The purpose of
this site is for information and a record of Gerry McCann's Blog
Archives. As most people will appreciate GM deleted all past blogs
from the official website. Hopefully this Archive will be helpful to
anyone who is interested in Justice for Madeleine Beth McCann. Many
Thanks, Pamalam
Note: This site does not belong to the McCanns. It belongs to Pamalam. If
you wish to contact the McCanns directly, please use
the contact/email details
campaign@findmadeleine.com
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything"
Madeleine's Fund - Review &
Investigation of Accounts
Madeleine's Fund - Analysis of the
accounts year ended 31/03/2012
Enid O'Dowd takes an in depth
look into the setting up and subsequent running of Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited (up to the release
of the 2010/2011 Accounts)
Enid O'Dowd: An analysis of
the accounts of Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned for the year ended 31 March 2012, and of issues arising
from that analysis
Madeleine's Fund - Analysis of the accounts
year ended 31/03/2013
Madeleine's Fund - Analysis of the
accounts year ended 31/03/2014
Enid O'Dowd: An analysis of the accounts
of Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned for the year ended 31 March 2013, and of issues arising from that
analysis
Enid O'Dowd: An analysis of the accounts
of Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned for the year ended 31 March 2014, and of issues arising from that
analysis
Just a quick note to say a huge thank you to all the kind
and generous people who have donated to the site over the last couple of days. Given circumstances over the last 12 months
have left me little time to devote to the site, I am taken aback by the response. Thank you.
There is now no immediate
danger to the future of the site, so I have removed the donation button. I am currently in conversation with the site hosts
and shall post up all the details by the end of this week, with details of payments made.
Updating the
site
I do intend to continue to update the site, although it may be December or New Year before things
settle down completely, as I need time to catch up on recent developments.
Once again, many thanks for your invaluable
support in keeping the site online,
Nigel 21/10/2015
----------------- Update - 30/10/2015
There are 3 payments that need to be made each year:
• The webspace charge, which is the most expensive
due to the size of the site (and which I've previously paid monthly) • An annual payment that allows unlimited
pages on the site, and • The domain name renewal
As a result of your kind donations I've been able
to make the following payments:
- Webspace for one year to 27/10/2016 (.com) - £209.33 - Unlimited
pages for one year to 29/10/2016 (.com) - £54.00 - Domain name renewal for one year (.com) - £13.19 - Domain name renewal for one year (.co.uk) - £5.99
As you will see, this site is now fully covered for
the next year, regardless of anything else that happens.
I do have some money left over and am considering the
best use of this – I'll keep you updated.
Many thanks again for your fantastic support.
Nigel
30/10/2015
Maddie - A Verdade Da Mentira - BANNED
Maddie - A Verdade Da Mentira Guerra & Paz (no longer available)
Author: Amaral, Gonçalo Genre:
Non-Fiction Issue year: 2008 Format: 15x23cm No. of Pages:
215 Weight: 322g ISBN: 978-989-8174-12-3 In Stock
«[...] This book has a higher purpose. That of contributing to the discovery of the
material truth and the achievement of justice in the investigation that is known as the "Maddie Case". These are
fundamental values that I have committed myself to, by duty of conscience, conviction and discipline towards the institution
that I was proud to be a part of. These same values were not extinguished with my retirement and they will always be present
in my life. Under no circumstance whatsoever does the book call the work of my colleagues at the Judiciary Police into question,
nor does it compromise the ongoing investigation. It is my deep understanding that revealing all of the facts in a work of
this kind might jeopardize future actions that are decisive for the discovery of the truth. Nonetheless, the reader will find
data that is previously unknown, interpretations of the facts – always under the light of law – and, of course,
relevant questions. A criminal investigation is only committed to searching for the material truth. It must not worry about
political correctness.»
Gonçalo Amaral
"We are in the
face of a mere battle in a war that is far from over."
Since it was started on April 29, 2015, by Leanne Baulch, the
gofundme page dedicated to Gonçalo Amaral's defence has collected donations in excess of 50 thousand pounds. These
funds have been transferred to the bank account that is held by Dr Paulo Sargento and other friends of Mr Amaral. Less than
half of this amount has been spent on legal expenses for the defence of Gonçalo Amaral.
The Paypal account
that is associated to the bank account has received over 6 thousand euro during the same period. Donations totaling a smaller
amount have also been made directly to the bank account.
We believe that it is time to close the gofundme page,
as the bank account currently stands at an amount that seems largely sufficient to face eventual future expenses.
As we await the verdict of the Appellate Court of Lisbon on the appeal that has been filed by Mr Amaral's lawyer, the
remaining funds will be kept in the bank account. They will be used if necessary in the future. Any unused funds will, as
we stated in 2009, be donated to a Portuguese children's charity.
May we use this moment to wholeheartedly
thank those who have expressed their support of Gonçalo Amaral's right to an appropriate defence? Whether you have
contributed financially or by sending a support message - you have made an impact. You have made a difference.
Thank
you so very, very much.
The gofundme page will be closed on the 28th of October, 2015.
Confirmation that the appeal has been accepted by the Appellate Court has been received
today from the lawyer. Once again, thank you so very much to everyone who has made a contribution. We will keep you informed.
Latest news/opinion
MADDIE McCanns: We'll never give
up, 30 October 2015
MADDIE McCanns: We'll never give up The Sun (paper edition)
By ANTONELLA LAZZERI Friday, October 30, 2015
The parents of missing Madeleine McCann yesterday vowed to carry on the
search for her when the police hunt is over. Kate and
Continued on Page 13
-------------
Pages 12/13:
8 years of false leads, spiralling police costs and heartache
HOW DID MADDIE HUNT GO WRONG?
By ANTONELLA
LAZZERI Friday, October 30, 2015
TWENTY-five cops who have spent more than four years
searching for Madeleine McCann were yesterday preparing to clear their desks at Belgravia police station.
A staff of four officers will stay on the case for now - with the inquiry expected to be wound down completely in the New
Year.
So how did it come to this eight years after Madeleine vanished?
No one could fail to
sympathise with Kate and Gerry McCann's plight and their endless courage in trying to find their daughter.
But
last night serious questions were being asked about the wisdom of the ultimately futile investigation.
How
could an inquiry that to date has cost more than £11million seemingly achieve so little?
The British
taskforce, which at its height was 37-strong, has yet to make a single arrest, despite 560 lines of inquiry and 60 suspects.
It also became mired in a spending controversy with some cops staying in the £200-a-night five-star Hotel Dona
Filipa during visits to Portugal.
Last year alone there were 67 flights to the country by cops costing £16,000,
with overtime on top.
So what were all these officers actually doing?
A former Met police officer
who knew two Detective Chief Inspectors working on Operation Grange, said the mood among the squad is "muted". He
told The Sun last night: "Everyone wanted to do their best for Madeleine but they are not miracle workers."
Another well-placed source added: "What seemed obtainable at the start seemed impossible in the end."
Operation Grange was set up in 2011 after an open letter by the McCanns to David Cameron was printed in The Sun.
It had been four years since Madeleine, three, disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.
The McCanns were desperate for a British police review as they believed the Portuguese authorities had hopelessly
bungled their investigation.
Funded by the Home Office, it was initially given a budget of £5million.
The family, of Rothley, Leics, were overjoyed by the move and certainly in the early days it offered them much hope.
Detective Inspector Hamish Campbell, the first head of Operation Grange, said within months that his team were investigating
new leads, new sightings and new lines of inquiry.
Two years on, his successor Detective Chief Inspector Andy
Redwood gave the McCanns the greatest hope of all, declaring: "I still genuinely believe that there is a possibility
that she is alive."
He added that his team had examined 30,500 documents from Portuguese police files
and had identified 38 "persons of interest".
He said the Operation had shifted from "review"
to investigation.
By the latest count, the Met claims "7,154 actions had been raised" and 560 lines of
inquiry identified. They had identified more than 60 persons of interest and 650 sex offenders were also investigated.
But the numbers mask the chaos going on behind the scenes.
By July 2014 Britsh cops had flown
to Portugal to question four new Madeleine suspects.
But they had to wait while they were quizzed by Portuguese
police and were not allowed to ask questions themselves.
In December last year they returned to question another
ten - with the same result. To date, the Operation's most important line of inquiry was a three-man burglary team whose
mobile phones placed them near the McCanns' apartment at the time Madeleine vanished. But so far no one has been arrested
or even questioned.
The winding-down of the Operation will be welcomed by some.
In March soaring costs
and lack of progress prompted Met Police Federation chairman John Tully to question whether it should continue.
He
said: "We no longer have the resources to conduct specialist inquiries all over the world which have nothing to do with
London."
Former Flying Squad Commander John O'Connor claimed it had been launched as a "humanitarian
act" by Mr Cameron and the Met Commissioner.
He said: "I'd hope the parents of any child in the same
position would be offered the same sort of review." Madeleine's case was always a special one. Never has a missing
child received so much worldwide focus.
Indeed, the average cost spent on investigating a missing child is
around £2,400
Last year 140,000 under-18s went missing, with campaign posters and a localised police
investigation all parents would expect.
It was Madeleine's cute appearance that some believe ignited the huge
interest in her disappearance.
The image of her frozen in time aged three, huge blue eyes peeping out from beneath
her fringe, captured the hearts of millions.
The constant looping of a video of her dancing at Christmas added
further support and, within months, £1million had been donated to the Find Madeleine Fund.
A powerful PR
machine and the McCanns' enormous strength kept the story in the public eye. As we reveal today, they will not let any
winding-down of the official police probe stop their efforts.
Kate, 47, previously told The Sun she and Gerry,
also 47, will never rest unless they discover the truth.
Consultations are already believed to have taken place
with private investigators who may be able to help them. But they have been here three times before.
The first
team they hired were Spaniards, Metodo 3, in September 2007. Their director Francisco Marco boasted: "Madeleine will
be home by Christmas."
He added: "We know who the kidnappers are and we are very, very close to
catching them."
They were followed in May 2008 by Oakley International - an "A-Team" of former British
special forces soldiers and US security agents run by Brit Kevin Halligen. He was later exposed as a fraudster and jailed
after being tracked down by The Sun.
He was also alleged to have fleeced the Find Madeleine Fund out of around
£150,000
The third team were Alpha Investigations, run by ex-RUC officer David Edgar and former Merseyside
detective Arthur Crowley.
They were hired after the Portuguese cops shelved their investigation in the summer of
2008.
And after drawing yet more blanks, they stepped down when Operation Grange was launched in 2011.
So the work goes on.
Crucial to the new search will be access to information Operation Grange has uncovered.
The McCanns can only hope it will bring them more success.
--------------
NEVER QUIT
Continued from Page One
Gerry McCann have already ring-fenced the rest of the cash in the Find Madeleine
Fund, around £750,000, to pay for a team of private investigators - believed to be former police officers.
It will be the FOURTH team of investigators employed by the McCanns, from Rothley, Leics.
Yesterday The Sun told
how the police hunt for Madeleine, who vanished aged three from Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007, is being scaled down from
29 cops to four.
The Met's Operation Grange could be shelved as early as the New Year amid complaints from
MPs over its £11million cost.
But a source close to the McCanns said yesterday: "They are very much
of the mind, 'We will never give up' and they won't. They have spearheaded the hunt for Madeleine themselves before
and will do so again if they have to."
The family's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Should the
need arise for a private investigation to be resumed, they have made sure they have enough money left in Madeleine's Fund."
MADDIE Police scaling down hunt, 29 October
2015
MADDIE Police scaling down hunt Daily
Mirror (paper edition)
SEE PAGE 11
------------------
Page
11:
Maddie cops cut from 29 to four
But Met says investigation continues
BY LOUIE SMITH and TRACEY KANDOHLA Thursday
29.10.2015
SCOTLAND Yard has cut the number of detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine
McCann from 29 to just four.
The Met made the announcement yesterday after four-and-a-half years'
work, costing more than £10million.
Madeleine, who vanished in Portugal in 2007, would now be aged 12.
Slashing the number of officers has raised fears Operation Grange could soon end for good.
But despite
the cutback, Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann have not lost hope that their daughter will be found.
They said: "We thank all the staff from Operation Grange for their meticulous work.
"The scale and
difficulty of their task has never been in doubt."
The couple say the investigation to find Madeleine has
progressed "significantly" thanks to the British detectives. Kate and Gerry, both 47, of Rothley, Leics, added:
"Given that the review phase is essentially completed, we fully understand why the team is being reduced."
The team has probed more than 60 suspects, looked at 650 paedophiles and examined more than 8,000 reports of potential sightings.
They received on average 200 emails a week.
But despite their efforts, including the quizzing of 11 witnesses in
December last year, no arrests have been made.
Madeleine was three when she vanished during a family holiday in
Praia da Luz in May 2007. The initial probe into her suspected abduction was largely by Portuguese police.
But
in 2011 Prime Minister David Cameron asked the Met to join the inquiry following a request from former GP Kate and heart doctor
Gerry.
The Home Office has set aside £2m to fund the operation for at least another five months.
Assistant Met Commissioner Mark Rowley said: "The investigation has brought together disparate information from across
the world. We still have very definite lines to pursue."
The McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell yesterday
vowed: "This is not the end of Grange. The fact that four full time officers are still on board is proof that it is continuing."
Cops in hunt for Maddie slashed, 29 October
2015
Cops in hunt for Maddie slashed The
Sun (paper edition)
By MIKE SULLIVAN Thursday, October 29, 2015
Scotland Yard's four-year search for missing Madeleine McCann is to be
dramatically scaled back.
Its team of officers will be cut from 29 to four, delivering a huge blow to parents Kat
and Gerry.
Full Story - Page Nine
-------------------
Page 9:
Is this end of cop hunt for Maddie?
FEAR OF LOST GIRL'S PARENTS
By MIKE SULLIVAN and ANTONELLA LAZZERI Thursday,
October 29, 2015
MADELEINE McCann's parents fear the cut in cops searching for her signals "the
beginning of the end" for the investigation, it was claimed last night.
A source close to mum Kate
and dad Gerry said: "They know it can't go on forever.
"They're preparing for it to be shelved
for good in coming months."
The source spoke out following news that the Scotland Yard team searching for
missing Madeleine is to be reduced from 29 to just four.
The Met has spent almost £11million of public money
on Operation Grange since it was launched in May 2011 at David Cameron's request. At its height, it had more than 40 officers,
but no arrests were made.
Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, believe their daughter - who vanished aged three in
Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007 - may still be alive.
They are thought to be considering financing the hunt
from the Find Maddie fund if the reduced Yard probe fizzles out entirely.
The couple, both 47, said in a statement:
"We remain hopeful she may still be found given the ongoing lines of inquiry. We would like to thank all the staff from
Operation Grange for the meticulous and painstaking work that they have carried out."
Announcing the cut in
officers, the Met said: "The investigation continues but with a smaller team."
It added: "They are
now following a small number of focused lines of inquiry that have allowed them to reduce the size of the Home Office-funded
team."
McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "This is not the end of Grange. It is not to be
seen as a negative sign."
Madeleine McCann case: Police team cut to
four, 28 October 2015
Madeleine McCann case: Police team cut to four BBC News
28 October 2015 [update]
The number of UK officers investigating the disappearance
of Madeleine McCann has been cut from 29 to four, the Metropolitan Police says.
The Met said the "vast
majority" of the work in its inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance had been completed.
It said no conclusion
had been reached but it was now following a "small number of focused lines of inquiry" which was why the team had
been cut.
Madeleine's parents said they "fully understand" the decision.
[video - see transcript below]
They said they remained "hopeful" their daughter would
be found.
Madeleine, from Rothley in Leicestershire, was three years old when she went missing from her family's
holiday apartment at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007.
'Exceptional case'
Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, from the Met, said: "The Met was asked to take on this exceptional case as
one of national interest.
"We were happy to bring our expertise to bear only on the basis that it would not
detract from the policing of London; and the Home Office have additionally funded the investigation above normal grants to
the Met.
"That will continue at the reduced level."
---------------
Thursday 3 May 2007:
Timeline
20:30 Kate and Gerry McCann leave their
apartment to have dinner at a Tapas bar
21:05 Gerry McCann checks on Madeleine and her siblings
22:00
A man is seen carrying a child wearing pyjamas heading towards the ocean
22:00 Kate McCann
raises the alarm that Madeleine has gone missing
------------
Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann praised
the "meticulous and painstaking work" done by police.
They said: "We are reassured that the investigation
to find Madeleine has been significantly progressed and the Met has a much clearer picture of the events in Praia da Luz leading
up to Madeleine's abduction in 2007.
"Given that the review phase of the investigation is essentially
completed, we fully understand the reasons why the team is being reduced.
"We would also like to thank the
Home Office for continuing to support the investigation.
"Whilst we do not know what happened to Madeleine,
we remain hopeful that she may still be found given the ongoing lines of inquiry."
'Far from disillusioned'
Detectives from the Met began working through material and following lines of inquiry after the Home Office requested
a review of the case in May 2011.
Operation Grange, which has been supporting the Portuguese police's investigation,
became a full investigation in July 2012.
Officers have now finished bringing together and investigating the information
held by Portuguese police, the UK investigation and the private investigators working on behalf of the McCann family, the
Met said.
The force said the inquiry had taken 1,338 statements and collected
1,027 exhibits but had not reached a conclusion yet.
'Near future'
Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCanns, said: "Kate and
Gerry are far from disillusioned. This is no way the end of Operation Grange.
"If anything it will now continue
on a newly-focused, smaller yes, but focused basis that will hopefully lead to Madeleine being found somewhere in the near
future."
Officers have investigated more than 60 persons of interest, the Met said, adding that a total of
650 sex offenders had also been considered as well as reports of 8,685 potential sightings of Madeleine around the world.
Having reviewed all of the documents, "7,154 actions were raised and 560 lines of inquiry identified", the
Met said.
It said more than 30 requests had been made to "countries across the world asking for work to be
undertaken on behalf of the Met".
----------------
Transcript
By Nigel Moore 28 October
2015
Clarence Mitchell: A lot of the work that's been done by the wider team was as
much to rule things out, as to rule them in. Don't forget there were tens of thousands of pages of information; statements
to go through; interviews to be done; 'actions to be followed', as the police put it. That's all been done now
and it's enabled them to get to the kernel of the search, if you like. And so, Kate and Gerry are far from disillusioned.
This is no way the end of Operation Grange. If anything, it will now continue on a newly focussed - smaller,
yes - but focussed basis, which will hopefully still find... lead to Madeleine being found at... at some point in the near
future.
Madeleine McCann case: Police team cut to
four, 28 October 2015
Madeleine McCann case: Police team cut to four BBC News
28 minutes ago [approx. 16:10]
The number of UK officers investigating the disappearance
of Madeleine McCann has been cut from 29 to four, the Metropolitan Police says.
The Met said the "vast
majority" of the work in its inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance had been completed.
It said no conclusion
had been reached but it was now following a "small number of focused lines of inquiry" which was why the team had
been cut.
Madeleine's parents said they "fully understand" the decision.
They said they
remained "hopeful" their daughter would be found.
Madeleine, from Rothley in Leicestershire, was three
years old when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007.
'Exceptional case'
Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, from the Met, said: "The
Met was asked to take on this exceptional case as one of national interest.
"We were happy to bring our expertise
to bear only on the basis that it would not detract from the policing of London; and the Home Office have additionally funded
the investigation above normal grants to the Met.
"That will continue at the reduced level."
----------------
Thursday 3 May 2007: Timeline
20:30 Kate and Gerry McCann leave their
apartment to have dinner at a Tapas bar
21:05 Gerry McCann checks on Madeleine and her siblings
22:00
A man is seen carrying a child wearing pyjamas heading towards the ocean
22:00 Kate McCann
raises the alarm that Madeleine has gone missing
-----------------
Mr and Mrs McCann said: "We are reassured that
the investigation to find Madeleine has been significantly progressed and the Met has a much clearer picture of the events
in Praia da Luz leading up to Madeleine's abduction in 2007.
"Given that the review phase of the investigation
is essentially completed, we fully understand the reasons why the team is being reduced.
"We would also like
to thank the Home Office for continuing to support the investigation.
"Whilst we do not know what happened
to Madeleine, we remain hopeful that she may still be found given the ongoing lines of inquiry."
'Potential
sightings'
Officers have now finished bringing together and investigating the information held by
Portuguese police, the UK investigation and the private investigators working on behalf of the McCann family, the Met said.
The force said the inquiry had taken 1,338 statements and collected 1,027 exhibits but had not reached a conclusion
yet.
Officers investigated more than 60 persons of interest, the Met said, adding that a total of 650 sex offenders
had also been considered as well as reports of 8,685 potential sightings of Madeleine around the world.
Having
reviewed all of the documents, "7,154 actions were raised and 560 lines of inquiry identified", the Met said.
It said more than 30 requests had been made to "countries across the world asking for work to be undertaken on
behalf of the Met".
Detectives have been working through material and following lines of inquiry since the
Home Office requested a review of the case in May 2011.
Operation Grange, which is supporting the Portuguese police,
became a full investigation in July 2012.
Madeleine McCann detectives examine
man's pictures after Sunday People probe, 25 October 2015
Madeleine McCann detectives examine man's pictures
after Sunday People probe Daily Mirror
22:15, 24 OCT 2015 | UPDATED 10:10, 25 OCT 2015 | BY
ADAM ASPINALL
Wojciech Krokowski's flat was searched after the three-year-old vanished but he was ruled
out and has now given us snaps he took around the time she went missing
Keen photographer: Wojciech
Krokowski in Warsaw
Officers are scouring dozens of images from the camera of businessman
Wojciech Krokowski, from Poland.
They are focusing on those he took while in Praia da Luz around the time Madeleine
went missing – on May 3, 2007.
Krokowski's flat was searched after the three-year-old vanished. Portuguese
cops later ruled him out.
The images British detectives are looking at is in a batch of hundreds handed over
to us by the Pole during an interview.
Among them is a picture of Mr Krokowski, 52, taken in Portugal in May
2007.
Global search: Madeleine
McCann
It bears a resemblance to the image of a man walking with a sleeping child – an artist's
impression of the kidnap which was released in September 2007.
The picture was publicised widely in the hope
it would jog memories about Madeleine.
But British police agreed the picture was not Mr Krokowski.
Mr Krokowski told our investigators he liked taking pictures of children while he was on trips abroad.
He said he was amazed he had not been contacted since police reopened the case in 2011. The Pole insisted: "I
am ready to speak to them any time they want."
Mr Krokowski said he wanted to remove a shadow that
has been hanging over him since he became the subject of an international manhunt over Madeleine.
It
is the latest twist in the long-running saga in which British police have vowed to leave no stone unturned to solve the mystery
of what happened to Madeleine.
The extensive Scotland Yard review, which began in 2011, has so far cost more
than £10million, with an extra £2million set for next year.
Mr Krokowski and his wife Anetta, 50, stayed
in the Solimar apartments in Burgau just two miles from Praia da Luz between Saturday April 28 April and Saturday May 5 in
2007.
Impression: Drawing of
a child kidnap
Madeleine was snatched from her apartment while her doctor parents Kate, now 47,
and Gerry, 46, dined nearby with friends.
We tracked Mr Krokowski to his office in the Polish capital. He
admitted he enjoys taking pictures of children on holiday but that it was for artistic purposes. In his first-ever
newspaper interview he said: "I take photos of old people, young people, landscapes and I have a lot of pictures
from places like Thailand, Greece, Portugal, France, with kids on them.
"But I never thought about kids as
a sexual object. Nothing like this, never, never never. I am a simple man with normal sexual orientations."
Relaxed: Mr Krokowski
on holiday
Mr Krokowski revealed that although Polish police officers quizzed the couple and searched
their apartment and the home of his father, they never confiscated his camera or inspected his pictures.
Goncalo
Amaral, the controversial detective who led the original Portuguese investigation before he was replaced, has said he regretted
that the Polish police probe into the couple was not taken further and that they did not seize Mr Krokowski's camera and
look at his holiday pics at that time.
But Mr Krokowski, who describes himself as an "obsessive photographer"
told us he still had every single picture he took the day Madeleine vanished and handed them over so we could pass them to
Operation Grange.
Our man met Mr Krokowski at the offices of his interior design business in a suburb of central
Warsaw near the banks of the river Vistula. Smart and professional, Mr Krokowski was in a meeting when we first called but
cut the session short in order to speak to us when we explained who we were.
Over a couple of hours together
he spoke at length about his involvement in the case and how he was eager to clear his name once and for all.
He
revealed the accusations had cast a shadow over him and his wife for eight years after police knocked on his door.
Holiday home: Solimar
Apartments on Rua Da Nora in Burgau, Portugal, where Wojciech Krokowski stayed with his wife
The
couple were made a top priority by Portuguese detectives in the immediate aftermath of Madeleine's disappearance.
They issued a CCTV picture of the Polish couple at a shopping mall in Portugal which went round the world.
The
move came after a tourist claimed a man fitting Mr Krokowski's appearance and driving a rental car was taking pictures
of his children in the resort of Sagres just a 20-minute drive from Praia da Luz.
The tourist claimed he feared
the man wanted to kidnap his daughter, who he said bore a striking resemblance to Madeleine. But by the time the report was
made, the Krokowskis had left for their Warsaw home. They pair were approached by police within half an hour after returning.
Their rental apartment in Portugal was also searched by forensic science experts but no charges were brought.
Mr Krokowski said he has taken a close interest in the case and was surprised he had not been contacted since
the early days of the investigation.
He said: "I have followed this issue and know the British police are
re-investigating.
"They have not been in touch with me yet but of course I am ready to speak to them any time
they want to.
Torment: Gerry and Kate
McCann
"Me and my wife came back to Poland via Berlin.
"We came back on the
Saturday evening and took the train to Warsaw on Sunday morning.
"Half an hour after we got back the Polish
police visited me at home and said they were there because of Madeleine.
"I said, 'Welcome, please look
around, go through my flat.'
"I flew back by plane and train, it would have been impossible to take someone
with me.
"They seemed satisfied with that and I was never contacted again.
"But still on the
internet I find the reports from the Portuguese police about us as 'suspects' and everything we were supposed to have
done at this time.
"I am never comfortable when I read this and see I am a suspect. It's not so good.
"I thought it was strange that I was a suspect. I am a normal man.
Still missing: Madeleine
McCann
"I like children. I dream of having them but my wife has had some problems with
alcohol and petty crimes over the years so we never had them.
"But I am a great 'father' to my friend's
children so it was a great pity for me that some parents lost their daughter."
Speaking about the
photos from his holiday in 2007, Mr Krokowski said he was happy to hand them over.
He added: "We are not the
type of people to lie on the beach so we travelled a lot in that area between Sagres and Burgau and I have plenty of photos
from our time there but the police never asked for them.
Shopping: CCTV footage
of Wojciech Krokowski and his wife in the week Maddie went missing
"I thought once maybe I
should show those photos. They are not just landscapes, there are lots of people. Maybe something in there could be helpful.
"I collect all my photographs, I still have them from that trip, of course you can have them if they could help
in anyway."
The Sunday People can also reveal Operation Grange has been looking at possible leads in northern
and central Europe.
Sick trolls raised £25k for McCann
cop's court appeal, 02 June 2015
Sick trolls raised £25k for McCann cop's court
appeal Daily Star
SUPPORTERS have given more than £25,000 to help a Portuguese ex-police chief fight a libel payout to the
parents of Madeleine McCann.
By Jerry Lawton / Published 2nd June 2015
It was revealed that 1,559 people, including trolls, have pledged
donations via a website to Goncarlo Amaral's appeal against a £357,000 order.
And one four-figure donation
is allegedly from members of the Metropolitan Police in London, which is conducting its own probe into Madeleine's disappearance
in Portugal in 2007.
The donation to Mr Amaral's fighting fund on website gofundme.com was credited to "MPS",
believed to refer to the Metropolitan Police Service.
It is claimed the money came from "an anonymous but very
large group of British police officers" said to be "outraged at the way in which a senior investigating officer
has been treated".
Mr Amaral was ordered to surrender the cash by a Portuguese court after accusing Kate McCann,
47, and Gerry, 46, of covering up their missing daughter's death in a book about the case.
Leanne Baulch, 22,
from Birmingham, said she launched the fighting fund in a "quest for justice" because Mr Amaral couldn't raise
the money.
She said cash had poured in from "all over the globe".
-----------------
Trolls £25k for McCann cop's appeal
Daily Star (paper edition, page 6)
They back his libel battle
by JERRY LAWTON Tuesday, June 2, 2015
SUPPORTERS have given
more than £25,00 to help a Portuguese ex-police chief fight a libel payout to the parents of Madeleine McCann
It was revealed that 1,559 people, including trolls, have pledged donations via a website to Goncarlo Amaral's appeal
against a £357,000 order.
MPS from an anonymous but very large group of Brit. police officers, outraged
at the way in which an SIO has been treated. This strikes at the very basis of the way investigations whould be conducted,
"Without Fear or Favour, Malice or ill will". The world can clearly see where the malice and ill-will are in this
case.
Gonçalo Amaral's appeal fund
reaches its £25,000 target… and keeps going, 01 June 2015
Gonçalo Amaral's appeal fund reaches its
£25,000 target… and keeps going Portugal Resident
Posted by PORTUGALPRESS on June 01, 2015
In a whirlwind month, the fund set up by a young single mother
from Birmingham to support former "Maddie cop" Gonçalo Amaral in his appeal over record damages awarded against
him in a civil case taken out by the parents of Madeleine McCann has reached its £25,000 target.
A total
of 1,555 people have raised the money, giving multiple messages of encouragement.
And in Portugal, the Project
Justiça Goncalo Amaral blogsite has acknowledged the huge boost to its ongoing efforts.
But the truth is
that "quite a bit more money is needed" Leanne Baulch, the 22-year-old behind the gofundme appeal set up in UK told
us.
"I think what is needed is around £40,000," she told us this morning, against the background
noise of her toddler daughter yodelling "Hello!" into the Skype microphone.
"I want to keep this
going," she explained.
As we spoke, Leanne's initial target had already been surpassed by £375.
Meantime, the PJGA website in Portugal has itemised all monies received so far to help the former police inspector
finance his appeal against damages that would see him forced to pay the McCanns over €500,000 - money he has always explained
he does not have.
According to the PJGA's latest posting, the £25,000 raised by Leanne's appeal has
been boosted by €5,643 raised via PayPal along with a further $90 dollars.
The site affirms that all the money
will be going to "cover expenses related to the defence of Gonçalo Amaral with regard to the civil action presented
by the McCann family", and it adds that a new message will follow when an appeal has been presented.
The saga
centring on the McCann's distress over Amaral's book The Truth of the Lie has been ongoing for almost six years -
with the couple maintaining that Amaral's theory that they faked their daughter's abduction caused them "devastation,
desperation, anxiety and pain".
Projecto Justiça Gonçalo Amaral's Legal Defence account has received since April
28, 2015
- through Paypal:
€ 5643.62 (five thousand six hundred forty three euro and sixty two
cents) and
$ 90.57 (ninety dollars and fifty seven cents)
- through the GoFundMe page created by Leanne
Baulch:
£ 23,910 (twenty three thousand nine hundred and ten pounds)
These amounts will be applied
to cover expenses with the defence of Gonçalo Amaral, in the civil suit brought against him by the McCann family.
The appeal is being prepared by Mr Amaral's lawyers and will be filed in due time.
Once the appeal
is filed, PJGA will publish a statement.
At this point, we would like to, once again, thank you for your immense
support - and patience.
Our trust in Portuguese justice remains firmly in place.
Thank you.
Tweet for our missing kids ... and help
end heartbreak, 25 May 2015
Tweet for our missing kids ... and help end heartbreak The Sun (paper edition, page 20)
SUPPORT CHARITY BID TO FIND LOST CHILDREN
TODAY, on International Missing Children's
Day, Missing People is holding The Big Tweet for Missing Children 2015, to help find some of the 140,000 UK kids who vanish
every year.
Celebs including the Beckhams are taking part and we want YOU to get involved too. For 24 hours the
charity will tweet an alert for a missing child every 30 minutes and we urge you to retweet the appeals.
Here Kate
McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared eight years ago, tells ANTONELLA LAZZERI why it is so vital.
By KATE McCANN Monday, May 25, 2015
TODAY is International
Missing Children's Day. Millions of people will be looking forward to a longed-for opportunity to relax, bring family
and friends together and enjoy a (hopefully) sunny Bank Holiday Monday.
However, the day is also a very important
one for the families of the 140,000 children who go missing in the UK every year.
Thankfully, most of these children
will be found quickly and will be safe from harm. Some will not.
For families - mums, dads, brothers and sisters
- whose children have gone missing it means living with unending heartbreak in an endless circle of hope and despair.
Through my voluntary work as an Ambassador of the charity Missing People I have met many families, like mine, who are living
this nightmare.
I have seen how grown-up siblings are driven to take on the mantle of searching once their parents
no longer can.
It is a very painful prospect that our twins may live their lives searching for their sister - and
makes our need for answers as desperate as ever.
'It's about reaching out far and wide'
Every pair of eyes and ears makes a big difference to the search.
This is why I am asking Sun readers to
take some time out today to support The Big Tweet for Missing Children (which is made possible by funding from financial markets
operator ICAP).
The idea is simple, it harnesses social media for good and it's been proven to help find missing
children.
Missing People will make an appeal for a different missing child or young person on Twitter every half
hour for 24 hours. Twitter users from all over the UK and beyond then share and retweet as many as possible. It's about
reaching out far and wide to find these children.
You might be that someone who recognises one of the faces seen
on Twitter as you pass them by in the street, or the supermarket, or the train station.
Last year, thanks to everyone
who took part, including huge support from Sun readers, we had 83,000 appeals for missing children retweeted on the day.
That kind of publicity means the world to any mother, father, sister or brother who is missing a loved one.
Even more importantly, ten of the children we appealed for were found.
The Big Tweet 2014 was made better and
stronger thanks to so many Sun readers who got behind the campaign and encouraged others to do the same.
It
would mean so much if you would get behind it again this year.
Text messages and calls "can now
be submitted in court as evidence", 21 May 2015
Text messages and calls "can now be submitted in
court as evidence" Portugal Resident
Posted by PORTUGALPRESS on May 21, 2015
In a historic ruling, Évora's court of appeal has
clarified that text messages (even if they are not read) and mobile phone records can now be used in criminal cases and do
not require any authorisation by a judge.
But emails - which can be accessed by mobile phones - can only be used
if the person to whom they have been addressed has read them.
The decision was announced in today's Diário
de Notícias which claimed the law up until now has been "unclear in this context".
Indeed it could
have changed endless police investigations in the past - not least the original Madeleine McCann inquiry.
As TVI24
reveals, in 2007 Portimão Judge Pedro Frias "refused the PJ the right to look at text messages on Kate McCann's
mobile phone", justifying his decision on the basis that "telephonic interceptions could not be authorised after
the event", and that he "could not authorise the consultation of written messages sent and received before receiving
a request" to this effect.
Indeed TVI has run an exposé on the "controversial judge" (see
our story elsewhere), adding that in 2007 "there were many voices" speaking out against this decision.
Now, as a result of the appeal court's decision, the PJ would have had a great deal more investigative freedom.
Évora's judges were asked to rule on the law following a case of theft in Serpa where the suspect had "inadvertently"
left his mobile phone at the scene of the crime.
To find out who he was, police had gone through the man's
text messages and phone records.
The Public Ministry had argued that this was the kind of action that only a judge
could authorise, but the panel defended that, "in essence", a message kept in digital support "had the same
protection as a written letter received in the post that had been opened and then filed in a personal file".
Referring specifically to the case in Serpa, which DN stressed "should now apply to other cases", the use of this
kind of material should not require "previous intervention by a judge" to be authorised as proof.
Within
hours of running the story, DN had received a number of commentaries both for and against.
By
NATASHA DONN natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
Maddie cop slams McCanns over 'gag':
Ex-police boss to fight court ruling, 18 May 2015
Maddie cop slams McCanns over 'gag': Ex-police
boss to fight court ruling Daily Star
THE former police chief in the McCann libel case claims he has been gagged.
By
Jerry Lawton / Published 18th May 2015
Goncalo Amaral said he had been the victim of "an attack
against freedom of expression".
He added: "I am a free man and like any other citizen in this country
I have the right to express my opinions."
Mr Amaral, 55, has been told to hand over £357,000 after accusing
Kate McCann, 47, and her husband Gerry, 46, of covering up their missing daughter's death in his best-selling book.
The ex-officer, who headed the initial investigation into Madeleine's 2007 disappearance, is appealing the ruling
by a Portuguese judge.
He claimed he had been "tried over an offence of opinion".
Mr Amaral
said the damages would bankrupt him.
He added: "My life is gone. I'm only alive due to my heart."
He told Portuguese weekly magazine Nova Gente everything in his book was contained in official police files.
Yet the judge's ruling meant the McCanns were "worth more than any Portuguese citizen dead or alive" and "above
any god or divinity" in that they could not be "criticised, ridiculed and satirised".
He said: "Look
at the discussions about the terrorist attacks against French newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
"With my book I did
not defame, nor did I have the intention to defame anyone, but merely to report what happened during the first five months
of the investigation thus replying to the attacks against my good name and my professional dignity."
Mr Amaral
plans to countersue the McCanns. He said: "It is a fact that they lost their daughter but that doesn't give them
the right to sue anyone or to be compensated."
The McCanns, who sought £1million damages, told the libel
hearing they were "devastated" by his allegations.
Specialist Crime and Operations - Copies of the most recent
authorised statement of expenditure submitted to the Home Office in relation to Operation Grange
Freedom of Information Request Reference No:
I note you seek access to the following information:
Please provide copies of the most recent authorised
statement of expenditure submitted to the Home Office in relation to Operation Grange.
Please provide the cost
of all flights by members of the Operation Grange team in 2014 (Jan 1 to Dec 31).
Please include a breakdown with
the cost of each flight.
DECISION
In relation questions 1 & 3 and having located
and considered the relevant information, I am afraid that I am not required by statute to release this information.
This email serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17(1)(a)(b)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).
This information for questions 1 & 3 has been exempted pursuant to the provisions of Section's 31(1)(a)(b)
and 40(2)(3) of the Act.
In relation to question 2, it has been decided to release this information.
The
cost of all flights by members of the Operation Grange team in 2014 (Jan 1 to Dec 31) was £15,945.80p.
Before
I explain the reasons for the decisions I have made in relation to your request, I thought that it would be helpful if I outline
the parameters set out by the Act within which a request for information can be answered.
The right of access to
information is not without exception and is subject to a number of exemptions, which are designed to enable public authorities
to withhold information that is not suitable for release. Importantly, the Act is designed to place information into the public
domain, that is, once access to information is granted to one person under the Act, it is then considered public information
and must be communicated to any individual should a request be received.
Constituents of this information attract
Section 31 and other constituents Section 40 of the Act.
Do you agree with a Lisbon court sentence ordering former police inspector Gonçalo Amaral
to pay €500,000 in damages to Madeleine McCann's parents over contents included in a book on the case?
Yes
5% 46 votes)
No 95% (827 votes)
Total votes: 873
Top British cop vows "Maddie hunt
must continue" while "troll noise" reaches fever pitch, 15 May 2015
Top British cop vows "Maddie hunt must continue"
while "troll noise" reaches fever pitch Portugal Resident
Posted by PORTUGALPRESS on May 15, 2015
In the UK today, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Bernard Hogan
Howe has confirmed the multi-million pound investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from an Algarve holiday
resort eight years ago must continue - no matter what his union, or indeed anyone else thinks.
Talking to Tom Pettifor
of the Daily Mirror, Sir Bernard "reacted angrily to concerns raised by the Police Federation about the millions devoted
to the case".
"It's not for them to decide which investigation we carry out. It's my decision,"
he told the Mirror. "This investigation is funded by the government and the only thing that will decide whether or not
it continues are the chances of success in finding that girl."
John Tully, chairman of the Met's police
federation, showed in March that rank-and-file police think otherwise. He declared there were "rumblings of discontent"
over the manpower and money ploughed into the Madeleine investigation and that it was "time to refocus" and channel
resources into "keeping London safe".
But as Sir Bernard insists that the Met must continue with the
hunt that has purportedly cost over £10 million so far, Britons denounced as "trolls" are channelling money
hand-over-fist to the cause of the former Portuguese policeman sued by missing Madeleine's parents for the message in
his book the Truth of the Lie.
Gonçalo Amaral has announced that he is appealing against the decision that
leaves him owing a whopping €600,000 in combined damages and interest payments - but it is no secret that the case has
left him financially hamstrung. Thus the rallying of support, both here and in the UK is a life-raft.
Coordinated
by a group of friends who have sole use of the money for legal defence costs only, it has quite literally kept him going.
"The best proof ... is that he has come this far," one of the fund 'managers' told us today. "He
wouldn't have otherwise."
With the "gofundme" appeal started by Leanne Baulch, a young single
mother from Birmingham, getting donations from an average of 70 people a day - and nudging ever-closer to its £25,000
target - Amaral has spoken to Nova Gente magazine about the case that "destroyed his career, his family and his health",
saying "my life is gone. I am only alive due to my heart".
He reveals not only that he will be counter-suing
the McCann parents, their "group of friends" and "other people and entities" "in good time"
but that, as far as he is concerned, the couple "practised a crime" and were "primarily responsible for their
daughter's disappearance" by leaving their children alone "for more than five nights".
It is
an extraordinary interview published in full on the "Projecto Justiça Gonçalo Amaral" website set
up by one of the friends who has fought tirelessly since 2009 for Amaral's right to freedom of expression.
