|
All the important events from August 2008
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Portuguese police release Madeleine McCann case files to parents' lawyers Daily Record
Aug 1 2008
LAWYERS for Kate and Gerry McCann have seen police
files on their missing daughter Madeleine.
Two solicitors acting for the couple travelled yesterday to the Algarve regional centre in Portimao, where
the papers have been kept locked away.
After trawling the 20,000-page folder, they will be joined by their boss, Rogerio Alves, who has been
acting for the couple since they were made official suspects, or "arguidos", last September.
Last week, the McCanns were cleared of suspicion of involvement in the disappearance of their daughter,
who was days short of her fourth birthday when she vanished in May last year.
After the ruling, the McCanns applied for the right to see the police files, which was granted by the
Portuguese courts yesterday.
The McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: "At last, Kate and Gerry will be able to discover what
was, and what was not, done on behalf of Madeleine.
"But, even if there are any 'Eureka!' moments, we won't be making them public.
"All previously unknown leads will be passed first to our investigators, who are poised to check them
out."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Madeleine dossier will finally be made public after Portuguese secrecy laws are lifted Daily Mail
By VANESSA ALLEN
Last updated at 7:12 PM on 03rd August 2008
For fifteen months the Madeleine McCann police case files have been the subject of leaks, smears and innuendo.
But, tomorrow, the true contents of the dossier are set to be made public for the first time as the secrecy of justice
laws surrounding the controversial investigation are finally lifted.
They promise a fascinating insight into the inner workings of the flawed police inquiry and will show the real extent
of the hunt for the missing youngster.
Every witness statement, tip-off and lead followed by detectives since Madeleine's disappearance is contained in the
mammoth files, along with the transcripts of the police interviews with her parents and British ex-pat Robert Murat when they
were made suspects.
Kate and Gerry McCann's legal team has had access to the 11,000-page case files since last week, after the Portuguese
attorney general formally shelved the inquiry and cleared them and Mr Murat as suspects in Madeleine’s disappearance.
The McCanns, both 40, are desperately hoping the files contain a missed clue which could lead them to their missing daughter,
who has not been seen since she vanished from their rented holiday apartment on May 3 last year.
The couple has several teams of detectives on standby, ready to travel across the world to check any potential leads
from the dossier.
Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: 'Our lawyers have begun looking at the files. They are discovering what was done
– and crucially what was not done – in the investigation to find Madeleine.
'All previously unknown leads will be passed to our investigators, who are poised to check them out.'
Until now the only people to have seen the mammoth case files are the McCanns' lawyers, the detectives who led the inquiry,
and the public prosecutors and judges overseeing the inquiry.
But at 2pm today an edited version of the dossier will be released to more than 1,000 journalists who applied to the
prosecutor for permission to view it.
Demand to see the case files has been so great that court officials have scanned every page into a computer and compiled
it on DVD disks.
The release will finally expose the controversial investigation to the full glare of public scrutiny, including failures
to alert borders in the first 12 hours, missed leads and forensic evidence failings.
Strict secrecy laws supposedly protected the investigation until it was formally archived by the attorney general last
month.
Under Portuguese law any police officer, witness or suspect who spoke about the inquiry risked a two-year jail sentence
for breaking the secrecy code.
But in practice officials within the investigation regularly briefed selected Portuguese journalists with details from
the inquiry, initially designed to pressure Mr and Mrs McCann into confessing their alleged involvement and later aimed at
poisoning public opinion against them.
The couple believe the decision to name them as suspects, or arguidos, could have set back their own search for their
daughter, as vital witnesses might not have contacted them with information if they believed the pair were involved.
Much of the leaking was blamed on the former head of the police inquiry, Goncalo Amaral, who last month published a book
containing many of the same vile smears against the couple and their friends.
He was removed from the investigation in November after an angry outburst against British police, and his successor Paulo
Rebelo successfully clamped down on the leaks.
*
Update/rewrite of same article:
At last, secrets of the Madeleine police search are unlocked as Portugese secrecy laws are lifted Daily Mail
By VANESSA ALLEN
Last updated at 11:16 PM on 03rd August 2008
The contents of the Madeleine McCann case files will be unlocked today, ending 15 months of leaks, smears and innuendo.
