A brief history of the CMOMM Forum: a collection of activists and investigators

[Jill Havern]

A brief history of the CMOMM Forum: a collection of activists and investigators  

Compiled by a Forum member, 3 May 2018   

CMOMM came into existence on 25 November 2009 with 8 founder members. 

Today it is a giant forum with over 9,700 members. 

Apart from its great size, CMOMM has two special attributes. 

It is a forum for investigators. This is not a place to air just any old opinion on what happened to Madeleine McCann. It has always been a place where serious investigators, some better known, others who prefer to do their work quietly in the background. Investigators who are not shy of robust debate, but who throw out weakly-supported arguments and adopt those which have good and reliable evidence to support them.  

It is a forum for activists. That is, people who are not content just to sit at a keyboard contributing to a forum, valuable though that may be in itself, but who reach out into the world with public letters, petitions, books and videos. 

First, a list of the better-known investigators and activists who are or have been members here, and who post here and contribute and post in their own names (in alphabetical order), and their main achievements: 

Tony Bennett - campaigner
Set up Madeleine Foundation
Wrote ’60 Reasons’ (2008)
Wrote ‘Madeleine McCann Vol. 1’
Wrote many original research articles
Initiated petitions
Interviewed for TV and radio 

Richard Hall - film-maker
(Joined 2014)
Made five long documentaries on Madeleine McCann
His films have had an estimated 20-million-plus views on YouTube
Presents information about Madeleine McCann on his tours 

Jill Havern  - CMOMM Forum owner
Created, designed and maintains the forum
Wrote several letters to Prime Ministers and Met Police Commissioners
Has proofread, edited and published PeterMac's e-book

Peter MacLeod ‘PeterMac’ - former Police Superintendent
Produced a comprehensive 31-chapter FREE e-book covering most aspects of the evidence in the case
Conducted a huge amount of original research
Led the CMOMM investigation into the date of the so-called ‘Last Photo’

Has sent copies of his e-book and much other evidence directly to Operation Grange and others, including journalists 

Lizzy Taylor/ ‘HideHo’ - researcher and video-maker

Producer of 280 YouTube videos (by 'HideHo4'), universally acknowledged to be meticulously researched. Her videos on YouTube have also attracted a total of 20 million or more views

Over the years these four have compared notes with each other and with many others both on CMOMM and elsewhere. There is a great deal of agreement between all four on what really happened to Madeleine McCann. 

A group of CMOMM members also formed a research group called the Madeleine McCann Research Group (MMRG). 

A DIARY OF ACTIVISM BY CMOMM MEMBERS 

Some dates are approximate. With sincere apologies to anyone whose activism is not recorded in this list (tell us if something is missing and we will gladly add it to the list!), here is the CMOMM ‘Diary of Activism’: 

2007 

Nov 15   Tony Bennett attempts to bring private prosecution against the McCanns in Leicestershire & Rutland Magistrates Court for neglect – rejected by the court on the grounds that the court was not sure it had jurisdiction  

2008 

Jill Havern sets up NHS Abuse of Power blog to highlight the Madeleine McCann case
Jill Havern later sets up the ‘Gonçalo Amaral - The 'Truth of the Lie' blog


25 Jan   Madeleine Foundation formed
7 Aug    Madeleine Foundation website went live
7 Dec    ‘60 Reasons’ by Tony Bennett published

7 Dec     Madeleine Foundation publishes a proposed ‘Madeleine’s Law’ recommending the law be changed to make it a crime to leave children under 12 on their own


2009 

Jan        Tony Bennett interviewed by James Whale, Talk Sport, Radio Europe, BBC Radio 5 Live and several other stations

Jan        Madeleine Foundation petition in support of ‘Madeleine’s Law’ – received reply from the Prime Minister

Jan 7    Tony Bennett writes submission to Parliamentary Committee on Press Standards and Libel and is invited to attend the hearing on 10 March

Feb & Mar   With the help of public donations, the Madeleine Foundation’s ’60 Reasons’ booklet is mailed out to all 650 Members of Parliament, dozens of members of the House of Lords, and dozens of editors, journalists and other people of note: 40 MPs reply
  

March    Madeleine Foundation produces 4-page ‘10 Reasons’ leaflet

Mar 10  Tony Bennett and other members of the Madeleine Foundation attend  Parliamentary Committee on Press Standards and Libel 

Jul 13    Madeleine Foundation Petition calling for an inquiry into police conduct and government involvement in the McCann case – and Madeleine Foundation letter to Prime Minister, Gordon Brown in support of the petition

Aug 1    First Madeleine Foundation 1-day Conference held in Harlow, Essex

Aug 14   ‘10 Reasons’ leaflet distributed in Leicestershire towns and villages, including Rothley

