Madeleine McCann's Father Urges Stronger Press Regulation Amid Recollections of Media "Hounding".

Gerry McCann, father to Madeleine McCann has demanded more robust oversight for the UK media, detailing how intense press coverage made him feel that he was being "suffocated and buried".

The McCanns Tormented by Press "Abuses"

According to Gerry McCann, his family was tormented by press "intrusions" and that the media had "consistently hampered" the investigation into his daughter's 2007 disappearance.

He noted that the intrusion took a "huge toll" on his family. "We endured sustained interest and sensationalized stories for over a year that compelled us to take legal action to stop it," he commented.

"We are lucky. We survived. We received incredible backing. Yet, I must tell you, there were times where I felt like I was being suffocated, and it was the media, mostly, not the situation we were in," he stated.

A Call to Restart Leveson Inquiry

The McCanns are among a group of people who have put their names to a letter asking ministers to reopen the second part of the Leveson investigation, which was intended to examine the links between the media and the police.

He expressed that it was not acceptable that more than a year on, press regulation was "no longer a priority". He described how his family had been subjected to "relentless targeting" by parts of the media and that the press was "camped" outside his home for an extended period after Madeleine went missing.

Recounting the Harassment

Recalling the harassment, he said: "Journalists coming to the house, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window, when we had two-year-old twins in the back who were scared, and how distressing that is for you as a parent."

"It's the inaccuracies. It's the making up of stories to drive a headline, rather than reality, which causes immense harm," he stated.

The Need for Tougher Oversight and Accountability

He said the conduct highlighted why there needed to be stricter press regulation. "At night, as we prepared for bed, we'd put on the news, and there'd be splash stories about ourselves and unverified claims," he said.

"That almost pulls you under, and you can see how people give in to it and think they can't get out of it. The impact is devastating, and we need that protection. People deserve recourse. And at the minute, for most of the major publishers, there is no redress," he concluded.

Official Position and Changing News Environment

A government minister stated that a follow-up part of the inquiry had been discounted and that the news environment was now profoundly changed.

"Our position aligns that the situation has changed dramatically from the time the Leveson's second phase was recommended: the public is now more likely to get their news from the internet, which has created new and different challenges," the minister said.

It was also noted that balancing the needs of those affected with the principle of press freedom was a "really difficult thing to get right," but recognized that "action is needed in this area".

A Continued Hope for Answers

Madeleine McCann disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 when she was three years old. It was stated that it was "absolutely dismaying" how the press had repeatedly interfered with the investigation.

"Published material which was meant for police only... So if you were the perpetrator, you knew far more than you should have done," he noted.

Speaking about hope, he said the hope he would find his daughter was "slim but it's not extinguished". "We hope to find her alive, but we need to find out what happened and see justice served, and people are at risk while that person is free," he concluded.