The secrecy of justice laws surrounding the Portuguese police investigation will be lifted, allowing public access to
the documents.
Every witness statement, tip-off and lead followed by detectives since Madeleine's disappearance on May 3 last year is
contained in the mammoth file, along with the transcripts of interviews with her parents and British ex-pat Robert Murat.
Kate and Gerry McCann's legal team has had access to the 11,000-page file since last week, after the Portuguese attorney
general formally shelved the inquiry and cleared them and Mr Murat as suspects.
The McCanns, both 40, are desperately hoping the file contains a missed clue which could lead them to their daughter.
The couple have several teams of detectives on standby ready to travel across the world to check any potential leads.
Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: 'Our lawyers have begun looking at the files. They are discovering what was done
- and crucially what was not done - in the investigation to find Madeleine.
'All previously unknown leads will be passed to our investigators, who are poised to check them out.'
Until now the only people to have seen the case files are the McCanns' lawyers, the detectives who led the inquiry, and
the public prosecutors and judges overseeing the inquiry.
But at 2pm today an edited version of the dossier will be released to more than 1,000 journalists who applied to the
prosecutor for permission to view it.
Demand to see the case file has been so great that court officials have scanned the pages into a computer and compiled
them on DVDs.
Some information has been edited out, including a list of known and suspected paedophiles who were living in the Algarve
at the time Maddie disappeared from her family's holiday apartment.
The video of the specialist sniffer dogs reacting to alleged traces of blood and the 'scent of death' in the apartment
and the McCanns' hire car will be released at a later date.
The release will finally expose the controversial investigation to the full glare of public scrutiny.
Issues that may be highlighted are the failure to alert border patrols in the first 12 hours, and any missed leads or
queries over forensic evidence.
Strict secrecy laws supposedly protected the investigation until it was archived last month.
Under Portuguese law any police officer, witness or suspect who spoke about the inquiry risked a two-year jail sentence
for breaking the secrecy code.
But in practice officials within the investigation regularly briefed selected Portuguese journalists with details from
the inquiry, in apparent attempts to pressure Mr and Mrs McCann into confessing their alleged involvement.
Later these seemed aimed at poisoning public opinion against them.
The couple believe the decision to name them as suspects, or arguidos, could have set back their own search for their
daughter, as vital witnesses might not have contacted them with information if they believed the pair were involved.
Much of the leaking was blamed on the former head of the police inquiry, Goncalo Amaral, who last month published a book
containing many of the same vile smears against the couple and their friends.
He was removed from the investigation in November after an angry outburst against British police, and his successor Paulo
Rebelo successfully clamped down on the leaks.
|
|
|
|
Case files released: Thousands of pages of evidence, gathered by Portuguese detectives,
are made available to the media on a series of DVD's.
|
|
|
|
Case files released: Thousands of pages of evidence, gathered by Portuguese detectives,
are made available to the media on a series of DVD's.
|
|
|
|
Case files released: Thousands of pages of evidence, gathered by Portuguese detectives,
are made available to the media on a series of DVD's.
|
|
|
|
Case files released: Thousands of pages of evidence, gathered by Portuguese detectives,
are made available to the media on a series of DVD's.
|
|
|
|
Case files released: Thousands of pages of evidence, gathered by Portuguese detectives,
are made available to the media on a series of DVD's.
|
|
|
|
Case files released: Thousands of pages of evidence, gathered by Portuguese detectives,
are made available to the media on a series of DVD's.
|
|
|
|
Dogs used in Madeleine McCann search not
properly trained Sunday Mail
Aug 10 2008
SNIFFER
dogs used to search for Madeleine McCann were not properly trained.
Police used dogs more suited to rural work to search a 10-mile radius of the Ocean Club complex in Praia
da Luz where Maddie was snatched on May 3 last year.
The dogs lost her trail in the nearby car park.
It is the latest damning revelation to emerge after the release of files from the bungled Portuguese police
investigation.
Prosecutors Joao Melchior Gomes and Jose de Magalhaes e Menezes slated the probe, noting detectives had
"achieved very little in terms of conclusive results".
The report also damned the Portuguese police for failing even to establish if the five-year-old is alive
or dead.
