Mark Warner/Ocean Club

I'm putting this up for discussion, views and opinions. with extracts (below) taken from the article written by Blackwatch on 23rd April 2009

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Mark Warner do not own the Ocean Club. Not in the sense that they own any literal bricks and mortar, it would appear Mark Warner provide the creche and sports facilities. At the time of the disappaearence in May 2007 they had controlling rights to only 27 or so apartments within the whole sprawling Ocean Club village. Mark Warner only took over these apartments in April 2007 - just weeks before Madeleine went missing - a detail confirmed by Melinda Libby in a report dated 20th April 2007. Mark Warner's contract - at least at the time of the disappearence - appears to have been with George Robin Crosland whose parallel business, George Properties Ltd owned the administration rights to the 27 properties.

If something happened which resulted in Mark Warner losing their tour operator license (eg accidental death in one of the apartments) - then Crosland, Symington and Garveigh (Ocean Club Owners) would win back rights to manage the resort. However, if Crosland, Symington and Garveigh lost their tour operator license the vast majority of the resort would be in jeopardy and the Mark Warner contract would be null and void. A fatal accident would seriously undermine the plans of all parties

Such an accident couldn't have been more poorly timed for the partners or Mark Warner. If, on the otherhand Mark Warner were able to support the idea that it was an abduction - at the expense of all other explanations, then any liability resulting from an accident would naturally have been negligible (and property could have been picked up at reduced prices). And much the same thing could be extended to any of their property rivals

So the only way the 10 year contract with Crosland's George Properties can be terminated is if either Crosland's or Mark Warner's licenses as a tour operators was either suspended, withdrawn or revoked by either ATOL or ABTA (which, in theory at least, Madeleine's disappearance from either the apartment or the creche could realistically have brought about)

In 2005, Mark Warner was forced to launch an investigation into the standards of its childcare after two of its nannies were sacked for endangering the lives of a group of toddlers at its Les Deux Alpes resort. Naturally, if it was decided that the McCanns themselves were responsible for their daughter's disappearence, Mark Warner's license as a tour operator would be safe

Why would Mark Warner let Gerry McCann back on the Ocean Club site in April 2009 to resurrect a media circus that had caused them losses of over loss of £2.8m?

Bell Pottinger and Chime Communications (owned by former Tory Spin-Doctor, Tim Bell) are another interested party who have managed to capitalise on the disaster. In fact, results for 2007 showed crisis management group's operating income rising 24 per cent to £97m while profits were 29 per cent higher at £15.7m. All three of its divisions - public relations, advertising and marketing, and research - hit their targets and boosted profits year-on-year, growing faster than the actual market. The news came only five years after investors had been preparing for the company's closure. The company's founder, Lord Bell said it was currently exploiting a climate that was seeing "no sign of any slowdown" (the group also handled managed the scandal that surrounded McLaren in its spying dispute with Ferrari). In complete contrast to general market trends, it seems there is obvious capital to be gained in the disaster industries. Bell Pottinger et al have proved that there is not only drama to be made out of a crisis, but inordinate sums of money too. It exploits a rich new seam of disaster capitalism. And the longer a crisis goes on, the longer it will require managing.

Robert Murat, son of Algarve property developer, John Henry Queriol Murat, had in recent years been developing his own property interests with the Romigen enterprise with his German girlfriend, Michaela Walczuch. Romigen's website was designed by Sergey Malinka who had worked on several property websites in the past. James Gorrod - the friend of O Brien and Tanner was himself a solicitor specialising in property and construction at Foot Ansteys in Exeter. The fact that Murat was alleged to have been renovating a property in Exeter in April 2007, makes one wonder if the pair had ever crossed paths before.