She
told us how she is buoyed now by the "incredible response" coming every day from British people who have been described
by the UK's Sun newspaper as "sick trolls".
The Resident has been following the fund and, as we suggested
last week, the comments appearing on it do not seem to fit the profile of trolls in any way at all.
Indeed one
was so poignant it has spurred Amaral supporters to send it to over 50 British newspapers and media professionals to highlight
how strong feelings in the UK are about this eternal "mystery".
Penned by a donor who gave her name as
Paula Seddon, it ran as follows: "Kate and Gerry, you damaged the lives of my children when they were small as they thought
someone was going to get into their bedroom windows as their catholic school told them your jack-a-nory story and asked them
to pray. We had sleepless nights for years and a security routine to check doors and windows before sleep. Their anxiety and
distress caused by your lies. I donated £5 back then to the school fund for you as at the time I thought you were genuine
human beings. I cuddled and calmed them as I believed the fiction too. I would like to withdraw that money and give to a truth
teller. The truth will be told. You cannot hide behind pity statements by calling people trolls and haters. People are waking
up and realising your story is full of holes and had the real story broke back then, my children would not have been scared
or scarred by your lies."
But the day after the message was sent, the UK press ran only with the story that
insists the search for missing Madeleine must continue.
Meantime, Amaral's interview with Nova Gente is being
copied, tweeted and sent around the world.
As he tells journalist Alexandra Ferreira, he wrote the book that the
McCann couple took him to court over as a "way to reply to the humiliation and the offences" that he has been "targeted
with".
"Deep down that was it. They say we are incompetent, they say we are a third world police force,
drunkards, fat, lazy, etc., and the PJ police does not set out to defend us. Therefore I turned to writing, reporting the
investigation that had been carried out, so people could draw their own conclusions."
Asked what remains "unexplained
in this case", he said: "I don't answer that question. Faced with what was said by the couple after the verdict
was known, that they feel stronger, I just feel like saying that only vampires become stronger with their victims' blood.
Like Zeca Afonso sang: 'They eat everything...'"
By NATASHA DONN natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
"My life is gone, I'm only
alive due to my heart" - Nova Gente: Interview With Gonçalo Amaral, 15 May 2015
Interview With Gonçalo Amaral Nova
Gente (paper edition)
For the first time, Gonçalo Amaral speaks about the case
that destroyed his career, his family and his health...
"My life is gone, I'm only alive
due to my heart"
Text: Alexandra Ferreira (alexandra.lemos.ferreira@impala.pt) Photos: Lusa, Paula Alveno and IMPALA With thanks to
Astro for translation Condemned to pay 500 thousand euro to the parents of Maddie, the little English
three-year-old girl that disappeared in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, on the 3rd of May of 2007, the former inspector will
fight until the last legal instance, because he is "a free man and citizen" with "the right to express opinions". What was your reaction when you found out that the verdict from the court was unfavourable to you in
the defamation suit that the McCanns filed against you?
I found out about the verdict through a friend
who called me telling me about the news on the radio. I immediately called my lawyer, but he hadn't been notified and
the verdict was not in the process. It's sad, but my lawyer could only access the sentence, that afternoon, because a
British journalist sent it to him by e-mail. There is no doubt that the couple's lawyer has good connections at the court.
My reaction was one of calm and a wish to read the full contents of the verdict as soon as it was available on the Citius
website, which only happened the next day, but with the date of the previous day. Mysteries which the webs of justice weave. Were you surprised?
I wasn't surprised, it was one of the open possibilities, but
after the decision about the matter of fact, which was favourable to me, I trusted that the verdict would come in the same
direction. Do you think there are errors in the process? Do you feel wronged?
Those
are not mistakes, but value judgements and understandings that are contrary to mine and to that of many other jurists. As
for feeling wronged... What do you think? I can only ask if those who, for more than five nights, left their three children,
aged three and two, to their own devices in a house within an unknown space, subjecting them to a thousand dangers, while
they were partying with friends – not to mention the amounts of alcohol that was ingested on those occasions -, still
has the right to be compensated. They practiced a crime of exposing and abandoning defenceless children and they weren't
even accused of that fact. Looking at our criminal legislation, at the English child protection legislation and at cases that
recently happened with British subjects in the Algarve, after drunken nights, all that I can say is that the McCann couple
is primarily responsible for their daughter's disappearance. She only disappeared because they neglected her guard and,
as parents, they were obliged to it. It is a fact that they lost their daughter, but that doesn’t give them the right
to sue anyone or to be compensated. They can’t escape their guilt, which is enough to rob them of their sleep, to provoke
a lack of appetite and even rage, but against themselves and not against someone who only wrote down what happened during
the first five months of the investigation, according to what is in the case files. If compensation takes place, all that
I can do is warn you: be careful, there's people who may turn this into a new business! Don't you
feel revolted by this verdict?
I don't feel revolt, but I do not conform to it, I still trust our
country's justice system, for which I have worked for over 25 years, and I still am a free citizen with all my rights.
On the other hand, even the question that Maddie's siblings, then aged two, may someday read my book and become traumatized
doesn't concern me. Those two children were also abandoned for over five nights in a row and surely they will understand
that what is written there is the result of a criminal investigation.
There is a question that those two children
will certainly ask when they grow up but that question will be directed at the parents: why were they abandoned, left to their
own devices? Those children are free to think and to conclude that whatever happened to their daughter could have happened
to one of them. The parents can only fear that their two children who did not disappear on that tragic night revolt against
them. The court says that you caused Maddie's parents and siblings moral damages...
In my understanding, there are no damages that, objectively and factually, may have resulted from my writing. Which is to
say, there is no causal nexus between the book or the documentary and any damages. On the other hand, what is spoken about,
like the feelings of rage, it can hardly be considered a damage. The couple demanded one million two hundred
thousand euro. The court has sentenced you to pay 500 thousand euro – including interest since 2010 – over damages
that were caused by the publication of the book Maddie: A Verdade da Mentira. Aren’t both the request and the damages
awarded by the court exaggerated?
There is no defamation crime, I haven't been tried over any crime,
if at all I am being tried over an offence of opinion, something unthinkable 40 years after the revolution of April of 1974,
which ended the [fascist] Estado Novo, censorship and all the means that oppressed Portuguese citizens from thinking, speaking
and writing freely. On the other hand, what is in the book is in the process, those are not lies, that can be verified by
comparing the case files with the book and this court has not put that truth at stake. Nonetheless, a compensation of that
amount only clarifies that the McCann couple is worth more than any Portuguese citizen, dead or alive, and that they are above
any god or divinity, which, according to politicians, Portuguese intellectuals and others from the so-called democratic world
can be criticized, ridiculed and satirized. Look at the discussions about the terrorist attacks against French newspaper Charlie
Hebdo... With my book I did not defame, nor did I have the intention to defame anyone, but merely to report what happened
during the first five months of the investigation, thus replying to the attacks against my good name and my professional dignity.
There is no, no can there be any, reserve duty that superimposes our right to react and to defend ourselves from defamation
and injustice, putting the truth back when our fundamental rights are violated, even when the authors of such attacks are
subjects of a powerful country, to which Portugal has always bowed, with a short interregnum when the Portuguese Republic
was founded, largely a result of the English ultimatum. Apart from the payment, the court decreed the prohibition
of the sale of new editions of the book Maddie: A Verdade da Mentira. Nevertheless, the Appellate Court had decided to annul
this prohibition back in 2010...
This court has not undone what had been decided by Lisbon's Appellate
Court within the injunction that was filed by the complainants. It should be clarified that the only decision that has, so
far, become effective is that of Lisbon's Appellate Court. That is the only one that is in force, the rest is still subject
to appeal and it will take a few years to come into force, while I hope that our superior courts will see this differently
from the lower court. This is just the judicial system working, therefore we need to remain calm.
In a more practical
manner, I can say that the claimants, the McCanns, haven't won anything yet, they only lost, namely with the decision
from Lisbon's Appellate Court, which is very clear in stating that the rights that have been violated were mine, that
I, within the exercise of freedom of speech, could write the book and practiced no illicit action. With
this prohibition, are you forbidden from emitting an opinion about the case or about the McCann couple?
I am a free man, and like any other citizen in this country, I have the right to express my opinions. I was a Criminal Investigation
coordinator, a policeman, and there is no reserve duty, a functional or merely instrumental thing, from the exercise of a
profession, that superimposes a fundamental right and freedom of expression. To state that the duty of reserve limits freedom
of expression for life, or even during the exercise of the profession of policeman, is to elevate that duty, which is merely
administrative, above freedom of expression and fundamental rights, consecrated in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic,
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and on the European Convention of Human Rights.
When you wrote
the book, did it ever occur to you that you could be committing an offence?
I wrote the book because I,
those who worked with me and the institution of the Judiciary Police were being put at stake. My good name and professional
honour were severely attacked. In a first phase, I started by writing to the Judiciary Police's national director, asking
him to allow me to defend myself publicly or to come out to defend us, and I obtained no reply. Today, after all these years,
I know that Dr. Alípio Ribeiro never received my letter, which was simply set aside by someone hierarchically below
him.
Faced with the inertia and the silence from the institution that I belonged to, which, in my opinion, had
the duty and the obligation to come out and defend the men and women who, with their work and great sacrifice, tried to protect
it by performing an investigation at the level of any minimally developed country, I decided to ask for my retirement, and
to report the criminal investigation that had been carried out and the conclusions that were reached up to the moment that
I coordinated said investigation. At that time we already knew that the case was going to be shelved and the investigation
abruptly ended. Everything was being prepared in that sense with the agreement, at least tacit, from the parents of the missing
child, with the case files being delivered to journalists by the Public Ministry, which in itself question the duty of reserve
to which, according to some experts, the policemen were subject to.
The book was a way to reply to the humiliation
and the offences that I have been targeted with. Deep down, that was it: they say we are incompetent, they say we are a third
world police force, drunkards, fat, lazy, etc., etc., and the Judiciary Police does not set out to defend us. Therefore I
turned to writing, reporting the investigation that had been carried out, so people could draw their own conclusions. What
happened next is known. Do you feel abandoned by the intellectuals and the writers of this country?
Since I left the Judiciary Police, I am part of no institution, I have no political party, nor am I a member
of any sports, recreational, cultural or social association, I do not belong to any congregation or obedience. I wrote three
books (Maddie: A Verdade da Mentira; A Mordaça Inglesa; Vidas Sem Defesa), but I do not consider myself a writer. I'm
an outsider. Is freedom of expression not compromised by this type of verdict?
What
is happening to me, since 2009, is an attack against freedom of expression and a trial over an offence of opinion. The intellectuals
of this country, in general, have reacted with indifference. I am not part of their group, and to make things worse I'm
an ex-policeman, something that is reproved by many. As far as I remember, only Dr. Francisco Teixeira da Mota, when the Appeals
Court’s decision came out, wrote about the matter, saying that the decision had been correct, as the Portuguese State
risked being condemned by the European Court for Human Rights... Someone asked me why the Portuguese Authors' Society
had not come out to defend freedom of expression and to denounce the attack that is underway. I replied I was not a member,
which may explain the silence.
Are you still dedicated to writing?
I continue to write,
but I have yet to decide when to publish. At the moment, I am writing my memoirs about the profession of criminal investigator. Why are you economically suffocated? Your house in Tavira went to the bank, your consultancy firm had to close,
one third of your pension is arrested...
To all of those questions I only reply that my life is gone.
If I am alive, it's due to the heart that I have. Have you never considered suing the McCanns over
the damages that they caused to your family?
Each thing in its own time, it won't be only the McCanns,
but their group of friends, and other people and entities that will be sued. There is an illicit action that was indeed performed,
the neglect in guarding their children, which caused direct damages to many people, not only to myself, but for example to
the Ocean Club workers, who were fired and saw their lives change, many of them unjustly passing from mere employees and heads
of family to suspects in a criminal investigation, while they had nothing to do with the matter. Is there
a project that you would like to realise some day?
I would like to channel all the support that I have
been receiving into the creation of an institution to support children and teenagers at risk, in a perspective of educating
them for life, escaping the benefits perspective, promoting and building life projects with them, helping them to escape marginalization
and the labelling process. With so many problems, do you still have time to dream?
Dreaming
is a part of free men, it costs no money, it can't be bought, and we just live and feel it. What remains
unexplained in this case?
I don't answer that question. Faced with what was said by the couple, after
the verdict was known, that they felt stronger, I just feel like saying that only vampires become stronger with their victims'
blood. Like Zeca Afonso [Portuguese songwriter and singer] sang, "they eat everything"...
Britain's top cop: The search for
Maddie WILL go on, 15 May 2015
Britain's top cop: The search for Maddie WILL go
on Daily Star
POLICE yesterday pledged the hunt for Madeleine McCann will continue, despite £800m cutbacks.
By Jerry Lawton / Published 15th May 2015
Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said the investigation
would go on as long as there was a chance of success.
And he declared the £10m hunt for Madeleine "untouchable".
The Met Police Federation has called for the probe, codenamed Operation Grange, to be scrapped so the 31-strong team
of detectives working solely on it can be reassigned to other cases.
But Sir Bernard said: "This is not the
Police Federation's territory.
"It's not for them to decide which investigations we carry out. This
investigation is being funded by the Government discreetly.
"Even if we were to stop investigating, the resources
could not be allocated to something else.
"The only thing dictating any decision to continue the investigation
are our chances of success in finding this girl.
"That is the only thing driving it. That's really a matter
for me and not a federation issue."
Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, who controls Operation Grange, said
the investigation was "moving at a pace at the moment".
The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell
said: "The manning of Operation Grange is entirely a matter for the Metropolitan Police.
"Kate and Gerry
remain incredibly grateful to every single officer who is still actively working to find Madeleine."
Madeleine McCann: Top officer
pledges that hunt for missing girl will continue apace, 14 May 2015
Madeleine McCann: Top officer pledges that hunt for
missing girl will continue apace Daily Mirror
20:43, 14 May 2015 | By Tom Pettifor
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe,
Met Police Commissioner, reacted angrily to concerns raised by the Police Federation about the millions devoted to the case
Missing: Maddie
The search for Madeleine McCann is "moving on a pace" and will not end until all avenues are exhausted,
Britain's top police officer said today.
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, reacted
angrily to concerns raised by the Police Federation about the millions of pounds of public money devoted to the case.
He said: "It's not for them to decide which investigation we carry out, it's my decision. This investigation
is funded by the government and the only thing that will decide whether or not it continues are the chances of success in
finding that girl.
"It's really for me and not a [Police] Federation issue."
Portuguese
prosecutor Ines Sequeira said she was determined to crack the case when she took it over last October, bringing fresh hope
to Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry.
Hope: Maddie's parents
have been reassured that search will continue
Sir Bernard said of the investigation: "It's
moving on apace at the moment in terms of the relationship with the Portuguese and that is to be welcomed. As long as there's
a basis for doing the investigation we will continue."
He said the Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary
Teresa May support the investigation.
Madeleine was just three when she went missing from her family's Algarve
holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 2007 as Kate and Gerry, sat at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.
Portuguese police closed their investigation in 2008 but the Metropolitan Police launched their own inquiry, codenamed Operation
Grange, three years later.
Sir Bernard was responding to concerns raised by John Tully, chairman of the Metropolitan
Police Federation, who said in March: "It's time to re-focus on what we need to do to keep London safe.
"We no longer have the resources to conduct specialist inquiries all over the world which have nothing to do with London.
"The Met has long been seen as the last resort for investigations others have struggled with elsewhere. It is
surprising to see an inquiry like the McCann investigation ring-fenced. I've heard a few rumblings of discontent about
it from lots of sources."
He added: "When the force is facing a spike in murder investigations, it's
not surprising there is resentment of significant resources diverted to a case that has no apparent connection to London."
Operation Grange has cost almost £8million. More than £100,000 has been spent on the transport of British
authorities to and from Portugal. The money comes from a special Home Office fund.
Duplicity, 13 May 2015
Duplicity
EXCLUSIVE
to mccannfiles.com
By Dr Martin Roberts
13 May 2015
DUPLICITY
It is in the diplomatic nature of
things, that when the truth looks like being unpalatable, perfectly ordinary men and women will tell a 'white lie'
in order to defer discussion of what could become an unwelcome or provocative topic. Politicians, as we know, adopt the tactic
of avoidance, answering 'the question before last' instead of taking the bait just handed them. The McCanns have,
over time, practised both techniques (lying and avoidance), presumably to safeguard against having to discuss something they
would rather not in relation to the disappearance of their daughter. It seems reasonable to infer therefore that they have
a motive for doing so, being principals to the saga, as it were.
The story of Madeleine McCann's 'abduction'
is littered with contradictions from the outset. Gerry McCann could not faithfully recall the door he used to enter the family's
apartment that night. He and his wife could not agree on the door she used to enter the family's apartment that
night. Gerry McCann could not agree with Jane Tanner as to which side of the road McCann was standing when Tanner passed him
on the street, or even whether they were in the street together at the same time. And very soon after Madeleine McCann's
'abduction' was announced, we heard friends and relatives chorusing 'jemmied shutters'. That too was a lie,
although not knowingly theirs. It was what they had been told, separately, by the doctors McCann.
Altogether more
intriguing than the questionable utterances by the MCann parents, however, is the readiness with which others of their acquaintance
have also been prepared to lie, as if they too were expressing a subconscious desire to 'make the subject go away'.
Aspects of Jane Tanner's rogatory statement recorded by Leicestershire police convey the distinct impression that she
was working to a script. (How else is one to explain the verbatim repetition of answers? See: Author Unknown, McCannfiles,
7.2.2010). She also contributes to the remarkable tale of the tennis court, where two different photographers are put forward
by three different people as responsible for capturing the iconic picture of Madeleine McCann and her tennis balls, and on
any one of three separate days (See: Anyone for Tennis, 13.10.2013). Or maybe Kate McCann simply usurped the image for copyright
reasons.
Among the strangest contradictions in the entire saga are the claims made, again by others, for Gerry
McCann's various 'phone calls late on the night of 3 May. Subsequent to an article first appearing in Correio da Manha,
it has been generally understood that: "The first call Gerry made on the night of the crime was to Alistair Clark, a
good friend from University days and a diplomat close to Gordon Brown."
In reality, the first call Gerry made
on the night of the crime was to his wife, as was the second. Alistair Clark, whoever he may have been, was not even on the
register of diplomats that year. He most certainly did not receive a call from Gerry McCann approaching midnight, or at any
time soon thereafter. Someone deliberately fed CdM a pup (practising for a time when they might be in a position to offer
them Brighton Pavilion perhaps).
Stranger still are the conflicting claims of McCann family members:
1.
John McCann (speaking on DATELINE – NBC):
"I got a 'phone call from Gerry at twenty to twelve.
I was on a training course down, er, near my head office in Luton, and I had a big day on the Friday, so I'd gone
to bed early. I got woken at twenty to twelve with Gerry in a complete panic, completely distraught about what had
happened and it was a really horrible moment".
2. Gerry's sister Trisha Cameron (Statement to police,
15.4.2008):
'I remember hearing about Madeleine's disappearance by 'phone on the night of 3rd May 2007.
I usually go to bed late but I was particularly tired that night and went to bed early. I was woken by the phone ringing
at about 23.30. It was Gerry telling me that Madeleine had been taken'.
3. Susan Healy (to BBC Panorama,
19 November, 2007):
"I think it would be about half eleven - and I'm guessing now, I
might be wrong - there was a 'phone call and it was Gerry on the 'phone, and he said it's a disaster.
It's a disaster. And he was quite hysterical".
Here are Gerry McCann's first 'phone calls out
of Praia da Luz following Kate's announcement of their daughter's disappearance:
23.14 Kate McCann
23.17 Kate McCann
23.40 Trish Cameron
23.52 Kate's Uncle Brian
Where is the call to
Alistair Clark? Why did John McCann insist he was called at 11.40, when he most certainly was not, and Susan Healy suppose
she was called at 11.30, when Kate states in her book she asked Gerry to 'phone her parents shortly after midnight, which
he appears, from the records, not to have done?
If Gerry and Kate McCann have lied, it is because it was in their
interest to do so. If Clarence Mitchell lied on their behalf, it was because he was paid to do so. And the rest? Members of
the Tapas 7, the McCanns' extended family and others have been, to put no too fine a point on it, economical with the
truth. Why?
Loyalty to Gerry and Kate McCann is quite possibly the one thing they share in common, which begs the
question as to whether their motive for hiding the chalk might not be the same as that of Madeleine's parents.
Kate McCann hit by internet trolls on
missing Maddie's 12th birthday, 13 May 2015
Kate McCann hit by internet trolls on missing Maddie's
12th birthday Daily Star
INTERNET trolls sent cruel messages to Kate McCann on missing daughter Madeleine's 12th birthday yesterday.
By Jerry Lawton / Published 13th
May 2015
Kate, was abused as she appealed for sponsors for a cycle challenge
to raise cash for missing children.
Trolls even made donations to her Just- Giving page so they could access it
to leave hate messages too shocking to print.
But supporters urged Kate to ignore the abuse.
One wrote:
"Keep strong Kate and don’t let the trolls get you down."
Kate and husband Gerry, 46, yesterday
laid presents in their abducted daughter's bedroom to mark her birthday at their home in Rothley, Leics. Kate, 47, is
hoping to raise £10,000 by taking part in a 500-mile cycle challenge from Edinburgh to London next month.
Among the sane McCann sceptics
– the Bureau target audience – there really isn't any equivalent to the supporters' extraordinary
shifting of blame away from the circle surrounding the child on May 3 2007 to other, innocent, shoulders.
That
circle – everyone with access to apartment 5a that evening – remains the focus of the investigation since it must
include whoever disposed of the child. There is, as we know, much disagreement among our readership (remember, we are excluding
the lunatics) about whether the investigation should be working from the outside of the circle inwards, as the Yard say they've
been doing, or start with those and their close associates at its very centre.
But there is no counterpart to the
way that supporters of the parents have simply stopped talking about the facts of the investigation, as listed in the PJ final
report, in favour of years of foaming abuse aimed at people like Goncalo Amaral, his wife and anyone who dares to help him
or, latterly, Brenda Leyland.
The facts in the report, which is a summary of the evidence in the case files, are
of course unaffected by this attempt to evade the issues: the dog alerts happened, whether admissible in court or
not, and no forensic evidence has yet emerged to exclude them from consideration; the report's accusations, made diplomatically
but directly, of incompleteness in the evidence provided by the Tapas Nine and their refusal to help complete the picture
remain unanswered.
That burden of unresolved issues will never go away without positive evidence to refute it –
and of that there has not been the slightest trace in eight years: that is why both Portuguese and British (Leicester) police
refer to "undemonstrated innocence". What is remarkable is the lack of interest from the parents themselves or their
friends in clarifying the record.
For eight years now the Nine have appeared perfectly happy to remain passive
in the face of the outstanding PJ questions, as though any attempt to communicate more than the bare minimum – as in
the parents' absurdly defensive television interviews – is either unnecessary or some sort of invasion of their
rights. They couldn't be more wrong. The "undemonstrated innocence" is a limbo for them, a curse on
their children: as the Bureau has argued before, the parents would have done better to camp out on police doorsteps
and refuse to go away until they were questioned since, in the absence of decisive exonerating evidence, answers
are the only possible way out of their limbo. If the "not-suspects" statements are true, rather than tactical or
cosmetic, and reflect the fact that the couple and their friends have not been closely questioned by Grange about
their original accounts then this investigation too will betray them, condemning not just the nine but their children and
descendants to suspicion for the indefinite future.
Unresolved questions about unsolved crimes are a guarantee
of sensationalist books and fat advances for their authors for a hundred years to come. Even today poor Walter Sickert's
descendants have to cope with Pat-Brownish "experts" like Patricia Cornwell desecrating the painter's memory
as only an American pot-boiler can with books like Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper.
The Delves-Broughton
family lived with a horrible cloud of suspicion over their head for half a century after the unsolved death of Lord Delamere
in Kenya in 1931. The acquittal of Jock Delves-Broughton after his trial for murder, a protective cordon of friends and even
his eventual suicide failed to end the limbo. In his case, culpability rather than exoneration resolved it, when someone who
had foolishly protected him finally provided evidence of his guilt – yet even guilt gave resolution, for the sensationalist
and often untrue articles and books ceased for good and the family have been left in peace ever since.
The abuse
of Goncalo Amaral and attempts to harm him are merely a symptom of denial in the face of this obvious truth. How could the
murderous campaign against Brenda Leyland help the McCann children rather than giving them something else to worry and brood
about in the future? The denial, though, starts with the parents and their friends. "How dare they doubt us?" or
"We have nothing to prove" may sound good but they are guarantees that the limbo will not end. Yet the parents have
had the tools and the finance to tackle the issue head-on, deal truthfully with the unanswered questions and put the result
before the public.
They've had ex-police officer Edgar available for a "you can ask us anything"
exercise since 2008 and competent, if shallow, journalists like Summers willing to write up the results into a short book
for them: what could be more valuable for innocent people than a no-holds-barred study of the PJ questions together with frank
answers from all nine, backed by supporting evidence?
Yet they've remained behind the barricades that they
themselves erected. They've not only failed to get Edgar to look at and rebut the doubts about them but, according to
his evidence in Lisbon, they rationed his access to the case files while wasting time and money on the ink-blot abductor
rubbish. The Seven have never shown any public interest in resolving the very serious questions that the PJ left hanging over
their heads and none of them came to court in Lisbon; Anthony Summers, who could have enhanced his own reputation as well
as that of the Nine with an open and truthful attempt to come to grips with the PJ's concerns, did the exact opposite
with his embarrassment of a book on the case.
Let us give just one, tiny, example to stand for all. We all know
of the correspondence in the case files between the T7 and the PJ over the issue of a reconstruction. The glaring void in
the correspondence is, of course, any mention of what do the McCanns think? Their attitude as to whether their friends
should go would obviously have been crucial and yet it has never been explored.
All nine appear perfectly happy
with this situation. The supporters can say "the parents never refused to go" because they were arguidos and would
have had to go, so there. Yet it's laughably cheap "victories" like this that have guaranteed the continuing
limbo. As Edgar could have put it on half a sheet of paper and as Summers could have written it up:
Did Gerry or
Kate ever express a view on your prospective return?
Did they encourage you to assist the investigation as Rebelo
requested?
Why were all your letters to Rebelo in such a similar format?
Was the subject ever mentioned
between the nine of you?
If "yes" what was said? If "no" then why not?
There's
plenty more where they came from. Open and non-defensive answers corroborated by Edgar's cross checking would have given
the basis for the removal of all doubts, for the truth. And exactly the same applies to the other questions raised
by the PJ in their report.
The supporters take their lead from the parents. Now the prospect of an appeal, successful
or otherwise, by Amaral seems to have sent them beyond the reach of whatever rationality they once possessed. How has "support
for a suffering couple" mutated into such blind and undying hatred of third parties with no connection to the disappearance?
Amid all the analyses of the McCann pair there is one element of their behaviour that is blindingly obvious when you
step back but which nobody ever tackles: a near-suicidal streak of self-destructiveness. Let's make them foam some more!
We'll make our own little contribution to a Fair
Trial for Goncalo now: starting today and for the next month AJS is going to give royalties from sales of the Kindle
No Stone Unturned to the Goncalo PJGA fund, thus widening the circle of fund raising beyond we donors. If you want
to tell anyone you know that buying what is after all the funniest book ever written about rock and roll – just have
a look at the link below – will help GA fund his appeal during that period then please do – and with the Amazon
app people don't even need to own a Kindle to read it. All for £3.89!
Today is Madeleine's 12th Birthday. In honour of Madeleine's birthday, please consider sponsoring
Kate in her upcoming 500 mile cycle challenge for Missing People: http://www.justgiving.com/KateMcCann/
Please also light a candle for Madeleine at: http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=Maddy.
Thank you for continuing to hold Madeleine in your heart.
~FM Webmaster
--------------
Banner:
Happy 12th birthday, Madeleine
We love you and we're waiting for you and we're
never going to give up.
findmadeleine.com
Maddie cop's legal fund "well
on the way" to the €25,000 target, 11 May 2015
Maddie cop's legal fund "well on the way"
to the €25,000 target Portugal Resident
Posted by PORTUGALPRESS on May 11, 2015
Within 11 days, the British fighting fund set up to help the
former policeman dubbed by UK media as the "Maddie Lie Cop" has reached over €13,000.
The target
- set by young psychology student Leanne Baulch who was only 14 at the time Madeleine McCann went missing - is now less than
€11,000 away, and donations are coming in bit by bit every few hours.
The extraordinary aspect of this latest
appeal is that it has been taken up by so many and no matter what the size of donations, people show their feelings that Amaral
has been "badly treated" for reasons no-one appears able to fathom. Indeed, the €500,000 damages set by judge
Emília Melo e Castro, plus the further €106,000 in interest - all destined to compensate the parents of Madeleine
for the distress Amaral's book The Truth of the Lie caused them - are reported to be the highest ever awarded against
a Portuguese citizen.
With questions constantly appearing on the fund website asking "what is being covered
up", Brits are giving in droves, with donors ranging from grandparents to young people who were teenagers at the time
Madeleine went missing. One of the most recent of the 819 givers was grandmother Kathleen Conell who deposited her £50
saying: "I worry about your safety and only wish someone wealthy with courage would adopt your cause. The corruption
in both the UK and Portuguese establishments must be stopped. Democracy is finished otherwise."
As this latest
example of "people-power" righting what they see is a wrong plays out, the mainstream British media is making much
of the so-called string of burglaries that appears to have taken place on the resort from which Madeleine went missing just
over eight years ago.
Sunday Express writer James Murray has written that British police "have established
a pattern of attacks on children in the Algarve... which could lead to a host of other sordid crimes being solved".
It's a line that has surfaced every now and then in this infinite mystery and which many query, as if there truly
had been a spate of attacks on children in the Algarve, the feeling is that local and national media would have heard about
them. As a source told us this week, what were originally described as "five or six cases, then morphed into over a dozen
and suddenly exploded into 30 cases or so, if we are to believe the UK media".
Meantime, the instigator of
the British appeal fund raising money for Amaral's appeal tells us she has been approached by a number of UK newspapers,
but none of them are keen to write about her effort until it reaches the €25,000 target.
By
NATASHA DONN natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
EXPRESS COMMENT: We must never give
up on Maddie McCann, 10 May 2015
EXPRESS COMMENT: We must never give up on Maddie McCann
Sunday Express
Eight years on, police may be close to solving the riddle of Madeleine McCann's disappearance. JAMES MURRAY,
who has covered the case from the start, says the probe must continue.
By JAMES MURRAY PUBLISHED: 00:01, Sun, May 10, 2015 | UPDATED: 11:21, Sun, May 10,
2015
ON TUESDAY a family will gather for a small birthday party.
Carefully chosen gifts will be offered, birthday cake eaten and cherished memories re lived.
Although the house
will be filled with love and hope there will also be a feeling of emptiness as Kate and Gerry McCann and their 10-year-old
twins Sean and Amelie remember much missed Madeleine, who should be celebrating her 12th birthday in the bosom of her family.
Instead, her whereabouts are unknown and nobody knows whether she is even alive. As the election dust settles in the
weeks ahead, questions will undoubtedly be asked about how much more should be spent trying to crack the mystery.
Some pragmatists will argue that the £10million or so given by the Home Office to finance Scotland Yard's Operation
Grange "Maddy Squad" investigation is enough.
They will call for the squad to be broken up, so the elite
detectives can return to their jobs with homicide command.
They will also argue that further probes should be paid
for by the McCanns, with the money in their Madeleine Fund. It is my firm belief that Home Secretary Theresa May should resist
those demands because it seems the truth is finally beginning to emerge.
Grange officers have at last established
a proper, professional working relationship with their Portuguese counterparts which is producing results. Certain people
have been identified and interviewed.
Their alibis and their reactions are being scrutinised as never before. Some
have been cleared of any involvement but probes into others continue. One of the greatest achievements of the Grange team
has been detailed analysis of phone records, showing roughly who was active on networks at key times on the evening of May
3, 2007, in the Algarve resort.
Portuguese officers, guided by Grange detectives, are now in a position to ask
people what they were doing in Praia da Luz during that evening and why did they call or text so and so?
Layers
and layers of wrong leads and useless information have now been peeled away, allowing officers to concentrate on the core
facts.
Their dedication and graft has been appreciated by the McCanns and the friends who joined them on that fateful
holiday, the so-called Tapas Seven: David and Fiona Payne, Russell O'Brien and Jane Tanner, Matthew Oldfield, his wife
Rachael and her mother Dianne Webster.
Now we know, thanks to Grange, that the man Jane saw carrying a child near
Apartment 5a of the Ocean Club was, in fact, an innocent holidaymaker. That in itself was a huge breakthrough.
Thanks
to Grange we know that Maddy was almost certainly in the arms of a man seen heading down towards the sea by the Smith family
from Ireland.
Photofits of the potential suspect have been released. Officers have also established a pattern of
attacks on children in the Algarve, something Portuguese police did not manage, which could yet lead to a host of other sordid
crimes being solved.
Hopefully, the skills used by the Yard experts will be taken
on board by the Portuguese, leading to better crime detection in the future.
A week ago friends of the McCanns
joined villagers in Rothley, Leicstershire, to mark the eighth anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance. Kate and Gerry
could not be there as they were visiting her seriously ill father Brian in Liverpool. In her place, Fiona Payne read out a
poem, The Tree Of Hope.
On a tree children attached touching messages. One wrote: "Dear God, please help all
the missing children in the world and bring them back to their families.
"Make sure they are in safe hands
and are going to be reunited with their families. Please bring Madeleine back to us. Amen."
I would challenge
any cold-hearted cynic to look that child in the eye and explain why the Grange operation should be shelved.
---------------
IN A POSTING on their Find Madeleine site Kate and Gerry wrote: "We are also buoyed and reassured by the unwavering
commitment and continued progress being made in the investigation.
We are really grateful to the Metropolitan Police
team for their conscientiousness, patience, consideration shown to us nd above all, their will to find Madeleine and determine
what happened. "Co-operation with and from the Portuguese police has, and still is, vital to the success of the investigation.
We are very appreciative of the joint working relationship established between the two forces." After years of
very little co-operation that acknowledgement is a milestone.
Now with the rifts put aside, Grange lead detective
Nicola Wall has a golden opportunity to justify the millions spent with a breakthrough.
Lessons learned from Grange
must now be adopted by all forces to improve the chances of other innocents like Madeleine, who had no control over their
fate.
In a civilised society, no price should ever be put on a child's life.
Brits raise thousands for Maddie cop's
libel appeal, 07 May 2015
Brits raise thousands for Maddie cop's libel appeal
Portugal Resident
Posted by PORTUGALPRESS on May 07, 2015
After what many consider the bombshell of a judicial decision
– setting record damages for a private Portuguese citizen – British supporters of former PJ inspector Gonçalo
Amaral are rallying en-masse to a "gofundme" online appeal – started intriguingly by a young British woman
who was only 14 when Madeleine McCann went missing. In less than a week, 22-year-old Leanne Baulch’s appeal has raised
over £9,200. British media has slated it – suggesting it is powered by "sick online trolls". The Resident
follows this fast-developing story which shows no sign of losing pace.
If anything, the impetus now is to find
a "high-profile donor" – someone "prepared to underwrite the legal costs" that Amaral faces as he
appeals against the judge's decision that awarded record damages against him in the long-running civil action for defamation
taken out by the McCanns over his book The Truth of the Lie.
Slapping Amaral with a bill that tops €600,000
all told, Express on Sunday suggested at the weekend that Judge Emília Melo e Castro has effectively "ruined and
shamed" the man who led the original police investigation into Madeleine's disappearance.
The Sun was
equally scathing, describing 56-year-old Amaral as a "lie cop" in its exposé of what it described as a "sick
online campaign".
But the publicity seems to have "backfired", Leanne Baulch tells us.
One couldn't say people are digging "deep" into their pockets, as many donations are for small amounts –
but it is certainly a "mass fork out", with multiple commentaries refuting mainstream media's slur that these
people are "trolls".
A donor by the name of Emma Mitchell, giving £100, wrote: "Shame on you
The Sun... Keep fighting GA, Madeleine deserves justice and so do you."
Another added her contribution, saying:
"From yet another 'nasty internet troll' keep on fighting GA, we are behind you all the way."
Comments
on stories posted on our portugalresident.com website also show readers reacting to the insinuation that "anyone who
questions the abduction theory" is a troll.
Calling it a "total disgrace", Jayne Staveley suggests
that The Sun's reporters "are still in primary school".
But the tragedy behind these comments is
that while Madeleine's parents have always maintained their civil action against Amaral was "never about the money",
it is now becoming more and more clear how important a role money has taken on in this case.
Miss Baulch's
appeal – an extension of the long-running Portuguese "Projecto Justiça Gonçalo Amaral" fund
to which she stresses she has "no access whatsoever" – has set out to raise £25,000. As we wrote, donations
were steadily flowing in, with over 500 people having raised £9,205 in six days.
Questioned about whether
she imagined she would get such a response, the single-mother from Birmingham told us: "I had no idea. I was just desperate
to help. I didn't expect the media to get involved. The Sun and Express reporting shocked me, but it backfired!"
McCann "hate dossier" will "not result in any prosecutions"
As Amaral
is thus buoyed by this latest bid to raise money to help him, British media has been carrying 8th anniversary "Madeleine
disappearance" stories, including new "revelations" about a string of burglaries on the Praia da Luz resort
from which Madeleine went missing.
These burglaries are presented as adding weight to the British police theory
that Madeleine may have been abducted as a result of a botched burglary.
But noteworthy when considering mainstream
media's preoccupation with "vile trolls" is the report by Sky news, coming in last week, that the so-called
"hate dossier" that hit the headlines eight months ago is not going to result in any prosecutions.
The
dossier – which led to the suicide of grandmother Brenda Leyland after she was 'outed' as a so-called troll
on live television – had been delivered to Leicester Police by what Sky described as an "anonymous source".
Keenly involved in the story, Sky's crime expert Martin Brunt claimed that the anonymous source (or sources) have
reacted with "absolute dismay" at the decision not to prosecute.
"They say it is tantamount to giving
trolls carte blanche to carry on abusing the McCanns," he wrote.
"Although we haven't heard directly
from the McCanns, I'm sure they too will be astonished because... Gerry McCann said such trolls should be prosecuted."
As we wrote this story, a new comment appeared on the gofundme site, signed from "MA": "Dr Amaral,
my pledge is to pay an apology fine for every article I see that is biased and un-factual on your behalf. Today's fine
is on behalf of the Express for their use of "troll" "shamed" and "sickening".
Friday, May 8, 2015
(published Thursday, May 7, 2015)
Brits raise thousands for Maddie cop's
libel appeal, 06 May 2015
Brits raise thousands for Maddie cop's libel appeal Portugal Resident
Posted by PORTUGALPRESS on May 06, 2015
After what many consider the bombshell of a judicial decision - setting
record damages for a private Portuguese citizen - British supporters of former PJ inspector Gonçalo Amaral are rallying
en-masse to a "gofundme" online appeal - started intriguingly by a young British woman who was only 14 when Madeleine
McCann went missing.
In less than a week, 22-year-old Leanne Baulch's appeal has raised over £9,200.
British media is slating it - suggesting it is powered by "sick online trolls", but as the Resident looks behind
this fast-developing story it is becoming clear that many of these people have no 'axe to grind'. They are simply
appalled at what they see as a case of injustice.
Meantime, police in UK have decided not to go ahead with any
prosecutions over the so-called "hate dossier" cataloguing "troll abuse" of the McCanns.
Read
the full report in this week's Algarve Resident newspaper, available in newsagents on Thursday.
Well, Madeleine Day was a nicely
flaccid occasion, wasn't it? About time. Not many photo-ops lately, either.
Those interested in the Bureau's
childish view that Mirror UK's attitude is a reliable indicator of what's actually going on in the Affair
should note once again that Mitchell's gaming of the Yard investigation in its pages, dead since December, has not been
resumed, even though another 7,200 burglaries in Praia da Luz this week are just crying out for anonymous discussion. Now
why, exactly, do you think that would be?
That the couple believe that the Yard investigation is now set to vindicate
them and that their spokesman no longer has any need to risk compromising himself because the job's done? Really? If that
were the case Mitchell's alter egos ("pal", "friend", "source close to the investigation"
– we love that one – and "family friend") would be busy preparing the ground, this of all weeks, for
celebration, wouldn't they? Did you get any hints of triumphalism and imminent release-from-limbo at the funereal "celebrations"
by the war memorial this weekend? Or from the latest message on the official site, its dead fish prose so acutely and unfortunately
reminiscent of Gerry McCann's August 2007 "blog" entries?
And do you think Tory-hopeful Mitchell
would be as coy and sparing in his supportive comments as he is now if he had the faintest belief that the investigation is
ending well for the pair? He'd be getting in first, shouting his support from the rooftops since vindication
for the McCanns is vindication for his judgement and all that work he did. You know, that work that he now leaves out of his
CV.
With the Mirror and Mitchell himself distancing themselves from the pair as though backing
away from a spreading pool of toxic waste the couple have been unable to find anyone to pass on the latest burglar suspect
mirthfest to the Mirror – except Anthony Summers! Yep, Anthony Summers, who claims to have a source within
the investigation feeding him information. Would that be the same source that told him to go and read the case files? Get
this wonderful line from the McCanns' Comical Ally:
"I was told there was great sensitivity around this
forensic testing1, nobody wants to discuss it2, but they are making progress3 and believe
the case is solvable4."
