I wonder if I am alone in growing weary of the constant endless news coverage of the toddler missing in Portugal. Whilst it is undoubtedly a horrific event and I wish for the safe return of the girl as soon as possible, I find the blanket media coverage bizarre and bordering on hysterical.

The Portuguese police are limited by their country’s laws in the extent of information that they can make public during an investigation and this “secrecy” has lead to British tabloids directing all their fury at the foreign force.

Conspicuous by its absence in the news coverage is any criticism of the child’s parents. I agree that it is not helpful to blame them for leaving their young children alone, but it seems incredible that hardly anyone in the mainstream press has made any criticism of the fact that they did leave very young children alone. Granted, someone broke in to the apartment, but what if there had been a fire, accident or some other problem with the kids? It’s a lot easier to have your handbag stolen if you leave it unattended than if you have it on your arm.

There have been questions raised about whether they would have had more criticism had the child not been beautiful and had the parents not been older, white, middle-class, church-going, wealthy doctors. I can just imagine the kind of headlines that would have sprung up had the papers decided to make a stink.

More outstanding is the fact that main and rolling news stations have been dominated by coverage of people leaving teddies, wearing yellow armbands etc. It must be a great comfort to the parents who are courting publicity in the hope it brings back their daughter, but news of a fund being set up so they can stay out in the Algarve, celebrity appeals and a £2.5 million reward are being gleefully reported by a whole army of reporters out in Portugal, who really have nothing new to say.

Apart from the police and intelligence services, there is not much anyone else can do. Maybe it is a mixture of this feeling helpless to do anything, or parents in the UK feeling guilt over times they have left their children alone, but the public response seems to be on par with a reaction to a national tragedy affecting many people – rather than a tragic story involving one family.