"It was like a doom-laden fairy tale from
the Dark Ages. A sweet little girl, instantly dubbed the blonde angel, stolen
by a swarthy Roma couple who looked shifty and shady as people always do in
police mugshots. The story tapped into ancient fears of greedy gypsies stealing
innocent children, of good versus evil at its most rudimentary level.
The shock waves rippled across Europe, sowing fear and loathing. In Ireland – a
country with a shameful record of hostility towards travelling people – a
seven-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy were ripped from their families
despite having birth certificates and passports in perfect order. In Serbia,
skinheads tried to take a fair-haired Roma child from his parents. In Britain,
broadcasters and newspapers reheated scare stories and, with minimal evidence,
stoked the fires of living hell for families of missing children such as
Madeleine McCann." (thanks Ali)