1 Yes, there has been since 2007. 2 "Nobody
told me anything". 3 Public statement from the Yard. 4 Public statement from the Yard.
Christ Jesus, we'd almost rather have a "pal" talking than this pathetic stuff – from the only journalist
who couldn't even make money from the case, the poor sap.
Madeleine McCann's parents
unable to attend service for 8th anniversary of daughters' disappearance, 04 May 2015
Madeleine McCann's parents unable to attend service
for 8th anniversary of daughters' disappearance Daily Mirror
00:21, 04 May 2015 | By Tracey Kandohla
A message
from Kate McCann was read out at an annual prayer service in her home village vowing: "The will to find Madeleine is
still as great"
Madeleine McCann's parents were unable to attend the eighth
anniversary of her disappearance yesterday because her grandfather is ill.
A message from Kate McCann was read
out at an annual prayer service in her home village vowing: "The will to find Madeleine is still as great."
Explaining Kate and husband Gerry's absence at an outdoor gathering for family, friends and locals, Maddie's great-aunt
Janet Kennedy said: "Sadly they cannot be here as Kate's dad is not well."
Former GP Kate, 47, and
heart doctor Gerry, 46, were comforting her 75-year-old dad Brian Healy who is suffering from Parkinson's disease, at
his Liverpool home.
Madeleine was three when
she disappeared from her room in Portugal
They had earlier prayed for their missing eldest child
during mass at a nearby church.
Janet, reading a message from Kate to crowds of well wishers, said: "We are
sorry we're not with you but thank you for coming together and sharing your hope and love for Madeleine. The will to find
her is still as great.
"One positive out of this horrible situation of Madeleine's abduction is that we
are highlighting the problem of missing children everywhere. We will do what we can to help other families."
Kate McCann and her husband
Gerry McCann
An eye-catching rainbow – a symbol of hope – lit up the sky as villagers
gathered in front of the war memorial in Rothley, Leics.
Kate and Gerry's "Tapas Seven" holiday pal
Fiona Payne, read a poem "Tree of Hope." The mum-of-two, accompanied by her family, choked back tears as she recited
the final line: "And every bloom bear a colour for the ones that we miss."
Maddie cops probe 10 more break-ins:
Prayers for snatched tot 8 years on, 04 May 2015
Maddie cops probe 10 more break-ins: Prayers for snatched
tot 8 years on Daily Star
MADELEINE McCann's parents last night marked the eighth anniversary of her disappearance.
By Jerry Lawton / Published 4th May 2015
And the couple prayed they will one day be reunited with their
daughter.
Kate McCann, 47, and husband Gerry, 46, spent the day visiting her poorly 75-year-old father Brian in
Liverpool.
But they sent a message to friends and well-wishers holding an open-air service in their home village
of Rothley, Leics.
Police revealed they are probing 10 more break-ins in the area where Maddie disappeared.
Officers think the youngster may have been taken in a botched burglary, and are already investigating 18 other raids.
The then three-year-old went missing from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007.
Mum Kate said her daughter was "missed every day", adding she prayed "something positive" would come
from "the suffering Madeleine and our family have endured".
Brits already forking out en-masse for
Maddie cop libel appeal, 03 May 2015
Brits already forking out en-masse for Maddie cop libel
appeal Portugal Resident
Posted by PORTUGALPRESS on May 03, 2015
After what many consider the bombshell of a judicial decision
last week, British supporters of the former Portuguese policeman ordered to pay the parents of Madeleine McCann €500,000
euros in damages are rallying to a "gofundme" online appeal for his legal defence.
Already widely reported
is the fact that Gonçalo Amaral "will appeal to the last judicial instance" against the vast sum of damages
awarded against him in the civil action for defamation taken out by Kate and Gerry McCann. But what few in Portugal may be
aware of is that an online fund set up by a 22-year-old woman in Birmingham is already seeing money pouring in in Amaral's
defence.
At time of writing on Sunday morning, 315 people had donated over £5,000 to the Legal Defence for
Gonçalo Amaral set up by Leanne Baulch, with all sorts leaving commentaries, including at least one introducing himself
as a retired police officer.
Jill Parkin added her £10 donation to the fund, saying: "Please do not
give up in your quest for justice and the truth. I believe you are a honourable man who has been badly wronged. I honestly
do not know what happened in this case but someone is lying and someone out there does know".
Many donors'
comments allude to an article in today's Sunday Sun that suggests Amaral is being funded by "British trolls".
As Emma Mitchell, giving £100 commented: "Shame on you The Sun! ... Keep fighting GA , Madeleine deserves
justice and so do you".
Kirstene Glynn added her contribution, saying: "From yet another "nasty
Internet troll" keep on fighting GA we're behind u all the way".
While others stumping up for the
appeal that hopes to raise £25,000 pointed out: "There is a battle going on in social media land to force this
through to the mainstream" which, they claim, "for some reason" only publishes one side of this seemingly endless
and long-running story.
Thus for now, Amaral is being buoyed by two online appeals both here and in UK as British
media persist with 8th anniversary "Madeleine disappearance" stories, including "exposés" on Amaral's
so-called "fall from grace" and new "revelations" about a string of burglaries on the Praia da Luz resort
from which Madeleine went missing.
According to the Express on Sunday, a home Amaral had hoped to retire to in
a "millionaires development" near Olhão has "been seized to to cover the McCann libel payout" and
is now boarded up, the property of the courts.
The paper quotes an alleged friend, saying that everything Amaral
has worked for "all his life, could be lost".
As we wrote this article, another three people bolstered
the gofundme appeal.
By the end of the day donations had leapt almost £500.
By
NATASHA DONN natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
Online trolls pay Madeleine McCann libel
detective's legal bills on eight year anniversary, 03 May 2015
Online trolls pay Madeleine McCann libel detective's
legal bills on eight year anniversary Sunday Express
INTERNET trolls are funding the legal bills of a shamed Portuguese detective who claimed Madeleine McCann's
parents were behind her disappearance.
By HELEN BARNETT PUBLISHED: 16:53, Sun, May 3, 2015 | UPDATED: 21:21, Sun, May 3, 2015
A British policeman is one of more than 330 people who have
donated more than £5,300 towards Goncalo Amaral's legal bills after he was sued by Madeleine's parents Kate
and Gerry.
The sickening news comes on the eight year anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance.
Amaral
was ordered to pay €500,000 in libel damages to the McCanns following the publication of a damning and unfounded book,
"Maddie, The Truth of the Lie".
But Leanne Baulch, 22, of Birmingham, created the page and wrote the
fund was created "as a quest for justice and backed by supporters from all over the globe, in solidarity, friendship
and above all, in the interest of furthering the investigation of the case into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann".
It adds: "There are many who follow Amaral's dissatisfaction, and whom, like him, urge for the day the truth,
or some more of it will emerge."
Amaral, 56, is to launch an expensive appeal against the payout decision.
John Green paid £10 to the fund and wrote: "I am
a retired police officer and will never understand how criminal proceedings have never been taken against the McCanns."
Ms Baulch said any unused donations will go towards a Portuguese children's charity chosen by Mr Amaral.
A McCanns spokesman declined to comment.
But Kate and Gerry McCann described their ongoing turmoil on the eight
year anniversary of their daughter's disappearance.
They wrote they missed their daughter "every day".
They added: "Eight years. There's no gentle way of putting it.
"This time of year cuts deep as it's
a harsh reminder of time having passed and precious years with Madeleine lost."
They said they had been boosted
by the love and support from the public, and reassured by the "unwavering commitment" from the Metropolitan Police.
The statement added: "Cooperation with and from the Portuguese Police has, and still is, vital to the success
of the investigation.
"We are very appreciative of the joint working relationship established between the
two forces."
Official Find Madeleine Campaign: Tie
a yellow ribbon for Madeleine, 03 May 2015
Today marks eight years since Madeleine was taken from her family. We are asking you to tie a yellow ribbon on a tree,
post etc... (please make sure to ask permission if it's not on your own property). Take a picture and Email to Webmaster@findmadeleine.com.
We would like to create a gallery to show how people are remembering Madeleine.
Edited to add: We would be grateful
If you would also light a candle for Madeleine at: http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=Maddy
Thank you for not giving-up on Madeleine.
~FM Webmaster
-----------------
Further
comment:
In response to a question suggesting that a new 'computer generated photo of what she could
look like now may help', the FM webmaster replied:
Tuesday, 5 May 2015 at 00:03
Hi Angie, we do have a computer generated photo that Scotland Yard commissioned when Madeleine was nine. They still
feel this photo is appropriate for a twelve year-old and will do another one when she's 13. ~FM Webmaster
Trolls pay Maddie lie cop's court bill,
03 May 2015
Trolls pay Maddie lie cop's court bill The Sun (paper edition, page16)
EXCLUSIVE by BEN
PERRIN Sunday, May 3, 2014
BRITISH trolls are helping pay legal bills of an
ex-cop who said Madeleine McCann's parents were behind her disappearance.
Hundreds of donations have
flooded into a sick campaign for Goncalo Amaral.
Today is the eighth anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance
from Praia da Luz, Portugal.
An ex-British policeman is among those supporting the "injustice" of him
losing a libel case over allegations in his book The Truth of the Lie.
He claimed Maddie's parents Kate, 47,
and Gerry, 46, faked her abduction after she died.
Amaral, 56, is set to launch a costly appeal after being ordered
to pay the couple, from Rothley, Leics, a total of £434,000.
Leanne Baulch, 22, from Birmingham is listed
as organiser of gofundme webpage "Legal Defence for Goncalo Amaral".
Some donors called the libel ruling
a "perversion of justice". John Green paid £10 and wrote "I am a retired police officer and will never
understand how criminal proceedings have never been taken against the McCanns."
Mary Benusis said her £50
was in memory of a Twitter troll found dead after being exposed as being behind vile social media messages about the McCanns.
A McCanns spokesman declined to comment.
EXCLUSIVE Maddie libel detective ruined:
Retirement retreat seized to cover McCann payout, 03 May 2015
THE luxury home where former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral, central to the Madeleine McCann investigation,
hoped to spend his retirement is boarded up and desolate.
By JAMES
MURRAY PUBLISHED: 00:01, Sun, May 3, 2015
It is a place he aimed to retreat to after writing a book about
the distressing case. Now, ruined and shamed, he will almost certainly have to sell it to pay libel compensation to Madeleine's
parents, Kate and Gerry.
But the property, in millionaires' development Cerro Azul, near the town of Olhao,
has been seized as an asset by a Lisbon court which last week ruled that Amaral must pay the McCanns 500,000 euros (£357,000)
compensation for allegations he made in his book.
Amaral suggested that evidence showed that Madeleine died in
the apartment from which she went missing, a claim that caused the McCanns untold distress. They are still searching for their
daughter, who, if alive, would be 12 on May 12.
Guard dogs patrol inside the house while Amaral, who is now broke,
lives with his father in Lisbon following his divorce from his wife Sofia. She lives with their teenage daughter hundreds
of miles away in Faro – a city that the abandoned property overlooks.
A family friend said: "He bought
the property about 10 years ago as an investment and as somewhere to live with his family during retirement but events have
taken a different turn.
"The property is an asset of the court. He still has a loan, which would have to be
paid back, with the rest potentially going to the McCanns, leaving him without anywhere to live except his father's small
home. "Everything he has worked for all his life could be lost."
To help pay his legal fees, a fund in
Portugal has raised about £5,000 and now a woman living in England, Leanne Baulch, has set up a "gofundme"
crowd funding site, which has raised £3,000.
After analysing the judgment from judge Maria Castro, Amaral
has decided to appeal, which could take two years, buying him time to raise more money. Describing the judgment as "unfair"
he says he will appeal until the "very last judicial instance", which signals it could end up in Portugal's
Supreme Court or the European Court of Human Rights.
Supporters point to a section of the judgment saying it was
a proven fact that British police dogs detected the scent of human blood and a cadaver in Apartment 5a of the Ocean Club in
Praia da Luz, from where Madeleine vanished eight years ago today.
Amaral used this evidence to suggest in his
book that Madeleine had died in the apartment, a theory vehemently rejected by the McCanns who still hope that she is alive
somewhere.
The judge felt Amaral's theory caused the McCanns anger, despair and anguish but she said it was
not proven that they had been destroyed from a moral, social and family point of view beyond the pain that the absence of
their daughter causes them.
The couple had sought 500,000 euros compensation for Madeleine
and 100,000 euros for each of their twins Sean and Amelie, now 10, but the judge threw that out. She has still to decide if
Amaral had the right to promote his theories under freedom of expression.
While the legal dispute looks set to
last for a further five years, the anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance is being quietly remembered in Luz.
On the noticeboard of the Nossa Senhora yellow and white church, where the McCanns regularly prayed, there is no mention
of Madeleine or the special prayers which will be said there today.
There are no pictures or posters of her and
the only visible sign of the case is on Stop street signs. Someone using a sophisticated stencil has added "McCann Circus",
highlighting the view of many who feel the case should be forgotten and people should be allowed to get on with their lives.
Despite the costly Scotland Yard and Portuguese police investigation, the Sunday Express found that key witnesses
have still not been spoken to.
Jenny Murat, 78, the mother of wrongly accused Robert Murat,
has potentially breakthrough evidence but no one has spoken to her. At 8pm on May 3, 2007, she went to a supermarket and then
drove past Apartment 5a and saw a woman hanging around. Her notes from the time say: "There was a woman standing on the
corner under a lamp post.
"I don't remember much of her other than she was of slight build and was wearing
a plum coloured jacket. She moved around the lamp post as if trying not to be noticed."
As she turned into
the driveway of her home, Casa Liliana, she was nearly hit by a car going the wrong way. "When I stopped to open the
gates I could not see the car but the woman was in the road looking in my direction."
After her son was wrongly
made an arguido (Portuguese for suspect), she contacted Hugo Swire, a Tory MP in Devon, and Leicestershire police about her
sighting but, astonishingly, she has not been interviewed to this day.
Speaking at home this week, she told the
Sunday Express: "I am happy to speak to Scotland Yard. This woman was just outside Apartment 5a and it didn't look
right. It could be relevant."
After 12 years she has put Casa Liliana up for sale. "It is very sad but
the place has become a tourist attraction for all the wrong reasons," she said. "I get people banging on my gate
and someone broke in once. I don't feel safe. Robert's life has been badly damaged by lies. It never goes away, it
never ends. It gets you down."
She will live with her daughter, Sammy, in Devon, but Robert, wife Michaela
and their four-year-old son will remain on the Algarve.
"I might buy a small flat in Luz but we will see,"
said Jenny. "It is not the same place."
Madeleine Police Probe More Break-Ins,
02 May 2015
Detectives are following a new
line of inquiry, ahead of the eighth anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance.
By Martin Brunt, Crime
Correspondent
British detectives searching for Madeleine McCann have discovered more of
the holiday apartment burglaries they believe hold the key to solving the case.
They had been investigating
18 break-ins in which intruders entered the bedrooms of young, mostly British girls.
Now they are probing 28 such
burglaries, Sky News has learned.
Forensic evidence is being tested against findings from the apartment from where
Madeleine vanished eight years ago.
The development in the Scotland Yard investigation is revealed by authors Anthony
Summers and Robbyn Swan in a new edition of their recent book Looking For Madeleine.
Summers said: "Our source
told us that after stumbling across 18 burglaries last year, they have now discovered a total of 28 in the area of Praia da
Luz in the years around 2007 when Madeleine disappeared.
"It gives them a much better chance of matching evidence
against forensics from the McCann apartment.
"I was told there was great sensitivity around this forensic
testing, nobody wants to discuss it, but they are making progress and believe the case is solvable."
The author
said in the past few days the Home Office had agreed to continue its controversial funding of the British investigation which
has now cost more than £10m.
Summers said: "Officials meet the police every three months to review spending
and only last week told them there was no financial or political pressure to cut back."
Madeleine was nearly
four when she vanished from the family's rented holiday apartment on 3 May eight years ago. It's thought she was abducted.
Portuguese police abandoned their investigation after 15 months without establishing any clues to the mystery and
for three years there was no official search for Madeleine.
With Home Office backing, Scotland Yard began a review
of evidence in 2011 and then launched a full-scale investigation two years ago.
The London branch leader of the
police union the Police Federation said recently that funding of the investigation could not be justified in the wake of continuing
public spending cuts which have hit all forces.
Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann have said they are
"more driven than ever" to continue the search for their daughter.
'No one has the right to take away
a parent's hope', 02 May 2015
'No one has the right to take away a parent's
hope' The Telegraph
In an exclusive extract from the updated edition of their book Looking for Madeleine, award-winning investigative
journalists Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan report on the current developments in the Madeleine McCann case
By Anthony Summers,
and Robynn Swan 7:05AM BST 02 May 2015
Last August, a group of 10 "concerned citizens"
wrote to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, alerting him to "an appalling campaign
of abuse directed at the parents and wider family of Madeleine McCann".
None of the authors of the letter
was related to or even knew Kate and Gerry McCann. It was, rather, they said, the behaviour of an army of online "haters"
in recent months that decided them to turn to law enforcement. The abuses against the McCanns had "raged for over seven
years now, but have lately become worse".
As the McCanns this weekend mark the eighth anniversary of the disappearance
of their three-year-old daughter from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal, the daily attacks from
trolls on line continue. Yet the police yesterday ruled out taking any action. In a reply to the "concerned citizens",
Roger Bannister, the Assistant Chief Constable of the Leicestershire force – asked by Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe to look
into the issues they had raised – wrote that, on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the evidence submitted
of the abuse the McCanns had faced that had been "did not reach the evidential threshold for a successful prosecution".
Earlier this week, though, there had been more encouraging news for the McCanns when a Portuguese court ruled - after
six years - that Goncalo Amaral, the detective who initially led the Portuguese investigation into Madeleine's disappearancehad libelled the couple. It ordered him to pay them £440,000 in damages. In his best-selling book, The Truth
of the Lie, translated into six languages, Amaral suggested that Madeleine died in the family's holiday apartment, and
that her parents were in some way responsible for her death.
Kate and Gerry McCann (REUTERS/Darren
Staples)
In a statement released on Friday, Kate McCann reiterated the couple's committment to finding
their daughter. "I'm more driven than ever to continue the search for Madeleine and to help other families who face
the pain of a child being missing," she said at the launch of a charity bike ride to raise funds for Missing People.
The hating of the McCanns began early. Cruel, anonymous letters started to arrive soon after Madeleine went missing.
One correspondent claimed to know that the three-year-old was being tortured and that her parents were responsible, another
that she was dead and buried. Back home in Leicestershire without their daughter that first Christmas, the McCanns received
a card that read: "You ******* thieving bastards. Your brat is dead because of your drunken arrogance . . . If you have
any shame you would accept full responsibility for your daughter's disappearance . . . You are scum." The couple
have also received death threats.
There is, of course, absolutely no evidence at all to support the drip feed of
allegations on the Internet about the McCanns' guilt. And research for our book Looking for Madeleine found nothing to
contradict the official line.
In the years since the disappearance of Madeleine, the rise and rise of social media
platforms like Facebook and Twitter has allowed many out-and-out foes of the couple to continue to pour out their poison.
They can connect more easily than ever before with like-minded individuals, often anonymously, and this is outpacing law enforcement's
ability to police it.
Most troubling are the posts that have threatened violence against them. "Friends"
in one Facebook exchange "jokingly" suggested the fate they wished upon the McCanns. Friend One suggested someone
should "shoot the ****ers". Friend Two, a female, declared that "these 2 should burn in hell". Friend
Three said he would "supply the petrol . . ." Friend Four, who claimed elsewhere that he attended gym classes with
Kate and Gerry, babbled about being able to dig out "a box of Swan Vesta" matches.
(PRESS ASSOCIATION)
Twitter posts also come from people who say they live near the McCanns. One suggested she would "nip round"
to their house where they live with their ten year old twins with "handcuffs . . . pass the twins to a loving family
and then lynch 'em!!" There was also: "I'm in the mood for some waterboarding, who's first K or G?"
The trolling reached a crisis point in July last year when an anti-McCann Facebook page posted a photograph of the
McCanns' Sean and Amelie, at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
In their September letter to the Met, one of
the "concerned citizens" wrote: "It will only take one mentally unstable person to act out on the fantasies
of assaulting the McCanns or contacting their twins, or one pathetic soul seeking praise and affirmation. I personally cannot
have it on my conscience that I didn't at least try to bring these activities to the attention of the police . . . No
family should live in permanent fear."
It was a month after the complaint had been submitted to the Met, Sky
News correspondent Martin Brunt conducted a doorstep interview with the woman who – under the username @sweepyface –
had authored many anti- McCann postings on Twitter. She was not named in his report, but acknowledged having posted the messages,
and insisted that she was "entitled" to do so.
Following the broadcast, @sweepyface was quickly identified
as 63-year-old Brenda Leyland, a divorced mother of two sons, who lived within 15 miles of the McCanns' home. It was reported
that she had sent more than 4000 tweets since 2010, almost all of them about the McCanns. On October 4, two days after the
footage featuring her had run, Leyland was found dead in a room at a hotel on the outskirts of Leicester. At the inquest,
one of her sons said his mother had a background of mental illness and had "always struggled with depression". Her
Twitter record for the final weeks of her life indicates that she had sent some 600 tweets, most of them barbs aimed at the
McCanns and their defenders, whom she characterised as "shills" – stooges – or "***tards".
She was amused, too, by the fantasy that people who supported the McCanns might "do a Jonestown" and commit mass
suicide.
(REUTERS)
Nine
days before her death, Leyland tweeted: "I 'hate' cruelty, liars, those who profit from an others [sic] tragedy,
ergo my 'hate for Kate and Gerry' is justified . . . 'hate' [is] a powerful emotion, it is a compliment to
Maddie that we 'hate' her parents who betrayed her."
The advice of the DPP and the decision by Leicestershire
police not to pursue action agains those who persecute the McCanns online will, no doubt, lead to renewed abuse. In the meantime,
the McCanns must soldier on, their focus as ever the search for Madeleine. Over the past 12 months, Scotland Yard has announced
"operational activity" in Portugal", digging in and around Praia da Luz. A number of witnesses have been questioned.
There has been a development in one significant area. The Met had said previously that it was studying 18 incidents
in the vicinity of Praia da Luz in which an intruder had broken into properties housing British families between 2002 and
2010 – well after Madeleine's disappearance. That number has now risen and police are analysing as many as 28 episodes.
"The offences are not all the same," a source told us. "Some involve not little children but teenagers
or young women . . . But there are similarities. We're seeing a sort of consistent theme. Perhaps there is a burglar,
a thief, who's also got a weakness for this sort of thing. We don't know. We're not saying all these offences
are definitely linked, but there's potential here.
"If we dig down into those incidents and find out who's
responsible, if we find that a single person is responsible for a number, if not all, of the events . . . Who knows, that
same person may have been responsible for Madeleine McCann's disappearance."
(EPA)
Forensic
evidence - a fingerprint or DNA lying forgotten in a police exhibit store in the Algarve - remians the best hope of a conclusion
to this case.
This week, a senior source on the Scotland Yard investigation carefully said, "no comment"
when pressed as to whether there is possible progress on the forensic front. Carefully, too, he has said there is still progress
and that the case is "solvable".
And we believe the McCanns are right to hope. The head of the US-based
International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Ernie Allen, regards their tenacity as "admirable" and
"inspiring". As he once told another grieving parent, "there are many scenarios under which your child could
still be alive...We keep finding abducted children who have been missing for years."
In South Africa in February,
a child was found alive and well – having been abducted as a baby and been missing for seventeen years. She is now reunited
with her parents. "No one has the right," said Allen, "to take away a parent's hope.
Campaigners 'dismayed' as McCann
trolls escape action, 02 May 2015
Campaigners 'dismayed' as McCann trolls escape
action Daily Star
POLICE will take no action against twisted internet trolls who targeted the parents of Madeleine McCann.
By Jerry Lawton / Published 2nd May 2015
Campaigners gave detectives a dossier of hundreds of threatening
tweets, posts and messages directed at Kate McCann, 47, and husband Gerry, 46.
Despite no evidence, many accused
the couple of having some involvement in their three-year-old daughter's disappearance from their holiday apartment in
Portugal in 2007.
The Leicestershire force spent eight months probing the messages, some threatening violence and
death.
But Assistant Chief Constable Roger Bannister said: "While finding much of the material was extremely
distasteful and unpleasant... it was determined that none of the messages/postings constituted a prosecutable offence."
Campaigners who complained were "dismayed" and the McCanns declined to comment.
But a pal said:
"The police have made their decision not to prosecute, whether it’s right or wrong.
"It's their
decision along with the Crown Prosecution Service."
Brenda Leyland, 63, of Burton Overy, Leics, killed herself
in October after she attacked the McCanns on Twitter and was then exposed as a troll.
Fiona Phillips ...because she cares [opinion
column], 02 May 2015
It hasn't brought Madeleine back but I am thrilled that the McCanns have received
compensation for the brutal claims by a Portuguese police chief that they'd staged their daughter's abduction.
Those who know them saw the misery it heaped upon the grief they were already suffering. The £358,000 damages
are an insult in the face of that but at least they're an acknowledgement of an unspeakable lie.
Monster who made a mint out of Maddie, 02
May 2015
Monster who made a mint out of Maddie The
Sun (paper edition, pages 36&37)
EIGHT YEARS ON, HOW 'SUPER SLEUTH' FAILED THE McCANNS
By ANTONELLA LAZZERI Saturday, May 2, 2015
ADORING
women flock around him, chanting his name, throwing red roses and blowing him kisses.
Smiling and waving,
their idol laps up the attention, posing for photos, signing autographs and even giving a lucky few a peck on the cheek.
For all the world you may have thought the man at the centre of the fuss and flashing a diamond earring stud was an
ageing pop star greeting his fans at the stage door.
In fact the setting was the entrance to Lisbon's Palace
of Justice and the man was former Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral.
This is the man Madeleine McCann's
parents hold responsible for virtually destroying every hope there was of finding their daughter in the first crucial hours
and days after she went missing on May 3, 2007.
And he is a man who has continued to add to their torment
in the years since by claiming over and over that their beloved daughter is dead.
He has raked in nearly £400,000
from spouting these claims in a book and TV documentary.
He even hired an agent and was at one time charging £75,000
for an interview.
Before long he was driving a flashy Jag and living in a plush villa.
Tomorrow marks
the eighth anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine, who was three years old.
The scenes of Amaral preening
in front of besotted fans outside court were witnessed by parents Kate and Gerry more than two years after that terrible night.
'Kate driven to tears by missed opportunities'
It was December 11, 2009, and incredibly,
it was the first time Kate had ever set eyes on him.
As the mum was to write later in her book Madeleine: "It
was also the first time he had laid eyes on me.
"It is extraordinary that he could have said and written so
many awful things about a person he had never met."
This week the couple finally won their libel battle against
Amaral that had begun back on that December day more than five years ago. He was ordered to pay them £433,000 and his
book, The Truth of the Lie, was banned.
Kate, 46, has mostly kept a dignified silence on the subject of Amaral,
but in one interview she revealed how son Sean, now nine, had told her: "Mr Amaral said you hid Madeleine."
When Madeleine disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, Amaral, now 56, was quickly drafted in as
the super-sleuth who would crack the case.
At the time he was the co-ordinator of the Policia Judiciaria's
Criminal Investigation Department in Portimao.
But during the investigation he only met Gerry once and seemingly
had not thought it relevant to even meet, let alone talk to, the mother of the child he was tasked with finding.
This isn't surprising given Amaral's arrogance and self-importance. Having met him several times he is unlike
any police chief I have ever known.
At court, in his heavy gold chain and with his bulging belly, he conducted
himself like a celebrity.
He gave TV interviews at every opportunity and wined and dined his fans – who all
seemed to be women of a certain age with a fondness for bright red lipstick and fur coats – over long lunches.
Back in October 2007 it was his comments made during a similar lunch that saw him taken off Madeleine's case.
Journalists overheard him loudly complaining that the McCanns were getting special treatment because they were from the
UK, and criticising British police. He was removed after his comments were reported.
But it was surprising that
Amaral was ever in charge in the first place.
Because at the time he was himself an "arguido" –
an official suspect – in a case involving another mother of a missing child.
He was being investigated for
falsifying documents in a case involving three of his officers accused of torturing the missing girl's mum and uncle to
get their confessions.
Little Joana Cipriano, eight, had disappeared in September 2004 from her village seven miles
from Praia da Luz. She has never been found. The officers were cleared, but in May 2009 Amaral was convicted of perjury and
received an 18-month suspended sentence.
Years later, as Kate combed through police files, she was to be driven
to tears of frustration and rage by all the missed opportunities. So many leads and sightings had simply not been followed
up.
The reason? From an early stage in the investigation, as Amaral later admitted in his book, he decided Madeleine
had died in an accident.
Then, he reckoned, her parents panicked, hid her body and made up the story about her
abduction.
So while Kate and Gerry were clinging to the hope that a huge manhunt would soon bring their daughter
back to them, Amaral's team were in fact searching for clues and evidence to implicate them.
Even the
cop assigned to be the McCanns' family liaison officer was in fact looking for hints of guilt, it emerged during the libel
case.
Conclusions based on bizarre 'evidence'
One night, he told the court,
Kate had phoned him to beg for a hilltop in Praia da Luz to be searched, because she had had a dream that Madeleine was buried
there.
From this, he reported back to Amaral, he believed that Kate was admitting Madeleine was dead – further
proof of the couples "guilt".
It seems absurd that a top police chief would base his conclusions on bizarre
"evidence" such as this. And yet, much to Kate and Gerry's complete despair, he did.
No wonder Kate
wrote in her book: "What probably galls me the most about Amaral's interviews is the way he presents himself as a
person who, perhaps above all others, really wants to find Madeleine and get to the bottom of her fate.
"I
cannot begin to express how much this outrages me."
Amaral began his attacks on the McCanns soon after being
taken off the case and in July 2008 published his book, a bestseller in Portugal.
Amaral is well thought of in
Portugal and his utterings were clearly turning locals against the McCanns.
As Kate told me despairingly: "If
people believe Madeleine is dead they will stop searching for her." Yet she never wanted to enter into a long libel battle
against him.
It was Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte who told Kate and Gerry, 46, that they had no choice but to
do it, declaring: "That man has accused you of burying your daughter!"
Meanwhile, Amaral's second
wife Sofia Leal, 45 – with whom he has a daughter the same age as Madeleine – has said he has been "completely
destroyed" by the case.
And recently Amaral himself, who is now retired, said: "It's hard to accept
that I have to live this way just because I did my job."
For Kate and Gerry those words must cut deep.
Because they believe if Amaral HAD done his job their beloved Madeleine may now be with them.
Watch That Space, 01 May 2015
Watch That Space
EXCLUSIVE
to mccannfiles.com
By Dr Martin Roberts
01 May 2015
WATCH THAT SPACE
By now, thanks
to the hurried efforts of Dona Isabel Duarte, the entire Western world has been given the news of the McCanns' successful
litigation against Dr. Goncalo Amaral. What will not have been fully explained to the media of course is that the judge in
this instance had virtually to invent a reason for awarding them anything at all, much less the astronomical sum announced.
£375,000 may represent the extent of the McCanns' demands with respect to themselves, but it far and away
exceeds any comparable award so far by a Portuguese court to a Portuguese. In addition, the arguments advanced as a justification
are not merely weak, they are in error. It's as though, if the good lady judge were a mathematician she would be in the
habit of reading graphs upside down!
The decision to award the sum demanded was based, not on the evidence heard,
but an essay in Jurisprudence, researched by the arbitrator herself, in which Goncalo Amaral is portrayed as a public servant
subject to restriction, as though he had signed the Portuguese equivalent of the Official Secrets Act. For balance, courts
too are obliged to observe the presumption of innocence in any statement they might make concerning suspects under investigation,
so as not to prejudice or jeopardize any prosecution.
In the event that a public official is not sworn to secrecy,
exactly how long must they be 'out of office' before they are allowed to comment upon anything contentious? The final
decision of this court was supposed to have been given in private, so no blame could be attached to any official statement
emanating from it. But what about evidence given at previous hearings? Might not the (publicly reported) statements of such
as PJ Inspector Ricardo Paiva be viewed as 'prejudicial to the presumption of innocence'? No castigation offered in
that direction though, eh?
In sum, and based upon legal precedent, apparently, we have the duty of a public servant
(and others) toward a suspect under investigation, levied against a man no longer in public office, and on behalf of two people
who are not suspects, not being investigated, and in no imminent danger of standing trial for anything at all. Does that make
any sense?
There are two very clear (and opposing) schools of thought concerning the relationship or otherwise
between Operation Grange and the McCann/Amaral stand-off being progressed through the civil courts. This latest decision,
evaluated in complete isolation, is nigh-on inexplicable – except when viewed in a context of suitability.
Monetarily, the McCanns benefit, and beyond what should have been their wildest expectations in the wake of the evidence
previously heard by this court. But it was never about the money, so they say. There is also the glaring anomaly of the judge,
hearing a case for damages, suddenly and inexplicably making a pronouncement concerning Goncalo Amaral's book, quite beyond
her judicial remit, taking it upon herself to reverse the earlier decision of a higher court and citing her own research as
justification!
Again the McCanns benefit, but they are not alone.
Imagine the difficulty facing the
decision makers behind Operation Grange, should the damages awarded the McCanns have genuinely reflected the evidence heard
and assessed in Lisbon. How does one justify closing down a review/investigation that has just eaten up four years and £10
million, having identified neither abductor nor evidence of abduction, if the bottom line, as last defined in Portugal, was
that the McCanns' claims were worth 'tuppence' and The Truth of the Lie is not only legitimate, but accurate!
As far as the case is concerned, the McCanns did not win the argument. The result however is very much 'against
the run of play'. It not only supports, albeit tenuously, their claims of victory, but extends to promote the conclusion
that Goncalo Amaral's published remarks, and by implication the concomitant (and troublesome) observations made by the
original (Portuguese) process, are in error.
Suddenly, and with fiscal testimony to the illegitimacy of Amaral's
reasoning (and by implication the PJ's original position) the counterweight to the McCanns' claims of abduction
has been lifted once more. Hence Scotland Yard can relax in the understanding that their investigating a case of abduction
was appropriate all along.
Whether Goncalo Amaral appeals the decision at this stage is secondary and largely irrelevant,
given the time delay involved. The fact remains that the Grange curtain can be brought down now, courtesy of a judge who has
seen fit to portray the McCanns as injured parties, not on account of the evidence, but in spite of it.
DCI Redwood
has retired, just as he was on the verge of cracking the biggest abduction case since the Lindbergh baby, DCI Nicola Wall
has been brought in to answer the 'phone, and the McCanns, with their eyes focussed on another big pay day, propose to
continue where Operation Grange is shortly to leave off (according to Clarence Mitchell at least, and he should know).
If a UK diplomat can influence the direction of a police investigation conducted on foreign soil, there is no reason
whatever to believe that 'sweet nothings' cannot be whispered into the ear of a foreign judge, even after a case hearing
is concluded, allowing the McCanns to continue searching for their daughter in the same fashion as Hercules, who stubbornly
insisted on looking for his dead chum Hylas, whose body lay buried beneath the shattered bronze remains of a Titan (according
to Ray Harryhausen at least). We don't yet know what Madeleine is buried under.
Eight years. There's no gentle way of putting it. Whilst
most days, weeks and months are fairly similar – Madeleine is missed every day – this time of year cuts deep as
it's a harsh reminder of time having passed and precious years with Madeleine lost.
Without a shadow of doubt,
the love, support, help and prayers that we continue to receive from so many people, in spite of the years which have gone
by, encourages us, maintains our hope and lifts our spirits.
We are also buoyed and reassured by the unwavering
commitment and continued progress being made in the investigation. We are really grateful to the Metropolitan Police team
for their conscientiousness, patience, consideration shown to us and above all, their will to find Madeleine and determine
what has happened.
Cooperation with and from the Portuguese Police has, and still is, vital to the success of the
investigation. We are very appreciative of the joint working relationship established between the two forces.
Next
month, I will be raising awareness again of the charity Missing People, and
the many children who go missing every year. One child is too many. I will be taking part in a 500 mile charity cycle from
Edinburgh to London and during this journey, I am hoping to promote the UK's Child Rescue Alert (CRA) system. If you can
help me, please do by either donating at www.justgiving.com/KateMcCann/
and/or signing up to the CRA at www.childrescuealert.org.uk.
We've
always promised ourselves that something positive has to come out of all the suffering Madeleine and our family have
endured. If highlighting the issues of child abduction (and missing children in general) and raising money to enable the charity
Missing People to carry out their invaluable work improves this very real and heartbreaking problem, then every push of those
pedals will be worth it. Always.
Thank you again for your incredible and very humbling kindness and support.
Kate and Gerry
Transcript of further Sky News bulletin
on McCann 'trolls' with quote from Robbyn Swan, 01 May 2015
Transcript of further Sky News bulletin on McCann 'trolls'
with quote from Robbyn Swan Sky News
01 May
2015
Presenter in studio: Sky sources have revealed that no further action is to be taken
against dozens of people accused of online abuse directed at the family of Madeleine McCann.
Anti-abuse campaigners
had compiled a dossier of names after becoming alarmed at the threatening nature of some tweets and posts.
Well,
Sky's crime correspondent Martin Brunt is in our Central London Studio. Martin, give us more details about this.
Martin Brunt: The dossier is effectively a catalogue of abuse that, errm... detractors of the McCanns either
tweeted or posted in other online forums.
Leicestershire Police have been investigating it for the best part of
eight months and it included dozens of McCann antagonists who were threatening the couple with all sorts of things but including
harm, torture, even death.
The police... it appears that the police haven't questioned any of those dozens
of people featured in the dossier.
They say that those postings do not breach any laws around the protection of
individuals harassment, or malicious communications, and that's a decision they say was taken after consulting Crown Prosecutors
Presenter in studio: And what have the dossier... the people who compiled this dossier been told?
Martin Brunt: Well in the past couple of days they have received a letter from Leicestershire Police.
It's signed by Roger Bannister, one of the assistant chief constables, and he says this:
"While finding
that much of the material was extremely distasteful and unpleasant in nature, it was determined that none of the messages/postings
constituted a prosecutable offence."
Now understandably that response from the police, after all this time,
has been greeted by dismay by those who compiled the dossier - but also others who followed the McCann case including Robbyn
Swan, who's the co-author of a recent book, 'Looking for Madeleine', and she had this to say:
Robbyn
Swan: The individuals who presented this, this document... document to the police firmly believed that they were
acting in the public interest; that they were acting in the interests of the McCanns.
There was a large group of
them; there were some ten individuals involved. They had collected the material over a period of many months, and they were
genuinely frightened by what they saw.
Martin Brunt: Those people who compiled the dossier feel
very let down by Leicestershire Police and say that effectively this decision gives online trolls of the McCanns, and others,
the green light to continue.
Right, freed from the burden of ever again attempting to make sense of Portuguese law, and more or less over
the huge disappointment we felt at the verdict, we climbed out of our fox holes, our ears still ringing, to see the changed
and cratered ghostly landscape.
But scans of Twitter and a sneaky glance through the bars of the locked ward's
TV room revealed a most peculiar, semi-hysterical tone to the gloating at Goncalo Amaral's discomfiture. Because, to paraphrase
a phrase once used about the writer Scott Fitzgerald ("the style sings of hope; the message is despair") the messages
screamed of victory while the tone reeked of unease.
An impression that has been confirmed, indeed strengthened,
since. Why? Who can know their secret fears? But we can note the fact that the supporters are once again wholly dependent
on the newspapers and the scraps that various family members might throw them for their information, lacking as they do the
co-operative research effort to bypass or overtake the MSM that has been producing wonders for us on the right side since
the 2013 trial began. While the mob were on twitter and elsewhere in droves ( the locked ward people were cleverly morse-coding
their messages by banging their plastic cutlery on the bars) people were already translating and assimilating the judgement
and duly observing that Hecate D. had sent it prematurely to the media. That shows a lot of confidence in the permanence of
your triumph, doesn't it?
And it got worse. Duarte had been unable to fillet the judgement and pick out juicy
bits for Lusa and the Team to shower on the ignorant – 2008’s classic Portuguese Prosecutors Mock Their Own
Police Force being the template – because there weren’t any. The supporters gaped, round-mouthed, for nutrition
but once again – again! – that bloody cupboard was empty. No "Judge attacks lying cop",
no "bankrupt cop’s fantasies exposed in court", nothing: the judgement contained not a word of condemnation
for GA.
It got even worse. Amid the strained gloats people suddenly began showering money on GA's defence fund
and that sent the righteous absolutely f*****g nuts. Since thenall manner of dirty tricks and false identities
have appeared to try and smother the fund-raising as an increasingly hysterical sense of bafflement ripples through the posts
at the fact that GA's supporters are being cheerful! What? you could almost hear the poor saps asking themselves,
why aren't these people aware of the death of their hopes, where's the anger at the way the contemptible Amaral
has misled them, what's going on?
But then they never have known what's going on, have they? That's
what happens when you get your facts from the newspapers. Death by Dossier
Ward Hears the News: No Troll Prosecution!
Then today the clickety-clack of plastic plates on the ward bars
rose to a frantic crescendo: Inmate:--- -- …. – … ---- - -- --- --
.[Morse translation: What on earth?]
Police say some of the messages
sent to the family were "extremely distasteful", but none "constituted a prosecutable offence".
No further action will be taken against dozens of people
accused of directing online abuse at the family of Madeleine McCann, Sky sources have revealed.