Aug 16   Front page coverage in the Sunday Express: ‘The McCanns’ Stalker’

Sep 2   Lizzy Taylor publishes ‘McCanns on Oprah Winfrey’ show on YouTube – over 1.1 million views to date

Oct 3    Madeleine Foundation Public Meeting, Cardiff

Nov 14  Madeleine Foundation Public Meeting at The Friar Penketh, Warrington

Nov 25  Jill Havern sets up what was to become The Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann forum

Nov 25  Tony Bennett signs High Court undertakings not to libel the McCanns. ’60 reasons’ banned and withdrawn from sale  

2010  

Jan 9-12   Madeleine Foundation Chairman Grenville Green and his son Stephen visit Portugal, attend the first hearing of McCanns v Gonçalo Amaral, meet with Gonçalo Amaral and present him with a small gift from England

Feb 5     Madeleine Foundation published 'Madeleine McCann Case Files: Volume 1'

Feb 27/28   Two-day Madeleine Foundation Conference in Nuthall Village Hall, Nottingham; 25 attend including a BBC reporter, Simon Hare  

Mar 12   Madeleine Foundation open letter to Home Secretary, Alan Johnson re: Secret meetings about a Review of the Madeleine McCann case

Mar 20   Madeleine Foundation submits FOI Act request to the Home Office about a review or re-investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

May 2     Madeleine Foundation open letter to Clarence Mitchell re: Jon Corner's video and the Make-Up photo

May 3    Madeleine Foundation letter to Jim Gamble re: FOI Act questions and CEOP’s relationship with the McCanns

Jun 19 & 20   Two day public meeting of the Madeleine Foundation – Bristol

Jul 9      Madeleine Foundation submits FOI Act questions re Theresa May’s meeting with the McCanns

Jul 13   Madeleine Foundation letter to the Home Office

Jul 13   Madeleine Foundation FOI Act questions re: CEOP

Jul 17   Madeleine Foundation ‘Gonçalo Amaral Awareness Day’  - leaflets handed out in Bristol – filmed by BBC 'Inside Out' team 

Oct 2    Petition for a full public enquiry into Madeleine McCann's disappearance handed in to 10 Downing Street by four members of the Madeleine Foundation

Nov 22   BBC - Inside Out 10-minute documentary on the Madeleine Foundation aired
 
2011

May 9   Two Madeleine Foundation members visit Arthur Cowley’s cottage on Halkyn Mountain, the alleged headquarters of ALPHAIG – to expose this bogus company created by Brian Kennedy and his friends

Jul 4    Madeleine Foundation letter to Theresa May, the Home Secretary, about her proposed re-investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

Jul 23    Madeleine Foundation FOI Act question - Who told Clarence Mitchell, at 'briefings', that this was 'a stranger abduction' - and when?

Oct 2     Two members of Madeleine Foundation visit Operation Grange and speak to the Deputy Investigator DI Tim Dobson and hand in a dossier featuring research on the dodgy and dishonest McCann Team private investigators

Nov 27   Lizzy Taylor publishes ‘Who Died in the McCanns’ apartment? – over 292,000 views on YouTube so far
 
2012 

Feb 6    CMOMM member Criminal Profiler Pat Brown visits Tony Bennett in the UK en route to Praia da Luz to meet Gonçalo Amaral and PeterMac to investigate the crime scene around apartment 5a and conduct a search for Madeleine.

Jun 22  Lizzy Taylor publishes Gonçalo Amaral’s ‘Truth of the Lie’ film on YouTube – over 1.1 million have viewed this so far 

2013 

Feb 21  Tony Bennett sentenced to 3 months in prison, suspended, for breaking the injunction he signed in 2009

2014       

‘PeterMac’ conducts original research on the ‘Last Photo’ and leads a research team which concludes that the Last Photo could only have been taken on Sunday 29 April, not Thursday 3 May  

7 Aug    Richard Hall publishes 1^st Madeleine McCann documentary: ‘True Story of Madeleine McCann’

2 Sep    Tony Bennett FOI Act requests re Madeleine McCann – (1) Contacts between the Met Police and BBC Crimewatch:  Request refused as 'vexatious' and (2) request to the Home Office about the selective leaking to the media of a confidential report by Jim Gamble, former head of CEOP

5 Sep    Tony Bennett  FOI Act request to Leicestershire Constabulary about the 'co-ordination group' set up under the chairmanship of their Head of Corporate Communications

19 Sep  Tony Bennett FOI Act requests - Met Police – (1) questions about the 'Smithman' sighting (2)  Meetings with authors Anthony Summers & Robbyn Swan

2015
 
Jill Havern sets up CMOMM Facebook Group which now has thousands of members 

Apr 14   Richard Hall publishes 2^nd Madeleine McCann documentary: ‘The Phantoms’

Jul 6    Lizzy Taylor publishes ‘Kate McCann's 'Killer Look' - Rare Footage’ on YouTube - over 450,000 views so far

Dec 12   Tony Bennett  -  Three new FOI Act requests re Operation Grange  

2016
 
Feb 20   Richard Hall publishes 3^rd  Madeleine McCann documentary: ‘When Madeleine Died?’