Headline in paper edition: 'Gerry's e-mail
hoaxer torment'
10/08/2008
Gerry
McCann sent emails begging for Madeleine not to be harmed to a conman trying to extort money from the family.
The man said he could tell Gerry and his wife who Madeleine's kidnappers were and where she was being
kept in return for a reward of 2,000,000 euros (£1.8m).
He demanded: "I want to have direct contact with Mr McCann himself.
"I know the hideout and kidnappers and that they are still around you. This is NO joke."
Gerry wrote back personally from the couple's base in Portugal near where Madeleine disappeared in the
desperate hope that the emails could be genuine.
He said: "We are very interested in your information but as you understand we receive a lot of hoax information.
"We need to know the information is genuine. Can you give me proof that you know where Madeleine is and
that she is well? Gerry Mc-Cann."
The emails were eventually traced to the internet cafe Smalle Haven in Eindhoven, Holland and the fraudster,
who knew nothing about Madeleine's disappearance, was arrested a month later in Spain.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
McCanns hire crack team of ex-FBI agents
to find Madeleine Daily Mail
By NIALL FIRTH
Last updated at 12:25 PM on 13th August 2008
Kate and Gerry McCann
have hired a team of crack U.S detectives to lead the hunt for their missing daughter Madeleine, it has emerged.
The unnamed US firm is said to have been offered a £500,000 six-month contract by the Find Madeleine Fun
to help spearhead the search.
A friend of the McCanns said: 'The hunt for Madeleine is becoming more and more international and it was
felt that a truly international firm was now needed to lead the inquiry.
"These really are the big boys. They are absolutely the best, but they are extremely secretive and cloak-and-dagger
about what they do.
'Since their appointment, Metodo has very much taken a back seat and they are now concentrating primarily
in Portugal and Spain and across the Straits of Gibraltar into north Africa, where they have their main contacts.
'The American agency is pretty much handling everything else.'
The secretive firm is said to employ ex-FBI, CIA and U.S special forces, according to the Daily Mirror.
The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell, said: 'Kate and Gerry made it clear from the outset they would
leave no stone unturned in finding Madeleine and that means employing the very best people in any given field.
'It is correct that an international firm of investigators have been appointed.
'But I am unable to say anything at all about them because of the covert nature of their work and the
need for secrecy, not only in looking for Madeleine, but also in relation to previous operations.'
The McCanns now have detectives working around the world at a reported cost of £166,000 a month.
Among the possible sightings they are following up, apparently ignored by Portuguese police, is one by
a British yachtsman on the Caribbean island of Margarita last May.
The appointment of the U.S firm comes after it was revealed that a suspected sighting of Madeleine in
Brussels was ruled out by police.
A blonde girl had been seen with a woman in a hijab at the KBC bank in the Belgium capital and the McCanns
had been treating the sighting as a priority.
However their hopes were dashed when a man came forward and confirmed that the girl was his daughter out
with her nanny.
|
|
|
|
By Jerry Lawton
14th August 2008
Desperate Kate and Gerry McCann have forked out £500,000 on an "A-Team" of former top spooks to find missing
daughter Madeleine.
The couple now have "a global operation" of dozens of retired FBI, CIA and even MI5 agents dedicated to
solving the mystery of her disappearance.
The top secret team has been given six months to solve the riddle.
Doctors Kate and Gerry, both 40, have vowed to keep up the search for five-year-old Madeleine after the
latest sighting at a Belgian bank was ruled out.
And the couple, from Rothley, Leics, have been reassured their new team of private eyes will follow up
every lead around the world.
Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "There is a global operation working for Kate and Gerry.
"They are internationally-based with components in Britain, America, Europe and other countries where
sightings have been made."
The new team, appointed three months ago, is half way through a six-month contract.
Mr Mitchell explained: "A sum of £500,000 has been committed to them from the Find Madeleine Fund.
"They have been on board for a few months and are on a six-month contract.
"For security reasons we can't go into detail of the experts involved but it would not be wrong to say
some are former military and police personnel with a degree of expertise."
Last night Mr Mitchell revealed there had been several more sightings of Madeleine in Belgium on top of
30 reported in the past week.
He said: "A number of these sightings have been well-meaning and have been looked at but ruled out.