Anti-abuse
campaigners had compiled a dossier of names after becoming alarmed at the threatening nature of some tweets and posts directed
at Kate and Gerry McCann.
In a letter to the campaigners, Leicestershire Police Assistant Chief Constable Roger
Bannister said: "While finding that much of the material was extremely distasteful and unpleasant in nature, it was determined
that none of the messages/postings constituted a prosecutable offence."
Sky News Crime Correspondent Martin
Brunt said: "Leicestershire Police had spent about eight months investigating the dossier, which effectively was a catalogue
of abuse tweeted and posted online elsewhere by antagonists of Kate and Gerry McCann.
"There were dozens of
such individuals identified in the dossier. They had threatened violence and even death against the couple."
The online posts included words like petrol and matches, handcuffs, shooting, torture and lynching, Brunt said.
He added: "Leicestershire Police have decided after consulting with Crown Prosecutors that none of these postings constitutes
a breach of the Harassment Act, the Malicious Communications Act or the Telecommunications Act."
Brunt said
those who compiled the dossier have reacted with "absolute dismay" at the decision.
"They say it
is tantamount to giving the trolls, as they call them, 'carte blanche' to carry on abusing the McCanns," he said.
"Although we haven't heard directly from the McCanns, I'm sure they too will be astonished, because when
Sky News revealed this dossier back in September last year, Gerry McCann said such trolls should be prosecuted."
Police say some of the online messages
sent to the family were "extremely distasteful", but none would lead to prosecutions
No further action will be taken against dozens of people
accused of targeting online abuse at the family of Madeleine McCann, Sky sources have revealed.
Anti-abuse
campaigners had compiled a dossier of names after becoming alarmed at the threatening nature of some tweets, posts and messages
on online forums directed at Kate and Gerry McCann.
Hundreds of messages have been posted by trolls who believe,
despite no evidence, that the McCanns had some involvement in the disappearance of their daughter in Portugal in 2007.
In a letter to the campaigners, Leicestershire Police Assistant Chief Constable Roger Bannister said: "While
finding that much of the material was extremely distasteful and unpleasant in nature, it was determined that none of the messages/postings
constituted a prosecutable offence."
Sky News Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said: "Leicestershire
Police had spent about eight months investigating the dossier, which effectively was a catalogue of abuse tweeted and posted
online elsewhere by antagonists of Kate and Gerry McCann.
"There were dozens of such individuals identified
in the dossier. They had threatened violence and even death against the couple."
The online posts included
words like petrol and matches, handcuffs, shooting, torture and lynching, Brunt said.
He added: "Leicestershire
Police have decided after consulting with Crown Prosecutors that none of these postings constitutes a breach of the Harassment
Act, the Malicious Communications Act or the Telecommunications Act."
Brunt said those who compiled the dossier,
which was revealed by Sky News in September, have reacted with "absolute dismay".
"They say it is
tantamount to giving the trolls, as they call them, carte blanche to carry on abusing the McCanns," he said.
"Although we haven't heard directly from the McCanns, I'm
sure they too will be astonished because when Sky News revealed this dossier, Gerry McCann said such trolls should be prosecuted."
Successful prosecutions have been brought against online trolls in the UK.
In September, Peter Nunn, who
sent abusive Twitter messages to Labour MP Stella Creasy, was jailed for 18 weeks.
The abuse started after Ms Creasy
supported a successful campaign to put the image of Jane Austen on the £10 note.
Two other people who sent
abusive tweets to Ms Creasy, as well as to fellow banknote campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez, were also given jail sentences
last year.
Isabella Sorley was jailed for 12 weeks and John Nimmo for eight. They were ordered to pay £400
compensation to both victims.
In June, Jake Newsome, who wrote an offensive Facebook post about Ann Maguire, a
teacher stabbed to death in her classroom, was jailed for six weeks.
Earlier this week, the McCanns won a libel
case against a former detective in Portugal.
In his bestselling book, Goncalo Amaral claimed the McCanns hid their
daughter's body and faked an abduction after she died in an accident.
A civil court in Lisbon ordered Mr Amaral
to pay €606,000 (£433,000) to the McCanns.
Transcript of Sky News bulletin on McCann
'trolls', 01 May 2015
Transcript of Sky News bulletin on McCann 'trolls'
Sky News
01 May 2015
Presenter
in studio: Sky news sources have revealed that no further action is to be taken against dozens of people accused
of online abuse directed at the family of Madeleine McCann.
Anti abuse campaigners had compiled a dossier of names
after becoming alarmed at the threatening nature of many of the tweets and posts.
Sky's Crime Correspondent
Martin Brunt is in our Central London Studio. Martin, bring us the details.
Martin Brunt: Leicestershire
Police have spent about eight months investigating the dossier, which effectively was a catalogue of, errm... abuse tweeted
and posted online and elsewhere by antagonists of Kate and Gerry McCann.
There were dozens of such individuals
identified in the dossier and they had threatened violence and even death against the couple.
Now Leicestershire
Police has told the compilers of the dossier that there is to be no further action after a lengthy investigation.
Errm... those tweets, those online postings, included words like petrol and matches, handcuffs, shooting, torture and lynching.
Yet Leicestershire Police have decided after consulting with Crown Prosecutors that none of these postings constitutes
a breach of either the Harassment Act, the Malicious Communications Act or, indeed, the Telecommunications Act.
So,
no action to be taken against any of those named in the dossier.
Presenter in studio: What have
those people who compiled the dossier been told?
Martin Brunt: Well, they've had a letter
in the last few days from the Assistant Chief Constable of Leicester Police Roger Bannister in which among other things he
says -
"While finding that much of the material was extremely distasteful and unpleasant in nature, it was
determined that none of the messages/postings constituted a prosecutable offence."
He does go on to say that
some of the postings that were investigated were out of time, so couldn't have been prosecuted.
And I can tell
you that those dossier compilers have reacted with "absolute dismay" at this decision, they say it is tantamount
to giving, errm... the, errm... trolls, as they call them, carte blanche, really, to carry on abusing the McCanns.
And I'm sure - although we haven't heard directly from Madeleine McCann's parents - they too will be astonished,
because Gerry McCannn, after we revealed this dossier back in September last year, he said that such trolls should be prosecuted.
And indeed two were.
There were two famous cases last year; somebody who abused Ann McGuire, the Leeds
teacher who was stabbed to death, and another man who sent abusive tweets to Stella Creasy, the Labour MP. Those two ended
up in jail after some very swift action by police prosecutors.
But in this case, against the McCann Trolls, no
action by Leicestershire Police or Crown Prosecutors.
"When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose
it to mean — neither more nor less.'
'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make
words mean so many different things.'
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master
— that's all."
Yoo-hoo! Surprise!
JB writes: So the dust begins to clear.
I've now had a preliminary chance to look at the judgement. "Preliminary" means, among other things,
there is still a full-scale examination of the text to come. Well, there isn't such an examination to come and I'll
give the reasons why below.
First: the implications of the trial and verdict for the investigation. There aren't
any. They are irrelevant.
And for vindication of the couple and their innocence? The court proceedings recorded
by M/S Guedes are, as we can guarantee from personal experience, 95-99% accurate. Those proceedings are notable for the fact
that the defendants made no attempt to introduce evidence supporting their innocence, except for a last minute shout at the
judge from the witness box by Gerry McCann that the dogs' work wasn't any good. So much for that.
And for
us? The witness evidence provided a reliable fifth primary source to add to the case files, GM blogs, the Leicester interviews
and Madeleine for research into the case.
So, next: where do we all go from here? It
would be a betrayal to cease supporting GA now. We've all stuck with him this long and neither this trial nor any
actions of his own have weakened his claims. There is nothing in the findings that should make any of us, writers or readers,
rethink our support; indeed the opposite is the case - in this long judgement not a single one of the horrible and mad personal
accusations made in the locked wards and elsewhere about Goncalo's abilities or personal motives has been supported in
any way. Witnesses from Alipio Ribeiro downwards refused to say a word against him. There are no attacks on him personally
by the judge.
Nowhere does the judgement suggest that he acted dishonourably, dishonestly, from wounded pride or
from personal dislike of the McCanns, or in any other way that should make us lessen our support for him. Quite the reverse.
So I ask anyone who has supported him financially in the past not so much to give more but to try and widen the fund-raising
circle in any way that you can so that he can appeal. This weekend I'm going to try and convince my wife (!) to make a
payment, not because she supports our cause – she hates the whole McCann affair – but precisely because she doesn't.
I will ask her if, even as a non-supporter, she will make a small payment to see the case through. If all of us can add a
few people then GA retains a fighting chance. M/S Humpty Speaks
Now, the bones of the judgement. Damages have been awarded on the Human Rights issue: we are back in early 2010, around
the time that the McCanns were promising all that evidence of what Amaral had done to them and please can we have our
Human Rights injunction, now? Evidence that they never provided.
Did you think the Human Rights issue was
decided by the court of appeal back in late 2010? Yep, so did we. So, it seems did almost everybody else. Here's the appeal
court judgement:
"The book at stake in this process – the Truth of the Lie –
which was written by the defendant Dr. Gonçalo Amaral, has the main motivation of defending his personal and professional
honour, as the author points out right away in the preface and throughout his text.
The contents of the book do
not offend any of the applicants' fundamental rights.
The exercise of its writing and publication is
included in the constitutional rights that are secured to everyone by the European Convention on Human Rights and by the Portuguese
Republic's Constitution, namely in its articles 37º and 38º.
As we arrive at this point,
we conclude that the decision that was made by the Court must be revoked, and the analysis of the other issues that are placed
under appeal are not justified, as they are considered prejudiced."
Clear and
definitive? Think again: this is Portugal. Yoo-hoo – surprise! The present judge ignores it and develops a
line of reasoning completely at odds with the appeal court's findings.
"In the case-law of the
European Court of Human Rights the principle of presumption of innocence imposes a standard of conduct for all agents, employees
and magistrates involved in the administration of criminal justice.
According to the ECHR the presumption of innocence
prohibits the premature expression of opinions or belief in guilt by the courts and in addition bans the claims of any public
servants involved in procedures which might lead the public to believe in the culpability of suspects under investigation.
In the Karaman process deriving from the German courts it has been held in this context that Article 6 § 2 aims at preventing
the undermining of a fair trial by damaging statements made in close connection with proceedings. It not only prohibits the
premature expression by the court itself of the opinion that a suspect is guilty but also covers statements made by other
public officials about pending criminal investigations which encourage the public to believe the suspect guilty and prejudge
an assessment of the facts by the competent judicial authority.
The Allen process deriving from the UK emphasizes
the importance of the presumption after the acquittal or dismissal of the criminal investigation, explaining that this principle
prevents suspects or defendants in such cases being treated as if they were in fact responsible for the criminal offences
of which they were accused and stressing that without this second level of protection - the level of full respect for acquittal
or archiving - the presumption of innocence is illusory or merely ideal."
Accordingly:
"This
form of conflict resolution between rights reveals the unlawfulness of the conduct of the defendant Goncalo Amaral for the
purposes of article 484º of the Civil Code."
That is the basis for the damages award.
Surprised? So were we. Why? Well, a start would
be that none of us saw reference to this in the 2013 court proceedings. Everything we read or were told from Portugal –
from all sources, not anti-McCann ones – stated explicitly that the Human Rights aspect of the case had been decided
in 2010 and did not form any part of these latest proceedings.
Which brings me to the question of why
we won't be adding an in-depth look at the judgement to our brief current one, one which would consider the way "archiving"
(a non-judicial process) has been slipped into the judgement. Or the fact that the judgement has used the ECHR precedents
referring to "suspects" when, as Lord Leveson and the McCanns themselves have repeatedly made clear they have
never been "suspects" only arguidos. But we're leaving that work to those who profit from the system: to
us it isn't worthwhile because there is clearly no sense to be made of Portuguese law in the way that we can analyse other
western codes: they make it up as they go along.
This "democratic" legal code, all of forty one years
old, is a betrayal of its people – not because we disapprove of its findings but because eight years of contact with
our Portuguese friends have demonstrated time and again that every trial outcome is a surprise – a surprise
to the parties themselves, the commentators, the lawyers and to the Portuguese people. A legal code that causes surprise on
this scale – usually with the introduction of arguments that nobody knew existed – and that incorporates unpredictability
as an integral part of its proceedings is not a democratic legal code. Look at the contortions of the Amaral/Cipriano case
where nobody can even agree on exactly what the verdicts mean. Is that a "legal" system or something else?
I am astonished that the wild criticisms of Scotland Yard based on nothing more than suspicion – and, I regret to
say, originally whipped up by Portuguese people and GA himself – are not matched by comment on the factual and absolutely
shocking record of the Portuguese legal system in the McCann case, beginning seven years ago with that contemptible Archiving
Summary in which the prosecutors "exonerated" the McCanns while including a "reconstruction" section which
completely undercut that "exoneration" and guaranteed that it would cause pain and dissention for everyone for ever,
including the couple themselves. It was an exercise in irresponsibility.
It was then matched by the quasi-mediaeval
attack on Goncalo Amaral, plotted and conducted in secret, its findings completely unknown to the victim until afterwards
– a legal process more suggestive of Kazakhstan or Venezuela than of a modern European state.
And then the
equally wicked failure to provide justice for either party for six whole years while leaving one of the parties in
acute financial distress for the whole period. Is that based on ECHR judgements of the right to timely access to justice?
Of course it isn't! We repeat: they make it up as they go along.
Culminating in a judgement arriving
over a year after court proceedings were essentially concluded, containing material that nobody outside the case was aware
would be considered. What a rotten, corrupt abortion! We'd exclude the appeal court judgement as a shining exception to
this dreadful list but what use has it been? What use is it to anyone outside the system if it takes an appeal from GA to
bring it back in again in, say, three years time? And then what? A counter appeal?
I am not being in the least
chauvinistic in suggesting that a "system" like this is simply unrecognizable to anyone who comes, for example,
from the UK, where the law is what you use without dread, where people turn to the small claims courts for speedy and unfrightening
restitution, finding the process much more predictable and infinitely preferable to dealing with "customer service"
departments of corporations or cowboy builders.
I tried to get restitution from Dell for a crappy computer for
over a year without result a couple of years ago: it took me two hours and fifty quid to sue them and they paid up within
a week, including, of course, all costs. In a democratic society the law is ours, not theirs, even if many
people don't believe it, and its there, available, to be used by anyone who can read or write. No wonder that a Portuguese
friend once told me that, deep down, he didn't believe in Portuguese law, that faced with trouble – and this was
a liberal speaking – he instinctively began to think of people who might help "sort things out". And then
reached for the phone. Faced with this record in the McCann affair, can you blame him?
So we won't be wasting
time on making any further studies of the judgement. One day, perhaps, the people will attack this mediaeval ruin at the heart
of their democracy but that is a matter for them.
Goncalo Amaral was a policeman, a public servant working for
a justice system that has failed to free itself from the pre-1974 dictatorship and responds, as it always did, to backstairs
intrigues of the sort plotted and paid for by Duarte and Gerry McCann. It is his tragedy that he believed, and apparently
still believes, in that justice system even though it has stripped him of his possessions and condemned him to six years mental
and emotional bastinado at the behest of a couple of foreign chancers.
To condemn this vile, rotted
system has nothing to do with being anti-Portuguese. And please remember that we have never attacked the PJ and its original
investigation as others have: it's the system above them that is so worthless.Can Amaral win his appeal in such a system?
Probably, when the lawyers have squeezed the maximum amount out of the process – but who knows? We owe him the chance
to make it. Support Goncalo Amaral!
Amaral to appeal as Portuguese start
reacting to McCanns' "libel win", 30 April 2015
Amaral to appeal as Portuguese start reacting to McCanns'
"libel win" Portugal Resident
Posted by PORTUGALPRESS on April 30, 2015
Confirmed by journalist Len Port today, Gonçalo Amaral
is set to appeal against the vast sum of damages awarded against him in the civil action for defamation taken out by the parents
of Madeleine McCann.
As we revealed yesterday, Amaral told us: "We are in the face of a mere battle in a war
that is far from over".
But today, reaction from Portugal and elsewhere to the ruling by judge Emília
Melo e Castro has started pouring in, both via mainstream and social media.
Sol's columnist João Pinto
Costa write: "Former PJ inspector Gonçalo Amaral was condemned to pay €500,000 to the parents of Madeleine
McCann because of the publication of his book 'Maddie: The Truth of the Lie'. Finally, we found one person who will
not make any money from the disappearance of the English girl."
Lawyer João Grade is quoted on Facebook
as saying: "I read his book and I was convinced, as I had been before anyway, that it was not an abduction. The book
does not defame the McCanns, Gonçalo Amaral does not express his opinion, but an investigative thesis."
And in the US, criminal profiler Pat Brown, who has followed the case to the extent that she travelled over to Portugal
three years ago to lend her support to Amaral, wrote that the "devastating ruling" had "nothing to do with
Madeleine. It has been and is about the state. This is the way the world works. When there are no compromising issues like
incompetence, misconduct or corruption, killers are caught, cases are properly closed and the community is safer. When it
goes awry for whatever reason, the state and who controls it will make sure they don’t go under because of one unfortunate
situation."
Certainly the way the news was leaked to the press - not from any official court announcement,
but via the McCanns' lawyer in Portugal Isabel Duarte - opens the door for an official complaint by Amaral's legal
team, writes the laidbare blog under the title "the plot thickens..."
Meantime, Amaral has posted these
words on the Projecto Justiça Gonçalo Amaral website: "I find the court's decision is unfair and questions
my right and every Portuguese citizen's right to freedom of expression and of opinion.
"For that reason,
I do not resign myself to the decision and I will appeal it until the very last judicial instance.
"If I am
able to continue on counting on your support, I will continue to fight within the judicial system for the Truth and achievement
of Justice."
Pledges of support are already coming through, with even our own site eliciting comments like
the one posted by a reader by the name of Scargill who states: "The amount of compensation seems vastly at odds with
non-British European definition awards and you have to wonder if there are greater forces at play here."
"I
feel very sorry for Amaral," the reader continues. "He understandably believes that the McCanns have a case to answer
and he has been very brave in publishing his opinions."
By NATASHA DONN natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
Madeleine McCann: Portuguese detective
appeals against order to pay McCanns £357,000, 30 April 2015
Madeleine McCann: Portuguese detective appeals against
order to pay McCanns £357,000 The Telegraph
Goncalo Amaral, the detective who led the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, says the court's
decision to order him to pay Kate and Gerry damages is 'unfair'
By Martin Evans, Crime
Correspondent 3:41PM BST 30 Apr 2015
The Portuguese police officer ordered to pay Kate
and Gerry McCann £357,000 in libel damages after accusing them of involvement in their daughter's disappearance
is to appeal the ruling, he has confirmed.
Goncalo Amaral, made the untrue allegations in a controversial book
entitled The Truth of The Lie, written after he was sacked as the detective in charge of the Madeleine McCann investigation.
Earlier this week, he lost a long running libel battle and was ordered by a judge to pay the McCanns 250,000 euros
each, after a judge ruled he had overstepped the limits of free speech.
The McCanns said they were delighted by
the judgment and would plough every penny of the award into the fund to help find their daughter who disappeared from the
couple's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007.
But Mr Amaral has now said he intends to exhaust all
avenues in an attempt to overturn the ruling.
He said: "I find that the court's decision is unfair and
questions my right and every Portuguese citizen's right to freedom of expression and of opinion.
"For
that reason, I do not resign myself to the decision and I will appeal it until the very last judicial instance."
Kate and Gerry launched a libel action against the former detective claiming that not only were the allegations untrue and
extremely hurtful, but had also impacted negatively on the ongoing search for their daughter.
Mr Amaral was removed
as head of the original Portuguese police investigation into Madeleine's disappearance after criticising British detectives.
He was also blamed for a string of investigative blunders in the early stages of the inquiry.
Four months
after Madeleine disappeared, the Policia Judiciaria declared the McCanns official suspects or 'arguidos' and Mr Amaral
and his colleagues spent several hours grilling the couple separately.
Amaral to appeal McCanns'
libel action , 30 April 2015
Posted by Len Port at 9:53 AM Thursday, April 30, 2015
The McCanns partially won their libel action against the author and former lead detective Gonçalo Amaral,
but the matter is far from over.
Amaral intends to appeal. In his first comment on the verdict he said today: "I
find that the court's decision is unfair and questions my right and every Portuguese citizen's right to freedom of
expression and of opinion. For that reason, I do not resign myself to the decision and I will appeal it until the very last
judicial instance."
Apart from Amaral's assertion on the "unfairness" of the court's decision,
there were two remarkable features about the verdict and the way in which it was announced that got little or no mention in
the international media coverage.
The first unusual aspect was the huge sum awarded. It may be normal in the UK,
but not here. Amaral was ordered to pay the parents of Madeleine McCann half a million euros in damages, plus interest, currently
calculated at €106,000 and rising.
Kate and Gerry McCann had sought a total of €1.2 million. In addition
to €250,000 each, they claimed €500,000 for Madeleine and €100,000 for each of their twins. The judge ruled
against the claims on behalf of the children.
The McCanns successfully claimed that Amaral's book, Maddie,
the Truth of the Lie, was libellous, causing them great personal distress. The judge did not agree, however, that the
book had hindered the search for Madeleine or had caused damages to the twins.
Should Amaral on appeal get the
verdict overturned, or the compensation figure greatly reduced, the McCanns may lodge a counter appeal. The deadline for appeals
is 40 days. The legal battle that has been going on for more than five years looks like continuing for some time yet.
A defiant Amaral supporter noted that, "a decision from a Portuguese court can only be enforced after all appeals are
exhausted. No money will change hands until a final decision is reached by the very last appeals court." With this in
mind, other well-wishers are being urged to make donations to a Gonçalo Amaral defence fund.
The second
oddity was the way in which the announcement of the verdict was handled. The judge's ruling was not read out in court.
It was contained in a 52-page report, which was received by the McCann's Lisbon lawyer Isabel Duarte who swiftly passed
it on to media organisations in Portugal and abroad.
Soon after the news appeared on media websites, Kate and Gerry
McCann said they were "delighted" with the outcome.
In a statement issued by their spokesman Clarence
Mitchell, they said the case had never been about money. "It was entirely focused on the effect of the libels on our
other children and the damage that was done to the search for Madeleine."
When contacted by journalists the
same day, Gonçalo Amaral chose not to comment because neither he nor his lawyer, Miguel Cruz Rodrigues, had received
a copy of the ruling. It was only sent to them the following day, by which time to many in the media it was old news.
Sickos troll McCanns for £357k
libel cash, 30 April 2015
Sickos troll McCanns for £357k libel cash Daily Star
MADELEINE McCann's parents have been targeted by trolls after winning £357,000 damages.
By Jerry Lawton / Published 30th April 2015
Kate and Gerry were blasted on social networking sites over
their six-year battle against ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral.
The Portuguese officer claimed they covered up their
daughter's death in a best-selling book.
But the trolls accused the couple of profiting from their daughter's
disappearance.
Last night the McCanns vowed to use "every single penny" of the pay-out to help find Madeleine,
who vanished in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.
A team of 31 Scotland Yard detectives is investigating.
But the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "The investigation will come to an end sooner or later
and Kate and Gerry will use the official Madeleine fund and any awards made to them to continue their own search."
Their Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte said: "Damages my clients receive will be spent on the search for Madeleine."
Mr Mitchell added: "Kate and Gerry remain very grateful for the continuing support from the Government and the
Metropolitan Police but realise it cannot last. In a common sense and practical move they have kept some money back from the
Find Madeleine Fund in case it is needed."
Last night a source close to the case said it was not certain Mr
Amaral, 55, who plans to appeal, could pay the damages.
"Some people think he is a multi-millionaire because
of this book but he is not," the source said.
I find that the court's decision is unfair and questions my right and every Portuguese
citizen's right to freedom of expression and of opinion.
For that reason, I do not resign myself to the decision
and I will appeal it until the very last judicial instance.
If I am able to continue counting on your support,
I will continue to fight within the judicial system for the Truth and the achievement of Justice.
Thank you.
-------------
We would like to add a few words of our own.
This week's verdict is the result of a
long, drawn-out trial. It is far from over, as we now enter the appeals phase.
Your ongoing support - both moral
and financial - has been key to Gonçalo Amaral's ability to defend himself.
There are no words that
can adequately express our gratitude, as we have witnessed so many acts of solidarity over the last five years. It has been
a humbling journey; a journey of learning and of sharing.
PJGA was founded as a quest for justice and backed by supporters
from all over the globe, in solidarity, friendship and above all, in the interest of furthering the investigation of the case
into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Within this scope, with the relentless support of those who will not let this
case pass into obscurity, who do not tolerate the leaving of unanswered questions, there are many who follow Amaral's
dissatisfaction, and whom, like him, urge for the day the truth, or some more of it will emerge.
During the last
months of 2009, a group of Gonçalo Amaral friends realised that it would be impossible for him to face the costs of
his defence in the civil suit that was filed against him personally – as well as against others – brought by the
McCann couple and their children, in response to his book "Maddie, A Verdade Da Mentira".
Lawsuits in
Portugal are expensive, like anywhere else in the world, and the Portuguese State will only help funding legal costs if one
is completely destitute. With part of his pension and the total of his assets frozen, Gonçalo Amaral would not be able
to cover the legal expenses; what was left of his pension was barely enough to meet everyday living costs, but it was more
than enough for the State to refuse financial support.
Therefore, his friends decided to open a private
bank account, where funds would be kept to pay, whenever necessary and whenever possible, expenses that were presented by
Mr Amaral's lawyer. Projecto Justiça Gonçalo Amaral was born out of solidarity and friendship.
The trial is ongoing, since 2009, nothing has changed, pending final judgment. We continue to accept your donations only
into this one bank account and we continue to meet only legal expenses out of that very same account.
If any funds
are left unused, they will be donated to a Portuguese children's charity, according to Gonçalo Amaral's wishes.
There are many ways to contribute to this Project. You can help by spreading information about the disappearance of
Madeleine McCann by highlighting the Case File information. You can help by voicing your support for freedom of expression
and freedom of opinion. You can help by supporting Gonçalo Amaral's defence account.
We trust that Justice
will be served.
Thank you.
Any money donated to this account, will be directly transferred to the PJGA
account. Please help Goncalo.
28 April, 2015 - Statement from Gerry
and Kate Regarding Libel Case
"We want to emphasise that the action was never about money. It
has always been focused on the effects of the libels on our other children and the damage that was done to the search for
Madeleine."
Ah, noble words indeed from Mr and Mrs Parent 2007. So why then, are the gruesome twosome,
claiming that they're "delighted" with the outcome, given that the judge ruled that no damage had been caused
by Goncalo Amaral, to any of the McCann children, that he didn't hinder the investigation, and that no child suffered
in any way due to his actions?
With regards to the McCann's three children, this is what the parents set out
to get from Goncalo Amaral:
I-Payment to each of them of damages with a global value not inferior to 1.2 million
Euros , being 500.000 Euros to the 3rd applicant (MBM), 100.000 Euros each for the 4th (SMM) and 5th (AEM) applicants.
A total of 700,000 Euros.
The following figure is what they were awarded:
0 Euros.
In fact the only people to be awarded anything in this case, pending Goncalo Amaral's appeal, on paper for the moment,
is Kate and Gerry McCann.
Put simply like this, it is the children who have lost, and the parents who have won.
Much the same as it was almost 8 years to the day. The twins lost their sister, and Madeleine Beth McCann, in all probability
lost her life, and in almost mirror fashion, we have the parents claiming that they're delighted, just as their faces
showed back in 2007 when they were pictured laughing and joking only days after Madeleine was reported missing.
But
back to the present day.
The Judge ruled that the book was factual, so all you pros can quit with the "Amaral
lied" bullshit, he didn't. The only liars are those who state that Goncalo lied.
"Point I –
The book is reporting facts that were present in the investigation and there is nothing new there and can, in fact, be confirmed
in the report of Chief Inspector Tavares de Almeida (n9) and was pursued in the investigation process (ns 10 and 11), resulting
in the constitution of Arguidos of the applicants and this was presented to the media and to the general public through the
publication of the copy of the Investigation. (n 65 and 66)"
The only reason it is to be banned again, is
because the judge ruled the the McCanns had a right to be presumed innocent, and there my friends, is the key word,
PRESUMED. Nowhere in the summary does it say that Kate and Gerry were innocent. Nowhere does it say that
it is proven that anyone other than the McCanns harmed Madeleine, and concealed both her death, and her body.
Yet
still the McCann's are delighted.
The only thing the McCanns can take from this is some money, which according
to them it was never about, and the knowledge that a book never published in English, will be banned.
Of course
the vast majority of Portuguese people don't believe the McCanns for one second. As can be seen in the video, their own
lawyer, Isabel Duarte admitted the following:
"I feel alone, because I don't feel support, er, not
in public opinion, erm, I have friends that don't want to talk to me about the case................because everyone believes
in Goncalo Amaral"
Well Isabel let me tell you a little story about what happens when things are banned,
they become far mightier than when they were freely available, people want to see what they are being told they can't.
Yesterday, 28th April 2015, the media
reported that the McCanns had been awarded varying figures from the damages trial they instigated against Goncalo Amaral.
We were very sceptical as to whether the news was genuine, or whether it was simply more dirty tricks from team McCann, the
like of which we saw on January 21st 2015, when someone, rumoured to be Isabel Duarte, the McCann's lawyer, told the Lusa
News Agency that the McCann's had won the trial against Goncalo.
For those of you who don't know what the
Lusa News Agency is, it is basically a 51% state owned organization, that gathers reports and articles, press and news companies
can then access this information, and use it to publish news through their outlets. As Sky News and various others did yesterday.
What took us all by surprise as events unfolded, was that the press were getting these stories before Goncalo's
legal team were. This just didn't make sense at all The verdict was always supposed to be sent to both parties in writing.
So why didn't Goncalo's team have the documentation?
The answer to that is quite astonishing.
Isabel Duarte got her hands on the document before it passed through Citius, the judicial network, she then
passed it on to several journalists.
The documentation that she was passing round yesterday, bore no official authentication.
It couldn't possibly have done, as it hadn't passed through the full legal process.
We will update this blog for you to judge for yourselves, just
as soon as we have more information.
Some big questions remain though.
How was confidential information
leaked to Isabel Duarte?
Did Isabel Duarte obtain these documents illegally?
Has Isabel Duarte breached
legal protocol by passing unofficial documentation onto the press?
and most importantly, could this jeopardise
the entire verdict?
Centre of a judicial storm, Isabel Duarte (above)
One thing is for sure it opens the door for an official complaint from Goncalo Amaral's legal team, who yesterday couldn't
publicly comment to the many calls from the media, as they didn't have any information with which to do so.
McCanns v. Gonçalo Amaral: Libel Ruling - Media Reaction
For a close shave,
Occam's Razor is to be recommended. Sweeney Todd too probably had something of a reputation for barberous efficiency.
Until, that is, he was discovered to have contributed one too many fingers to Mrs Lovett's pies. (Other people's fingers,
that is). Back in May 2007, someone cooked up a proposal and sold it to Dr Gerry McCann, who was busy not enjoying himself
on holiday. His response too was, 'Love it!' And so the story of Madeleine McCann's abduction was born.
People seldom do things without a reason, however fanciful. If Madeleine McCann was to be reported missing it was because
she was, indeed, 'missing', in a generalised sense at least, prior to the announcement of her absence. Our good friend
Occam has recently been recruited to support the idea that these eventualities were closely concatenated in time, the one
following the other in an inevitable 'stimulus - response' fashion. It is not at all an unreasonable supposition,
for even if we stub a toe we don't usually wait thirty seconds before saying, 'Ouch!'
Not all actions
provoke an immediate consequence however. Even in the realm of animal learning, subjects (rats) have been deliberately rendered
ill as an experimental outcome, inflicted as a direct result of some prior behaviour. Clearly there was an interval of time
in-between.
However good or impoverished a theory might appear at first blush, its ultimate power is governed by
the extent to which it accommodates all of the known data, not merely the greater part. If there is some observation
or other for which one's theory offers no satisfactory explanation, then that theory must be open to question, unless
or until the awkward observation(s) should be proven false.
In the case of Madeleine McCann and her disappearance
from Praia da Luz, it is the McCanns who first tempted us with an appeal to Occam: Madeleine was missing. She was there a
moment ago. Now she's gone. She must therefore have been abducted. As Gerry McCann huffed and puffed in front of the Lisbon
court house fully five years ago now, 'Where...where...where is the child? What other explanation can explain how she's
not here?'
Many of us I'm sure could offer just such an explanation, which means that abduction per
se, although a claim of the McCanns, is by no means 'cut and dried' as the root cause of Madeleine's disappearance.
Similarly, opinions as to the 'spur of the moment' nature, or not, of Madeleine's removal from apartment 5A, must
deal adequately with all those contextual features of the incident which are known to have arisen. The attribution of mere
coincidence is insufficient when there are so many such 'coincidences' to be taken into account.
The question
has been asked here before (The X Factor, 28.2.2013): Which of two opposing views (Madeleine's abduction/removal on the
Thursday night vs. an earlier departure) better accommodates the strange goings on that week? Another discussion (the Cerberus
Problem, 13.8.11) examined the possibility that Thursday 3 May was, in very many respects, an addition to the narrative of
the holiday, and logically quite unconnected to prior events.
To give but one example, previously mentioned (although
not discussed) in the article 'Schadenfraud' (30.4.2014), Gerry McCann's receipt of regular text messages, and
his predictable recourse to voicemail thereafter was a daily routine associated with the aftermath of Madeleine's disappearance.
It was also a behaviour he first exhibited on May 2nd – over twenty four hours before Madeleine was found to
be missing.
It would be facile to dismiss these mysterious communications as having no relevance whatsoever to
each other since, on closer examination, the schedule of those messages, which Gerry received on May 2, strongly suggests
a connection both within and between the different groups of messages (see also 'Chapter and Verse', 14.10.2009).
And this quite apart from McCann's perceived need to delete them in the first instance, followed by his embarrassed public
denial of their very existence.
Ah yes, but how is that related to events afterwards? Gerry's feverish texting
is only to be expected in the light of events.
That's as may be. What is not to be expected however is the
daily regularity of incoming text messages in discrete groups, followed almost immediately each time by Gerry McCann's
'cross checking' of his own voice mail. If this standardized behaviour is a reflection of Madeleine McCann's abduction,
then she must have been 'abducted' (I use the word loosely) over 24 hours earlier than announced, as that is when
this style of interchange first arose.
If the McCann telecommunications from May 4 onward were a reaction to abduction
then, similarly, those of May 2 would have been a reaction to something occurring previously. Ipso facto the 'discovery'
of the night of May 3 becomes a planned event.
As Clarence Mitchell made clear (for the benefit of Peter Levy's
listeners):
"That is the working hypothesis on which the private investigation is also based. That there is
somebody, perhaps one, or just two or three people out there who know what happened and that there was an element of pre-meditation,
pre-planning went into it."
"...then you noticed how the columns flaked sulphurously against the sky and witnessed what the acid
tears of time had done to the pink stone..." – Above the Waves (2005) by AJS.
Another May 3
So another May 3 approaches and with it the need for new,
useable headlines. And there aren't any left.
Time – not grief, not loss – has done terrible
things to the McCanns, as a glance at the image pages demonstrates. But not just to them. For time, which eats away at everything
we love, also, and wonderfully, acts to bleach or dissolve away falsehood. Even the greatest, most elaborate, attempts to
cover the truth always fail in the end for time washes away the lies and reveals the bones of the truth untouched. The Ottoman
Turks drove the Armenians into the empty desert to die, unseen and, they thought, forgotten in 1915, yet a hundred years later
their crime is as visible as Istanbul itself; the Germans, sworn to secrecy, burnt the very fat and bones of their victims,
razed the buildings and harrowed their ashes into the soil before killing every survivor they could lay hands on, yet it was
all in vain: the Shoa is the most well-attested crime in history, for while the lies die with the liars the truth lies waiting
to be revealed.
How Dare You?
Nor is there any inappropriateness
in mentioning these vast crimes in the context of one missing child – for the horror which greets the death of just
one child is so intense and overwhelming precisely because it is an involuntary, other-worldly cry against the death of all
innocents throughout all times. The McCanns, their advisors and their media friends were mad enough to amplify
these mysterious and devastating emotional forces into a world-wide wave of hysteria for their own ends and they are, rightly,
paying the price.
Emotion, as we all know, is eaten away by time: we look back and talk of having been "blinded"
by love or hate to what was actually going on. So it is with the McCann affair: looking back, 2007, almost world-wide, seems
weird and dream-like, a planet in which ordinary human beings like John Hill or Goncalo Amaral struggle just to keep their
heads above some enveloping alien treacle. What could have possessed someone like harmless little Tony Parsons, for example,
to aim foaming attacks at the Portuguese in a way that would have seen him arrested if his targets had been black Americans?
How could anyone have ever taken such a manifest carpetbagger as Clarence Mitchell at face value? And those two extraordinary
eye-flickering, lip-licking Bladerunner replicants – Scouseborgs – sitting bolt upright as though
in the electric chair, fe-replicant hand clutching he-replicant groin like a hidden power-pack, telling their tale in voices
apparently processed by Stephen Hawking's laptop – did billions of people actually watch that without bursting into
laughter or fleeing for their lives? Yes, we did: like Parsons, like Gordon Brown, like the Pope, we were gripped.
Whatever it was, exactly, that gripped us it is gone and we look around through different eyes. And the atrocious
truth for the McCanns is that, without the hysteria which enveloped us, there is absolutely nothing there to see and sustain
them.
The Planet of the Gapes Scouseborgs have quite vanished,
replaced by a shrunken, tetchy couple of whiners with bad complexions and a sense of entitlement; the fat arses of their clan
no longer fill twin Rynanair seats all over Europe, their faces no longer lord it with their televised "judgements"
on the wicked PJ and the press no longer print their typically petty-criminal claims of police "fit-ups". They are
silent or bewildered or fearful, like Patricia Cameron clearly was in Lisbon, of what the future holds. Or, like Michael Wright
in the same venue, they are ridiculous.
All those incredible suspects – windows into the mind of
Gerry McCann – which look like they were created in Gotham City by a Viz illustrator on a bad Brecon mushroom
trip don’t belong in real life at all, do they? They survived until the acid tears not only dissolved the flesh off
bundleman but slowly revealed the datedness of the others, a particular datedness that only afflicts fictional film
characters, not real people. Which is the only one that hasn't dated? That's right, Smithman, which just
happens to be the only one that didn't spring from the minds of Team McCann. And only the passing of time, of course,
could eventually kill off the farcical "sightings" – long, rather than short-range, projections of Gerry McCann's
imagination – which provided sustenance and cover for the couple for so long, by making a "living" Madeleine
McCann, thank God, now unrecognizable.
The only partial compensation for the wickedly unjust role of time in the
Portuguese justice system is that in the libel trial the years alone, without need for examination in court, gradually revealed
the emptiness of the McCanns' 2009 claims as they failed to provide any of the evidence they promised. The one finding
in their favour that matters, Count 14, hedged about as it is with reservations, was made by the judge despite the
McCann claims, not because of them, as the court record and judgement shows: The judge, finding in their favour, adds "that
the claimants failed to prove shame, with Kate McCann stating it was not shame that she felt".
With all the
McCann junk and the false evidence acid-dissolved away, what is left? Everything that matters: the bones of the truth gradually
but inexorably coming to the surface.
The Other Side of the Mirror
Exactly the same process is at work on the counter-fantasies to the McCann stories. The bold claims of conspiracies
– so easy to make, so hard to back-up, so impossible to rebut – are dying before our eyes, not through refutation
but, like the dated pictures of "suspects", through the gradual exposure of their purely imaginary nature. It needs
repeating: if no facts exist to confirm – not suggest – a theory then the theory, like Gerry McCann's "paedophile
bastards" is, literally, an imaginary claim by definition and is therefore beyond the reach of factual argument
or debate. So how do such claims eventually fall away? They die with their proponents, as has already happened in the McCann
case, or they fade away as the people who made them slowly fall silent since they have nothing to add. Nobody, not even Pat
Brown, can go on repeating the same stuff for ever without the lifeblood of demonstrable fact to sustain it: people simply
stop responding or disappear, or die. Why, in the end you get bored with repeating it yourself, as M/S Brown now has.
The fate of Mr Bennett's site is an exemplary one. Without the years having provided a gram of evidence to convert any
of the various imaginary claims to real ones, let alone to counter the accusations that it is a "cess pit" –
an unsavoury libel machine led by a vicious old man with a loud blue pencil and a desire to cause pain – people with
any sense, or any sense of shame, have voted quietly with their feet, leaving a small rump of casualties/believers behind.
Like Goncalo Amaral Mr Bennett got the chance to have his claims tested in court. Unlike Goncalo his imaginary claims
were dismissed with derision and he pays a monthly stipend to remind us of it. Of course if you're a casualty you get
around this embarrassing fact by claiming that the courts were wrong and ignored the truth – which makes the whole game
of "justice-seeking" a bit futile, doesn't it? After all, a state with a justice system dedicated to your destruction
and a Metropolitan police force able to whitewash justice-seekers away and a media that is permanently gagged by hidden hands
doesn't give you or your children much of a f****** future, does it? We'd be joining the boat people in Libya to get
away from that but, curiously, this nightmare vision of a Kriminalstaat doesn't stop the posters sleeping
happily in their beds at night or chirping their libels in the morning and no MI5 exclusion zone yet surrounds 66 Chipperfield.
Which suggests that, deep down, the posters don't really believe a word of what they're saying or, alternatively,
are quite incapable of understanding the obvious implications of their own claims. Bennett excepted, of course: he believes
everything.