Mark Warner handled (and continue to handle as far as I am aware) the package deals and the booking side of things for what is now a good number of properties on behalf of the Ocean Club owners - John Garveigh, George Robin Crosland and David Symington (a distant cousin of Robert Murat). The partners have their own management team in place, including John Hill - the Ocean Club's operations manager

The resort is based around an entire village - a village resort that Roberts Murat's father helped put together. Robert Murat is the son of Algarve property developer, John Henry Queriol Murat. Murat's use of the word 'scapegoat' was always an unsual detail. In a Daily Mail report he makes no secret of the fact that he is proud to be part of an old Portuguese 'wine' family. Because of this (and his numerous appearence on ancestry websites) it seems inconceivable that Murat didn't know he was related to the Ocean Club owner himself, David Symington, heir to Portugal's most famous wine family and whose sprawling Ocean Club complex surrounded his villa on all sides

Some members of The Three Arguidos forum are asking if the helpful and trustworthy 'cousin' Murat got drawn into somekind of crisis that night - something that was certainly not of his own making but one that he became a pawn in? One we can say for certain is that Murat did get drawn into a crisis. What isn't certain is who drew him into it and the exact nature of the part he played.

"Basically, I'm just an ordinary, straightforward guy who's the victim of the biggest f***-up on this planet - if you'll excuse the language ... If you want my opinion, it had to involve someone on the inside, who works at the Ocean Club." - Robert Murat speaking to David Jones of the Daily Mail, June 02nd 2007 (two weeks after being made a suspect - not in 2008 as Reis reports).

A flabbergasted reaction to events or a subtle threat about spilling the beans?

jd wrote:I'm putting this up for discussion, views and opinions. with extracts (below) taken from the article written by Blackwatch on 23rd April 2009

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Mark Warner do not own the Ocean Club. Not in the sense that they own any literal bricks and mortar, it would appear Mark Warner provide the creche and sports facilities. At the time of the disappaearence in May 2007 they had controlling rights to only 27 or so apartments within the whole sprawling Ocean Club village. Mark Warner only took over these apartments in April 2007 - just weeks before Madeleine went missing - a detail confirmed by Melinda Libby in a report dated 20th April 2007. Mark Warner's contract - at least at the time of the disappearence - appears to have been with George Robin Crosland whose parallel business, George Properties Ltd owned the administration rights to the 27 properties.

They were in negociation at that time (when Madeleine went missing) to buy the Ocean Club and now do own it.

If something happened which resulted in Mark Warner losing their tour operator license (eg accidental death in one of the apartments) - then Crosland, Symington and Garveigh (Ocean Club Owners) would win back rights to manage the resort. However, if Crosland, Symington and Garveigh lost their tour operator license the vast majority of the resort would be in jeopardy and the Mark Warner contract would be null and void. A fatal accident would seriously undermine the plans of all parties

Such an accident couldn't have been more poorly timed for the partners or Mark Warner. If, on the otherhand Mark Warner were able to support the idea that it was an abduction - at the expense of all other explanations, then any liability resulting from an accident would naturally have been negligible (and property could have been picked up at reduced prices). And much the same thing could be extended to any of their property rivals

Mark Warner's childcare was being checked out by the BBC's Whistleblower programme around this time and found wanting
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So the only way the 10 year contract with Crosland's George Properties can be terminated is if either Crosland's or Mark Warner's licenses as a tour operators was either suspended, withdrawn or revoked by either ATOL or ABTA (which, in theory at least, Madeleine's disappearance from either the apartment or the creche could realistically have brought about)

In 2005, Mark Warner was forced to launch an investigation into the standards of its childcare after two of its nannies were sacked for endangering the lives of a group of toddlers at its Les Deux Alpes resort. Naturally, if it was decided that the McCanns themselves were responsible for their daughter's disappearence, Mark Warner's license as a tour operator would be safe

Why would Mark Warner let Gerry McCann back on the Ocean Club site in April 2009 to resurrect a media circus that had caused them losses of over loss of £2.8m?

Bell Pottinger and Chime Communications (owned by former Tory Spin-Doctor, Tim Bell) are another interested party who have managed to capitalise on the disaster. In fact, results for 2007 showed crisis management group's operating income rising 24 per cent to £97m while profits were 29 per cent higher at £15.7m. All three of its divisions - public relations, advertising and marketing, and research - hit their targets and boosted profits year-on-year, growing faster than the actual market. The news came only five years after investors had been preparing for the company's closure. The company's founder, Lord Bell said it was currently exploiting a climate that was seeing "no sign of any slowdown" (the group also handled managed the scandal that surrounded McLaren in its spying dispute with Ferrari). In complete contrast to general market trends, it seems there is obvious capital to be gained in the disaster industries. Bell Pottinger et al have proved that there is not only drama to be made out of a crisis, but inordinate sums of money too. It exploits a rich new seam of disaster capitalism. And the longer a crisis goes on, the longer it will require managing.