"Kate and Gerry are not getting excited or upset by the reported sightings."
A family source added: "Unfortunately, with all the publicity, there have been some copycat sightings
which police are not taking at all seriously."
The couple's Spanish-based detective agency Metodo 3 are still working on an £8,000-a-month retainer.
They are being kept on because of their local knowledge and contacts.
Mr Mitchell explained: "Spain, Portugal and North Africa still remain the most likely places where Madeleine
could be.
"However, with recent sightings in Amsterdam and Brussels, we have the power to have investigators out
on the ground immediately."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Madeleine fund in chaos as private eyes are axed after
draining £500,000 Daily Mail
By DANIEL BOFFEY and MILES GOSLETT
Last updated at 10:14 PM on 23rd August 2008
A
team of private investigators working behind the scenes to find Madeleine McCann has been axed after being paid £500,000 from
publicly donated funds.
The Find Madeleine Fund quietly engaged the services of a US-based company which was awarded the lucrative
six-month contract earlier this year.
The company, Oakley International, which boasts former British security service and FBI contacts, was
hired to monitor the Madeleine Hotline, carry out detective work and review CCTV footage of possible sightings of the missing
girl around the world.
A source revealed that the company had also spent resources in an attempt to infiltrate a paedophile ring
in Belgium.
However, the company's contract will now not be renewed. The Mail on Sunday has learned that double-glazing
tycoon Brian Kennedy, who has been underwriting the fund's search for Madeleine, has conducted a review of the agency's work
and has become unhappy with the progress it was making.
The deal was abruptly ended following a meeting last week after the fund brought in independent monitors
to assess how the money was spent.
The cost of employing the agency - run by a Briton, Kevin Halligen - has drained the Madeleine fund and
there is now less than £500,000 left.
The development is likely to dismay the thousands who gave to the appeal, and raise questions about how
the fund has been administered.
Mr Kennedy, who owns Sale Sharks rugby club, was said to be 'angry' because he believed Oakley's bills,
estimated to be more than £80,000 a month, were too much for the results they achieved.
A source said: 'There is a sense that they were meaning well but hadn't got as far as they should for
the money involved.
'Brian Kennedy thought their work was far too pricey and wanted to know where the money was being spent.
He wasn't satisfied with their answers and the contract was not renewed.
'Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate, have been kept informed all along and agree with the decision. A
lot of people were asking questions about where the money was being spent.'
Oakley International won the contract after an introduction by another company, Red Defence International
(RDI), based in Jermyn Street, Central London.
Listed as being involved with both companies was Mr Halligen, 47, a communications expert. He is given
as the 'contact name' for Oakley International Group, a company registered in Washington DC as the manufacturer of search
and navigation equipment.
The company says it has annual sales of £33,000 and only one employee, who appears to be Mr Halligen.
The address given for the company is 2550 M Street NW Washington, which is the downtown office of Patton
Boggs, one of the largest and most powerful law companies in America.
A source at the law firm said last night that the lawyer who represented Mr Halligen was unavailable for
comment.
RDI, formed in 2005, bills itself as 'an experienced provider of crisis prevention, management and expertise'.
It claims to have a presence in Washington DC and Virginia and representation in the Middle East, Africa and Central America.
However, its latest set of accounts is two months overdue and it faces being fined by HM Revenue &
Customs.
Among the main players working on the McCann contract were Mr Halligen and Henri Exton, 57, who headed
the Greater Manchester Police undercover unit until 1993. He then worked for the Government before moving into the private
sector.
One day after a crisis meeting last week with the Madeleine fund administrators, Mr Halligen resigned
as a director of RDI.
Mr Exton, of Bury, Lancashire, has the Queen’s Police Medal and an OBE. During the Seventies and
Eighties his work included uncovering organised crime rings and recruiting supergrasses.
He also infiltrated football gangs, at one stage becoming a leader of the Young Guvnors, who followed
Manchester City, and was forced to take part in organised incidents to preserve his cover.
Previously, the McCann fund had employed a Spanish detective agency called Metodo 3. However, the fund
lost confidence in them, especially after they announced they would find Madeleine by last Christmas.
She had disappeared from the resort of Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007, nine days short of her
fourth birthday.