Made for Each Other:
"did Occam do that to your head, dear?"
Anyway, the rump, which by no accident now numbers about the same headcount of regular posters as the
equally dissolved-by-time Locked Ward site, has been rewarded for its loyalty with an exposition of the intellectual underpinning,
as it were, of the Blue Pencil Claims. Pat Brown, who has never recovered from the polite but devastating mauling she, her
intellectual pretensions and her treatment of evidence received at the hands of the admirable blogger Johanna, is looking
for a different song to sing and posted the other day something about Occam and that razor as a start. Oh, and she
mentioned the Smiths without libelling them! Rump Uproar.
Amid the squeals, as another of Johanna's
hapless victims, David James Smith, might say, Mr Bennett stepped in with his matchless gravitas and provided this summation
of eight years study and investigation.
Q: "Why would the police reopen a case that was already
shelved just to spend over £10 million to cover it up?"
Bennett:[suppresses ban
reflex; clutches jerkily at own Dr Strangelove hand as it reaches, trembling, for the Blue Pencil] "Because they
were told to by Britain's most powerful woman, Rebekah Brooks...who told David Cameron, who told Theresa May, who told
Sir Paul Stephenson. And who did they put in charge
Det Chief Supt Hamish Campbell, a bloke who spent another
£10 million fitting up the wrong bloke in the Jill Dando case."
Got that, have you, gentle
reader? Spare a thought for poor old Judge Tugendhat listening to eight hours of that stuff in the High Court. Bennett's
lucky the judge didn't plead provocation, snatch the black cap and sentence him to death. Anyway -
Q:[slashes Occam's tool across giant bald head] "So why would Rebekah Brookes want the case reopened so that
£10 million could be spent on covering it up?" [sharp intake of breath at all three screens following the exchange.
How dare he?]
Bennett: [raves] 1. Sales for News International and stories for SKY 2. She knows something about the case that would severely embarrass the government.
Frankly, it's too cruel
to go on. Just writing down that exchange has made us feel a wave – promptly suppressed – of sympathy for the
McCanns. Anyone who can write that is genuinely insane, and we use the word carefully. Just imagine being stalked for eight
years by that, not only a nutter but a nutter who likes to have a little team that he can aim at people who displease
him. Sleep well with that, Kate?
Perhaps it's a kind of karma: it took a very special personality – Gerry
McCann – to turn an unpleasant crank nonentity into a genuinely nasty madman who has lost touch with reality.
Gerry, and more particularly, Kate McCann must think themselves lucky that it was only an angrily bulging and swollen leaflet
that was thrust so provocatively and repeatedly into their letterbox and not...something...no, no, we can't go there.
That's what you get when you try and f*** about with people's heads via the media, Gerry. You end up triggering
things you can't control.
Meanwhile, time continues its work.
The Madeleine McCann Case and Occam's
Razor, 22 April 2015
Criminal Profiler Pat Brown April 22, 2015 at 11:05 AM
This post isn't really a commentary on the Madeleine McCann case but this
case does so well represent Occam's Razor in crime analysis that I feel a need to use it as an example. In my blog yesterday,
"It Just Doesn't Work that Way in Real Life," I discussed how shows like Death in Paradise
have very complicated scenarios of how a murder was committed, the perpetrator being practically a genius of planning and
misdirection. I pointed out how rarely is this the case in real life; almost always, homicides are usually acts of desperation
born of loss of power and control. Crimes of passion (quite mislabeled as passion being the motive), also known as "out-of-character"
crimes (which is also a mislabel as the crime is quite within the character of the person committing it) are relatively impulsive,
so planning is quite minimal. Serial killers are mostly of the anger-retaliatory type and rarely plan the crime much in advance;
usually they are opportunistic and strike when they have a victim that wanders into their territory alone or, while doing
their usually trolling of an area, finally get lucky when a target appears with no witnesses in the area. The reason they
get away with their crimes is simply the fact that most of the time there are no witnesses and they are strangers to the victim
and there is no obvious link for the police to follow. As long as they don't leave DNA that can be matched to a DNA bank,
they have a good shot of getting away with their homicides.
Much rarer is someone who plans a homicide: a black
widow poisoning her husbands, a man getting rid of his wife so he can have his freedom, a boyfriend eliminating a pregnant
girlfriend. Usually the crime is not all that clever, it is just often hard to prove in a court of law that the killer is
guilty. Much of the time, the body is well-hidden so that the "no-body, no proof of a crime" rule applies. At other
times, the crime is staged as a stranger homicide and it works but not because it is so intricately planned. It simply works
because evidence is limited to prove otherwise.
Killers are generally of normal intelligence who commit their crimes
without great forethought and they also tend to cover their tracks in a hurried manner. Murderers don't think to the depth
of perpetrators on television or in the movies; they just rush to take care of the problem and, in doing so, act in a manner
that many others in their shoes have acted before. In real life, crimes are often committed and covered up in similar ways,
the way humans act when under pressure and with the limited knowledge most have at the time of the crime and while under stress.
I am repeatedly encouraged in the McCann case to do further research on a number of issues that some believe proves
Madeleine McCann died earlier in the week and that on May 3rd, the McCanns and their friends had a preplanned course of action
to stage an abduction. They believe there is lots of evidence proving that Madeleine was dead for days by then: incorrect
creche records, a manipulated photo, no sightings of Madeleine, odd behaviors, and no neglect of the children. I am not going
to argue all of this: I am going to point out Occam's Razor and why have always thought that May 3rd was the key to what
happened to Madeleine and when.
If something had happened to Madeleine days before, we simply would have seen her
"abduction" staged earlier in the week. In real life, planning to stage an abduction for days and having to manipulate
evidence of Madeleine being alive for days when she was not, is simply too bloody difficult to manage. Then, on May 3rd, after
all that planning, the whole evening was an ungodly mess full of inconsistencies and errors, which would be odd for a so carefully
premeditated scenario.
If the McCanns are guilty, what May 3rd represents is a disaster, as Gerry pointed out,
and a quick attempt to over up that disaster. The simplest answer, Occam's Razor, is that May 3rd was a confusion because
very little was planned and when it was (interviews with the police), it was still a confused mess because there was little
time to think anything through and everyone's brains were a muddle.
The key to this crime is very simple: the
Smith sighting. The Smith sighting has always been my Number One reason for doubting the McCanns' innocence in the disappearance
of Madeleine. The most consistent behavior of parents of missing children is to want EVERY lead followed, even ridiculous
ones. On the evening of May 3rd, the Smith family saw a child who could have been Madeleine being carried off towards the
sea, yet the McCanns expressed little interest in this sighting and even tried to suppress it. If the McCanns were innocent
and Gerry was not Smithman, and even if they thought Jane was telling the truth, that Tannerman existed and might have been
the kidnapper, it is hard to believe they would not have been gung-ho to follow-up that Smith sighting in every way possible,
the way they did with Tannerman.
Applying Occam's Razor, why would they ignore and suppress the Smith sighting?
What is the simplest of explanations? Because it was Gerry and he was in the act of covering up a crime that had just occurred.
The reason Gonçalo Amaral believed this to be so is because he is a real-world detective and knows that Occam's
Razor applies in crime investigation and the fanciful stuff you see on television is concocted by writers who need to come
up with a show that is exciting to the viewers.
Detectives and profilers often are driven nuts by family members
and citizens who, when a case goes unsolved, start going bonkers with unlikely theories, full of very intricate plots. They
figure, if no one has been arrested and convicted, it must be because the crime is so complicated and clever.
In
real life, it is often so much simpler; the crime is straightforward but it is hard to prove in court.
Criminal
Profiler Pat Brown
April 21, 2015
Lottery winner and jailbird Lee Ryan
to make bizarre documentary about Madeleine McCann, 19 April 2015
Lottery winner and jailbird Lee Ryan to make bizarre
documentary about Madeleine McCann Daily Star
LOTTO jailbird Lee Ryan is helping to make a bizarre TV documentary about missing Madeleine McCann.
By Tracey Kandohla / Published 19th April
2015
Nicknamed the Lotto Lag, he was one of the first big winners
in 1995 – pocketing a £6.5million jackpot weeks before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing cars.
Lee, 54, who dubbed his win "a curse" and has blown the lot, yesterday told how he has become obsessed with
the Maddie mystery.
While down on his luck he studied the disappearance of the girl from his home county, Leicestershire.
He said: "I started looking into it, it's a fascinating case and I read everything about it. I even read
the Portuguese police files and started thinking about all the theories.
"I'm keeping an open mind."
Divorced dad Lee, who now lives in a tiny flat in south London, has teamed up with journalist and broadcaster Sonia Poulton,
inset, who is making a 90-minute film, The Untold Story Of Madeleine McCann.
Maddie was days away from her fourth
birthday when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.
Her
parents, heart doctor Gerry, 46, and former GP Kate, 47, from Rothley, Leics, believe she could still be alive.
Lee
insisted: "I am not proactive against the McCanns, I am just on a quest for the truth. It is a global story."
Sonia, a regular guest on ITV's This Morning show, said: "We are making an evidence-based documentary about
the disappearance of Madeleine.
"It will be shown soon on mainstream TV and will first appear in America.
I've had trolls online trying to sabotage and smear me over this but we will not be silenced."
Lee, she
said, does "ad hoc filming whenever needed".
When the former used car trader won the lottery 20 years
ago, he was awaiting trial for handling stolen cars. He later served nine months of his sentence.
He spent a decade
living the high life, blowing his cash on a fleet of super-cars and bikes, a helicopter and a country mansion.
Then
he moved to Kyrgyzstan in central Asia with his second wife but returned with nothing in 2010, leaving behind a series of
misfortunes and failed business ventures.
After spending two years sleeping rough in London he picked himself up
again.
And he vowed: "I'm doing OK now – and one day I'll be wealthy again."
McCann
family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said he had not been informed about the new Maddie TV documentary Lee Ryan was working
on.
He said: "I am aware of Sonia Poulton and all her conspiracy theories. These film makers always claim
they have a commission.
"But we are not going to fuel whatever they are doing in any shape or form by making
a comment."
Damning new Madeleine documentary promised
for 2015, 26 December 2014
Damning new Madeleine documentary promised for 2015
Portugal Resident
Posted by JOMAD on December 26, 2014
A damning new "evidence-based" documentary is being
prepared for screening in 2015 and promises to tell the "Untold Story of Madeleine McCann" - alleging that "no
abduction took place at all".
Orchestrated by independent journalist and social activist Sonia Poulton, the
project got underway following the death of 63-year-old grandmother Brenda Leyland - the so-called internet "troll"
"outed" over tweets that questioned the official version of events "as put forward by mainstream media".
According to Poulton, Leyland wrote in a tweet last year that "should she die in odd circumstances" she
hoped "people would question, and not just accept the first version of events".
This is what Poulton
claims has spurred her on. In a Christmas message posted on Youtube, the former broadcaster with Internet TV station The People's
Voice reveals her documentary should be ready by the end of March.
Poulton claims her investigation has already
flagged up "plenty of evidence to suggest there was not an abduction". Her focus, she explains, has been on "interviews
with "central characters" in the disappearance.
"As you can imagine, these have not exactly been
forthcoming", she adds.
Thus, the decision to "door-step" those she believes have "questions
to answer".
This far Poulton claims to have door-stepped four key characters in the mystery, and she says
her investigation has also "traced someone involved in the campaign" to maintain the official version of events,
whose identity will "shock people".
Poulton's Christmas message to all those "fighting for justice"
who have become "online detectives" over the last seven years is simply that they remain strong.
"We
all need to be heard now", she concludes. "The fact is that the media is systematically failing to represent what
is being said online with regard to Madeleine McCann".
As the Metropolitan Police investigation moves into
2015 - having already cost the British taxpayer over £10 million - and a Portuguese inquiry is also ongoing, Poulton
reveals that she has been in touch with Scotland Yard to say she would be "more than happy" to be interviewed over
her contention that many aspects of the abduction theory "do not add up".
She claims "even a cursory
glance" at the factual information available would show this, but that "heavy censorship" means that very few
people are aware unless they delve into the police files.
"We will not be silenced any more", Poulton
said in an earlier clip, also posted on Youtube, shortly after Brenda Leyland's death in October.
"We
are no longer prepared to be ignored, or silenced or demonised just because we say that that official version of events needs
to be questioned".
As Poulton's investigation continues, it is uncertain where the final documentary will
be broadcast. Her move from The People's Voice in January was not without controversy, and she has since been described
on the alternative online blog The Needle as not so much a journalist but "just a woman with an opinion on everything".
After almost two years of active investigation the March 15 conference marks a watershed in Scotland Yard's Grange
operation. Five international letters of request and the resultant interviews in Portugal must have more or less cleared the
famous 38 name list that they claim to have begun with in the summer of 2013; a rumoured sixth letter, which the Portuguese
were said to be expecting in autumn 2014, has disappeared into the information void, together with any news whatever of the
climactic Lisbon Christmas interviews.
What a contrast with the announcement of the investigation phase! Then the
pages and screens had been filled with hysterical tales about Scotland Yard finally meeting the couple's wishes and quasi-royal
expressions of "encouragement" from the dodgy couple themselves, all mixed in with a rich Mitchell Fantasy selection
...new witnesses...new key witnesses...He had a really fat face and had two-tone sunglasses on...Serial paedophile's
deathbed confession...Gypsy stole Maddie to order...Twisted trolls have sent death threats to Kate McCann over the disappearance
of her daughter...weird stranger at apartment...and on and on and on...
That was the beginning. The end is
being played out almost unannounced, dribbling quietly away like a stream into the sands.
Much of this is due to
the Yard itself. When, after careful planning, the active investigation phase was formally launched, a Yard priority was to
ensure that the 2007 circus-cum-car crash of media coverage was not repeated, particularly since the news of the CPS visits
to Portugal in April had filtered out. The key July 4 media conference at which this was accomplished began unpromisingly
for neutrals with a journalist's opening question prompting a collectors' item Redwood Waffle Torrent:
Journalist:
What has changed, have you had new information, new evidence? What has changed to lead you to open this investigation?
Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood: Well, as we have worked carefully over the last sort of two years, through
that review process, we have now processed some 30,000 documents and some of those documents could have, say, one page, some
have got hundreds of pages. From that, you will recall last year that I said we had 195 investigative opportunities. We have
now generated over 3,800 actions and it is from a careful analysis of that work that we have been able to establish new thinking
and we have spoken to witnesses that have provided new evidence for us.
When the audience had recovered from this
onslaught Redwood moved swiftly to his main point.
Journalist: Some people... some people suggested,
quite cruelly at the time, [isn't he lovely?] that the McCann parents might be [go on, go on, go on]
in some way involved with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. What can you say about the involvement of Madeleine McCann's
parents in anything to do with her disappearance?
Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood: Neither her parents
or any of the members of the group that were with her are either persons of interest or suspects.
Journalist:
Because, obviously, there were some rumours [Nobel Prize for delicate understatement on its way] at the
time, but you are quite categorical in that?
Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood: They are not persons
of interest or suspects, they are parents who have lost their daughter and we are doing all that we can to bring resolution
for them to find out what has happened to Madeleine.
In those few dozen pre-planned words (which he just happened
to repeat elsewhere that day) Redwood ensured that not a single UK MSM outlet would speculate unfavourably about the McCanns
before the investigation was complete: the lawyers would never allow them to since the statement at once removed any defence
to being injuncted at the first hint that they might, indeed, be "of interest" to the Yard. Having no wish to make
an involuntary donation to the Save the Tot, Finance the Family fund the cowardly but fleet-footed Bureau
was also quick to withdrew its claim that the CPS visits pointed in one direction.
So the MSM couldn't be blamed
too much for the spectacular McCann arse-lick-fest that ensued – for the gap between Redwood's warning assertions
and his Monster Waffle Assault versions of what his squad was actually up to, was narrow indeed, so narrow that they had nothing
to write about except fantasy or what Mitchell gave them. After all, this being the MSM, Telegraph readers were unlikely
to find a lengthy centre-page piece on the Yard’s Don't Panic message with its interesting implication
that over-the-top, fair-trial-wrecking, media madness would only occur if the McCanns, rather than the Prince of
Wales or the Pope, were somehow at the centre of it. Now why would the Yard assume that?
The brutal fact is that
nobody in this extraordinary case gives a tuppenny f*** about anyone's involvement other than the McCanns'. They couldn't
care less. The relentless parade of rumoured suspects isn't just banal and uninteresting – petty thieves, burglars,
dead paedophiles, white van cleaners – but, despite the best efforts of the Team – all of them resolutely refuse
to take off into public space. Not one has tempted journalists or anyone else to go and research their possible background
and origins, even though some of their names are supposedly known. Within days of being splashed all over the MSM they are
forgotten.
There is, in fact, a creepy similarity between the Yard's supposed suspects that the MSM –
not the Yard itself – has brought us and the purely imaginary Rorschach blots that the McCanns and their doltish
accomplices showered us with for years, from Bundleman to Baby-Buyer. The only difference lies in their origins, the different
motives for their invention. The McCanns had their agenda. The Yard has its own.
The couple, fronted by Mitchell,
may have had a clear media run since the day of the Redwood veto but one by one the sources that have sustained their
initiatives have been turned off: there are no more suspects, no new witnesses with a likely tale to tell, no visible new
lines of inquiry, no leaks from Portugal, no conflicts between the forces of the two countries, no hint of a report from the
latest interviews. Above all, two years investigation hasn't produced a single tit-bit, not a crumb, that the
couple can point to, wave at Leicester's assistant chief constable and say there, vindication! But nor can they
now run to their media lawyers and editors screaming there, police persecution!
So the stream trickles
into the sand amid an overground public silence more profound than any since 2007. With it trickles also the last possibility
of the MSM influencing or damaging the investigation on the 2007 model: the latter's destructive powers have been completely
tamed, indeed emasculated. If arrests come in the UK then the contempt of court rules immediately take over to maintain the
peace.
For all the internet rage and paranoia about the MSM bias its effect has been zero, and now, rather
deliciously, all of us on the net find ourselves free to speak – as long as we stick to the truth – while our
steam-age opponents above ground are impotent! Isn't that great?
Who should we thank for that? Operation Grange,
for putting us all on an equal footing. All of us, the MSM, Kate and Gerry McCann, and the Brighton conservative candidate
included, know exactly as much about the operations and activities of Grange as we did in spring 2011: absolutely nothing.
All any of us, readers or writers, have had is the power of inference. Whatever the final result, and whatever our intermittent
frustrations at not knowing what to believe of the squad's honeyed words, it has kept its operations triumphantly secret
– and therefore free from interference by anyone.
And so it continued: the chasm between what the the Yard has
actually done – work secretly with the Porto squad, appraise the evidence, involve the CPS and gradually dismantle the
abduction claim they began with – and what the MSM, and chunks of the net, says they've done is grotesque
and, literally, unbelievable. Nobody could possibly be as childishly stupid as the MSM of both countries has made the Yard
out to be, nor as transparently corrupt and power-crazed as net "profilers" like Pat Brown and others claim: this
is story book stuff. The paradox is that the UK MSM, unlike in 2007, shows not the slightest sign of believing in the rubbish
they've been printing since early 2013 while people like M/S Brown and others seem to have fallen for all this play-acting
and believe that what they're writing – gained from the MSM naturally – is true!
As we've
described at length recently something very serious brought the spinning to an an abrupt, indeed stomach-churning, halt in
December 2014. The appointment of a new head of Grange alone cannot be the reason: silencing the McCanns has not been within
her control and the couple have always been adroit at using the opportunities that changes in command or direction can bring,
as Goncalo Amaral and others know very well. Nor could Wall have ruptured the long-term alliance between the Mirror
and the McCanns. No, everything – the silence of the couple, the subtle distancing of the MSM from them, the absence
of any succour for the pair from the entire Grange operation, the hint of bated breath in overseas media – suggests
that we have reached some sort of inflexion point in the investigation.
The only thing that now seems certain is
that the Yard have, against all the odds, protected the integrity and operations of their review and investigation with 100%
success. One by one the possible threats to their inquiry have fallen silent, first in Portugal, now in the UK. Not one of
us – and that clearly includes the McCanns – has any confirmed knowledge of their thinking or their intentions.
All we have is inference. They've been willing to look stupid, comical, dishonest and ineffectual by turns in defying
every single attempt to breach their secrecy.
It's quite an accomplishment.
Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime
(MOPAC) is asked to investigate Operation Grange, 16 April 2015
Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) is asked
to investigate Operation Grange CMOMM
Posted by Tony Bennett Thursday
16/04/2015 at 12:02 am
--------------
LONDONASSEMBLY
Joanne
McCartney AM, Chair of the Police and Crime Committee London Assembly City Hall The Queen's Walk London SE1 2AA
13 April 2015
Dear Mr Bennett,
Thank you for your letter of 10 March 2015
regarding Operation Grange. In your letter you ask the Police and Crime Committee to support the request for an independent
investigation into the Metropolitan Police's conduct of Operation Grange, and for the Committee to hold a meeting to discuss
the detail of the investigation.
The Committee is responsible for examining the work of the Mayor's Office
for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), which is the body responsible for overseeing the Metropolitan Police Service, to ensure that
it is efficient, effective and fair. The Committee can also investigate issues that it considers to be of importance to policing
and crime reduction in Greater London and make recommendations for improvements. The Committee has no statutory power to review
major investigations or investigate individual cases.
I have forwarded your letter to the Mayor's Office for
Policing and Crime (MOPAC), as the body responsible for overseeing the Metropolitan Police Service, who aim to reply to correspondence
within 20 days and will inform you if it is not possible to respond within this period.
Yours sincerely,
Joanne McCartney AM Chair of the Police and Crime Committee
Ex-detective adds his voice to the legions
backing disgraced Maddie cop, 02 April 2015
Ex-detective adds his voice to the legions backing disgraced
Maddie cop Portugal Resident
[Headline later amended to: Ex-detective adds his voice to the legions backing
beleagured [sic] Maddie cop Portugal Resident]
Posted by PORTUGALPRESS on April 02, 2015
A former German detective with years of experience working on murder
investigations has added his voice to the legions of people backing disgraced Madeleine cop Gonçalo Amaral.
Ulrich Merz, 60, was in Praia da Luz on the day Madeleine went missing in 2007. He has been following the various investigations
ever since with the eye of a trained professional.
His "exasperation" at the way things have been handled
down the years is one of the reasons for his decision to put pen to paper.
He writes to Amaral as the latter waits
on tenterhooks to hear the judge's final decision over whether or not he is liable for the €1.2 million defamation
claim taken out against him by Madeleine's parents five years ago.
Merz does not mince his words. Amaral's
theory, given the details available at the time, was "completely valid", he tells the policeman.
The
theory that burglars could have abducted Madeleine simply "does not fit the profile", he claims - and indeed, in
his opinion as a criminal investigator, Merz does "not believe in an abduction" at all.
Social media
support for Amaral since he was "disgraced" - particularly by the British media - and removed from the original
Portuguese investigation has been resounding, but this is perhaps the first time a trained police investigator has come out
on record in this way.
Non-English speaking, Merz is unconcerned.
He claims the case is unique in that
the Portuguese government "has allowed itself to be pushed around" by Britain, currently conducting the "Operation
Grange" investigation into Madeleine's almost eight-year-old disappearance.
"The way this case has
been handled is particularly unique because your conclusions differed from those of the British government," he told
Amaral, stressing his "exasperation" at seeing a fellow policeman's work "denigrated".
The
Resident learnt of Merz' letter as it was handed to us to pass on to Amaral. We cannot go into the details of Merz'
theory as a criminal investigator with specific experience in murder cases as it would undoubtedly see us in legal hot-water.
As Portuguese news media has long pointed out, Amaral's theory, expounded in his book "The Truth of the Lie",
has seen him financially-strapped since its publication.
Bank accounts have been frozen, the book 'seized'
and withdrawn from sale for months, and his "civil position", as the former detective refers to it, made untenable.
In an open letter to his supporters as the long-running trial for defamation came to a close, Amaral reiterated his
belief that the parents of the missing child have "sought to 'asphyxiate' him financially and push him to a civil
death" - a position from which he would be "unable to react judicially".
"After five years,
the parents of the child that mysteriously disappeared on the 3rd of May of 2007 in the Algarve were not able to fully achieve
what they intended. I am alive, I'm able to financially sustain the civil suit, although not much more than that..."
Since that message, Projecto Justiça Gonçalo Amaral has issued a new bulletin saying the judge's
decision on the McCann parents' suit should come after the judicial holidays which close on April 6.
"We
trust in justice and serenely await the judge's decision," the message came to its close.
"God's
windmills move slowly," Merz concluded in his letter to Amaral. "You are in a trap made by bad people, but I know
that when someone shares the knowledge of the deed, the conscience always come out - even if it is unintentional.
"I have strong hope in your complete recovery and rehabilitation," he tells the Portuguese "colleague"
whom he has never met.
Endless column inches have been devoted to this eternal mystery but the truth is that Gonçalo
Amaral has been fighting for his professional credibility in an arena bereft of mainstream support.
It is this
reality that prompted Ulrich Merz' hand-written letter which comes in the wake of rumblings from the UK that the Metropolitan
Police may at last be considering a renewed scale back of the multi-million pound investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.
By NATASHA DONN natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
Fraud, and how to support it, 31 March
2015
Fraud, and how to support it
EXCLUSIVE
to mccannfiles.com
By Dr Martin Roberts
31 March 2015
FRAUD, AND HOW TO SUPPORT IT
by
Kate McCann
(Publishers:
Transworld International)
If, when doing the weekly shop, we are tempted by a BOGOF
offer to pick up an extra packet of biscuits, we should hardly expect to be charged for both packets at the supermarket checkout.
That would be a deception on the part of the vendor, who will have contravened an inducement to purchase, i.e. the terms of
an advertisement which, according to the IPA code, should be legal, decent honest and truthful. It's no different to selling
a car with 'no known faults' when it hasn't actually got an engine.
The following is owing
to Mike Hamilton, writing exclusively for The Sun:
"The parents or Madeleine McCann plan to plough their
own money into the search for their missing daughter if police halt their investigation. Kate and Gerry McCann both
47, of Rothley Leics., fear public donations have dried up as the search approaches its eighth anniversary. So they have pumped
almost £1 million into a fund for Madeleine that would be running at a loss without their cash. The money came
from Kate's book about Madeleine's disappearance in Portugal in May 2007 and the search for her."
It is made absolutely clear here that "their (the McCanns') own money...came from Kate's book about Madeleine's
disappearance in Portugal in May 2007 and the search for her."
Kate McCann has only written one book so far,
the various editions of which have incorporated a conspicuous advertising 'flash' on its front cover. This reads:
"All royalties donated to Madeleine's Fund."
All royalties, as announced by Transworld
publishing, since the flash was an intrinsic feature of the publication, and not a superimposed sticker.
According
to Mike Hamilton however, some of these very royalties must have been directed to the author personally, in order for it to
be considered her money, and deriving, as it did, from her book.
It follows, inevitably, that Transworld publishers
were responsible for incorporating a misleading inducement to purchase with their product offering.
If all
the royalties were paid into the fund in the first instance, then they could not subsequently be placed there as 'top
up' funding by Kate McCann, coming from her own pocket so to speak. If, on the other hand, the McCanns are boasting of
personal income from book sales, as Mike Hamilton informs his readers, then Transworld are clearly at fault.
-------------- The Express,
Mar 25, "Hunt Should Go On", sob, sob: "...money which has been spent on investigating the
abduction of disappearance of Madeleine McCann...the trouble is that the abduction
unexplained disappearance of a child is never a cold, unemotional event..."
--------------------- Sunday
Post, March 29, Lorraine Kelly, "This utterly heartbreaking case," honk, honk, "...was abducted disappeared on May 4, [sic] 2007...exactly how all the parents of abducted disappeared sons and daughters feel."
----------------- Daily
Mail, March 19, Ian Drury, "Time We Ended.", bleat, bleat, "...investigating the abduction disappearance...Since the girl, who would now be 11, was
abducted vanished, every possible theory has been explored, including that she was kidnapped by a paedophile..."
---------------- The Sun, March 29, Mike Hamilton, "...the parents of Madeleine McCann plan
to plough their own money into the search for their abducted missing daughter
if police halt their investigation..."
----------------- Sunday Express, March 22, James
Murray, "...time is running out for Scotland Yard to question three Portuguese suspects in connection with the abduction disappearance of Madeleine McCann."
--------------- The
Telegraph, March 17, Gordon Rayner, "Madeleine McCann Latest", "...hours and days after
Madeleine's abduction disappearance...on the day she was
abducted vanished...area on the night of the abduction disappearance..."
--------------- Comments: (1)
"I think this is unfair to Kate and Gerry. All of them
suddenly saying it's a disappearance is like calling them liars and that's not right. After all they were there, weren't
they? What would Maddie think? This is so wrong." Justice for_ Maddie (from Norbury)
Madeleine's disappearance and the continuing
search for what happened to the money, 30 March 2015
Madeleine's disappearance and the continuing search for
what happened to the money mccannfiles.com
By Nigel Moore Monday 30
March 2015
Readers who purchased madeleine by KATE McCANN may have done so in part because of the
'flash' sticker (actually part of the cover graphic) which promised: 'All royalties donated to Madeleine's
Fund'.
Those same readers may now be somewhat surprised to read a report in the Sun on Sunday
that 'The parents of Madeleine McCann plan to plough their own money into the search for their missing
daughter ... The money came from Kate's book about Madeleine's disappearance in Portugal in May 2007'.
Oh really?
Has money from sales of the book gone straight into the McCanns' private bank account(s),
from where they have donated it to the fund - in which case how is that accountable and how do we know all
the money has been donated?
Or is this simply another piece of emotive and creative writing from The
Sun, on behalf of the parents, to counter recent reports that the Met investigation should be wound down?
EXCLUSIVE: Parents pump almost £1million into search fund
THE parents of Madeleine McCann plan to plough their own money into the search for their missing daughter
if police halt their investigation.
EXCLUSIVE by MIKE
HAMILTON Sunday, 29 March 2015
Kate and Gerry McCann both 47, of Rothley Leics, fear public
donations have dried up as the search approaches its eighth anniversary.
So they have pumped almost £1 million
into a fund for Madeleine that would be running at a loss without their cash.
The money came from Kate's book
about Madeleine's disappearance in Portugal in May 2007 and the search for her.
A top cop suggested this week
the £10 million police probe into the case should be wound up.
Met Police Federation chairman John Tully
said "We no longer have the resources to conduct specialist inquiries all over the world"
We should never give up hope on Madeleine,
29 March 2015
We should never give up hope on Madeleine Sunday Post
BY LORRAINE KELLY, 29 MARCH 2015 7.00AM
If you look at it in terms of cold hard cash then I suppose you can
understand why a police chief is saying it is time to stop looking for Madeleine McCann.
The chairman of the Metropolitan
Police Federation, John Tully, believes it is time to wind down the investigation.
The best efforts of the Met
Police since they began their own inquiry in 2011 haven't really turned up anything new and the cost had been at least
£10 million.
And yet, how can you put a financial figure on the life of a little girl, and how can you walk
away from this utterly heartbreaking case when her fate remains unknown.
As we are all aware, three year old Madeleine
disappeared on May 4, 2007, while her mum and dad were out having a meal with their friends during their holiday in Praia
da Luz, Portugal.
Since then Kate and Gerry McCann have worked tirelessly to find their daughter.
I
have interviewed them many times I am always struck by their determination and optimism.
Even now after almost
nine years they refuse to give up hope. And who can blame them. No parent can ever give up on their child.
Poor
Kerry Needham has never wavered in her determination to find her son Ben, who disappeared on the island of Kos in Greece 23
years ago. She has campaigned to have money made available to try to find Ben and there's a hard-working movement on social
media to keep the hunt alive. She will never stop searching and hoping and neither will Kate and Gerry.
And there
are plenty of stories to keep that hope alive.
A woman in South Africa was recently reunited with her daughter
after she had been missing for 17 years. Celeste Nurse was still in hospital after having given birth to her baby when the
child was snatched from the ward at just three days old. The kidnapper was finally discovered all of those years later.
Celeste said not a day went by when she didn’t think about her missing child and she wrote to Kate and Gerry
McCann telling them that miracles can happen.
So while there are calls to stop the search for Madeleine on the
grounds of cost and manpower concerns, should we really be giving up on this poor child and others like her?
Imagine
now you would feel if it was your son or daughter who was missing. You would do anything in your power to find them and that's
exactly how all the parents of disappeared sons and daughters feel.
There are some things that just shouldn't
have a price tag.
When is a "troll" not
a troll? Why, when it's a licensed troll.
The beyond-parody "journalist" Grace Dent wrote
an opinion piece in the Independent after the Brenda Leyland ambush last year. It was a good reminder that, though
the battle to break up the MSM racket isn't won, there's been plenty of progress. In 2007 it was vapid feature writers
like her who earned colossal salaries while filling the centre pages with defences of the McCanns, thus creating the justice-destroying
McCann Affair.
Grace Dent
– MSM remnant – in Power Pose
The great news is that those same columnists
have been culled relentlessly ever since. Their leader, Parsons, announced with a gratifying swish in 2013 that he was leaving
the Mirror, not because it was a criminal conspiracy but because it was "dying". And then he moved on to
writing novels, because (fiction) writing for the MSM didn't pay any more. M/S Dent writes for a fraction of the salaries
that her spoilt forebears raked in when the paper wasn't owned by the son of a Russian oligarch who can’t even give
the rag away. Long may that continue.
Chunks of M/S Dent's piece were quoted in the Huffington Post,
itself another, minor, symbol of the old media's continuing collapse. Dent dismissed clams that Mr Brunt was "responsible
for Brenda Leyland's death".
"While @sweepyface may have been in her element flinging around accusations,
gossip and provoking ill-will, the real life Ms Leyland met Mr Brunt's request for a comment with a firm No and an attempt
to disappear into her car.
"Mr Brunt is now being accused by some sections of "hounding" Ms Leyland
to her death. This seems extreme. Reporters have been doorstepping people and requesting answers on British television for
the past 50 years.
"Are we now saying that in this new internet age, any person who draws attention to themselves
vehemently but anonymously online is out of bounds for reporters?"
Isn't that wonderful? It's a time
capsule, like a browned copy of a 2007 Mail coming to light when you take up an old carpet.
Don't
you just love the logic and the language? Because reporters have been harassing people for 50 years it's OK; as in "Jimmy
Savile was abusing kids and corpses for forty years (while we ignored him) so it's OK." Oh, and do you like her "requesting
answers"? Just like asking strangers the time, really.
Anyone who hasn't seen the media pack in full-on
action, as we have, should have a glimpse sometime at journalist Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities where the
mob can be seen in its full glory, best represented by the cameramen and photographers who scream out "HEY CUNT"
at their victims so they can catch the look of outraged horror on their faces as they spin round to see who shouted it.
Snap! Gotcha!
The same Huffington Post quoted a tweet saying Brenda's targeting had been
"a perfectly legitimate report with tragic, though unforeseeable consequences." It was from Neville Thurlbeck, a
typical representative of the MSM in its days of pomp – award winner for his "scoops", news editor, admired
by his peers, a secret police grass in return for information from the Police Database about people he wanted to target. Nice,
eh? And a criminal who was deservedly sent to prison. This residue of the old MSM isn't owned by a Russian émigré
though - his last journalist role, according to Wikipedia, was as a theatre critic for the world-famous Surrey Comet.
Neville Thurlbeck,
MSM Hero
Look in Google and you'll see that our MSM, far from being
unsavoury crooks and bullies, are constantly at work protecting potential victims, with page after heartbroken page
about people who've been bullied to death by Facebook posters. What sweet concern.
They do it for one reason:
with so much crumbling around them they want to retain their greatest remaining – just –privilege: The monopoly
right, authorised by precedent and codes of practice, to decide who is targeted, the exclusive right to decide who should
suffer pain and shame.
Most people know that traditionally the "punishment" in court for a minor crime
has been nothing compared with the real sentence – exposure of your acts in the local or national rags, your public
shaming.
Remember national treasure Rebekah Brooks, to take just one example, who led the "name and shame
a paedophile" campaign prompting ignorant mobs to march on supposed offenders, including the paediatrician whose
house was vandalised?
That sort of stuff has a solid, unbroken, history in the MSM. Way back in the 1950s when
it was the paper press that had the monopoly, the targets were not paedophiles but ordinary gay people. The Mirror group
– nothing changes except decline – ran lurid stories about the "homosexual problem" that had to be "stamped
out". The "evil men" had to suffer the MSM treatment.
If, like Tom Driberg, you were a journalist
yourself, as well as a Labour MP, you could screw Guardsmen in London's Hyde Park on a nightly basis and regale your fellow
journalists at the Express with the details the next morning. If you were just an ordinary gay it was a different
matter. The Express objected violently to the suggestion that the media should "show restraint" when reporting
on the trial of such unfortunates. "The whole purpose of sentences," it wrote, "is to deter others by making
an example of the criminals. How can you make an example without full publicity?". So the fifties were dotted with the
suicides of gay men who got their MSM-awarded additional sentences of "full publicity." It's what they do.
If Facebook had been around in the fifties at least Driberg would have joined the "full publicity"
list. And that's what the MSM hate. All the MSM posturing about Facebook and Twitter bullying is in
defence of that privileged and immoral position: we decide the targets.
With its corollary: and we
decide who to remain silent about. It wasn't the government that protected the sinister Driberg, whose gayness positively
glowed with innocence compared with his other attributes. It was the MSM, which now tries to protect its position by trying
to whip up pressure for legislation to control internet comment.
It’s doomed of course: legislating the internet
is like trying to legislate against what people are saying to each other as they walk along Oxford Street. It can't be
done, for the internet is just the voices and the pictures of the public itself, with all the public's great strengths
and horrible weaknesses. The MSM is no such thing – it's the voices of a small number of people who pretend
to be the public. Licensed trolls.
No, neither Clarence nor the couple had anything
to do with the STOPITNOW! movement and story. Nor did they know it was coming or why. It's back to paranoia time folks.
Claudia Lawrence arrest proves that
the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann should continue, 25 March 2015
Claudia Lawrence arrest proves that the hunt for missing
Madeleine McCann should continue Daily Express
AS A police boss says it's time to shelve the inquiry, surely this week's arrest over missing chef Claudia
Lawrence proves there's still hope of a breakthrough.
By ANNA
PUKAS PUBLISHED: 00:01, Wed, Mar 25, 2015
The numbers are undeniably compelling.
Four years;
31 officers of the Metropolitan Police; 33 trips to Portugal; £10million.
There, in cold, unemotional figures,
is the cost of the British inquiry in terms of the time, manpower, travel and money which has been spent on investigating
the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Expressed in this manner, it is not difficult to understand why some are
saying that it is time to scale back the search for the little girl.
After all, it has produced no fruitful new
leads or lines of inquiry.
At the same time, the Met is stretched as never before with quashing terrorist plots
while also having to cope with ever diminishing finances.
A hard-nosed accountant or a time-and-motion inspector
would no doubt use those numbers to swing the argument for calling a halt to Operation Grange, the name given by the Met to
the inquiry into Maddie.
The trouble is that the unexplained disappearance of a child is never a cold, unemotional
event.
The thought of a child in danger touches us in the most visceral way.
That is why many tens of
thousands of people who have no connection to the McCanns became gripped by the tragedy of their predicament.
These
people were not just from the McCanns' home community in Leicestershire or even from this, their home country but people
from all over the world.
Nearly eight years on, they remain engaged with the case.
That is why all parents – and even many who are not – will feel only dismay at the idea that it is time for
the police to throw in the towel now.
What is even more distressing is the implied suggestion that a price can
be put on a child's life.
Some ask why it is the already over-burdened London force which is looking for Maddie
when the McCanns are not residents of the capital.
But it is an irrelevant question.
As British citizens,
Kate and Gerry McCann are entitled to all the help the British Government can provide.
In this instance, the Government,
via the Home Office, simply decided to give them some of the best crime investigators that this country (some might say the
world) can offer: a team from Scotland Yard.
Others take issue with the £10million cost so far of searching
for Madeleine when the average police "spend" per missing child is between £1,300 and £2,400.
But that is because nine out of 10 cases are solved within 48 hours.
To continue looking for Maddie is to acknowledge that hope doesn't
die – and with good reason.
In this very week, police arrested a man in connection with the disappearance
of chef Claudia Lawrence, who went missing from York six years ago.
As with the Maddie case, the place where Claudia
was last seen has been searched time and again and still, it seems that it had not yet yielded up all its secrets.
Before Maddie, Britain's best-known missing child was Ben Needham, who was a little blonde toddler when he vanished
in 1991 while on holiday with his mother and grandparents on the Greek island of Kos.
While the search led by South
Yorkshire Police (the Needhams are from Sheffield) has inevitably ebbed and flowed, it has never ground to a halt.
Further excavations on Kos were carried out as recently as 2012 and in January, Ben's mother Kerry handed police a file
listing eight separate sightings of Ben throughout the Nineties.
The Home Office has set aside a £700,000
fund to keep the search going.
Maddie is out there somewhere.
The only reason to cease looking for her
is because her parents wish it and not because her fate has gone over budget.
Keeping Up With The Jones's, 24
March 2015
Keeping Up With The Jones's
EXCLUSIVE
to mccannfiles.com
By Dr Martin Roberts
24 March 2015
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES'S
Not to be outdone
by the Desmond team (Express Group Newspapers), the Daily Mail have now produced their own extensive, eulogistic comment on
the Metropolitan Police Federation suggestion that Operation Grange be brought to a halt. There are no prizes for guessing
the direction of the eulogies.