Robert Murat, son of Algarve property developer, John Henry Queriol Murat, had in recent years been developing his own property interests with the Romigen enterprise with his German girlfriend, Michaela Walczuch. Romigen's website was designed by Sergey Malinka who had worked on several property websites in the past. James Gorrod - the friend of O Brien and Tanner was himself a solicitor specialising in property and construction at Foot Ansteys in Exeter. The fact that Murat was alleged to have been renovating a property in Exeter in April 2007, makes one wonder if the pair had ever crossed paths before.

Mark Warner handled (and continue to handle as far as I am aware) the package deals and the booking side of things for what is now a good number of properties on behalf of the Ocean Club owners - John Garveigh, George Robin Crosland and David Symington (a distant cousin of Robert Murat). The partners have their own management team in place, including John Hill - the Ocean Club's operations manager

The resort is based around an entire village - a village resort that Roberts Murat's father helped put together. Robert Murat is the son of Algarve property developer, John Henry Queriol Murat. Murat's use of the word 'scapegoat' was always an unsual detail. In a Daily Mail report he makes no secret of the fact that he is proud to be part of an old Portuguese 'wine' family. Because of this (and his numerous appearence on ancestry websites) it seems inconceivable that Murat didn't know he was related to the Ocean Club owner himself, David Symington, heir to Portugal's most famous wine family and whose sprawling Ocean Club complex surrounded his villa on all sides

Robert Murat must have known his connection with David Symington and his son Angus Symington the "famous" double who looks like him. Notice none of the papers made any connection between Angus Symington and Murat or even Angus & owners of Ocean Club. They were both in property in a small sleepy village.

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Some members of The Three Arguidos forum are asking if the helpful and trustworthy 'cousin' Murat got drawn into somekind of crisis that night - something that was certainly not of his own making but one that he became a pawn in? One we can say for certain is that Murat did get drawn into a crisis. What isn't certain is who drew him into it and the exact nature of the part he played.

"Basically, I'm just an ordinary, straightforward guy who's the victim of the biggest f***-up on this planet - if you'll excuse the language ... If you want my opinion, it had to involve someone on the inside, who works at the Ocean Club." - Robert Murat speaking to David Jones of the Daily Mail, June 02nd 2007 (two weeks after being made a suspect - not in 2008 as Reis reports).

A flabbergasted reaction to events or a subtle threat about spilling the beans?

I think that either Murat or Angus Symington were involved in some way with this and this is why Mark Warner were so keen to help the McCanns in the first instance so their sale could go ahead on buying the Ocean Club.

Yes. This is where I think the answer to the case of missing Madeline McCann lies. In short, Business. It all fits everything and makes complete sense. If you look deeper you will find the owners direct connections to the heart of government and the powers of our country

The owners all had a huge amount to lose after a fatal accident on their resort and the only way out was to make a fake abduction. They could not only lose their license in PDL but with having another incident the year before at one of their other resorts, they stood the chance of losing their license in all their resorts, in business terms this is huge for them. In their position, they had just bought into the resort but within a few weeks on a long term business plan they are now in a situation they are likely to renege on the contract, they can only do what they have to and create the solution that saves them business wise. I believe now they put the McCanns with no option but to go along with the abduction story. Why would the Mccanns agree? Threats of suing the McCanns, of them losing their medical license, having the twins taken away, prison etc, you can be sure if the owners were going to be sued and lose their license & contract which would affect all their other business interests, they would sure be taking the McCanns down with them.