A spokesman for the McCanns said yesterday: 'Kate and Gerry, the fund and their backers have always sought
to employ the very best people and resources in the ongoing search for Madeleine.
'Kate and Gerry, via the fund and the backers, continue to employ many such resources and it is true that
Red Defence and Oakley were part of those resources.
'I simply will not comment on any personnel, financial or operational details whatsoever.'
No one could be reached for comment at Oakley International or Red Defence International.
Mr Kennedy, estimated to be worth about £250million, became involved after being moved by the plight of
the McCanns during the period they were made formal suspects – arguidos – in Madeleine's disappearance. Portuguese
prosecutors dropped the couple's arguido status last month.
The 47-year-old made his money in double-glazing and home improvement ventures with companies including
Everest windows. His Latium Group business empire has an annual turnover of about £400million.
|
|
|
|
Madeleine McCann: Investigators dropped
after being paid £500,000 Telegraph
A firm of private investigators hired to hunt for Madeleine McCann are being
dropped after being paid £500,000.
By Richard Edwards and Subhajit Banerjee
Last Updated: 2:30PM BST 24 Aug 2008
The US-based team, which boasts former British security service and
FBI contacts, had been given a six-month contract earlier this year and were paid from the Find Madeleine Fund.
It is understood their contract will not
be renewed at the end of the month in a review led by double-glazing tycoon Brian Kennedy - who is underwriting the fund's
search.
Oakley International was hired discreetly
just before the anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May. It monitored a Madeleine Hotline
number, followed up leads and reviewed CCTV footage of possible sightings.
Mr Kennedy reportedly believes the agency's
bills - estimated to be over £80,000 a month - were not justified by their results.
Most of the money spent on the agency came
from a £550,000 libel pay out from Express Newspapers in March. Around £450,000 remains in the fund.
Several private investigators have been
used to track down the missing girl, including Metedo3, a Spanish agency. The fund lost confidence in them, especially after
they announced they would find Madeleine by last Christmas, and the agency is now used only sparingly.
Oakley International won the contract after
an introduction by another company, Red Defence International (RDI), based in Jermyn Street, central London.
A spokesman for the McCanns said: "Kate
and Gerry, the fund and their backers have continually sought to employ the best people in the search for Madeleine. Red Defence
and Oakley International were part of a large number of resources employed in recent months.
"Their contract is continuing for the immediate
future and will be reviewed when it ends, as you would expect. We will not be comment on the detail of any personnel, financial
or operational arrangements."
Lawyers and investigators for the McCanns
are still combing through the police files released in Portugal earlier this month after Mr and Mrs McCann were released from
their status as official suspects or "arguidos". They are looking for leads they fear police ignored after focusing the investigation
on the McCanns.
"The search is very much ongoing," said
the spokesman, "and there is certainly no crisis in the fund."
*
Original report:
Madeleine McCann: Investigators
axed after being paid £500,000 Telegraph
A firm of private investigators hired to
hunt for Madeleine McCann have been dropped after being paid £500,000.
By Subhajit
Banerjee
Last Updated: 10:46AM BST 24 Aug 2008
The US-based team had been given a six-month contract earlier this year and were paid
from money donated to the Find Madeleine Fund.
Their contract will not be renewed after
double-glazing tycoon Brian Kennedy - who is underwriting the fund's search - became unhappy with the progress it was making.
Oakley International, which boasts former
British security service and FBI contacts, was hired to monitor the Madeleine Hotline, carry out detective work and review
CCTV footage of possible Madeleine sightings.
Mr Kennedy reportedly believes the agency's
bills - estimated to be over £80,000 a month - were not justified by their results, the Mail on Sunday reports.
Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann
have been kept informed all along and agree with the decision.
Oakley International Group, a company registered
in Washington DC as the manufacturer of search and navigation equipment, is run by Briton Kevin Halligen.
Madeleine McCann had disappeared from the
resort of Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007, nine days short of her fourth birthday.
A spokesman for the McCanns refused to
comment on 'personnel, financial or operational details'.
By Mike Parker
24th August 2008
NEW mum-of-twins Angelina Jolie wants to set up a meeting
with the mother of missing Madeleine McCann.
The nightmare of Kate and her husband Gerry was brought
home to the Hollywood star while shooting her new movie Changeling.