David Jones, who claims familiarity with the McCann case ab initio, somehow
fails to bring his extensive knowledge to bear in a balanced account, but instead puts his name to a contrived exercise in
dis-information. It has reached the point, surely, when observers of this protracted affair can only conclude that, as regards
Madeleine McCann specifically, this is all the popular press are good for.
Where does one start...? Well why not
at the very beginning?
"I returned to Praia da Luz, the conspiratorial little resort"
'Conspiratorial'?
How so?
This is the very same resort about which the author later states:
"From the moment Madeleine
was taken, they have behaved with commendable dignity and shown enormous compassion towards her family".
Ah,
but...as he goes on to explain:
"The reputation of their once-blameless resort has been irreparably sullied".
So it must have been the entire population of Praia da Luz wot dun it. A modern interpretation of 'Murder on the
Orient Express', no doubt.
We continue with:
"...revisiting some of its now-fabled landmarks
— apartment 5A at the Ocean Club holiday resort, the white-washed chapel where Kate and Gerry would pray for deliverance
— it struck me how precious little we have learned about her fate".
Whose fate? Madeleine's we may
presume. But why then should the parents be praying for deliverance? Deliverance from what exactly? Evil? Then whose? Praying
for their daughter's delivery would make rather more sense, at least in principle.
Unfortunately for
all concerned, "We have no more idea what became of Madeleine now than we did then (May 4, 2007). It is almost as if
time has stood still".
Yes, David. Eight years without, it would appear, any significant advancement in our
(public) knowledge of what became of Madeleine McCann. Does that not strike you as odd, given the seeming investment of time
and resources, and by so many separate agencies, into finding the child? Only a fool would make the same mistake repeatedly
and expect a different outcome each time. Have we or the McCanns been making torch-bearers of fools therefore?
"Given
the enduring global obsession with the case, we might think this quite extraordinary".
Indeed.
Time
for some jingoism then.
"First we had a series of Portuguese police investigations, the ineptitude of which
is well documented.
"Next came a procession of private detectives (including a self-proclaimed Spanish super-sleuth,
expensively hired by the McCanns in December 2007, who blithely promised to have Madeleine home for Christmas).
"Then,
in 2011, at the behest of David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May, Scotland Yard's finest were called in to clear
up the mess".
It is to be hoped that in a follow-up article one might be offered some examples of the documentation
that attests to the 'ineptitude' of the investigation conducted by the Portuguese. Hope springs eternal. And that's
probably about the length of time we'll have to wait for such evidence to be brought forth here.
Thank goodness
the 'Met's finest' were on hand to 'clear up the mess'. What would we do without them?
"At
least, that was the Prime Minister's hope, and perhaps his expectation, when — apparently moved by a personal appeal
from the McCanns — he ordered a team of Met detectives to be removed from their other duties and assigned to the case,
codenamed Operation Grange".
Well now. The Prime Minister (and the Home Office) had hopes and expectations
did they? It's rather doubtful that these pertained to clearing up any mess, since, as far as police work was concerned,
there absolutely wasn't one. David Cameron suggested the Home Office discuss the possibility of a review with Scotland
Yard. He might contend that he did not 'order' anything however, especially since, in our so-called democracy, such
an order would be unconstitutional.
"But almost four years and an eye-watering £10million of taxpayers'
money later — an amount that would pay the annual wages of countless PCs — it is patently obvious his intervention
is not producing results. (italics mine)
"Though a huge number of man-hours have been spent re-examining
the 5,000-page Portuguese judicial dossier in the hope that it might contain a vital missed clue, though great swathes of
wasteland in Praia da Luz were explored with sophisticated gadgetry last year, and a plethora of suspects re-interviewed,
there has been no sign of a breakthrough".
Well I'm glad, David, you recognize, like the rest of us, that
Operation Grange has produced no results. Could that be because they based their investigation on 5000 pages attributable
to the Portuguese, and the balance of 25,000 pages deriving from an assortment of impostors and mountebanks?
"...the
Met's 'Madeleine Squad' have spent four years painstakingly re-examining the botched Portuguese investigation.
"You cannot fault their thoroughness".
Oh yes we can! And in whose estimation was the Portuguese
investigation 'botched'? That of David Jones, obviously, and who else of any significance?
"Meanwhile,
every witness statement and tip-off is being re-checked, every theory considered, no matter how unlikely."
Thump!
The first nail to go cleanly home strikes the back board.
Does any police investigation, anywhere in the world,
proceed by working inwards via the more 'unlikely' theories? If the accepted answer should be 'no', then why
have we to sit back and watch as 'the Met's finest' blow millions on unnecessarily exploring the unlikely? Is
it possible they have borrowed from the philosophy of Captain R.F. Scott, who dabbled with untried technology and came second
as a result, whereas his rival Amundsen simply 'cut to the chase'.
"Each (such) development raises
fresh hopes and excites the media, but so far they have all come to nothing. And one had to ask whether DCI Andy Redwood,
who had set up the inquiry and had overseen it enthusiastically for four years, would have recently stood down had he
been on the brink of solving the biggest case of his career." (italics mine)
Yes, one did ask as it happens
(See: The Ruby Hat of Old Ma McCann – McCannfiles, 19.3.15)
Were David Jones to act as the voice of the McCanns
in support of Operation Grange, he would be sure, he tells us, to remind authorities of several other cases of abduction rather
more successfully resolved, e.g., Jaycee Lee Dugard and Zephany Nurse. But then, as he admits:
"The sad truth
is, however, that when we examine such exceptional cases, they do little to support the argument for a hugely expensive and
protracted police investigation."
So why go to the trouble of introducing them into the argument?
A more sensible comparison to be made, we are advised, is with protocols and expenditure in connection with children who
go missing in the UK.
"So how much time and money might you expect the police to invest in searching for one
'medium risk' child? According to a recent study by Portsmouth University's Centre For Missing Persons, the amount
is astonishingly low: between £1,325 and £2,415.
"Compared with the millions poured into the search
for Madeleine, this figure — which covers such basic procedures as taking an initial call, risk assessment, obtaining
a photograph of the child, undertaking a house search, and a police national computer check — is derisory indeed."
Or put another way, the 'figure' involved in the case of Madeleine McCann is inexplicably high – and
then some.
"It goes without saying that none of this is any fault of the McCanns."
Except,
David, you have just said so. Whose fault is it then? If the McCanns are not calling the shots, who is? And why are
they aiming in entirely the wrong direction?
(There now follows the eulogy to the parents who "always speak
about Madeleine — whose 12th birthday falls this May — in the present tense". No doubt having been advised
that previous references to their daughter in the past tense were highly suggestive of exactly that!)
Eventually
we get to the 'bottom line', in support of the proposal recently voiced by John Tully of the Metropolitan Police Federation:
"I simply believe, with the best of intentions, that it is time to put sentiment aside, face up to the harsh
financial realities of modern policing, and regard Madeleine McCann in the same manner as all those other missing children."
Basically, the Operation Grange budget should be cut from several millions to a couple of thousand. Small wonder DCI
Redwood opted for early retirement.
Death Sentence Pronounced on the Abduction,
24 March 2015
Turning away with relief from
that raincoat and its increasingly shrivelled contents we are back among the smoke and shadows and the closing down
sale offer. The message has changed…
The first
thing to note is that Redwood and the Yard's disastrous media policy, about which we've moaned so loudly, has ended.
The Yard has refused to surface and give a single "steer" to the MSM crime reporters and editors about the Tully
closing down canard.
The initial Operation Grange scheme of total silence ended in spring 2012. Its replacement
was a dishonest dogs' dinner of a policy, with the Yard unable to choose between the clear future – updating the
public via Twitter and social media – and the eternal temptation of using – in all senses – the MSM.
The Yard/crime correspondent fix, which Kelvin McKenzie thought the Portuguese should adopt in 2007, was mocked
to death in the parliamentary and Leveson hearings of 2012. It hasn’t been rebuilt, leaving ad hoc arrangements to stagger
on.
Media Liaison the old Yard way – Open Handed Andy Hayman
Redwood, having gone for shock and awe with the
media like the Panorama and Crimewatch operations destroyed his own squads credibility, apparently single
handed. It was the confidential media briefing sessions for crime correspondents that did it and when the Yard attempted to
use those briefings to attain semi-political objectives disaster followed.
What a clumsy, size thirteen boot failure!
The hacks felt the game that the Yeates murder and the inquiries had called time on might be back; trust between the U.K and
Portugal ruptured; it stimulated "whitewash" nonsense among the credulous; and the off the record media briefings
provided deep cover for people like the odious Clarence Mitchell to join in the leaking. Since the Yard were covertly spreading
rumours themselves (Portuguese feet-dragging etc.) nobody knew which rumours were authorised and which weren't. It was
a lamentable performance. …but not the reality
Redwood,
who may yet turn out to have won the operational, if not the information, battle has gone and for three months now there hasn't
been a single instance of the gimmicks that devalued his tenure. The question is, what now lies under the silence blanket? Enter the Widow
These latest stories demonstrate that the
damage may be less than we thought and that off-stage the situation might be better than it seems. What, in particular, does
the latest Mail story, written by that Widow Twankey of the case,the always tearful David Jones, tell us?
The Widow, older now, stouter and, judging by the factual gaffes – window ajar indeed! – losing mental concentration,
is a reliable weathervane. She wept gallons, tot-wise, for the parents in early 2007 but, perhaps because Gerry McCann wouldn't
speak to her, after the initial quivering she began covering her arse against "unhelpful" outcomes by using very
Mail-ish sneaky asides about the couple from July onwards.
"Settling into his sleeper bed in Virgin
Upper Class (mindful of the sniping about the £946,000 fund for Madeleine, of which £67,000 has been spent, he
bought an economy ticket, but was given a complimentary upgrade), the 39-year-old heart consultant was exhausted."
The MSM's Widow Twankey Jones Pointing Both Ways
The on-demand tears disguised the sneers but by
September the Widow could, like Evelyn Waugh's hapless prison chaplain Prendergast, confess to being afflicted by Terrible,
Terrible Doubts about the pair. Prendergast subsequently had his head sawn off by a madman in the prison workshop
but the Widow merely suffered a sharp rebuke from Gerry in his All Hail The King phase at Leveson –
But then the couple slipped the Portuguese noose! What would the
Widow do? Well, first stay out of the way of a vengeful couple, naturally. Then, after a decent interval she surfaced with
another flip-flop, one which the King maliciously highlighted for his subjects in the same court.
Now, like the pantomime Dame she has always been, Jones rotates
helplessly upside-down on stage, dangling from the rope tied to her feet, her red-frilly skirts fallen over her face to reveal
capacious Victorian brown bloomers. Don’t these MSM journalists give good value!
She is now,apparently, trembling
in the it-will-never-be solved direction. But is that just a way station?
Exit
the Widow
Right, now the serious stuff. The Mail is no longer in direct communication
with the parents. Mitchell's comment was a pool one – given to a number of outlets, not the Mail: the sweetheart
relationship has gone missing. In the other papers too the McCann's frozen, apparently paralysed, months-long near-silence
continues: even the threat of winding up the project they fought for, the end of The Search that, like some Spielberg
knightly grail, they passed on into the sacred hands of the Met, hasn't flushed them out into the light. Oh, and the Mirror,
currently with a few police problems of its own, hasn't said a word for them in three months.
Next. The MSM
via a long, flagship Mail story is formally announcing that they genuinely don't have a f*****g idea about what
happened to Madeleine McCann, not even an abduction idea. The Mail, unlike the miserable loser Mirror,
always moves with the times and, finally, the door to the "Empty Cupboard" with which we've mocked the supporters
– the absence of anything to back the McCanns' version of events after eight years – is clearly open
in the MSM newsrooms. And the parents haven't got a single shred of Yard evidence, not a mouldy packet of Grange biscuits
or Redwood syrup, to top it up. Everything comes to an end sometime.
But what comes next without an abduction,
eh? Gosh. Oh well, they'll have to get someone, somewhere, perhaps some washed up journalist and a young female aide,
to start all over with some revelations to bring the media back onside. Oh...
Yes, it's time we stopped looking for
Maddie: As a police boss says the £10m hunt must end, DAVID JONES, who's reported on the case for eight years, explains
with a heavy heart why he agrees, 23 March 2015
Yes, it's time we stopped looking for Maddie: As a police
boss says the £10m hunt must end, DAVID JONES, who's reported on the case for eight years, explains with a heavy
heart why he agrees Daily Mail
Police chiefs have been urged to wind up the hunt for Madeleine McCann
Metropolitan
Police Federation chairman John Tulley called for a 're-focus'
He said: 'It's time to re-focus on
what we need to do to keep London safe'
Maddie vanished from apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal eight years
ago
Met Police has spent £10m in hunt for her but no arrests have been made
By
DAVID JONES FOR THE DAILY MAIL PUBLISHED: 23:31, 23 March 2015 | UPDATED:
08:49, 24 March 2015
Not long ago, seized by the compulsion to follow up yet another
supposedly promising new lead in the Madeleine McCann case, I returned to Praia da Luz, the conspiratorial little resort
that will be forever associated with her name.
Having reported on her story from the earliest days after her disappearance,
investigating innumerable twists and turns, I have beaten the tortuous path to that craggy tip of the Algarve more times
than I care to remember.
Yet revisiting some of its now-fabled landmarks — apartment 5A at the Ocean Club
holiday resort, the white-washed chapel where Kate and Gerry would pray for deliverance — it struck me how precious
little we have learned about her fate.
Look back at the newspapers of May 4, 2007, the day after Madeleine vanished,
and you will read of a 'gorgeous, active, chatty and intelligent' little girl, a few days shy of her fourth birthday,
who appeared to have been snatched from her bed while her parents dined with friends at a tapas bar a few dozen yards away.
You will read how the child's abduction was discovered by her mother when she went to check on her at around
10pm; how she found a window was ajar, and ran back to the restaurant in hysterics to raise the alarm; and how witnesses
later saw a child being carried off through the darkened streets.
Fast forward eight years, and that, with the
addition of a few marginally relevant details, remains the full extent of our knowledge.
We have no more idea
what became of Madeleine now than we did then. It is almost as if time has stood still.
Given the enduring global
obsession with the case, we might think this quite extraordinary. As of today, the Daily Mail's archive contains 11,450
stories about Madeleine. Googling her name, I found no less than 1,290,000 references — five times more than you get
by tapping in 'Madonna' — and the number soars higher with each passing day. The public's fascination has
been matched by the exorbitant amount of time and money spent on trying to solve the mystery.
First we had a series
of Portuguese police investigations, the ineptitude of which is well documented.
Next came a procession of private
detectives (including a self-proclaimed Spanish super-sleuth, expensively hired by the McCanns in December 2007, who blithely
promised to have Madeleine home for Christmas).
Then, in 2011, at the behest of David Cameron and Home Secretary
Theresa May, Scotland Yard’s finest were called in to clear up the mess.
At least, that was the Prime Minister's
hope, and perhaps his expectation, when — apparently moved by a personal appeal from the McCanns — he ordered
a team of Met detectives to be removed from their other duties and assigned to the case, codenamed Operation Grange.
But almost four years and an eye-watering £10million of taxpayers' money later — an amount that
would pay the annual wages of countless PCs — it is patently obvious his intervention is not producing results.
The Metropolitan Police
launched an investigation into Maddie's disappearance after her parents (pictured above) made a personal plea to Prime
Minister David Cameron in 2011. It has so far cost a total of £10million
------------
Though a huge number
of man-hours have been spent re-examining the 5,000-page Portuguese judicial dossier in the hope that it might contain a
vital missed clue, though great swathes of wasteland in Praia da Luz were explored with sophisticated gadgetry last year,
and a plethora of suspects re-interviewed, there has been no sign of a breakthrough.
Despite the lack of progress,
31 Met police staff — detectives and civilians — were still working solely on the investigation this week, at
a time when the Yard's budget is being slashed by £600million over four years, with further cuts to come, and the
threat of Islamic terrorism is stretching its resources to breaking point.
Occupying a large office at New Scotland
Yard, the Met's 'Madeleine Squad' have spent four years painstakingly re-examining the botched Portuguese investigation.
They have been to Portugal no fewer than 33 times — yet still apparently drawn a blank.
You cannot fault
their thoroughness. Portuguese officers found hundreds of hair strands in the McCanns' holiday apartment. Some were
never tested for DNA; others were checked but the results were patchy. The Operation Grange team want permission to carry
out fresh DNA tests on them, together with the curtains that were hanging in the apartment.
Meanwhile, every
witness statement and tip-off is being re-checked, every theory considered, no matter how unlikely.
This led,
late last year in Portugal, to the questioning of 11 possibly key witnesses, among them Robert Murat, the British expat
who won a huge sum in libel damages after wrongly being named as a suspect by the Portuguese police in the early stages of
the hunt for Madeleine.
And only a few days ago, Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall — the newly installed
head of Operation Grange — flew to Lisbon with a small team of officers for a private meeting with the authorities.
Each such development raises fresh hopes and excites the media, but so far they have all come to nothing. And one
had to ask whether DCI Andy Redwood, who had set up the inquiry and had overseen it enthusiastically for four years, would
have recently stood down had he been on the brink of solving the biggest case of his career.
All of which goes
to explain why the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation has now suggested that it might be time to pull the plug
on Operation Grange.
Expressing the private concerns of many of the union's 30,000 member officers, John
Tully said: 'It's time to re-focus on what we need to do to keep London safe. We no longer have the resources
to conduct specialist inquiries all over the world which have nothing to do with London.
Met Police officers questioned
11 possibly key witnesses in Portugal last year but no arrests have been made
--------------
Met Police Federation
chairman John Tully said earlier this week that 'it's time to re-focus on what we need to do to keep London safe'
as he called for senior officials to close the operation into Maddie's disappearance
-----------------
'The
Met has long been seen as the last resort for investigations others have struggled with elsewhere. It is surprising to see
an inquiry like the McCann investigation ring-fenced. I've heard a few rumblings of discontent about it from lots of
sources.'
He added: 'When the force is facing a spike in murder investigations, it's not surprising
there is resentment of significant resources diverted to a case that has no apparent connection to London.'
Mr Tully's remarks have inevitably sparked heated debate. One side insists that the investigation must continue at
any cost, while friends of the McCanns have reportedly accused him of speaking out of turn and citing the case to peddle
the Federation's agenda.
But many have praised him for having the courage to voice the unsayable truth. With
a very heavy heart, I must say I agree with them.
As the grandfather of three children who are roughly the same
age as Madeleine when she was taken, and similarly cherubic, I dread to imagine how it must feel to be living in purgatory
like the McCanns.
If, God forbid, I was in their shoes, I would want, demand and plead that everything humanly
possible must be done to find a member of my family; or, at the very least, to discover what became of them.
I
would gladly swing for any policeman or Home Office mandarin who presumed to evaluate the chances of finding them in the cold
terms of cost-effectiveness. I would insist that the search must go on: indefinitely, and whatever the price.
Like
Kate and Gerry McCann, perhaps I would cling to miracles, too.
I would remind people how a woman called Jaycee
Lee Dugard was found safe in California, fully 18 years after being abducted by a sex offender and given up for dead.
And how, only last month in South Africa, a girl called Zephany Nurse was reunited with her overjoyed parents 17 years
after being plucked from her sleeping mother's arms in a maternity hospital, when she was three days old.
Met Police officers have been re-examining
the 5,000-page Portuguese judicial dossier in the hope that it might contain a vital missed clue. However, many officers are
now calling for Operation Grange to come to an end
----------------
This week, 31 Met police
staff — detectives and civilians — were still working solely on the Maddie McCann investigation. It comes at a
time when Scotland Yard's budget is being slashed by £600million over four years
-----------------
The
sad truth is, however, that when we examine such exceptional cases, they do little to support the argument for a hugely expensive
and protracted police investigation.
Jaycee's deranged kidnapper, Phillip Craig Garrido, virtually shopped
himself to the FBI by presenting them with a rambling essay purporting to offer a cure for sexual predators, and later parading
her and another of his victims at a university campus lecture.
The salvation of Zephany, whose mother Celeste has
urged the McCanns to continue praying as she did, and 'never give up', owed still more to happenstance. Her identity
was discovered after she was unwittingly enrolled at the same school as her sister, and fellow pupils noticed their extraordinarily
similar looks.
But leaving aside, for a moment, the remote likelihood that the Operation Grange team might unearth
some crucial piece of evidence at this late stage, it seems only fair to compare the 'no stone unturned' investigation
into Madeleine's disappearance with that of the many other British children who go missing.
Children who, it
must be said, vanish without a publicity blitz to draw attention to their plight, without their parents being received by
statesmen and religious leaders including the Pope, and without celebrities offering enticing rewards for their return.
Recent figures show that a staggering 160,000 such children are reported missing in the UK each year — one
every three minutes. In the vast majority of cases they are quickly reunited with their parents. Nine out of ten cases are
closed within 48 hours, and 99 per cent are solved in under a year.
Under protocol set down by the Association
of Chief Police Officers, those who are not found promptly are categorised according to the degree of jeopardy their disappearance
is perceived to place them in.
Those deemed to be 'high risk' are judged either to be vulnerable,
in danger of harming themselves or others, or falling victim to serious crime. Those at medium risk are thought 'likely'
to be in danger, and those at low risk are judged to be safe.
So how much time and money might you expect the
police to invest in searching for one 'medium risk' child? According to a recent study by Portsmouth University's
Centre For Missing Persons, the amount is astonishingly low: between £1,325 and £2,415.
Compared with
the millions poured into the search for Madeleine, this figure — which covers such basic procedures as taking an initial
call, risk assessment, obtaining a photograph of the child, undertaking a house search, and a police national computer check
— is derisory indeed.
Mercifully, as matters stand, just 131 unsolved missing children cases (including
Madeleine's) are listed on the website Missing Kids UK, which is run by the Child Exploitation And Online Protection
Centre — the national law enforcement agency which protects Britain's minors.
On the website, one finds
many forgotten children whose anguished parents would doubtless walk barefoot across hot coals if it meant their disappearance
would receive the same microscopic attention as Madeleine's.
It goes without saying that none of this is
any fault of the McCanns.
To the contrary, via Kate's best-selling book and the couple's countless public
appearances, during which they are always eager to look beyond their own loss, and by promoting innovative methods of prevention
and detection, no one has done more to raise public awareness of missing children. They have become unofficial global ambassadors
for the cause.
It is to their eternal credit that they have remained so resolutely optimistic, re-stating at
every opportunity their unswerving belief that somehow, one day, their daughter will come back to them.
They always
speak about Madeleine — whose 12th birthday falls this May — in the present tense, and in their Leicestershire
home they continue to maintain her pink bedroom, crammed with teddy bears, rosary beads and other gifts from wellwishers.
There is also a special keepsake box into which her siblings, twins Sean and Amelie, now ten, put mementoes for her for when
she returns.
Last week, reportedly responding to Mr Tully's remarks through friends, they remained typically
upbeat, expressing their gratitude to the Operation Grange team and insisting there was 'still a job of work to be done'.
If I were them, I would say exactly the same.
Regrettably, however, after eight years of false dawns, wrongly
accused suspects, and epic wild-goose chases (one of which saw me spend days on the trail of a blonde-haired girl sighted
with an Arab woman in northern Morocco), I have come to the same conclusion as John Tully: enough is enough. A great many
people in Praia da Luz, as I have discovered, feel the same way.
Kate and Gerry McCann
(pictured) have always remained optimistic about finding their daughter Maddie
----------------
From the moment
Madeleine was taken, they have behaved with commendable dignity and shown enormous compassion towards her family, even though
the reputation of their once-blameless resort has been irreparably sullied and the tourism industry that supported their
livelihood has suffered a mortal blow. (The Mark Warner holiday firm through which they booked their ill-fated trip has dropped
the town from its destinations.)
Surely now it is time to spare a thought for their wishes? Surely it is time
to stop treating their town as one big crime scene, to be forensically re-examined and excavated, and allow them to try
to get back to some semblance of normality?
Surely, too, it is time to call a halt on the to-ing and fro-ing of
British detectives to this agreeable part of the continent — trips that somehow require them to stay in four and even
five-star hotels with spas and golf concessions? Yesterday, invited to compare its scale and cost with that of other missing
person inquiries, the Met said this was not possible because each case was individual, and Madeleine's disappearance
was 'clearly a unique and complex case'.
In response to Mr Tully's remarks, the Met said the investigation
had commenced at the request of the Home Office, which fully funds it, adding that it 'does not impact on our other
operations in London'.
They admitted that no arrests had been made since the operation began, but declined
to describe any progress they may have made.
It should be stressed that I am not arguing for a minute that we
ought to forget about Madeleine, or cease to be vigilant. And, of course, the police must investigate any genuinely promising
new leads, should they emerge.
I simply believe, with the best of intentions, that it is time to put sentiment
aside, face up to the harsh financial realities of modern policing, and regard Madeleine McCann in the same manner as all
those other missing children.
Is the Madeleine case to be shelved?, 22
March 2015
Posted by Len Port at 7:25 AM Sunday, March 22, 2015
The chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, John Tully, is concerned about the Operation Grange investigation
into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann but, contrary to press reports, he has not called for the investigation to be closed.
What is in question is the scale of the operation in the light of severe budget cuts and other demands on the Met.
But there is no indication that the investigation is to be terminated.
The Daily Star sparked confusion
and a flurry of speculation with an "exclusive" under the headline: "Police urged to shelve Maddie hunt as
cops needed in UK to battle terrorism."
The headline inferred it, but the story did not quote Tully or anyone
else as saying the investigation should be shelved.
Following up on the Star story the next day, the Daily
Mail Online reported that Tully had called for the probe to be axed.
The Leicester Mercury, the regional
paper where Kate and Gerry McCann live, did not mince its words either: "A police union boss has called for London officers
to give up the search for Madeleine McCann."
Other papers, both in the UK and Portugal, churned out the latest
fabrication in a mystery that has become a deep-rooted international obsession.
Asked by Portugal Newswatch
about what he actually said to the press, the federation chairman was adamant:
"At no time did I suggest
that operation Grange should be closed."
What Tully was getting at when speaking with the Daily Star
was the wisdom of devoting a team of detectives exclusively to the investigation of a crime that had nothing to do with London.
He said he made his comments "in the light of the force having to save £1.4 billion from the budget."
He added: "The pressure of work and expectation placed on officers, including the unacceptable situation where
other officers are carrying in excess of 30 live investigations, is also an important consideration in these circumstances."
The Metropolitan Police press bureau confirmed there are currently 31 officers working on Operation Grange and that
"their sole investigation is the disappearance of Madeleine McCann."
For now at least, the search for
any scrap of solid evidence goes on. DCI Nicola Wall, who took over as head of Operation Grange at the end of last year, was
reported in the UK and Portugal media as visiting Lisbon last week to "strengthen links" and for "detailed
discussions" with Portuguese prosecutors.
The Week magazine described the talks as "crucial"
and said they were designed to "work out next steps" in the investigation. The magazine went on to quote a statement
from Kate and Jerry McCann: "It's very apparent that the determination of the Metropolitan Police remains steadfast."
Originally requested by Home Secretary Theresa May with the backing of Prime Minister David Cameron, the Met investigation
has been ongoing for almost four years at the reported cost to British taxpayers of £10 million.
There are
no indications that the Met are any nearer to solving the mystery. It is not at all clear where the operation is at, or where
it is going. All the Met's press office will say is that "we are not prepared to give a running commentary on this
investigation."
Frustration over the lack of progress is palpable.
The Daily Star accurately
quoted Tully as saying it was time to re-focus on what was needed to keep London safe. The Met no longer have the resources
to conduct specialist inquiries all over the world, which have nothing to do with London.
"The Met has long
been seen as the last resort for investigations others have struggled with elsewhere. But we have made £600m of cuts.
We have closed 63 police stations across London. Another £800m of cutbacks are anticipated over the next four years."
Tully went on to say: "It is surprising to see an inquiry like the McCann investigation ring-fenced. I have heard
a few rumblings of discontent about it from lots of sources. When the force is facing a spike in murder investigations it
is not surprising there is resentment of significant resources diverted to a case that has no apparent connection with London."
Officers in London are said to be "bemused" about why they are working round-the-clock solving murders and
fighting the threat from Islamic State-inspired jihadists while the Operation Grange detectives are barred from helping.
Meanwhile, almost eight years after Madeleine went missing, a great many people in Portugal as well as the UK and
elsewhere are bemused about why the mystery remains unresolved.
Madeleine police face April deadline
over questioning Portuguese suspects, 22 March 2015
Madeleine police face April deadline over questioning
Portuguese suspects Sunday Express
TIME is running out for Scotland Yard to question three Portuguese suspects in connection with the disappearance
of Madeleine McCann.
By JAMES MURRAY PUBLISHED:
00:01, Sun, Mar 22, 2015
The trio were given "arguido" or suspect status in
July last year which allowed Portuguese detectives to question them intensively about their movements around the time that
Madeleine vanished in May 2007.
Details of those interviews have now been analysed by Scotland Yard officers.
Under Portuguese law the arguido status lasts for only eight months but can be extended, although that is not common.
If no formal accusations can be made, investigations are shelved, which automatically removes the arguido status.
With an April deadline approaching, the Yard is carefully considering its next move. Senior Portuguese police officers
recently met British officials in Portugal for an update on what the Yard team seeks to do and how long it will take.
Although there are no plans to drop the four-year £10million Operation Grange investigation, led by Detective Chief
Inspector Nicola Wall, the meeting focused on what new information has come to light and what more needs to be done.
It is understood that part of the discussion was about DNA samples taken from the Ocean Club holiday apartment in Praia
da Luz on the Algarve where Madeleine was staying with her family.
The trio waiting to have their arguido status
lifted are former Ocean Club driver Jose Carlos da Silva, jobless schizophrenic Paulo Jorge Ribeiro and Ricardo Jorge, who
was just 16 at the time Madeleine vanished.
They have all strenuously denied knowing anything about her disappearance.
It's time we ended the search for
Maddie so officers can focus on threats to the public, says police union chief, 19 March 2015
It's time we ended the search for Maddie so officers
can focus on threats to the public, says police union chief Daily Mail
A team of 31 British detectives working to find Madeleine McCann
Maddie vanished
from Portugal holiday apartment eight years ago
Metropolitan Police tasked with investigating by David Cameron
Operation
Grange has cost the taxpayer £10million since 2011
Not led to a single arrest and now facing calls for it to
be axed
By IAN DRURY, HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL PUBLISHED: 00:03, 19 March 2015 | UPDATED: 08:53, 19 March 2015
Police chiefs have been urged to wind up the hunt for Madeleine
McCann as detectives battle the terror threat and a spate of murders.
A team of 31 British detectives are working
exclusively to find the girl, who vanished from her parents' holiday apartment in Portugal eight years ago.
The
Metropolitan Police was tasked with investigating the disappearance after her family made a personal plea to David Cameron
in 2011.
Yet despite costing the taxpayer £10million and dozens of trips by officers to the Algarve, the
inquiry – codenamed Operation Grange – has not led to a single arrest.
Now a senior police union leader
has called for the probe to be axed and the detectives reassigned to other investigations in the UK.
He says officers
in London are bemused why they are working round-the-clock fighting the threat from Islamic State-inspired jihadists and solve
at least 14 murders since Christmas while the Operation Grange detectives are barred from helping.
Metropolitan
Police Federation chairman John Tully said: 'It is time to re-focus on what we need to do to keep London safe. We no longer
have the resources to conduct specialist inquiries all over the world which have nothing to do with London.
'The
Met has long been seen as the last resort for investigations others have struggled with elsewhere.
'It is surprising
to see an inquiry like the McCann investigation ring-fenced. I have heard a few rumblings of discontent about it from lots
of sources.
'When the force is facing a spike in murder investigations it is not surprising there is resentment
of significant resources diverted to a case that has no apparent connection with London.'
Even though Madeleine's
parents Kate, 47, and Gerry, 46, live in Rothley, Leicestershire, Scotland Yard was handed the investigation because of its
expertise in investigating complex murder case.
Police chiefs 'ring-fenced' the inquiry to prevent officers
working on other case, even though the force has been forced to make £600million in cuts over four years.
Operation
Grange was set up to review the original Portuguese police probe into the disappearance of Madeleine, then three, from the
family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.
The Metropolitan Police
launched an investigation into Maddie's disappearance after her parents, pictured above, made a personal plea to PM David
Cameron in 2011
--------------
After the Portuguese inquiry was shelved as 'unsolved', the McCanns, who
remain convinced their daughter is alive, appealed to Mr Cameron for assistance.
Since the girl, who would now
be 11, vanished, every possible theory has been explored, including that she was kidnapped by a paedophile, killed during
a botched burglary and her body dumped, snatched by traffickers and sold to a childless couple and that she wandered out of
the apartment and died in a tragic accident.
However, not one shred of proof of what happened to Madeleine has
been uncovered.
Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall, who took over Operation Grange in December, and her team
ravelled to Portugal to interview seven suspects and four witnesses, but have not released any information about what they
discovered.
A Met Police spokesman said: 'There are 31 officers working on Operation Grange. Their sole investigation
is the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.'
Madeleine McCann's parents urge
police chief not give up hunt for missing daughter, 19 March 2015
Madeleine McCann's parents urge police chief not
give up hunt for missing daughter Daily Star
MADELEINE McCann's parents last night urged police chiefs to ignore calls from within the force to shelve
their search.
By Jerry Lawton
/ Published 19th March 2015
Kate and Gerry McCann said they are incredibly grateful to every
officer working to find Madeleine.
They insisted there is "still a job of work to be done" by the 31-strong
Operation Grange team assigned solely to the case.
They spoke out after the London Metropolitan branch of the officers'
union the Police Federation called for the inquiry, which has already cost £10million, to be shelved.
Threat
Chairman John Tully said the Met, which has made £600m cuts and faces another £800m by 2020, could no longer afford
to take on "last resort" specialist cases others could not crack.
He said the 31 Operation Grange detectives
could ease the workloads of colleagues investigating 14 unconnected murders in the capital since Christmas and battling the
threat posed by Islamic State terrorists.
A friend of Kate, 47, and Gerry, 46, said: "It is up to the Met,
the Prime Minister and the Home Office to decide the longevity of the investigation – not the Police Federation which
has its own agenda."
Madeleine, of Rothley, Leics, was three when she disappeared from a holiday flat in Praia
da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007.
British police ready to drop Maddie
probe as London faces increasing terrorist threat, 18 March 2015
British police ready to drop Maddie probe as London
faces increasing terrorist threat Portugal Resident
Posted by PORTUGALPRESS on March 18, 2015
An exclusive news story in the UK today claims British police are
"baffled" as to why they are being kept on the seemingly endless Maddie probe, and want 'out' so that they
can concentrate on the increasing threat from terrorism 'at home'. "It is time to re-focus on what we need to
do to keep London safe," the Met's federation chairman John Tully told the Daily Star. Newspapers have spared no
space in criticising the "Operation Grange" inquiry set up in 2011, which has so far cost British taxpayers in excess
of €12 million.
Not only have no solid leads transpired, officers working on the case have been barred from
doing anything else.
Here, criticism has also centred on the fact that the Met "always turns up when the sun
starts to shine".
Thus today's news will bring sighs of relief from holiday businesses that saw their
start to last year's season marred by battalions of police "digging for clues" at various sites around the Ocean
Club in Praia da Luz, from which Madeleine McCann went missing almost eight years ago.
Elaborating on police discomfort
over the 'exclusivity' forced upon them by the Madeleine inquiry, John Tully told the Daily Star: "The Met has
long been seen as the last resort for investigations others have struggled with elsewhere." But it has been hit by "£600
million of cuts", he added. "We have closed 63 police stations across London. Another £800 million of cutbacks
are anticipated over the next four years" - and meantime the Met is having to cope with "14 unconnected killings
across the capital since Christmas while fighting the war on terror".
It is therefore "surprising to
see an inquiry like the McCann investigation ringfenced", he said. Ringfenced here refers to the 31 officers assigned
to it being prohibited from working on any other cases.
"I have heard a few rumblings of discontent about
it from lots of sources," he told the paper.
"When the force is facing a spike in murder investigations
it is not surprising there is resentment of significant resources diverted to a case that has no apparent connection with
London."
How much truth is behind this latest "exclusive" about the long-running mystery remains
to be seen.
Portuguese media reported last week that the new head of Operation Grange, DCI Nicola Wall, visited
Portuguese counterparts in Lisbon last week to "strengthen links" between the two forces.
No mention
was made of any plans to shelve the British side of the investigation.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
Is the hunt for Madeleine McCann over?
Police urged to return and 're-focus' on UK safety, 18 March 2015
Is the hunt for Madeleine McCann over? Police urged to return
and 're-focus' on UK safety Daily Express
POLICE should shelve the hunt for Madeline McCann and "re-focus" their attention on keeping London safe,
according to the chief of a top policing union.
By LEVI WINCHESTER PUBLISHED: 10:12, Wed, Mar 18, 2015
As 31 detectives continue to work exclusively on the disappearance
of Madeleine - who vanished eight years ago in Portugal - officers in the capital are battling terrorism and a wave of murders.
They have also been left facing £600 million worth of cuts, as well as the closure of 63 police stations in
London.
The Metropolitan Police were assigned to investigate the case of Madeleine four years ago after her parents
- Kate, 47, and Gerry, 46 - appealed to Prime Minister David Cameron.
The mystery has since remained unsolved with
zero arrests - despite dozens of police trips from the UK to Portugal - and the original probe officer Detective Chief Inspector
Andy Redwood having retired.
But the inquiry - which has so far cost around £10 million - is continuing and
other officers are now baffled as to why the 31 Operation Grange detectives are barred from helping to ease their workload.
This is reportedly because the Madeleine McCann inquiry has been "ring-fenced" to prevent officers involved
working on other cases.
Police union chiefs have now called for the probe to be shelved,
as well as for Operation Grange detectives to be deployed on other cases in the capital.
Metropolitan Police Federation
chairman John Tully told the Daily Star: "It is time to re-focus on what we need to do to keep London safe.
"We no longer have the resources to conduct specialist inquiries all over the world which have nothing to do with London.
"The Met has long been seen as the last resort for investigations others have struggled with elsewhere.
"But we have made £600m of cuts. We have closed 63 police stations across London. Another £800m of cutbacks
are anticipated over the next four years.
"It is surprising to see an inquiry like the McCann investigation
ring-fenced. I have heard a few rumblings of discontent about it from lots of sources.
"When the force is
facing a spike in murder investigations it is not surprising there is resentment of significant resources diverted to a case
that has no apparent connection with London."
Madeleine was just three years old when she vanished from her
family's holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.
The McCanns, from Rothley,
Leicester, appealed to Mr Cameron to get Scotland Yard to re-examine the disappearance of their daughter after the Portuguese
inquiry was labelled "unsolved".
A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed the 31 officers assigned to
Operation Grange work solely on that investigation and are not involved with other inquiries, according to the Daily Star.
EXCLUSIVE: Police urged to shelve Maddie
hunt as cops needed in UK to battle terrorism, 18 March 2015
EXCLUSIVE: Police urged to shelve Maddie hunt as cops
needed in UK to battle terrorism Daily Star
POLICE were last night urged to shelve the hunt for Madeleine McCann as detectives battle terrorism and a wave
of murders.
By Jerry Lawton
/ Published 18th March 2015
Officers reeling from £600million of police cuts are struggling
to probe 14 unconnected killings across the capital since Christmas while fighting a war on terror.
Meanwhile,
a specialist team of 31 detectives continues to work exclusively on the hunt for Madeleine, who vanished eight years ago from
her parents' holiday flat in Portugal.
Though the mystery has no connection with London, the Metropolitan Police
was assigned to investigate four years ago after Madeleine’s parents Kate, 47, and Gerry, 46, made a personal plea to
David Cameron.
Despite dozens of trips by officers from the UK to Portugal, no one has been arrested and the original
probe officer Det Chief Insp Andy Redwood has retired.
But the Operation Grange inquiry, which has so far cost
around £10m, is continuing.
Now officers are baffled why they are working round the clock investigating a
spate of murders and combating the threat posed by Islamic State while 31 Grange detectives who could ease their workloads
are barred from helping them.
Spike That is because police chiefs have "ring-fenced" the Madeleine inquiry
to prevent the officers involved working on other cases.
Last night police union chiefs called for the probe to
be shelved, with detectives assigned to it deployed on other inquiries. Metropolitan Police Federation chairman John Tully
told the Daily Star: "It is time to re-focus on what we need to do to keep London safe.
"We no longer
have the resources to conduct specialist inquiries all over the world which have nothing to do with London.
"The
Met has long been seen as the last resort for investigations others have struggled with elsewhere.
"But we
have made £600m of cuts. We have closed 63 police stations across London. Another £800m of cutbacks are anticipated
over the next four years.
"It is surprising to see an inquiry like the McCann investigation ringfenced. I
have heard a few rumblings of discontent about it from lots of sources.
"When the force is facing a spike
in murder investigations it is not surprising there is resentment of significant resources diverted to a case that has no
apparent connection with London."
Operation Grange was set up to review the original Portuguese police probe
into Madeleine's disappearance aged three from her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz
on May 3, 2007.
After the Portuguese inquiry was shelved as "unsolved" the McCanns, from Rothley, Leics,
successfully appealed to the PM to get the Met to re-examine the case.
Last night a Met Police spokesman confirmed
the 31 officers assigned to Operation Grange work solely on that investigation and are not involved with other inquiries.