Getting the media involved immediately, setting up funds in record time, and many many other things can only have derived from people who already had these well established connections and the owners did. All things to add weight to the abduction story

What I think they miscalculated on was just how huge this story would be become. I am sure they thought after a few weeks or months it would die down and the McCanns would have made some money in what they viewed as compensation for helping the story and the owners also promised that they would give Maddie a respectable burial. (GM hoping that 'Maddie wasn't buried here" is one quote). But they miscalculated just how much the public cared for Maddie and how much they would fall in love with her, as well as connecting themselves that the 'abduction' could easily happen to them on an Algarve family holiday. It got so big and the goalposts changed and with other prominent figures joining the bandwagon, it changed to a big money making scam with a story that could continue run and run for years on end, which everybody involved wins. Making 1.5m in donations in the first week changed the goalposts

The Tapas 9 total inconsistent statements and retractions prove that they are not at all well versed in making fake abduction stories, and when put into practice so many mistakes were made which we have all picked up on. Now they can only make reactive statements

Charlotte Pennington and her involvement makes sense now as does Robert Murat's. Look at the mobile phone activity between May 1st and May 3rd, to me it also suggests that Maddie had her accident 29th/30th April. No-one can deny that Murat was one of central figures in the area (business wise) and his behaviour & self confidence in getting himself so involved at the start would back this up. His comments "Basically, I'm just an ordinary, straightforward guy who's the victim of the biggest f***-up on this planet - if you'll excuse the language ... If you want my opinion, it had to involve someone on the inside, who works at the Ocean Club." really speaks volumes and probably the nearest quote to the truth there has been made. Put yourself in his shoes, why would you say that if you didn't know the owners involvement. Of course it was an indirect threat to the owners because he was being stitched up and made the scapegoat. The Smith sighting was created to get him off the hook as a suspect, note Smith specifically says it was definitely not Murat he saw....

The only question I cannot answer with this theory, is why they all turned on Murat? The nearest I can come to an answer is they started when Lori Campbell went to the police with her suspicions. If she reported her suspicions in good faith then good on her for having the courage of her convictions and I commend her very highly. But is the Campbell booked in at the resort on May 2nd the same person?? if it is then this would add significant weight to the fake abduction story

It is interesting to note the Tapas 9 furiously retracted their accusations of Murat early 2008 and subsequent comments from KM that she never believed he was ever involved (this from her book I think). Certain people out there scared he would spill the beans if he went down for it come to mind. Though he was not suspect early 2008, he still was in most peoples eyes and the suspicions would not go away and his comments in the media would suggest that he was getting angrier by the day that his life had been ruined, he was a bubble waiting to burst

Anyway "I'm just an ordinary, straightforward guy" with a theory of the truth, and the more I learn and the deeper I dig this one always stands up to scrutiny

I'm thinking Socrates when making his decisions, only thought about money and business and not a little girl called Madeleine Beth McCann.

jd, I'm a great admirer of your posts but I'm having a problem with what you are saying.

Of course Mark Warner doesn't want bad publicity, no business does.

But if Madeleine had a fatal accident through her parents carelessness or neglect why would Mark Warner want a cover up? Such an accident would not harm their business.

Now if Madeleine had a fatal accident due to something unsafe in the apartment/on the complex then Mark Warner would want to cover it up - BUT - the Mccanns wouldn't. they would be rightly angry and the innocent parties. they would have no reason to cover it up and they could sue Mark Warner for damages.

Only if there was an abduction is there a reason for the Mccanns and MarkWarner to work together.

The abduction clearly hurt their business as many believed it, and still do.

It's a good theory jd, but if you think about it the abduction has harmed the business in more ways, of not only Mark Warner, but the whole of PDL. If the press are to be believed, tourists stopped going there, especially those with families. Many, many workers were laid off from the Mark Warner complex in PDL, everyone suffered. Even the lady that owned 5a, couldn't sell the apartment, and probably other owners had the same problem, probably having to reduce their prices significantly.

RM cancelled his flight to UK so he could "assist" with the investigation. When the police didn't need him further he hung out with the press. He was assisting somebody, which party I wonder.

Thanks for your answers, I wanted this theory to be ripped to shreds to see if it is still left standing after to be scrutinised!!!

