fear members of the public will
inadvertently donate money to it because they may
mistake it for the McCanns' own Madeleine Fund, which
pays for private investigations into her whereabouts.
Mr
Bennett, 60, who has in the past worked with the family
of Stuart Lubbock, the man found dead in Michael
Barrymore's swimming pool in 2001, described his fund as
a subscription-only members' club, charging a £10 annual
fee.
Last
year he tried unsuccessfully to launch a private
prosecution against the McCanns, only to be told by
magistrates in Leicester that they had no jurisdiction
over the case, because Madeleine disappeared in
Portugal.
Mr
Bennett said: "Some of the money immediately raised will
be used to pay for a barrister to give his or her
opinion on how best to proceed with a legal action
against the McCanns.
"We are
a group of people, which is rapidly growing in number,
who want to get to the truth of what happened to
Madeleine.
"We
will also campaign for changes to the law about parents
who leave children on their own.
"If you
go on the internet and look at some of the forums and
blogs about Madeleine, there is a large and significant
number of people who feel powerless and
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TONY BENNETT |
who
want to do something about it."
Mr
Bennett said the official website for the Madeleine
Foundation, which will not have charitable status, is
about to go live.
He said
all the money raised would be used "in an above board
way" and would be openly accounted for.
Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said: "It is
a great shame that Mr
Bennett
feels the need to make money out of Madeleine McCann.
"He did not seek permission from Gerry or Kate to use
Madeleine's name. This so-called foundation is in no way
doing anything to help find Madeleine.
"It
purports to be a foundation helping the search for
Madeleine but it does nothing at all to help that search
and goes against Gerry and Kate.
"Mr
Bennett has already tried to take a private prosecution
against Gerry and Kate but a court said it has no
jurisdiction over something which allegedly happened in
Portugal."