Madeleine McCann inquiry: Police make
progress at crucial summit meeting with Portuguese, 15 March 2015
Madeleine McCann inquiry: Police make progress at crucial
summit meeting with Portuguese Daily Express
BRITISH police have met with Portuguese prosecutors for a crucial summit meeting over the Madeleine McCann inquiry.
By JOHN TWOMEY PUBLISHED: 12:33, Sun, Mar 15, 2015
Scotland Yard detectives had detailed discussions with the Portuguese
over the vital next steps in the multi-million pound probe.
It is understood to be the first time officers from
Operation Grange have met officials in Lisbon since 11 key witnesses were re-interviewed in December.
Similar meetings
are planned for the near future as the eighth anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance approaches.
The Metropolitan
Police declined to comment on the latest summit. A spokesman said: "We are not providing a running commentary."
Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry are given regular updates on progress of the investigation.
In their
last public message, the couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, said: "It's very apparent that the determination of
the Metropolitan Police remains steadfast."
Operation Grange was set up in 2011 after the McCanns appealed
directly to Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May.
So far, it was cost around £10 million.
Madeleine was three when she vanished from the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in
May 2007.
Former GP Mrs McCann and her heart doctor husband, both 46, have never given up hope that their daughter
is still alive.
PGR (Attorney General) receives the English,
14 March 2015
PGR (Attorney General) receives the English Correio
da Manhã (paper edition)
Maddie
Case: The child is missing since May 2007
A work meeting with the Portuguese authorities to
strengthen collaboration in the searches
By Tânia Laranjo 14
March 2015 With thanks to
Montclair for translation
A meeting of one and a half hours. The stage was the offices of the
PGR: the protagonists, the English and Portuguese authorities. The goal was the same as that of other meetings of the same
type. To strengthen the relations between the authorities of the two countries, to consolidate ties which will permit a common
investigation in order to clarify the Maddie case.
The leader of the English police team, Nicola Wall, was one
of those present at the meeting. The PJ was represented by the magistrate Pedro Carmo, deputy national director. Also present
were the district attorney general and the head of the inquiry opened in the jurisdiction of Faro. Also called to participate
was a representative of the British Home Secretary as well as the British Ambassador.
This was Nicola Wall's
second meeting with the highest representatives of the case. The English inspector took over after Andy Redwood retired from
the Metropolitan Police Services.
Nicola Wall moved over from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command
to Operation Grange, which is investigating the disappearance of the English child on May 3, 2007, from the room where she
slept with her younger twin siblings, in an apartment in a tourist complex in Praia da Luz, Algarve.
The case was
shelved and reopened, but nothing new has been found. All of the scenarios remain open.
DETAILS:
ROGATORY LETTER Scotland Yard has already sent a new rogatory letter in which they request the carrying out of
new DNA tests on evidence already analysed in 2007.
FIRST APPEARANCE IN DECEMBER Nicola Wall came to Portugal
for the first time, as head of the English investigation into the disappearance of Maddie, in December, when she met with
the PJ, in Faro.
10 MILLION The English investigation of the case has already cost € 10 million from
the British coffers and has, so far, not produced any advances, that we know of, into the search for Maddie.
Photo
caption: Nicola Wall heads the English investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann since December.
British police take 67 return flights to
Portugal as cost of Madeleine McCann search nears £9million, 11 February 2015
British police take 67 return flights to Portugal as
cost of Madeleine McCann search nears £9million Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE: Trips last year cost nearly £16,000, around £1,300 a month
Came as police carried
out largest ever search by British police overseas
Eight-day search in Algarve in June ended with nothing of interest
found
David Cameron set a provisional budget for £5million for the investigation
Operation Grange has
cost around £2.5million every year for three years
Home Office said this year's spend likely to be 'broadly
in line' with past
By STEPH COCKROFT FOR MAILONLINE Published:
16:57, 11 February 2015 | Updated: 01:42, 12 February 2015
British police searching for
missing Madeleine McCann spent £16,000 on 67 return flights to Portugal last year, helping the cost of the investigation
to soar to nearly £9million.
The trips, which cost more than £1,300 per month, came as the Met Police
carried out the biggest ever search undertaken by a team of British police overseas, in a bid to find clues about the young
girl's disappearance.
In June, police flew to the Algarve to carry out forensic searches around Praia da Luz,
focusing on scrubland a few hundred metres from the apartment block where Madeleine was last seen alive.
The search for Madeleine McCann
(pictured) has is nearing £9million with £16,000 spent on flights in the past year, new figures show
--------------
But, despite an intensive eight-day search operation involving scores of officers carrying out ground excavations,
police failed to find any clues.
According to figures released under a Freedom of Information act request, officers
and staff made 48 return flights in the nine months between January and October. A further 19 were made to the end of December.
The cost for the flights was £15,945, an average of £238 per return flight.
As well as flights
for the search, the trips involved several journeys made by officers to liaise with the Portuguese authorities prior to the
excavations.
And in December, detectives DCI Nicola Wall and DCI Andy Redwood also travelled to Faro Police Station
to question 'key witnesses' in the case. The three days involved overseeing the questioning of four British people
and seven Portuguese citizens.
During the search, which was said to have been carried out to the ‘highest
possible standards’, police combed an area of scrubland equal in size to around nine football pitches.
This
included checking water pipes, drainage channels and derelict buildings around the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz on
the Algarve.
Police also searched a horseshoe-shaped piece of waste ground that was specifically identified as
an area of interest by the latest inquiry.
In June, DCI Andy Redwood and
other officers flew to the Algarve to oversee excavations of ground around Praia da Luz (pictured)
------------------
The Home Office said it expected the
spend on the investigation between 2014 and 2015, which is currently at £1.2m, to be 'broadly in line with previous
years'
-------------
In total, a Met spokesman said 41 'ground anomalies' –
areas where the earth had been disturbed – were discovered by aerial surveys and ground-penetrating radar equipment.
These sites, which included three outside the original area, were then painstakingly checked by search teams. But
they said no evidence relating to Madeleine McCann had been identified.
Scotland Yard abandoned their search
of land close to where Madeleine vanished in 2007, but said the multi-million-pound inquiry would continue.
The
Home Office, which has spent around £2m per year on the investigation since 2011, said this year's spend was likely
to be 'broadly in line' with previous years. It means the bill is likely to top £9m.
But despite
the increased police activity in Portugal, other figures show the number of detectives on the investigation has reduced.
At one point there were 29 detectives among 37 staff trying to solve Madeleine's disappearance in Praia da Luz
in Portugal.
The young girl's parents Kate
and Gerry McCann, both 46, from Rothley, Leicester, have fought a tireless campaign to find their missing daughter, regularly
appealing to police to keep the investigation active
---------------------
Now, according to the figures, the number
of detectives stands at 21, including 15 constables, three sergeants and two inspectors.
There are also nine police
support staff and four agency staff - all ex police officers - on the 34-strong team, which is led by Detective Chief Inspector
Nicola Wall.
Madeleine was just three when she went missing from her family's rented holiday apartment in
the resort in May 2007, while her parents ate dinner nearby. There have been no positive sightings.
Operation
Grange, the special investigation unit into the young girl's disappearance, was set up in 2011 by David Cameron. He set
a provisional budget for £5million for the investigation
In its first year, the unit cost close to £2million,
with the vast majority of expenses attributed to police officer and staff pay.
Between 2012 and 2013, the most
expensive leg of the investigation to date, £2.8million was spent on transport, salaries, overtime and premises cost.
The following year, through to 2014, the Home Office spent £2.6m.
Kate and Gerry McCann, both 46, from Rothley,
Leicester, have fought a tireless campaign to find their missing daughter since, regularly appealing to police to keep the
investigation into her disappearance active.
Portuguese police closed their investigation into her disappearance
in 2008 and it took a further three years of campaigning by the McCanns to force the Scotland Yard investigation.
Months after the three-year-old vanished, Leicestershire Constabulary was awarded two grants by the Home Office to help
fund their efforts.
In 2008 they received £525,000 and were awarded a further £221,000 the following
year before the case was handed over to Metropolitan Police.
In a statement, the Met said any reduction in overall
numbers of staff - from 37 to 34 according to the figures - on the investigation was temporary.
It said: 'There
has been no change to the level of resources allocated to the investigation and any reduction will be the result of natural
wastage. Those individuals will be replaced in the near future.'
The civil suit that was filed against me by the McCann couple is in its final stages, and the decision
concerning material facts, which to me seems rather favourable, is already known. A period for legal allegations ensues, after
which we will await the verdict, which I envision will translate into my longed for acquittal and the consequent lifting of
the attachments that have caused me such extensive financial difficulties over the past five years. This means that it has
been only due to your help that I have been able to financially sustain the ongoing lawsuit, which nonetheless cannot be said
about my increasingly strangled personal life.
I say strangled because in reality I am experiencing a very serious
crisis on an emotional as well as a financial level. This is due to those who have tried to asphyxiate me financially, wishing
for my civil death and wanting to place me in a position where I would be unable to react judicially. After five years (counted
since the civil suit was filed) the parents of the child that mysteriously disappeared on the 3rd of May of 2007 in the Algarve
were not able to fully achieve what they intended. I am alive, I'm able to financially sustain the civil suit, although
not much more than that...
Concerning my emotional crisis, I ask you to understand that for me, this whole struggle
is not only about the fundamental discovery of the truth, because no matter how optimistic I may be, I can never forget the
demand for damages amounting to 1.200.000 Euro that was filed by the couple, which, if absurdly it would be granted, will
completely destroy me on all levels.
To all of you, thank you very much.
Gonçalo Amaral
Lisboa, February 2, 2015
Guardians of free speech or twisted losers?,
31 January 2015
Guardians of free speech or twisted losers? The Sun (paper edition)
Saturday, January 31, 2015
- Extract -
'I can be quite a bitch. I gave as good as I got. I enjoyed the wars and
the spats'
WARZONE ... Rosalinda Hutton
ONE of the
most bitter areas of conflict on social media is between the "pros" and "antis" who obsessively follow
the case of missing Madeleine McCann.
The dispute resulted in tragedy in October last year when Brenda Leyland,
63, was found dead after being publicly exposed for trolling Maddy's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.
It is
believed she received death threats from Twitter users who aggressively defended the McCanns.
Rosalinda Hutton,
57, was a supporter of Leyland and proudly declares: "I'd like to pick up where Brenda left off.
"I've
been totally gripped by the McCann case for the last seven years. It was an addiction.
"When the story broke
in May 2007, I was suffering from the most terrible depression. I'd lost my mother, my best friend and my Dad.
"I was very isolated and became engrossed in a forum on the McCann case. It was a way to switch off the pain of the
real world. I'd gone from the lonely, isolated existence to suddenly having this huge arena of friends from all around
the world.
"We had this hardcore group, all women much like myself - similar age, backgrounds. We formed a
friendship.
"I wasn't one of the evil ones - and there were a few of those around. I was attacking the
McCanns and suddenly I became this object of attack by absolutely crazy people."
Author Hutton, from Dartford,
Kent, says she was bombarded with abuse and offensive pictures.
She adds: "They said, 'Your mother was
a tramp'. Really nasty stuff. On the first anniversary of my Mum's death, I got a 'phone call in the wee small
hours saying, 'Mummy's here...' It was really menacing.
"One night, they all descended on me and
I said, 'Leave me alone, I'm going to kill myself', and one of them said, 'Good idea. Put yourself out of
your misery'.
"Eventually I went off to bed about 3am. One of my friends who'd seen it phoned me to
make sure I hadn't killed myself, she was that concerned."
Her friend wanted to involve the police. Hutton
says: "It became like a pack of wolves attacking somebody in the middle. One of them said to me, 'You've made
up your mother's death to get attention'.
"It was so distressing. It was as if they had a system and
they'd suddenly all dive in."
But Hutton says the anger she felt towards the mob egged her on to fight
back.
She says: "I felt absolutely outraged that they were ripping into my parents.
"I was
involved in these vile wars yet I couldn't wait to get back. They were dreadful to me but I couldn't stay away. I
couldn't resist it."
In revenge, Hutton dished out some serious abuse.
She says: "I am
a bit of a show-off and I had an audience. It was a warzone. To the trolls, I gave as good as I got. I can be quite a bitch.
I enjoyed the wars and the spats. It saved kicking the dog, really.
"A lot of people kept records of all the
comments and would wave them at lawyers and police. People were issuing writs. It got really down and dirty.
"You
do get a buzz when you squish somebody. I felt high. The more outrageous you are, the bigger the reaction.
"It
is a form of attention-seeking really. It's a real buzz that keeps drawing you back. Perhaps I should be ashamed of that
but it is so easy to become hooked."
Madeleine's Fund Accounts to 31/03/2014,
25 January 2015
Amaral supporters optimistic about
judge's rulings in McCanns' libel case, 21 January 2015
Amaral supporters optimistic about judge's rulings
in McCanns' libel case Portugal Newswatch
Posted by Len Port at 8:35 PM Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Kate and Gerry McCann seemed to suffer a setback on Wednesday in suing former detective Gonçalo Amaral
over his controversial book about the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.
In Lisbon’s Palace of Justice,
Judge Maria Emília Melo e Castro handed lawyers in the civil action a written statement evaluating as proven or not
a list of 37 points on which she intends to base her verdict. Neither the McCanns nor Amaral were present.
Amaral
supporters said afterwards that the statement made them feel cautiously optimistic.
The McCanns are seeking €1.2
million in damages for the severe distress they say has been caused to them by the book, A Verdade da Mentira ('The
Truth of the Lie'), and a subsequent documentary.
The judge ruled that while statements in the book may have
psychologically affected the McCanns, the anguish suffered by the couple over their missing daughter preceded the book's
publication rather than being a consequence of it.
She pointed out that the book was very largely based on facts
in police files. While Amaral put forward the theory that the McCanns had hidden Madeleine's body and fabricated a story
about her abduction, he did not say they had killed their daughter, the judge said.
In personal statements to the
court last July, both Kate and Gerry McCann spoke not only of the great harm they believed had been caused to their family
by allegations in the book, but that the allegations had hampered the search for Madeleine.
The judge said Wednesday
it had not been proved that the Polícia Judiciária stopped collecting information and investigating the disappearance
because of the book's contents.
Amaral insisted last year that the lawfulness of his book was "indisputable"
because of a decision of the Appellate Court in Lisbon that overturned an earlier ruling banning it.
The McCanns
now have time to seek and present authorisation from the British High Court to formally represent their daughter in this
case. Madeleine was made a ward of court at the instigation of her parents in April 2008. This could have a bearing on the
amount of any compensation eventually awarded.
This long-running case in Lisbon has been suspended several times
over the past five years, including in January 2013 when the court allowed the two sides to try to reach a private settlement.
No agreement was reached.
No date has been set for a verdict but it is thought to be more than two months away.
Even when it comes, the verdict will probably not be the end of the matter. An appeal is likely.
Also, Amaral has
let it be known that he is considering instigating a counter defamation lawsuit against the McCanns to seek compensation for
the enormous damages on different levels he claims they have caused him.
Madeleine McCann troll Deborah Butler of
Allington, jailed for stealing from parents, 21 January 2015
Madeleine McCann troll Deborah Butler of Allington, jailed
for stealing from parents Kent Online
by Mary Graham | 21 January 2015
A woman who became known for
publicly calling for "justice" over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been handed a jail sentence after
defrauding £18,000 from her vulnerable parents for a spending spree.
Deborah Butler hit the headlines in
2009 by distributing leaflets giving "10 key reasons which suggest Madeleine was not abducted".
Some
were delivered to the Leicestershire street where Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry live.
Deborah Butler shortly before she set
off on a charity walk across Spain and Portugal
--------------
The 51-year-old denied she was targeting the family, whose
daughter has not been found after disappearing from a holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007, but simply wanted the then-closed
investigation to be re-opened.
Away from the media spotlight, Butler, of Grace Avenue, Allington, set herself up
as official carer to her parents, Alan and Dorothy Johnson, who suffered from dementia.
In 2011 she took control
of their bank cards, which they did not know how to use, and went on a spree buying items for herself including a TV, laptop,
designer clothes, a Spanish holiday, plus more mundane essentials such as petrol and food.
Madeleine McCann, who went missing in
Portugal in 2007. Photo courtesy of PA/PA Wire.
---------------
The 51-year-old also arranged for carers and attendance
allowances, plus the Johnsons’ state pension to go to her bank account.
In October 2011 her mother died and
other family members found conditions at her parents seaside flat in Eastbourne had deteriorated as the pensioners struggled
to cope. Conditions were described as 'squalid.'
The family also discovered a large chunk of the Johnsons'
savings missing and Butler was arrested.
Monarch House in Eastbourne's Royal
Parade where Deborah Butler's parents lived.
--------------
She always insisted her purchases were for her parents.
But investigators were adamant everything bought was being used at her Kent home.
Butler denied four charges of
fraud totalling £18,411 at a trial in December but was convicted.
At Lewes Crown Court on Friday she was
sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years.
Deborah Butler with a leaflet headed 'What
really happened to Madeleine McCann'
--------------
DC Julie Nightingale, of Sussex Police, said: "The victims
were treated as a stream of income.
"They were very vulnerable but Butler left them to live in squalor while
she enjoyed life at their expense."
She must complete 200 hours of unpaid work and will be supervised by the
probation service.
Met chief vows no let-up in search for Madeleine,
15 August 2014
Met chief vows no let-up in search for Madeleine Daily Express
BRITAIN'S top policeman vowed to keep going in the hunt to discover what happened to Madeleine McCann after
Scotland Yard's major operations this summer.
By: John
Twomey Published: Fri, August 15, 2014
The little girl was three when she vanished from a holiday apartment
in Praia da Luz in May 2007.
In June and July, suspects were questioned and huge areas in the Algarve were searched
by specialist police squads and dogs – with Yard detectives in attendance.
Operation Grange was launched
in May 2011 after Madeleine's parents Gerry, 45, and Kate, 46, of Rothley, Leics, appealed to David Cameron.
Around 40 detectives and civilian staff are dedicated to the inquiry, which has so far cost an estimated £6million.
Yesterday, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: "The investigation is still ongoing
and we will not be reducing the team."
He praised Portuguese authorities for allowing Yard detectives to take
part in the summer search.
"A reasonable amount of progress has been made," he added.
However,
no trace of Madeleine has been found and police have no idea what happened to her.
Sir Bernard believes the ideal way to tackle the case is with a joint
squad of British and Portuguese police.
That would speed up many aspects of the inquiry, but authorities in Lisbon
are against the move.
Suspicion has focused on drug addict Euclides Monteiro.
Monteiro, who served a jail term for burglary, died in a tractor
accident, aged 40, in 2009.
His widow says he had nothing to do with the disappearance.
Following this
year's searches, Gerry and Kate McCann said they were encouraged by the lack of evidence to suggest Madeleine was murdered.
They are convinced their daughter could still be alive and will one day be returned to them.
Scotland Yard
is offering £20,000 as a reward for information.
McCanns file a case against The Times in
the High Court, 01 August 2014
Reporter for @InsideHousing. Recent work: Guardian, BBC, Private Eye, Birmingham Mail @cityjournalism alumnus
11:57 AM - 1 Aug 2014
Kate and Gerry McCann have filed a case against The
Times in the High Court. Interesting. No details made public yet.
--------------------
Update:
3:06 PM - 1 Aug 2014
Lots of interest in earlier tweet on Kate, Gerry McCann v @thetimes in High Court. Filed recently. Ref: HQ14D02886. No details
yet. #mccann
• It would seem likely the
McCanns' action against The Times relates to the following report published in The Sunday Times on 27 October 2013. The
report was also picked up by the Daily Star, on its front page, and the Daily Mail. The Sunday Times subsequently published
an apology, of sorts, on 28 December 2013 (also below).
Madeleine clues hidden for 5 years, 27 October
2013
Madeleine clues hidden for 5 years The
Sunday Times (paper edition)
THE critical new evidence at the centre of Scotland Yard's
search for Madeleine McCann was kept secret for five years after it was presented to her parents by ex-MI5 investigators.
The evidence was in fact taken from an intelligence report produced for Gerry and Kate McCann by a firm of former
spies in 2008.
It contained crucial E-Fits of a man seen carrying a child on the night of Madeleine's disappearance,
which have only this month become public after he was identified as the prime suspect by Scotland Yard.
But the
trail was left to go cold for five years because the McCanns and their advisers sidelined the report and threatened to sue
its authors if they divulged the contents.
The report, seen by the Sunday Times, called for the E-Fits to be released
immediately and said "anomalies" in statements by the McCanns and their friends must be resolved.
A
source close to the McCanns said the report was considered "hypercritical of the people involved" and "would
have been completely distracting" if made public.
The new prime suspect was first singled out by detectives in 2008. Their findings were suppressed. Insight reports
The Sunday Times Insight team Published: 27 October 2013
Madeleine disappeared from the Praia da Luz resort in May 2007 (Adrian Sheratt)
THE critical new evidence at the centre of Scotland Yard's search
for Madeleine McCann was kept secret for five years after it was presented to her parents by ex-MI5 investigators.
The evidence was in fact taken from an intelligence report produced for Gerry and Kate McCann by a firm of former spies
in 2008.
It contained crucial E-Fits of a man seen carrying a child on the night of Madeleine's disappearance,
which have only this month become public after he was identified as the prime suspect by Scotland Yard.
A team
of hand-picked former MI5 agents had been hired by the McCanns to chase a much-needed breakthrough in the search for their
missing daughter Madeleine.
But within months the relationship had soured. A report produced by the investigators
was deemed "hypercritical" of the McCanns and their friends, and the authors were threatened with legal action if
it was made public. Its contents remained secret until Scotland Yard detectives conducting a fresh review of the case contacted
the authors and asked for a copy.
They found that it contained new evidence about a key suspect seen carrying a
child away from the McCanns' holiday apartment on the night Madeleine disappeared.
This sighting is now considered
the main lead in the investigation and E-Fits of the suspect, taken from the report, were the centrepiece of a Crimewatch
appeal that attracted more than 2,400 calls from the public this month.
One of the investigators whose work was
sidelined said last week he was "utterly stunned" when he watched the programme and saw the evidence his team had
passed to the McCanns five years ago presented as a breakthrough.
The team of investigators from the security firm
Oakley International were hired by the McCanns' Find Madeleine fund, which bankrolled private investigations into the
girl's disappearance. They were led by Henri Exton, MI5's former undercover operations chief.
Their report,
seen by The Sunday Times, focused on a sighting by an Irish family of a man carrying a child at about 10pm on May 3, 2007,
when Madeleine went missing.
An earlier sighting by one of the McCanns' friends was dismissed as less credible
after "serious inconsistencies" were found in her evidence. The report also raised questions about "anomalies"
in the statements given by the McCanns and their friends.
Exton confirmed last week that the fund had silenced
his investigators for years after they handed over their controversial findings. He said: "A letter came from their lawyers
binding us to the confidentiality of the report."
He claimed the legal threat had prevented him from handing
over the report to Scotland Yard's fresh investigation, until detectives had obtained written permission from the fund.
A source close to the fund said the report was considered "hypercritical of the people involved" and "would
have been completely distracting" if it became public.
Oakley's six-month investigation included placing
undercover agents inside the Ocean Club where the family stayed, lie detector tests, covert surveillance and a forensic re-examination
of all existing evidence.
It was immediately clear that two sightings of vital importance had been reported to
the police. Two men were seen carrying children near the apartments between 9pm, when Madeleine was last seen by Gerry, and
10pm, when Kate discovered her missing.
The first man was seen at 9.15pm by Jane Tanner, a friend of the McCanns,
who had been dining with them at the tapas bar in the resort. She saw a man carrying a girl just yards from the apartment
as she went to check on her children.
The second sighting was by Martin Smith and his family from Ireland, who
saw a man carrying a child near the apartment just before 10pm.
The earlier Tanner sighting had always been treated
as the most significant, but the Oakley team controversially poured cold water on her account.
Instead, they focused
on the Smith sighting, travelling to Ireland to interview the family and produce E-Fits of the man they saw. Their report
said the Smiths were "helpful and sincere" and concluded: "The Smith sighting is credible evidence of a sighting
of Maddie and more credible than Jane Tanner's sighting". The evidence had been "neglected for too long"
and an "overemphasis placed on Tanner".
The new focus shifted the believed timeline of the abduction
back by 45 minutes.
The report, delivered to the McCanns in November 2008, recommended that the revised timeline
should be the basis for future investigations and that the Smith E-Fits should be released without delay.
The potential
abductor seen by the Smiths is now the prime suspect in Scotland Yard's investigation, after detectives established that
the man seen earlier by Tanner was almost certainly a father carrying his child home from a nearby night creche. The Smith
E-Fits were the centrepiece of the Crimewatch appeal.
One of the Oakley investigators said last week: "I was
absolutely stunned when I watched the programme . . . It most certainly wasn't a new timeline and it certainly isn't
a new revelation. It is absolute nonsense to suggest either of those things . . . And those E-Fits you saw on Crimewatch are
ours," he said.
The detailed images of the face of the man seen by the Smith family were never released by
the McCanns. But an artist's impression of the man seen earlier by Tanner was widely promoted, even though the face had
to be left blank because she had only seen him fleetingly and from a distance.
Various others images of lone men
spotted hanging around the resort at other times were also released.
Nor were the Smith E-Fits included in Kate
McCann's 2011 book, Madeleine, which contained a whole section on eight "key sightings" and identified those
of the Smiths and Tanner as most "crucial". Descriptions of all seven other sightings were accompanied by an E-Fit
or artist's impression. The Smiths' were the only exception. So why was such a "crucial" piece of evidence
kept under lock and key?
The relationship between the fund and Oakley was already souring by the time the report
was submitted — and its findings could only have made matters worse.
As well as questioning parts of the
McCanns' evidence, it contained sensitive information about Madeleine's sleeping patterns and raised the highly sensitive
possibility that she could have died in an accident after leaving the apartment herself from one of two unsecured doors.
There was also an uncomfortable complication with Smith's account. He had originally told the police that he had
"recognised something" about the way Gerry McCann carried one of his children which reminded him of the man he had
seen in Praia da Luz.
Smith has since stressed that he does not believe the man he saw was Gerry, and Scotland
Yard do not consider this a possibility. Last week the McCanns were told officially by the Portuguese authorities that they
are not suspects.
The McCanns were also understandably wary of Oakley after allegations that the chairman, Kevin
Halligen, failed to pass on money paid by the fund to Exton's team. Halligen denies this. He was later convicted of fraud
in an unrelated case in the US.
The McCann fund source said the Oakley report was passed on to new private investigators
after the contract ended, but that the firm's work was considered "contaminated" by the financial dispute.
He said the fund wanted to continue to pursue information about the man seen by Tanner, and it would have been too
expensive to investigate both sightings in full — so the Smith E-Fits were not publicised. It was also considered necessary
to threaten legal action against the authors.
"[The report] was hypercritical of the people involved . . .
It just wouldn't be conducive to the investigation to have that report publicly declared because . . . the newspapers
would have been all over it. And it would have been completely distracting," said the source.
A statement
released by the Find Madeleine fund said that "all information privately gathered during the search for Madeleine has
been fully acted upon where necessary" and had been passed to Scotland Yard.
It continued: "Throughout
the investigation, the Find Madeleine fund's sole priority has been, and remains, to find Madeleine and bring her home
as swiftly as possible."
Insight: Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert
Kate and Gerry McCann and Madeleine's
Fund, 28 December 2013
In articles dated October 27 ("Madeleine
clues hidden for 5 years" and "Investigators had E-Fits five years ago", News) we referred to efits which
were included in a report prepared by private investigators for the McCanns and the Fund in 2008. We accept that the articles
may have been understood to suggest that the McCanns had withheld information from the authorities. This was not the case.
We now understand and accept that the efits had been provided to the Portuguese and Leicestershire police by October 2009.
We also understand that a copy of the final report including the efits was passed to the Metropolitan police in August 2011,
shortly after it commenced its review. We apologise for the distress caused."
The McCanns enjoying a family day out at
the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, 29 July 2014
Issue
number 883 Date: Monday, June 16, 2014 at 09h36m
Gonçalo Amaral, the former leader of the investigation
into the disappearance of Maddie, doesn't want to hear talk about the case that has put him on the brink of poverty. He
is sick and barely has money to eat.
Gonçalo Amaral, the former inspector responsible
for the investigation into the disappearance of Maddie, doesn't want to hear talk about the case that has put him on the
brink of poverty. He is sick and barely has money to eat.
Date: Sunday,
June 22, 2014 at 17:30
"At this point, I do not want to even hear about the case." This was the
reaction of Gonçalo Amaral, former Inspector of the Judicial Police (PJ) and SIC commentator, when contacted by VIP
to comment on the searches being done in the Algarve. And the reason is simple: the former investigating officer is facing
serious financial difficulties, allegedly because of the Madeleine McCann case. Moreover, he suffers from a serious illness
(diabetes to the ultimate degree) that has weakened him a lot.
The Truth of the Lie, the work that Gonçalo
Amaral wrote recounting his version of the Maddie case, after he was removed from investigation, is allegedly the source of
the difficult financial situation in which the former inspector currently finds himself.
In the book, Gonçalo
Amaral argues that "the child Madeleine McCann died in the apartment in the Ocean Club, in Vila da Luz, on the night
of May 3, 2007; there was a simulation of an abduction; Kate Healy and Gerald McCann are suspected of involvement in the concealment
of the corpse of the daughter; death may have occurred as a result of a tragic accident; there is evidence of negligence in
the custody and safety of the children. We are conscious of having given our best to solve the case. Our beliefs are based
on professional experience, on facts and evidence collected and their interpretation in the light of the law."
These were statements that led the child's parents to sue the former inspector, freezing all his assets [as security
against possible future payment of costs] and pushing him into the financial situation he has nowadays. The book was withdrawn
from the market in 2009, in compliance with a court order, resulting from a proceeding brought by Madeleine McCann's parents.
The British couple froze all his bank accounts, as well as both the movable and immovable property of the investigator, who
was living on only his pension salary - which was also later frozen in part by the couple.
With the cut in his
salary, and the expenses which result from the treatments his failing health requires him to take, Gonçalo Amaral,
assured sources from the PJ, is broke: "He only survives thanks to the solidarity of colleagues and family."
--------------
Paper edition:
Sick and Bankrupt VIP
magazine (Nº 883, weekly edition from 17 to 23.06.2014, pages 74 to 76)
VIP magazine, page 74
VIP magazine, page 75
VIP magazine, page 76
Gonçalo Amaral, the former coordinator responsible
for the investigation into the disappearance of Maddie, does not want to hear about the case that has left him on the verge
of poverty. He is ill and barely has any money to eat.
By Carlos
Tomás With thanks to
Joana Morais for translation
Eight days of searches, 60 thousand square metres of scrubland investigated
to analyse fully the 41 soil anomalies and over half a million euros spent in the search operations that brought to Portugal
a team of British officers and forensic investigators.
This was the balance of the searches carried out in the
Algarve, in the Praia da Luz area, in Lagos. Under the guidance of Scotland Yard and with the assistance of the Portuguese
Judiciary Police (PJ), in this way it was concluded the first stage of the rogatory steps requested in the scope of Operation
Grange, the name of the British investigation initiated in 2011 to review the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the little
British girl who, on May 3, 2007, disappeared from the apartment rented by her parents in the Algarve.
The British
police released a communiqué stating that this is part of ensuring that all lines of enquiry are "progressed in
a systematic manner" and covers just the one hypothesis that she was killed and buried locally. Nevertheless, at the
end of the searches, no traces of Madeleine were found. "At this time no evidence relating to Madeleine McCann has been
identified", clarifies the press statement, admitting that the searches that took place in several sites in Praia da
Luz, which included drainage channels, sewage systems and derelict buildings using sniffer dogs and georadar were fruitless. "Maddie case ruined his life"
"At this point in time I don't even want
to hear about the case". This was the reaction of Gonçalo Amaral, the former inspector of the Judiciary Police
(PJ) and SIC TV channel commentator, when he was contacted by VIP magazine to give his opinion about the searches
that took place in the Algarve. And his motives are simple: the former inspector faces serious financial difficulties allegedly
due to the Madeleine McCann case. Besides that he suffers from a critical illness (diabetes in the last degree) which has
weakened him immensely.
"He is very ill. He lost over 50 kilos [110 lbs] and he has locked himself in his
father's house. He doesn't even go to Júlia Pinheiro's talk show on SIC any longer. The Maddie case has
ruined his life, personally and professionally. Now with the searches that are being carried out in the Algarve, it seems
that he was right after all. Even the British authorities now believe the girl may be dead. Otherwise these searches would
make no sense whatsoever. It's funny how the McCanns are so silent", said a Judiciary Police officer from the Algarve,
who accompanied the searches made by the British on the field. "Up to now, and even though there's plenty of material
to analyse, only bones of cats and dogs were found. Of the child, not a single trace", he added.
Isabel Duarte,
the McCann's lawyer for the civil lawsuits, confirms that statement. "As far as I know, no trace of the child was
found. In fact, the McCanns themselves have been kept aside of these police investigations. We have no control about whatever
is taking place". On his turn, Rogério Alves, the McCann's lawyer for the criminal processes, revealed that
he also knows nothing about the investigations. "At this moment, there's nothing. But there are more steps requested
by Scotland Yard, namely the questioning of several persons who used to go ['attend' is the literal translation]
to the Ocean Club. Let's wait serenely for the results of investigations", he stated to VIP.
It
should be recalled that Gonçalo Amaral was the first Portuguese inspector responsible for the Maddie case and that
five months after the disappearance of the English girl, he was removed from the investigation following the harsh criticism
of his British colleagues, that he voiced publicly in an interview that he granted to a daily newspaper at the time. The "Damned" book The Truth of the Lie, the book Gonçalo Amaral wrote reporting
his version of the Maddie case, after he was removed from the investigation is allegedly at the basis of the former inspector
serious financial hardships. In the book, Gonçalo Amaral defends that "the minor, Madeleine McCann died in the
Ocean Club apartment, in the Luz village; a child abduction was staged; Kate Healy and Gerald McCann are suspects of being
involved in the concealment of their daughter's cadaver; the death might have occurred following a tragic accident; there
are evidence of negligence in the safekeeping and supervision of their children. We are conscient that we have given our best
to solve this case. Our beliefs are based on professional experience, on facts and indicia collected and in their interpretation
according to the law".
Statements which led the parents of the child to sue the former inspector, seizing
all his assets and pushing him to the financial situation where he finds himself in today. The book was taken off the markets
in 2009, in the fulfilment of a judicial decision following an injunction made by Madeleine McCann's parents. The British
couple froze all his bank accounts, seized his movable and immovable assets, and the inspector was left only with his retirement
wage, which was eventually also seized by the couple. "He only survives thanks to the solidarity of
friends and family"
With the cuts in his wage and with expenses and the increased costs of the medical
treatments of his failing health, Gonçalo Amaral, assure the PJ sources, is destitute: "He only survives thanks
to the solidarity of friends and family". This, even though in 2012 the copies of book the inspector wrote were returned
to the book publishers Guerra e Paz Editores. However, the sales were never the same again and Gonçalo Amaral remains
with all of his assets frozen, since the couple has made another appeal and other lawsuits.
It should be noted
that, as to what VIP was able to establish, Maddie's parents no longer have the legitimacy to take legal proceedings
related to the case, since they have already lost, by order of the English High Court, the tutelage of the missing child.
In fact, according to the English law, after seven years if the body of a missing person isn't found, the person can be
officially declared dead. Maddie's parents, however, have not yet applied for a death certificate.
Back in
England, the British police revealed that "further requests are being compiled and will be submitted in due course".
And they state that they will return to Portugal to question eight persons of interest, whom they affirm, may help clarify
the case.
The Madeleine Mystery
The Madeleine Mystery (extract from 'People in a Place
Apart')
Amazon
By Len Port
The following chapter is from Len Port's book
"People in a Place Apart" - a book about the Algarve - and is reproduced here with kind permission of the author
--------------
Chapter Twenty-four
THE MADELEINE MYSTERY
The peaceful seaside village of Praia da Luz was the unlikely setting for
what turned out to be the most reported and discussed missing person case in human history. The disappearance has also been
one of the most mystifying, controversial and bitter cases of its kind in modern times. For me as a reporter it all started
so quietly.
On arrival in the village before 8.30am on Friday 4th May 2007, I expected to see some urgent activity.
A young British girl, Madeleine McCann, had gone missing the previous night. At first I saw no movement at all. The village
was silent and still. While driving around, I came across a single police vehicle parked on the roadside at a junction of
minor roads towards the back of the village. I parked directly behind it. A few uniformed police officers were standing outside
a block of holiday apartments. The only other people in sight were two women in conversation close to a corner ground floor
apartment, 5A. As I approached, I noticed that one of them was clearly distressed, so much so I guessed she must be the missing
girl's mother, Kate McCann. Later I learned that the other woman was a senior social worker on holiday from England. I
overheard Mrs McCann tell her the police were "doing nothing" to find her daughter. She complained that they had
not even questioned people staying in the same block of apartments. I understood the social worker to suggest that a description
of the missing child should be circulated more widely. That prompted me to introduce myself as an Algarve-based reporter and
say that I could use contacts to arrange alerts to be broadcast on an Algarve bilingual radio station. It had flashed through
my mind that such alerts had been broadcast when Rachel Charles was reported missing in the Algarve 17 years earlier. The
social worker then mentioned the British Consulate. I said I could help there too as I knew the staff at the Consulate and
had just spoken to one of them on the phone. Perhaps my offer sounded disingenuous coming from a total stranger and a reporter
to boot. Anyway, it was ignored.
As I moved around the village on foot there was at least one obvious manifestation
of police activity. Police officers with search dogs on leads were vigorously combing the vicinity of the apartments, the
area around the village church, on down towards the seashore and along the full length of the long curving beach. It was all
being done in silence.
The tranquillity outside apartment 5A gradually changed. As the morning and afternoon wore
on, the number of people arriving on the scene steadily increased. Curious passers-by mingled with reporters, photographers,
TV cameramen and staff manning outside broadcast vans. A mixture of Portuguese, British and other nationalities, we all stood
around asking each other questions and wondering what had happened to the little girl. All these years later, we are none
the wiser. In the days, weeks, months and years following Madeleine's disappearance, the few known facts have been drowned
in an ocean of public confusion created by a combination of conjecture, conspiracy theories, distortions, misinformation and
lies.
Madeleine's parents have always been adamant she was abducted from the apartment. Others think she may
have left the apartment of her own accord in search of her parents and was later abducted or met with harm in some other way.
Some are convinced her body was secretly disposed of after she died inadvertently in the apartment. The trouble with all these
theories is that while each can be shown to be a possible explanation, none is yet backed by solid evidence that elevates
it to one of certainty. Upon publication of the latest edition of this book, police in both Portugal and Britain are re-investigating
the case, giving fresh hope that the mystery may finally be solved and that Madeleine, if still alive, will be returned to
her parents. A breakthrough could come at any moment. On the other hand it may always remain a mystery. Meanwhile, let us
reflect in a little more detail on this complex saga so far.
For the McCann family from Rothley in Leicestershire
the trauma began on the sixth day of a weeklong holiday. They were staying in a modest, ground-floor apartment in a tourist
complex. During initial police questioning the day after the disappearance, Kate and Gerry McCann said they had settled Madeleine,
aged three, and her younger twin siblings into their shared bedroom at 7.30pm. An hour later, with the children asleep and
leaving the back patio door of apartment 5A closed but not locked, they joined seven holidaying friends for dinner. As on
previous evenings, they dined in a poolside restaurant situated at the back of the apartment. It was a minute or two's
walking distance, about 120 metres, away.
Like Kate and Gerry McCann, four of their seven friends were medical
doctors and some had children of their own. In the course of a few parental checks, Gerry McCann said he went back to apartment
5A between 9.05pm and 9.10pm and saw all three of his children sound asleep. Kate McCann went to the apartment at 10pm. Madeleine
was not there. Within half an hour of Kate McCann rushing back to the restaurant to raise the alarm, members of staff at the
tourist complex where the McCanns and their friends were staying initiated a search of the neighbourhood. Holidaymakers and
village residents joined in. The Guarda Nacional República (GNR) was alerted and soon had officers on the scene. Two
police search dogs arrived. Police at first thought Madeleine may have wandered off, but Portugal's criminal investigation
service, the Polícia Judiciáia, was informed after midnight. The neighbourhood search involved about 60 people
on a calm and cloudless night with a full moon. It went on until about 4.30am.
Jane Tanner, a member of the group
of friends, told police she saw a man with a child in his arms crossing the road in front of the McCanns' apartment at
about 9.15pm, soon after Gerry McCann's check. For more than six years this sighting remained central to the McCanns'
insistence that their daughter had been abducted. A family on holiday from Ireland also saw a man carrying a young child.
This was much further away, closer to the centre of the village, at 10pm.
From the earliest days of the Portuguese
investigation, the McCanns received a great deal of moral and financial support. The British Foreign Office showed remarkable
interest. A wealthy Scottish businessman, Stephen Winyard, offered a £1 million reward for information leading to Madeleine's
return. English tycoon Richard Branson was among those who donated to the Find Madeleine fund that quickly reached more than
£2.5 million. Football star David Beckham, then playing for Real Madrid, held up a Madeleine poster in a televised appeal
in Spain. In seeking publicity on a grand scale, the McCanns met with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome at the end of May and had
a photograph of their missing daughter blessed by him. Gerry travelled to Washington courtesy of Branson's Virgin Atlantic
airline and visited the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, the Justice Department, Capitol Hill and the White
House.