Why would the McCanns go along with it? This I have been thinking long and hard about and in addition to what I posted earlier, they might also be guilty too by having given Maddie drugs which they could be sued for, for example. Something to do with her medical condition could implicate them with what they did, they won't release her medical records. As a result they could face losing the twins as well and possibly their medical license to practice. And they didn't want her toothbrush/hairbrush to be found for tests which they proved when GM ridiculously says the 3 kids all shared the one

What has always bugged me was the quickness of all the media, authorities and might of the government were behind them, the quickness of the fund etc. If we are to believe that they were just doctors on a holiday whose child was abducted then this is impossible to achieve in such a short space of time unless there are already established contacts and connections. The only ones who I would say already had these was the Ocean Club owners/Mark Warner

Which leads me to ask why would they use these contacts unless they had a interest in it. The only reason I think they would have an interest is any effect the fatal accident would have to their operating license and future business. The article suggests that they could be sued for a fatal accident and lose their ABTA license. Also, the extract of the contract says if Mark Warner lose their license they would negate on the contract with Ocean Club. The contracts would be very revealing

The answer lies with what exactly happened to Maddie before May 3rd and both parties could be implicated for different reasons

It is a very good point that the business suffered greatly as a result of the abduction theory, but I believe they never imagined this would ever become so big as it has. I believe in trying to make it as believable as possible with no evidence of an abduction, they used the media as part of the sell and believed that in a few weeks or months the story would die right down. And people would forget, like they normally do, so the impact to the business would be minimal and only effect the business in the short term. The longer term would be more important. But they badly miscalculated and as RM says himself "I'm just an ordinary, straightforward guy who's the victim of the biggest f***-up on this planet.....". The miscalculation & many mistakes made selling the abduction story being the big f***

Charlotte Pennington has clearly been told by someone to make up her witness sightings. They are too far fetched for her to be in so many places at the wrong time. She was first there on the night with her witness stories to events to help sell the McCanns version. To the boat sighting in the middle of the night from the beach is just ludicrous. The only link I can find so far to the Tapas 9 is to Rachael Oldfield but this is a hunch and circumstantial and nothing as proof. What would make sense is she was told by Mark Warner. She had been working for them for a few years and they had just bought into Ocean Club in April 2007, so being a trusted employee it makes sense they would send her out to PDL on April 28th to work at the resort. They needed trusted employees after the scandal they had the previous year when they had to sack 2 nannies, so its logical in a new business venture they send their best people

And why did GM go back to PDL to oversee Channel 4's reconstruction with actors in April 2009? The McCanns always refused a reconstruction with the police with themselves, not much differnce being there with actors

Why were all the employees at Ocean Club laid off shortly after May 3rd? Quite drastic especially as 99% had no involvement in the abduction story. Couldn't risk them finding out the truth maybe?

jd, you're making more good points again and I can't refute them.

But I just can't come up with a scenario (other than abduction) where the interests of the McCanns and Mark Warner would be the same.

If they made some error with medication that's not a problem for Mark Warner. in fact, I don't believe that they accidentally killed her with an overdose - they are both doctors and its not believable they went overboard with calpol or whatever.

pauline wrote:
But I just can't come up with a scenario (other than abduction) where the interests of the McCanns and Mark Warner would be the same.

I can. What if MW uses a self employed middleman to organise 'adult themed' group holidays. Middleman arranges party nights on MW premises somewhere. Middleman books them all into MW apartments and for that he gets a cut of the booking.

Neither MW or anyone in the party would like anyone to know about this type of holiday, both have the same needs which is to protect their image.

That's just one hypothetical scenario. I can think of a few more.

Stella, could you suggest your other possible scenarios where the McCanns and Mark Warner interests would coincide..

Your 'adult holiday' scenario is interesting.

Now Gerry famously said he didn't come on this holiday to 'enjoy myself' How does that comment fit in with 'swinging.' !!

there certainly have been stories of this activity at Mark Warner but I don't know whether there is any evidence.

pauline wrote:Stella, could you suggest your other possible scenarios where the McCanns and Mark Warner interests would coincide..

Unofficial discounted NHS incentives. Medical research. Drugs trials.

Some very interesting possibilities there Stella.