In the film, she plays the mother of a
missing child who becomes the focus of a massive FBI search.
Now Oscar-winner Angelina, 33, has told
aides she wants to share her "sympathy and support" privately with Kate, 40, before the film's UK premiere in November.
A close friend of the actress told the
Daily Star Sunday: "With six kids of her own now, Angelina has become acutely aware of the horror of a child going missing.
"Prior to working on Changeling, she spoke
to the mothers of children who haven't been found in California and Vermont, where the film was shot.
"She was intensely moved by their strength
and hope, despite their despair."
When Maddie went missing in Praia da Luz,
Portugal, last year her case received huge publicity in the US.
The friend added: "Angelina and Brad are
really struck by the way her parents have moved heaven and earth to get the world on the look-out for their little girl.
"I think Angie just wants to give Kate
a hug and say a few words of support from one mom to another.
"She doesn't pretend she possibly knows
how Kate feels but she does have an inkling now and she realises the absolute nightmare the McCann family is going through."
It is thought a possible meeting between
the two would take place in London, rather than at the McCanns' home in Rothley, Leics.
Angelina's pal added: "She won't be inviting
them to her movie premiere, unless they ask to go.
"She feels that would be too much of an
ordeal for them with Maddie still missing."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Madeleine's paternity is questioned again SOL
27 August 2008
Thanks to 'astro' for translation
The lab tests do not guarantee that
Gerry McCann is Madeleine's biological father, according to what a senior official from the National Institute of Forensics
Medicine told newspaper 24horas
Gerry McCann may not be Madeleine's father, despite the fact that the couple have always denied this possibility, assuming
only that the little girl was conceived through artificial insemination.
At the time when Madeleine McCann disappeared,
on the 3rd of May 2007 from the apartment in Praia da Luz, the Polícia Judiciária had serious doubts concerning the little
girl's paternity, but the McCann couple always stated that she was a biological daughter.
The doubt about her paternity,
according to 24horas, ended up never being explored or taken as relevant for the investigation into the case of the
girl's disappearance.
A senior official at the National Institute for Forensic Medicine who was contacted by 24horas
confirms that "concerning the twins there is an absolute certainty that they are from Gerry. The same cannot be said of Madeleine
McCann, because the alleles that were found do not allow for a precise determination of who the real biological father is".
|
|
|
|
Updated: 28 August, 2008
The usual
routine of Gerry and Kate McCann was to put the children in the nursery facility at about 9am and then pick them up between
midday and 12.30pm to give the children lunch before bringing them back at 3pm and returning at the end of the day between
5pm and 5.30pm.
Other children in the tapas nine party would not spend as much time away from their parents. The
other parents in the group, the files reveal, would normally leave their children with the babysitting service only in the
morning sessions.
The police files also gives details about Madeleine's personality as described by her father, Gerry
and those that spent time with Madeleine while they were on holiday in the Algarve.
Madeleine was described by Gerry
as being an extrovert, very active and having happy relationships with other children. She would never go with a stranger
and he states clearly that she was not taking any medication.
In a statement made by one of the nannies working at
the Ocean Club, Madeleine was described as being a calm, beautiful and happy child.
However, she was portrayed as being
more shy than the other children at the kids club.
Fund
Meanwhile, reports
in the British media have claimed that there is now less than 500,000 pounds sterling in the Find Madeleine fund.
The
private investigation agency Oakley International has reportedly cost the fund half a million pounds sterling, despite not
yielding any concrete results.
This had led to Brian Kennedy, the British double glazing tycoon who has donated large
sums of money to the Find Madeleine campaign, voicing his dissatisfaction in the investigators.
A statement was issued
on behalf of the McCanns on Tuesday countering the claims in the press concerning the status of the private investigators
via the website www.findmadeleine.com.
"We appointed them (Oakley International) several months ago to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. We
continue to work with them to this end. The working relationship is managed by Brian Kennedy, who also confirms the relationship
with Oakley International continues to be good and that it remains entirely focused on the search for Madeleine."
By Julie Gilbert
Published: Thursday, 28th
August, 2008 09:15
A PENSIONER is hoping he can inspire divine intervention
in the case of Madeleine McCann — via an appeal in the Clydebank Post.