By then, police had questioned and declared Robert Murat an arguido (suspect). Jane Tanner had claimed she
was almost certain Murat was the man she saw carrying a child. Although insisting he had spent the evening with his mother
in her house a short distance from apartment 5A, Murat became the subject of wild rumours and false newspaper speculation.
International media coverage reached new heights four months later, in September, when Kate and Gerry McCann were also declared
arguidos. Clarence Mitchell, who had earlier spent a month with the McCanns as a representative of the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office, relinquished his position as director of the media monitoring unit at the British government's Central Office
of Information to become the McCanns' official spokesperson.
Among the obstacles confronting the Portuguese
police was the ever-pressing presence of the media. Their constant demand for news was complicated by a Portuguese law that
forbids the police from openly discussing or divulging any aspects of a criminal investigation. Article 86 of the penal code
amounts to a gagging order on releasing anything that might prejudice a case. As the investigation wore on, this lack of information
frustrated reporters faced with editors' demands for sensational stories. In the absence of official statements and verifiable
advice, certain newspapers indulged in an orgy of innuendo, speculation, grossly inaccurate and even fictitious reporting.
'Leaks' from the Portuguese police to the Portuguese press were repeated and sometimes embellished in mass-circulating
British tabloids. Some of the papers were eventually taken to task for defamation and obliged to pay large sums in damages.
The lead detective in the investigation, Gonçalo Amaral, looked into the likelihood of abduction but found
no evidence to substantiate the McCanns' insistence that their daughter had been kidnapped. He came to suspect that Kate
McCann had lied in claiming that an intruder had opened the front window and jemmied the shutter in the children's bedroom.
He thought the parents might have invented the abduction story as a cover-up after Madeleine died inadvertently in the apartment,
perhaps from an overdose of a sedative or a fall. This theory seemed to be supported by traces of blood and cadaver odours
found by two specialist dogs brought out from the UK. The traces were found in the apartment and in the boot of a car hired
by the McCanns.
Five months into the investigation, Gonçalo Amaral's involvement suddenly ended when
he was dismissed from the case for imprudently alleging that police in Britain were biased towards the McCanns. Then, in July
2008 after 14 months of probing with no conclusive breakthrough, the Polícia Judiciária wrapped up their final
report. Portugal's attorney general lifted the arguido status on all three suspects and formally archived the case.
In 2011 at the behest of the McCanns, Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May asked the Metropolitan
Police Service to review the vast amount of documentation from the original Portuguese investigation, as well as the results
of inquiries made by a succession of private investigators hired by the McCanns. After two years, the Met upgraded its review
to a full-scale investigation. Five months later, in October 2013, the Portuguese authorities ordered a re-opening of their
own investigation and went to work on new evidence they had uncovered. This occurred while a civil libel action was in progress
in Lisbon in which the McCanns were suing Gonçalo Amaral over a book he had written, A Verdade de Mentira (The Truth
of the Lie).
The McCanns had accepted £550,000 in 2008 from Express Newspapers in compensation for scores
of defamatory articles in the Daily Express, Daily Star and their Sunday sister titles. Robert Murat was awarded £600,000
in libel damages from Express Newspapers, Associated Newspapers, the Mirror Group and News Group Newspapers. In compensation
for Amaral’s book and a TV documentary based on it, the McCanns demanded €1.2 million.
The McCanns said
the Portuguese police had been "very open" with them at the beginning of the original investigation. Three months
down the line they still had "a very good working relationship." Things hit rock bottom in September 2007 on being
declared official suspects. Faced not only with deep parental anguish over the loss of their daughter, Kate and Gerry McCann
now had to cope with the humility of being publicly suspected of being the cause of her disappearance. Kate's mother Susan
Healy was widely quoted as saying that the pressure on her daughter was so great, "I don't know how long she will
hold on for... I don't know if any human can take such pressure." She added: "Kate is an only child. If it was
me, I'd die. But she can't let herself get so low. She has to think of her family, of Gerry and the twins."
Amaral sank to a low ebb as well. With pent up frustrations over what he regarded as bias by the UK authorities and
non-cooperation by the McCanns, he resigned from the police service and became the target of insults in the British press.
His marriage broke down, he moved away from his daughter in Lisbon, grieved over the death of both his mother and father,
and lost weight through illness. Soon after the 2013 start of the Scotland Yard investigation, the Jane Tanner sighting of
a man carrying a child outside the McCanns' apartment became irrelevant when the man was publicly identified as an innocent
father carrying his own child home from a crèche on the complex. The other sighting by an Irish family took on much
greater significance with the simultaneous publication of two e-fit images produced by a team of ex-MI5 private investigators
employed by the McCann's Find Madeleine fund after the Portuguese authorities had shelved their investigation five years
earlier. Publication of the e-fit images along with televised appeals for information resulted in thousands of phone calls
and emails. With international public interest in the case elevated to its 2007 heights, the Portuguese police re-opened their
investigation to run both alongside and in conjunction with the British police.
Gerry McCann - The Travellin' Man,
20 June 2014
Gerry McCann - The Travellin' Man mccannfiles
The woman on the right, photo-bombing Gerry's 'Travellin' Man' shoot, is his sister, Trish Cameron
By Nigel Moore 20 June 2014
To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, as another Scot with a penchant for poetic licence, Robert Louis
Stevenson, once wrote. It's a well worn saying, and you'd be hard pressed to have sat through any TV talent show and
not heard a stream of 'Truman effect' wannabees blathering on about 'the journey' - usually just prior to
the public ordering them a taxi home. But for the McCanns it's different. For them, the journey is a torturous, soul destroying
and time consuming ordeal of booking the flight, arranging the hotel (the usual?), getting time off work (Kate?) and arranging
childcare. Why, that's a whole 45 minutes hard work down the pan straight off the bat.
It seems the McCanns
are cursed 'above all cattle, and above every beast of the field' to enjoy fruitless journeys. Aside from being physically
and emotionally worn down by the libel trial, who can forget their abortive poster-jolly (look at the pictures) to Huelva
- where they arrived only to find most of the shops closed due to a public holiday. That particular journey must have slipped
the McCanns mind outside the Palace of Justice, otherwise they would surely have raged about the 'FIVE times' Gonçalo
Amaral had thwarted their plans. Forget pantomime villain, Dr Amaral is now taking on Svengali-like status with his supreme
power to exercise control over the health and well-being of anyone that steps into his path. All he's missing now is a
flowing black cape, a fiendishly coiffured moustache and a clap of thunder every time he appears.
So, let's
get all this travelling business out into the open, where we can see it, once and for all, and clear up any misunderstandings
about Gerry McCann's two trips to Lisbon. As the good doctor himself has frequently said, speculation does nobody
any good. So let's burrow down and get to the truth. And that's 'the truth', by the way, not an 'account'
of it.
The first time Gerry packed his toothbrush and flannel was for the hearing on 27 September 2013. As we now
know, the hearing that day was adjourned due to an illness affecting Gonçalo Amaral's lawyer's son, which required
hospital treatment. As Vitor Santos de Oliveira said at the time: "My son is having an operation. I hope that because
of this you won't be making a hullabaloo saying that Gonçalo Amaral is holding things up." The 'you'
here presumably being directed at the press, although it could equally be applied to the McCanns, seeing as the two have been
in a mutually beneficial and 'consciously coupled' relationship for 7 years now.
That same press had led
us to believe that Gerry McCann was coming to town for a showdown with his arch nemesis, Gonçalo Amaral, in a thrilling
court room battle. He would appear in the witness box to give compelling evidence that would have the former police coordinator
crying into his sardine lunch and muttering: "It's a fair cop, doc, you got me done up like a kipper."
As Clarence of the Yard said, in an official McCann press announcement: "I can confirm Gerry McCann is hoping to give
evidence." Must be true then.
And, amidst all this, what did the slippery fish that is Gerry McCann have to
say as he arrived?
"I am here for Madeleine, for justice, for the twins and ourselves," opined the heart
specialist, neatly avoiding the issue of actually giving evidence. When he was pressed as to whether he would be making a
statement in court, he replied unhelpfully: "I am not sure."
Following the adjournment, Gerry was asked
whether he knew what had just happened, and said: "I think, errr... Isabel will be able to explain that
better." Smart move. It's always best to defer tricky questions to a lawyer... or just don't answer them at all.
And in response to another question, he added: "Well, the law's changed and I think, errr... I think
Kate and I know better than anyone else, errr... what we've experienced and what we've gone through and the facts
of the file and, errm... the damage that's been caused to the search for Madeleine."
Within a week, Gerry
was back at the Palace of Justice, in Lisbon, for the Second Act. Mirroring his previous performance, he was not sure what
would happen. "We are here to listen to the judge and hopefully be heard," he told reporters.
As we all
know, there is a perilous canyon between the towns of Hope and Reality. Twice every week people 'hope' they will win
the EuroMillions lottery, even though there is only a 1 in 76,275,360 chance of doing so. Nevertheless, still better odds
than there were that Gerry would get his 'day in court' that day.
As we have already seen, Gerry possessed
clear knowledge that the law had changed and so it makes sense to take a closer look at what the new law actually says (courtesy
of Astro):
The Civil Process Code allows the parties in a civil case to make a 'declaration' to the
court. This declaration has a purpose: the parties, not being witnesses and therefore not being able to add anything to the
trial in terms of evidence, are given the opportunity to offer the court additional evidence and/or to make a confession.
This declaration can ONLY be made AFTER all the evidence (witnesses and material evidence) has been presented, precisely
because it is supposed to ADD to the evidence that the court has seen and/or heard. And because it is supposed to ADD to the
evidence, it is up to the judge to decide whether or not he/she has been presented with enough evidence and whether or not
he/she believes that the party or parties can add anything of use to the evidence that has been presented.
In the
former civil process code, there was no opportunity for any of the parties to confess. This is the main purpose of the new
disposition.
None of the parties - Kate and Gerry McCann or Gonçalo Amaral - could ever speak in court before
the witnesses had all been heard. That is how the process is designed, no exceptions. And because the judge's permission
depended upon her assessment of the evidence that would be presented by the witnesses, she would never have been able to approve
or refuse their request for a declaration BEFORE the last witness was heard.
So, the truth is that Gerry McCann
would have known exactly what would happen at the hearings he attended and what the judge would say - that she would
be unable to rule on whether he could give evidence until after all the witnesses had been heard. Yet he was happy
for the lie - that he was 'hoping' to give evidence in court but was then heartbreakingly thwarted - to perpetuate,
and he was happy to use the press, and Clarence Mitchell, in the dissemination of this lie.
Any other interpretation
of events would suggest the McCanns' lawyer, Isabel Duarte, was incompetent in her duties and had failed to advise her
clients correctly. She should therefore have had her mandate revoked immediately, having wasted Gerry McCanns precious time
TWICE. A crime that would put her one rung above Maleficent, the self proclaimed Mistress of All Evil, according to the McCann
book.
Whether Gerry travelled in full knowledge of the facts (and remember he told us himself that the law had
changed thus demonstrating prior knowledge) or in complete ignorance, one fact appears clear: Isabel Duarte was either compliant
to her clients charade outside the court (on two occasions) or she was complicit in a blatant and cynical piece of Lisbon
street theatre.
So, having no reason to be there, why was it so important for Gerry McCann to fly to Lisbon, on
two futile journeys, and drain the diminishing coffers of Madeleine's Fund yet further - having already raided the Fund
to pay expenses to all their witnesses?
Maybe he thought his presence needed to be imposed on the proceedings,
following the disastrous anecdotal musings, served up as 'evidence', by the witnesses he and Kate had cobbled together.
Maybe he wanted to ensure Trish Cameron wasn't approached by the press for an unscripted quote. Maybe he felt the McCanns'
reputation is so fragile and powerless he needed to divert attention away from impending bad news - since he chose to travel
on the first day that Gonçalo Amaral's witnesses were due to be heard, and then came back again the following week
to make sure the job was done. Pure coincidence, I'm sure. And, of course, the press lapped it all up like the thirsty
little kittens they are. Clean plates all round.
Never mind. We move on. Street theatre only has a limited shelf
life. Justice lasts a lifetime.
And the good news, for justice, is that Gonçalo Amaral is in good spirits
and has already appointed a new lawyer, whose name is currently being placed with the court.
The trial will
soon be concluded and then it will over to the judge, Maria Emília de Melo e Castro, to make her decision.
What view she takes of all this sideshow nonsense will only be known by her but I am confident her decision will be
grounded in the evidence presented before her in the court room, and not in the flights of fancy that have taken place outside
it.
What is it that the church has?, 13 June
2014
What is it that the church has? TVMais
magazine (paper edition Nº1117, 13 to 19 June 2014, pages 98 & 99)
Announced visits and another in secret, keys provided
against the wishes of the Bishop, the priest's wife agitated, finished constructions and searches never made.
What is it that the church of Praia da Luz has?
By Hernâni
Carvalho With thanks to
Joana Morais for translation and
Maria for images
• On the night
of their daughter's disappearance, the McCann couple asked for a priest. The priest of the Luz church, José Pacheco,
did not respond. The couple knew, even before they had gone to Praia da Luz, that the Anglican priest Haynes Hubbard celebrated
masses there and lived with his wife. He had a friendship with McCann's family members. It was with him whom they spoke
with. Some days later, Gerry and Kate received the church keys, and since then they were able to enter and leave at any time.
A situation that was criticized by the Bishop of the Algarve at the time. When questioned on this discretionary act, the priest
José Pacheco said: "Do I decide that?!"
McCanns visited the church in secret
"Although our pain feels much rawer here, it is comforting
at the same time since we feel closer to Madeleine", we can read in a press statement sent to Lusa
news agency in 12th December 2009, by the McCann's Portuguese PR, in connection to the couple's visit to the church.
During the day, the visits were announced and followed by the media. The exception was made in the early hours of January
14, 2010. At 5am they were seen and photographed leaving the church from a side door. In the afternoon they gave a press conference.
Wife
of Priest worried
The forensic psychologist
Paulo Sargento asked the bishop of the Algarve Dom Manuel Quintas, if any catholic can go to the church at
any time. Hernâni Carvalho - How did you get to talk with the bishop? Paulo
Sargento - I sent a registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt early on, in January 2010. Since I got no reply,
about a month later, I sent an e-mail with the questions that I had. Four days later, it was the Bishop himself who replied,
also by e-mail, apologizing for the delay in the answer. A hearing was scheduled for two or three days later. Hernâni Carvalho - And you felt clarified? Paulo Sargento - The hearing took
place in February, at the episcopal see of Faro. The Bishop received me kindly. We talked about an hour. I had already been
informed about a McCann visit to the church in the early hours and wondered if the Bishop was aware of that and I also wished
to understand if any other catholic could do the same. Dom Manuel Quintas confirmed the McCanns had indeed been in the church
on that day at 5am, that the person who had given them the key that night was Susan Hubbard, the wife of the Anglican priest,
who had a key to the church at all times since her husband celebrated the Anglican mass there. Susan assured the Bishop the
McCanns wanted to pray without being harassed by the media. However, the Bishop told me: "I don't understand, that
day at 17h00 there was a mass where they went, surrounded by the media". Dom Manuel Quintas also added that when Susan
Hubbard found out about my hearing request, she got scared and inclusively, sought him, very worried. The Bishop told me that
he answered her queries saying that she should not be so worried if nothing unusual or wrong had happened. Hernâni Carvalho - Did the Bishop avoid discussing any issues? Paulo Sargento -
No. I'm not going to give you details, but the Bishop was very open and did not flinch at anything I asked to him. He
was willing, even, to resume contact for further questions or more information I needed. Interestingly, in that summer (2010),
Kate spent a week vacation in Canada, in the house of a family member of Susan Hubbard, the wife of the priest.
Construction Works
Back in
2007, the public area of the Village of Luz had been for months undergoing sanitation improvements and road works. Behind
the church there were ongoing construction works. Being a place of worship, various legal issues hampered a search there.
At the time, PJ sources admitted to the possibility that the girl's body could have passed through that location, or even,
to have been buried in the deactivated cemetery.
Page 99:
The Big Bluff
The British
police came to Portugal to investigate the Maddie case. They dug and went into the sewers looking for a dead girl or clues
that could lead to her whereabouts. The PJ had said the very same and had done those searches seven years ago.
• "A movie for the English to see," said an
elderly lady, mockingly, to CMTV recently. One and a half year ago the English police announced that they would find the girl
in a few days. So far nothing. Scotland Yard's work in Portugal is discussed by all in a very critical way. "They
haven't done anything that our PJ hasn't done years ago," stated a Portuguese in the same area. The searches
are causing discontent among tourists and locals as they consider them detrimental to tourism, now that the peak season begins.
Show Off
The
British police wanted the searches to be accompanied by the media but the PJ refused. Since the 2nd of June, Praia da Luz
in Lagos has a large team of policemen, geologists, archaeologists, cutting edge technology and also sniffer dogs. They all
come from England "under the supervision of PJ and the Public Prosecutor Office". In addition there are PJ inspectors,
GNR military officers on foot and horseback and Portuguese forest sappers. A setting worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster movie.
Stones, socks and bottles
The searches and excavations of the English police in Luz highlights the acknowledgement that they are looking for
a body. The PJ had reached that same conclusion seven years ago. The English police began by excavating a field near Rua 25
de Abril, 600 metres away from the apartment from where the girl disappeared. An area equal to three football fields, a slope
hill, which belongs to the Belmiro de Azevedo Group [SONAE] and is frequented by locals and tourists for leisurely walks. They collected animal bones, two cannabis plants, stones,
soil samples, a sock and bottles and kept everything in boxes.
Nothing
There are no findings to sustain the theory of the British authorities.
They argue that Maddie's body is in that place or that there are clues that may lead to her whereabouts. They also claim
that they have a group of eight suspects(?). Explaining that they have extended the searches because they have concluded (only
now?) that the terrain is more difficult to analyse than predicted. These places had already been thoroughly searched by the
Portuguese police immediately after the disappearance of the girl. In fact, until September 11, 2007, the PJ had investigated
over 2500 false leads.
Millions of Euros
The 37 officers of the London Metropolitan Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine have cost the British
Crown about 6 million pounds (7.4 million euros). Besides the first investigation, Portugal has had a team of six inspectors
of the PJ in Faro, for months, just to carry out the steps requested by the British and another team of inspectors from the
Northern Directorate of PJ, doing a review of the first investigation for the last two years. No one has, so far, established
the total cost to our country. The McCanns moved in early July 2007 to the Villa Vista Mar. At the average values of the property
market at the time, the total rent was calculated to have surpassed 6000 euros. The Renault Scénic where biological
traces were found, allegedly belonging to Maddie, was rented for 113 days, at the list price it cost 7990 euros.
Maddie 3 May 2007 In Praia da Luz in the Algarve, the parents of
Madeleine, who would be four years old just a few days later, cried "abduction" when they noticed Maddie had disappeared
from the apartment where they had left her alone with her younger twin siblings. "Homicide", said
the PJ a few days later. After a lot of press, suspects, searches, investigations to everyone's taste and seven years
later, there is nothing.
The sighting by the Smith family
Praia da Luz, 03 May 2007, just before 10:00pm
The Smith family, from Ireland,
are returning to their apartment after a night out in Praia da Luz.
As they walk, they pass a man carrying
a child in his arms. The man averts his eyes from them to signal that he does not wish to speak.
Four months later,
back in Ireland, the Smith family are watching TV.
They see the McCanns return to the UK and observe Gerry McCann
alight the aeroplane and walk across the tarmac with a sleeping Sean in his arms.
The father, Martin Smith, is
shocked. He recognises the walking style and the way the child is being held against the shoulder.
It is exactly
like the man he saw on the streets of Praia da Luz, four months earlier.
Image detail from 'Unidentified People of Interest to the Inquiry' page
21 January 2014
Text version of relevant section above:
Have you seen these men? Do you know who they might
be?
These two pictures show a man carrying a child away from the family's apartment. This sighting
was seen by a witness at 21:15 on the evening of Thursday, May 3rd, 2007.
Based or more recent information, the
Metropolitan Police now believe this man may represent a guest at the Ocean Club who was carrying his daughter back to their
apartment. However as it is not possible to be certain that these two men are actually the same person, if you have seen this
man in the pictures or suspect who it may be, please contact the Metropolitan Police's OPERATION GRANGE on 0207 321 9251
(0044 207 321 9251 from outside the UK) or Operation.Grange@met.pnn.police.uk
and/or the Find Madeleine team on +44 845 838 4699 or investigation@findmadeleine.com.
We believe
we have identified the man who was seen by Jane Tanner carrying a child at about 21.15 near the apartment G5A. These images
are the original sketch of that person made at the time together with a Met Police photo of the British holidaymaker who we
have spoken to and is seen here wearing the clothes he believes he may have been wearing that evening. The images are: man
holding child & man without child.
Michael Schneider: Searching For Madeleine
Michael Schneider, a self-proclaimed "clairvoyant"
from Siegburg, Germany, travels to Albufeira in Portugal, in mid-December 2013, to search for the body of Madeleine McCann.
He says: "I got the inspiration that she is dead and that she is located in the Algarve."
Put yourself in the mind of a detective and work it out for yourself
Or put yourself in the place of a
parent, and ask "If you had let your child go on holiday with the McCanns and they lost her, would you accept their version?"
These articles contain factual evidence and statements from the official files. It is quite possible that this 'public
but hidden' evidential material will amaze and worry you.
This e-book is a compilation of some documents relating
to specific parts of the continuing saga of the quest for the truth about the reported disappearance of Madeleine Beth McCann.
It is doubtful whether anyone in the literate civilised world does not know that Madeleine was reported missing by
her mother about 10 pm on 3rd May 2007, from an apartment in Praia de Luz, on the Algarve in Portugal.
The parents,
both doctors, immediately claimed that their daughter was abducted from her bed in the apartment in a block outside the holiday
complex, whilst the parents dined at a Tapas bar on the other side of the pool within the complex. They use an alleged sighting
of a man carrying a child along the road adjacent to the apartment within minutes of Gerry McCann's last check as evidence
of this abduction. They have refused to consider any other possibility, and have sued for libel people who have put forward
alternative theories.
They further insist that Madeleine was taken by a predatory paedophile, but then curiously
insist that there is no evidence that she has come to harm.
The local and then the national police attended, statements
were taken and the matter was investigated by a dedicated team. The police found themselves somewhat hampered by significant
changes and major inconsistencies in the stories given by the parents and the main witnesses, and the Senior Investigating
Officer began to suspect that they had not been told the whole truth for a particular reason.
British police officers
assisted, and on the advice of one co-ordinator two highly specialised search dogs were taken from the the UK to Portugal.
These dogs alerted to blood and human cadaverine in the apartment and on clothing and other items associated with Madeleine,
but to no other locations or items.
The McCanns sought legal assistance from one firm of lawyers who specialise
in defamation, and from another who specialise in extradition. Those choices in themselves have raised eyebrows.
They also very quickly set up a Limited Company and people were invited to make contributions to "Help the Search"
for Madeleine. As part of this purported search they spent a large amount of money on a firm of private detectives in Barcelona,
which has since closed with the arrest of the principal; a further large amount on a man who was subsequently extradited to
the USA where he was wanted for fraud; and finally on two retired police officers who set up a small company in a cottage
in Wales, some time after it had been announced that the firm had been contracted.
None has produced anything of
value.
Almost all the facts have been the subject of claim and counterclaim, of conflict of evidence, and above
all of the crushing financial and legal might of the best libel lawyers in the world bearing down on anyone who dares to express
a view different from the official one put out by the McCanns and their spokesperson. The amount attributable to legal fees
already substantially outweighs the amount paid to the various firms of private detectives.
It is important to
note however, that nothing which has been said or written has ever been proved to be libellous in a Court of Law, after proper
examination. Everything has been settled out of court, or by undertakings.
Readers may decide for themselves if
the official story is physically possible, or bears a proper relation to the observable facts.
One other test which
may be applied when examining the evidence it to look at any incongruence between what was said, and what was observed.
For example, this is what was said - about the 8th day of the "search"; the 8th day of the investigation
into the disappearance; 12th May 2007, Madeleine’s 4th birthday.
"We ate mostly in silence, concentrating
on the kids. I couldn't eat much, and alcohol was completely off my agenda. Fiona recalls that Gerry and I were completely
shut down that day, barely able to talk, and although our friends tried to remain cheerful and behave normally to get us through
it, they all felt awkward about being at this lovely villa, in the sunshine, in these circumstances. There was no cake. Gerry
did attempt a toast but he was visibly upset and couldn't manage much more than 'I can't even say happy birthday
to my daughter...' before choking up. The physical loss was more intense than ever. I ached for Madeleine." from
the book "madeleine", by Kate McCann - p. 128
This is what was observed as they emerged from a solemn
church service that morning.
In preparing the various chapters I have tried to rely on what witnesses
and the parents themselves said in their statements.
The statements have not been interpreted, but the obvious
inconsistencies and frequent changes of story have been left in and highlighted for readers to make up their own minds.
The structure of the e-book is that each chapter is in the form of a self contained monograph, with its own list of
references. For ease of research the original source material has also been appended in full where possible.
Although
that makes it slightly cumbersome it gives the reader instant access to the source material, so that any mistake or wrong
interpretation can be immediately identified.
If there are mistakes they are entirely mine. If anything has been
taken out of context this is my misunderstanding If I have quoted anything without giving a reference or acknowledgement,
I apologise.
There is much more to be said about this case, about the Limited Company, about the Private detectives,
and the way in which the media have been manipulated, but this is just a brief dip into the evidence for people who thought
they knew the story.
There are those who argue that this matter is one which should now be laid to rest, or that
the McCann’s version, or versions, should be accepted in its entirety.
To them I would say we should always
bear in mind the following:
Madeleine Beth McCann is missing. It is not know what happened to her. Her whereabouts
are unknown.
The search for her, or for her mortal remains must continue. The search for the truth about what happened
must continue.
No one should seek to prevent or to hinder either of those.
And in support of those ends
- No one with a valid theory or hypothesis should be crushed before the theory or hypotheses can be tested.
No
one with a differing point of view should be silenced, except by defeat in logical debate, or by production of evidence.
Bullying, victimisation, name-calling, "trolling" and other techniques have no place in the search for the
truth.
Nor in the search for a missing child.
It is not known why the McCanns do not publicly distance
themselves from the foul language and vile insults, threats and abuse directed by several blog sites against people who are
seeking the truth. Nor why they allowed evidence obtained by criminal activity to be adduced in support of their case.
Chapter 1 Changes in Story Changing the initial version of events is a classic 'red flag' warning to police.
Read more on the link above or download your copy of Michael McLeans' e-book here:
PDF Download:
Free e-book detailing the facts of the Madeleine McCann
case by Michael McLean (pdf, 3.01MB)
30 October 2013 Correio da Manhã
report that the PJ has strong evidence to believe that Madeleine's abductor was a former
employee of the Ocean Club who died in 2009 in a tractor accident.
They claim
this was the strongest new lead presented to state prosecutors - by the PJ team working
in Porto - which led to the investigation being reopened.
Gonçalo Amaral speaks about
how the 'Maddie' case has affected his family life, 29 October 2013
Gonçalo Amaral speaks about how the 'Maddie'
case has affected his family life Nova Gente (paper edition)
"I've been worried about my youngest daughter"
The former inspector says that he is tranquil with the ongoing trial and that there is too much "publicity
and misinformation" to keep a case in the media limelight that has caused severe moral damages to his life.
Article by Alexandra Ferreira Week from 21 to 27 of October 2013, edition 1936,
pages 42 to 46 Translation base/Scans by Rolanda Miguens Reid | Corrections/extras by
Joana Morais
How did you react to the news that the English Police are investigating new leads?
With calm and tranquillity. I know what this is about, what the authors intend with such news, but anyone
who has been following the case throughout the years, will be able to discern among the trashy publicity what is really at
stake, and that is an intolerable pressure over a Portuguese court.
Are there changes in the case?
There is no change, there is nothing really new, we continue as it was in 2008 when the process was archived. The
authors of the civil action seem to be very creative, so we need to wait for a bolt of their creativity and imagination.
In the ongoing trial which opposes you against the McCanns, they are asking you for 1.2 million euro for defamation.
What is a stake is a trial for the crime of having an opinion, something which is unthinkable in the free and democratic
Portugal post-25th of April [Carnation Revolution that freed Portugal from 48 years of dictatorship]. Actually, there are
no facts to sustain that demand for indemnification. (...) The authors of the action want others to believe that my
opinion as well as of those who worked with me, Portuguese and English police, which was expressed in the book and in the
documentary, has harmed their efforts to find the child and has caused them moral damages. However this premise lacks precise
facts.
Are you satisfied with the way the trial is going?
Common sense tells me not
to jump to conclusions, and to await with calm and serenity for the final decision. However, the publicity and the campaign
of misinformation and intoxication that is taking place, by the authors of the civil action, seems to indicate that they are
not very happy with the progress of the trial and feel the need to influence the outcome.
It was conspicuous
that the friends who dined with the McCanns on the night that Maddie disappeared were absent in court...
Perhaps it is just a strategy of the prosecution, but their absence was noted. The bottom line is, who better than those
who usually accompanied the authors on their holidays, a few years ago, and who visited their houses previous to the events
of May 3, 2007, to go to court and speak about the "before and after" of the couple's lives. The prosecution
preferred to call witnesses that only became friends and visitors of the couple after that event.
Was there
any testimony important for your defence?
It was important to unmask in a court hearing the psychologist
who had only a degree in Social Sciences, in the scope of which he did one psychology subject, that is, he wasn't a psychologist,
and he wasn't certified to make psychological assessments. Equally important were the testimonies of colleagues who worked
with me during the investigation into the disappearance, as well as the recalling an interview the authors gave to a weekly
newspaper [Expresso] in September 2008, a month after my book was published, where they devalued its contents and actually
said that they would not sue me... Well, such is life.
Was there a request for the case to be heard behind
close doors?
It is true, we wanted to prevent what is taking place now: judgements in the public arena
and campaigns of misinformation and intoxication which contribute nothing for a good judicial decision, which needs to be
free, objective and founded in Law.
While you were leading the investigation did you feel any pressures?
During that time our work was called into question and we were the target of insults, professionally
and personally, the campaign against us was despicable and shameful. The book Maddie - The Truth of the Lie
reports on the first six months of the criminal investigation. Then the process was archived in 2008. It is normal for an
investigation to go forward and backward, having a beginning, middle and an end. Therefore, it cannot be said that the case
was concluded or that the evidence that existed by the end of September [2007] was set aside or that it led to a different
result.
What was your impression of the McCann couple after you met them?
Apart from
the expectation of the child's mother that tea should be served to her and the father acting totally disinterested at
the time of an extortion attempt, I recall the fact of - and this is stated in the process - the father's first phone
calls to the UK where he referred to the disappearance as a kidnap by a paedophile ring. At the time, it could be understood
as a mere idea, but now it sounds more like an obsession.
Any reason as to why Kate didn't answer to more
than 40 questions?
With the status of arguida she had that right and used it. However, answering them
would be understood as the duty of a mother, as the obligation of a mother who was concerned about the disappearance of her
daughter, that wasn't afraid of answering questions no matter how sensitive those questions were.
What
type of feelings do the McCanns hold against you?
In my opinion, they hold a grudge and have a desire
for revenge, not only about me but also about all others who have their own opinion which differs to theirs, towards those
who won't allow themselves be influenced by their toxic media campaign.
Would you have liked to have
found their daughter?
We did everything to solve the case, however the authors of the civil action cooperated
very little or nothing, they have always appeared more worried about themselves, with their own image, something that still
happens today. I recall the words of the mother of the child when she was notified of her hearing as an arguida: "What
will the press say? What will my parents think?" We never heard a word of appreciation, from the mouth of the authors
of the civil action, for all the police officers working on the investigation, men and women who neglected their own families,
their own children and where far from their homes, while searching for their daughter. We only heard them saying, as soon
as the process was archived, that they were pondering suing the police. From all the investigators, they only sued one, the
one who has publicly, in the exercise of his right to defence and of freedom of expression, made known what had happened during
the first months of the criminal investigation.
---------------
"Surviving for six
years"
[Text to photo: VERY THIN With family issues, plus
the problems that he still has over the Maddie case and his worries about his daughter Inês, Gonçalo Amaral has
lost a considerable amount of weight.]
Since the Madeleine McCann case began, you saw your life turned
upside down. You were forced to retire early from the police, you got divorced, you moved to Lisbon away from your daughter
Inês, you lost your father with whom you were sharing a house, you fell ill and lost weight... those were very harsh
times.
The question already describes everything that has happened, except for my mother's death
in 2009, after a prolonged illness. At the time, on the sites that support the authors of the civil action, I was cowardly
and abusively accused of having murdered my mother, they even described how I would have done it. There are people who cannot
maintain objectivity, who cannot analyse the case without thinking of the names of those involved, if they could make that
kind of analysis, just considering the child who disappeared and the circumstances that surround that disappearance perhaps
they wouldn't feel the necessity of reviling and of breaching the privacy of someone who was merely trying to do their
job. As to my private life, the last six years were years of struggle, for the physical, mental and emotional survival, trying
to establish a new life, with projects and ideas as to the future, separating the situations.
You never
felt defeated or depressed?
Luckily, I don't know what it is like to feel depressed, the feeling of
defeat or of relinquishment are not part of my nature.
You won in the Appeals Court against the injunction
that forbade the publication of The Truth of the Lie, in which you made the investigation known. Have they returned
the books?
The books have been returned to the editor [Guerra & Paz], but I haven't been reimbursed
yet. There are still precautionary seizure of assets lodged by the authors of the civil action.
Any work
or books in the offing?
I have a book written entitled Madeleine: Unfinished Investigation [Madeleine:
Investigação Inacabada], for which I have not yet sought a publisher. I am writing another book related to my
experience as an investigator of organized and violent crimes, sort of a reflection about the way and methods used to investigate.
And after the trial?
My expectations for after the trial are to carry on with my life,
accompanying and helping those who are close to me, and if circumstances offer that possibility, to intervene with solidarity
in the Portuguese society. As my daughter Inês says, there are plenty of other children and young people who are in
need of healthy life projects, of being the actors and authors of their own lives, of being happy.
----------------
Amaral considers suing the McCanns for damages to his daughter
Have you considered suing the McCanns for damages concerning your family?
I have pondered
about that possibility, however it is still far to early to account for all the damages and make a decision. I have to think
about my daughter Inês and on the effects that such a situation would encompass.
How have you been
able to keep in touch with her?
It has been hard, distance doesn't help, but I try to be part of
Inês' life. Amidst all this, I have been seriously worried about my child, who, not so long ago asked what could
happen with this trial, if I could be arrested, etc. Inês is the same age that the child who disappeared would have
been if she was alive and reacts negatively to all the news that refers to this case, when the name of the child is spoken
she says she has had enough of hearing about the name. To her there are other children in the world who need the attention,
love and care and Inês is one of them. Her world was rocked when she saw her father being attacked and insulted, even
before the book was published, and that world of hers collapsed due to the subsequent circumstances, she had to abandon the
house where she was born, the school where she went and live far away from her father. Inês is a victim of the arrogance
and lack of common sense of the authors of the civil action, who claim to be Catholics, but as Christians appear to have little
or nothing.
Madeleine McCann, Crimewatch Appeal
- UK, Germany, The Netherlands
BBC Crimewatch - Broadcast 14 October 2013 BBC Crimewatch (update)
- Broadcast 14 October 2013 Opsporing Verzocht (Netherlands version) - Broadcast 15 October 2013 Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst (German version) - Broadcast 16 October 2013
Is The Sun right to use Madeleine McCann
to promote its website?, 18 October 2013
Is The Sun right to use Madeleine McCann to promote its website?
The Guardian
By Roy Greenslade Friday 18 October 2013 11.15 BST
Maybe I'm being unusually sensitive, but I find The Sun's latest
promotion for its website unbearably tasteless:
"It's the terrible mystery that has gripped us all –
what really happened to Madeleine McCann? In tomorrow's 12-page special pullout, The Maddie Files, we reveal:
The bungled investigation into her abduction... how Maddie's twin siblings are getting on… how Kate and Gerry
manage to keep strong. PLUS the full Maddie story in an exclusive ebook ONLY
for Sun+ members. If you're not already a member, join now."
Am I alone in thinking that this lure to
attract subscribers amounts to an intrusion into grief for commercial ends?
Scotland Yard reveal they are trawling through a vast log of mobile phone traffic identified
in Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.
click here
Scotland Yard New E-fit Announcement
Sky News announce that detectives are to issue
an e-fit image of a man seen near the holiday apartment from which Madeleine vanished in 2007.
click here
Scotland Yard Release E-fit Image
Two e-fit pictures of the same man with are released in
what is seen as a major development in the case.
click here
Jenny Murat: Kate McCann printed such
awful things about my Robert in her Madeleine book, 02 December 2012
Jenny Murat: Kate McCann printed such awful things about
my Robert in her Madeleine book Sunday Express
By James Murray Sunday December
2,2012
A MOTHER whose son was wrongly linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has hit out
at the way he is portrayed in a best-selling book about the mystery.
Briton Robert Murat was cleared of
any involvement in the case four years ago but Kate McCann's book Madelaine, about her missing daughter, has brought back
painful memories for Jenny Murat, 76.
Having seen the McCanns' suffering at the hands of the British press
highlighted in last week's Leveson report, she is anxious to stress her son's total innocence.
She and
Robert had hoped their nightmare would end in 2008 when he won £600,000 damages from British newspapers, but last night
at her home on the Algarve, Mrs Murat spoke of how still the "tragedy consumes us, day in, day out".
The
widow and former nurse said: "Kate of all people should know what it is like to be wrongly accused, so how can she be
comfortable repeating wrong allegations about my son in her book?"
In the book published last summer, Kate
wrote: "Two officers talked openly about Robert Murat, who remained an arguido [suspect] and drip-fed us snippets of
'evidence' linking him to Madeleine."
However, later in the book she writes: "Nothing we were
told by the police indicated Murat took Madeleine or was in any way involved in her abduction." Mrs Murat argues: "Surely
it would have been wiser not to mention the allegations from the outset if there was 'nothing relevant'."
The police spotlight fell on Robert 11 days after Madeleine vanished from the McCanns' holiday apartment in Praia
de Luz, Portugal in May 2007.
Mrs Murat said: "Robert was at my home throughout that night and thankfully
that is now fully accepted as fact. He did not leave once."
She feels Robert, too, should have been called
to give evidence to the Leveson inquiry.
She explained: "Again we were denied an opportunity to put our side
of the story. Robert was the subject of a most disgraceful character assassination, yet was not even invited to contribute
to the debate. His life has been hugely damaged. This tragedy consumes us, day in, day out."
She added: "Kate's
book and the resulting publicity did not help. I do feel sympathetic towards the McCanns and obviously wish they could find
their daughter. We can't fathom the hell they must go through but they seem oblivious to the impact all this has had on
our lives and the lives of others.
"We tried our best to help, but have ended being pilloried and abused and
still it goes on."
Mrs Murat, now working on her own book about the case, added: "I am sick of all the
half-truths and innuendos, so I do want a full and accurate record of the truth. It is important that our story is told."
Posted by John Blacksmith at 20:25 Sunday, 15 May 2011
On July 7 2008 Mrs Justice Hogg gave judgement in the Family Division of the High Court regarding the attempt
by Kate & Gerry McCann to gain access to all the Leicester Police documents regarding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
The judgement was by agreement between the parties and was made in open court.
M/S Kate McCann in her book
Madeleine has now provided an excerpt from the official submission of Leicester Police to the court regarding the
matter and outlining the reasons why they could not agree to provide the documents. Signed by the assistant chief constable
of Leicestershire it runs: "While one or both of them may be innocent, there is no clear evidence
that eliminates them from involvement in Madeleine's disappearance."
![PARENTS: Kate and Gerry McCann [PA]](sitebuilderpictures/DailyStar020615a.jpg)
![MADELINE: Before she disappeared in 2007 [GETTY]](sitebuilderpictures/DailyStar020615b.jpg)
![GAGGED: Goncalo Amaral claims he has been gagged by the McCanns after he wrote that they covered up their daughters disappearance in his book [TIM CLARKE]](sitebuilderpictures/dailystar180515.jpg)
![HOPE: Kate and Gerry McCann with poster of Madeleine [MERRY TIM]](sitebuilderpictures/dailystar150515.jpg)
![TROLLED: Kate McCann was bombarded with hate messages on the day of missing Maddie's 12th birthday [PA]](sitebuilderpictures/dailystar130515.jpg)
![HOPE: Police revealed they are probing 10 more break-ins in the area where Maddie disappeared [PA]](sitebuilderpictures/dailystar040515.jpg)
![TROLLS: Hundreds of abusive and threatening tweets, posts and messages were given as evidence [PA]](sitebuilderpictures/dailystar020515.jpg)
![TROLLED: Kate and Gerry McCann were accused of profiting from Maddie's disappearance [PA]](sitebuilderpictures/dailystar300415.jpg)
![MISSING: Maddie was three when she disappeared from a holiday flat in Praia da Luz [PA]](sitebuilderpictures/dailystar190315.jpg)
![MYSTERY: The hunt for Madeleine has cost £10million [EPA]](sitebuilderpictures/dailystar180315.jpg)
![Madeleine disappeared from a holiday apartment[PA]](sitebuilderpictures/de150814a.jpg)
![Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe remains steadfast in his commitment in the search [PA]](sitebuilderpictures/de150814b.jpg)
![Scotland Yard officers search for clues in Portugal in June [REUTERS]](sitebuilderpictures/de150814c.jpg)