Going back to jd's opening post. There's mention of (a journalist/travel writer and ex Tory delegate) Melinda Libby. The original article written by Blackwatch contains the following link, a review that gives an interesting insight into the Mark Warner experience at Praia Da Luz, just weeks before Madeleine disappeared.

"... when we heard that Mark Warner, in a departure from its usual format,
had taken over some apartments within the Ocean Club in Praia de Luz, a real
Portuguese village in the Western Algarve, we were one of the first families
to sign up ..." - Melinda Libby, 'Happy
in a nanny state', The Daily Telegraph, 20.04.07

Interesting to note that MW had only just started business at the Ocean Club, and only had 27 apartments.

Also, I'm not making much of this following snippett, probably just another of the many coincidences, but thought it worth a mention:

"By coincidence Melinda
is the Director of a company whose postcode - W10 6AN - corresponds to a
Fashion Designer's called 'Madeleine
Press' - described by the Daily Telegraph as a
‘secret weapon’ among the style cognoscenti.The address is also home to
Richmond
Fellowship For Community Mental Health.

Was the daily Telegraph the first to break the news of Madeleine's disappearance?

Here's another article from the same blogger about Melinda Libby: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Madeleine Press: Tory Delegate Melinda Libby's Free Trip to Ocean Club March 2007.


And here's a Telegraph article by Melinda Libby dated 7th May 2007
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pauline wrote:Stella, could you suggest your other possible scenarios where the McCanns and Mark Warner interests would coincide..

Your 'adult holiday' scenario is interesting.

Now Gerry famously said he didn't come on this holiday to 'enjoy myself' How does that comment fit in with 'swinging.' !!

there certainly have been stories of this activity at Mark Warner but I don't know whether there is any evidence.

I too have always felt that an 'adult holiday' scenario could have taken place. Or a possibility of GM's 'enjoy myself' comment could be Maddie and them making money in child sex practices if the Gaspar statements are to be believed

Another possible scenario which came to my mind, was the possibility that one of the resort nannies (probably Pennington or Baker) were in fact used to look after Maddie & the twins whilst the Tapas 9 got drunk at the Tapas bar each night, especially if Maddie did have some medical condition which required adult supervision. It could be on one of these nights Maddie had her fatal accident falling off the sofa whilst under the babysitting watch of the resort nanny. The resort would be in trouble and so would the Mccanns if they had been giving her sedatives they shouldn't have been to calm her down. Just a thought to build on, though why is GM not there to enjoy himself is a big question

Interesting jd - that gives a joint McCann/Warner motive for cover up.

presumably there are records showing who was on duty in the evening creche and who had been booked to babysit in clients' apartments. These would show if either of the nannies were used to babysit, or eliminate them from this theory.

Cavorting half-naked as a pole-dancing nurse, the nanny who is a key witness in Maddie case

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And if Maddie had disappeared whilst under the care of a nanny would Kate and Gerry have made these quotes:

Gerry McCann: We have been advised our babysitters behaviour was legally well within the bounds of responsible babysitting.

Kate McCann: Hasn't the babysitter suffered enough without all these new lies coming out?

Gerry McCann: The babysitter has to concentrate on her own well-being now.

Gerry McCann: It could have been worse, the babysitter could have lost the twins too.

Kate McCann: Well it was her holiday too.

Kate McCann: It cannot be considered a crime. Someone committed one, but it wasn't the babysitter.

Clarence Mitchell: If Maddie's dead, then she's dead, but not by the babysitter's hands.

Kate McCann: I think that it is only a small minority who is criticising the babysitter.

Clarence Mitchell: The babysitter doesn't cry in public, but there's plenty of tears backstage.

Kate McCann: There's not a day goes by when the babysitter doesn't think "Was that ok. Was she wrong in thinking that was ok?"

Babysitter: "This is my job now. I can see this becoming my full-time career, with this whole issue of child welfare and opposing paedophiles."

Gerry McCann: "One good thing to come out of all of this is that there is so much in the press, nobody knows what is true, and what isn't."

Gerry McCann: "The babysitter has done nothing against the law."

Gerry McCann: "Kate and I are totally 100% confident in the babysitter's innocence."