Robert Darroch, 75, has made several appeals
in the Post's letters page over the past 20-years asking readers to pray for people missing or being held captive.
And miraculously, or coincidentally, soon
after publication there have been some very positive outcomes.
Remembering these past successes, Robert
is now asking Bankies to spare a thought and a prayer for Madeleine in the hope the pattern continues.
Robert told the Post: "Over a period of
four years in the late eighties and early nineties I regularly asked the people of Clydebank to spare a thought and a prayer
for Terry Waite, held captive in Lebanon, and other captives in letters to the Post.
"Almost every time my letter was published
the captives were freed.
"For example on February 21, 1991, I predicted,
regarding hostages, that 'the bumper harvest will come this year' at a prayer meeting in St Stephen's Church in Dalmuir.
"On August 8 I repeated the prediction
in the Clydebank Post.
"Between August and December eight captives,
including Terry Waite, were freed during harvest months."
Robert believes strongly in the power of
prayer and travels around churches in Britain praying and encouraging others to pray for good causes and for peace.
The Parkhall man said: "I go to different
churches every Sunday. I'm a Catholic myself but I've been to two thousand two hundred churches covering fifty denominations
in Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland. My record is attending seven services on the same day in Clydebank. I am trying to
break down sectarian barriers."
Robert has been travelling around churches
sending out appeals for 27 years.
He has had similar success sending out
appeals in newspapers in other parts of Britain.
He said: "In the early nineties I went
to six services in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland and silently prayed for peace. The local newspaper interviewed me and I
said I predict there will be movement towards peace before a year. That year the IRA called a ceasefire.
"There's no halo above my head but there
are times when I suspect that somebody up there either likes me or is getting me mixed up with somebody else."
Readers will be very aware Robert's hopes
and prayers for Madeleine McCann have not been successful to date, and that is why he appealing in the Post. He said: "I want
to see if the same thing happens as before. Since last September in as many as two or three churches every Sunday in different
towns in Scotland I silently prayed that I be granted the finance to issue a world peace appeal and that Madeleine would be
found but I have had no response.
"May I kindly ask the people of Clydebank
to spare a thought and a prayer that Madeleine will be found."
|
|
|
|
30/08/2008 (First appeared online 29/08/2008)
Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of missing
toddler Madeleine McCann have denied they have decided to axe private investigators Oakley International following allegations
the company has drained the McCann’s fund of nearly half a million pounds.
Reports on
Sunday claimed they were supported in doing so by Madeleine Fund underwriter Brian Kennedy, a self-made millionaire, who was
also said to be dissatisfied with the investigators' work.
It was said he considered their approximate
£100,000-per-month fee "excessive" for the results that were being obtained.
This has since been refuted.
A written entry on the official 'Find
Madeleine' website said, "In the light of articles in some UK Sunday newspapers this weekend, we feel it is appropriate to
comment briefly on our relationship with the investigation company Oakley International.
"We appointed them several months ago
to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. We continue to work with them to this end. The working relationship
is managed by Brian Kennedy, who also confirms the relationship with Oakley International continues to be good and that it
remains entirely focused on the search for Madeleine".
Oakley International, which is made up
of ex-British special forces officers and has FBI contacts, won the contract over the London-based Red Defence International
(RDI), though one of the employees, 47-year-old communications expert known as Mr. Halligen, is listed as being involved with
both companies.
Weekend reports in the UK claim Halligen
is given as the 'contact name' for Oakley International Group, a company registered in Washington DC as the manufacturer of
search and navigation equipment, and is also, reportedly, a director of RDI.
The company says it has annual sales of
around €45,000 and only one employee, which appears to be Mr Halligen.
Initial reports alleged that the day after
a crisis meeting last week with the Madeleine Fund administrators, Mr Halligen resigned as a director of RDI.
Previously the McCann Fund had employed
a Spanish detective agency called Metodo 3, who were also axed after claims they would 'find Madeleine before Christmas' failed.
A McCann spokesperson said yesterday,
"Kate and Gerry, the fund and their backers have always sought to employ the very best people and resources in the ongoing
search for Madeleine".
A search that is, according to the McCanns,
still continuing.
Edition:
974
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