Mar 15  Madeleine Foundation Open letter to Bates Wells Braithwaite & HaysMacIntyre re Francisco Marco

Apr 29    Tony Bennett attends 10 Downing  Street to present petition calling for the Home Office to order a report on Operation Grange. The petition attracted 3,111 signatures

Sep 26  Jill Havern writes open letter to new Prime Minister Theresa May demanding a proper investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance 

Nov 25    Richard Hall publishes 4th  Madeleine McCann documentary : Interview with Peter Hyatt Statement Analyst – 'Embedded Confessions'

‘PeterMac’ publishes free e-book with comprehensive analysis of numerous key evidential aspects of the Madeleine McCann case 
 
2017 

Mar 21  Jill Havern writes to Huddersfield University Ethics Committee and the British Psychological Society about an absurd, flawed article about alleged ‘McCann trolls’ by John Synnott and Dr Maria Ioannout (The researchers had made false claims about cadaver dogs)

May 20   Unnamed CMOMM member writes long, detailed letter to the Prime Minister, submitting many facts and unanswered questions, and asking for a proper investigation   

Jun 12    Jill Havern writes letters to the Prime Minister and to the new Head of the Met Police, Cressida Dick, demanding a proper investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance

Apr 7   Richard Hall publishes 5th Madeleine McCann documentary: ‘Madeleine: Why the Cover-Up?’
 
2018  

Mar 3  Tony Bennett - FOI Act request – Met Police - Regarding the Madeleine McCann investigation being carried out by Operation Grange

Mar 13   MMRG sent 20-page letter in Portuguese sent to the Portuguese Attorney-General giving a dossier of evidence showing that Madeleine probably died on Sunday 29 April 2007

Mar 28   Reply from Portuguese Attorney-General saying she has passed our evidence to the Attorney-General based in Faro

Apr 24   Tony Bennett - New Home Office FOI Act request: (A) Procedures for approving grants to Operation Grange (B) Costs to Portugal of helping Operation Grange


2019

Rest assured, the MMRG and CMOMM don't rely on poignant years, anniversaries, siginificant dates or any other marked occassion to continue their journey in quest of justice for little Madeleine McCann.  You may not think anything is happening but there is plenty going on behind the scenes.

So our unrelenting journey continues into 2019 and will undoubtedly continue into the year 2020 and onwards until, if ever, the complete mystery of Madeleine McCann is satisfactorily resolved by an official investigative force.  With the help of our forum members and other dedicated good people, we will pursue our journey to the bitter end.  There is always more work to do, always something old or new to investigate or review.

From the year 2018 into 2019, in addition to lengthy debate on a variety of topics, correspondence in the form of letters, Freedom of Information requests, petitions etc are being circulated to remind the authorities that we are not going away until Madeleine McCann receives the justice she so richly deserves.  As many will be aware, one year ago a letter was sent to the Portuguese authorities, providing new evidence and detailing the conclusions of the strenuous work undertaken by the MMRG and CMOMM over the past years.  As and when anything new is uncovered, that will also be sent to Portugal for their consideration.

Esteemed forum member PeterMac continues to add chapters to his well researched e-book which is available to read online without charge.

Esteemed forum member Paulo Reis, a Portuguese freelance journalist, has written a book entitled 'A Guerra dos McCann', already on sale in Portuguese - his native language and an English version 'The McCann's War' released at the end of April 2019.

Collectively, we continue to promote insightful commentary from a variety of sources as well as highlighting the disgraceful establishment coverage of the case, even after twelve years.  The twelfth anniversary is on the horizon which will inevitably produce new topics for discussion and more information to add to the ever growing forum reference sections.

MMRG and CMOMM are here to stay.  Even when the case finally fades away, this fourm will be here as a comprehensive reference source and a reminder that there are good people out there who truly care about the mystery of Madeleine McCann.  This case will go down in history, we will be part of that documentary.

Our crusade for justice will never end


With special thanks to all CMOMM members past and present, without whom a lot of this wouldn't have been possible.