Gerry McCann: "The babysitter is being absolutely stitched up."

Kate McCann: "Whoever Madeleine's with she'll be giving them her tuppence worth."

It certainly makes you wonder, especially that nurses outfit !!

Stella wrote:It certainly makes you wonder, especially that nurses outfit !!

When Madeleine first disappeared I did read comments on the internet that it could have been a "swingers" holiday.



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Well, if an ex member of the PJ is convinced of it, who are we to argue with him. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Wow! This is a lot of comments relating to a nanny, I'd never seen these before and they are very very interesting indeed especially as I haven't as yet read any accusations against a nanny

Melinda Libby I read in the original article I posted but didn't pay much attention to her but Daisy, what you just posted is really interesting of the Madeleine Press, a bit weird she is director of a company called Madeline and yet another in a long line of coincidences! Just researching more I have discovered the following:

Libby had 2 articles published in the Telegraph about the Ocean club and her stay there, one on April 21st 2007 and the other on 7th May 2007. What is interesting is in the first one in April she talks about her being there at Ocean Club which had to be in April 2007 as MW had just bought into the business then, note no mention of the Tapas bar in this article. For the 2nd article in May ( a month later) she says she went there in August 2006! and knew the Tapas bar! To my information, the Taps bar wasn't opened at the Ocean Club in August 2006.

A quote from the May articles she says "They (The McCanns) have to suffer this extreme anguish simply because they made the decision, just as many parents do on holiday, to leave their children alone while they spent much-needed relaxation time together. I would defy anyone to judge them for their decision."

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Researching Madeline Press, it says on their About page on their site (if this is the same company which it has to be) that "We launched Madeleine Press in 2000, selling to stores all around the world. In 2008 we decided to have a change of pace and to have some time out concentrating on other things - like family life. After two years and lots of planning, we are back ".....Read in to this what you will

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From what I know, Melinda Libby was born and raised in Hammersmith, West London. This is also where Robert Murat was born and after his schooling days in Portugal returned to the area to live in Richmond for a while before moving to Norfolk. His parents lived in Richmond before moving to PDL. Libby's postcode address is Richmond Fellowship For Community Mental Health, though now it is Chiswick which is just up the road. Also worth noting, is Rachael and Matthew Oldfield work in Kingston (probably live there or near by) which is a 10 min drive away from Richmond and Hammersmith. Kingston is also home to Charlotte Pennington

I don't know exactly what I am trying to say here, except there are possible connections and links and the 2 articles raises my curiosity somewhat with their context. I think the 2nd one is a stark defence of the Mccanns

Thanks for your further research jd, very intriguing.

Just to clear a bit of confusion up regarding Melinda Libby's review. I believe she did holiday with Mark Warner in summer 2006, but her report wasn't published for whatever reason in the Telegraph until April 2007 (2 weeks before Madeleine vanished).

I've found customer reviews on the 'Trip Advisor' site dating back to Sept 2005, no mention of Mark Warner until July 2006, (the tapas bar is mentioned) so I'm guessing MW started business there spring/summer 06?
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I'm thinking that 'Madeleine press' thingy connected to Melinda Libby a wee bit fishy, but that's maybe because it's just another red herring? This case is riddled with them. We know the media uses classic tactics of disinformation/misinformation to distort the truth and send us in wrong directions. Yes, this case has more than its fair share of red herrings. I guess it can only help to fish em out and discard them though?

Thanks Daisy, it looks like MW had some involvement prior to April 2007 before it seems their major investment happened. I guess we can learn that if you read a holiday review in the Telegraph which doesn't quote a date then this review could be a year old and out of date. Things change in a year. Obviously it was printed then in April 2007 to advertise MW in Ocean club. I knew the Tapas bar was new to the resort and it looks like it was about a year old in May 2007

Melinda Libby is fishy I agree but its probably all above board but its interesting within these circles of what appears to be links RM seems to be involved somewhere. We need to fish out all the red herrings to discard them in finding the real truth. Perhaps Charlotte Pennington could help as she seems to have an amazing eyesight of seeing things in the sea in the pitch dark!