Scotland Yard are in Portugal - Martin Brunt

Cheshire Cat wrote:

Angelique wrote:I don't know if this is good news or not.

TB mentioned about a" McCann Insider" in his letter to SY - is this someone who could blow the whistle ?

Whatever went on at the Ocean Club that week in May was big. Something big enough to engulf the then Blair government ? Why else would Clarence Mitchell, head of Media Monitoring and key member of the Blair Governments communication team be 'seconded' to assist the McCann's?

Media support was provided at an 'appropriate level' according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in their letter to my MP on 14 May 2009.

Sending Mitchell was "appropriate" according to the FCO but this is very telling because there must have been something extraordinary surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine that required Mr Mitchell to be by the McCann's side.

The continuity of the cover-up is fascinating to observe and as Big Vern says, has even survived a change of Government. Seperate(?) cover-ups continue in Jersey and Aberdeen : I believe the Scotland Yard review is about gaining knowledge in order to continue the protection of the McCann's and many others.

Well, CC, you've not posted for a while, but that's a crucial point you've made there and basically I agree with the pressimism expressed here.

HOWEVER, despite that pessimism, I consider it is right that everyone who considers that there is evidence which suggests that Madeleine was not abducted but, rather, died in her parents' apartment, should comunicate with D.C.I. Redwood's team at Belgravia Police Station.

Angelique has raised again the issue of the 'McCann Team insider' that I have referred to in the past.

The person concerned is someone whose evidence would very much suggest that the McCann Team's private investigation was a sham.

No-one on D.C.I. Redwood's team has yet come back to me to ask for information as to how to contact this person and what she can tell them.

I am a patient man.

But I am waiting.

Incidentally whilst I would like to have faith in D.C.I. Redwood's team I believe the main purpose of his men going to Portugal may well be to get their hands on the files the PJ want to keep from prying eyes, and that as some have suggested, this information might find its way back to the McCanns.

It is sad that one has such little faith in one's own police forces, but recent events have shown us the level of corruption at the top.

By the way, remember Andy Hayman, the ex-Head of Anti-Terrorism, who wined and dined with Murdoch and then got a job writing pieces for the Murdoch papers?

A nearby ex-Essex Police Officer whom I know quite well recently went to the popular annual social event/bunfight for current and ex-Essex cops. All the talk at the social was swapping notes about Hayman's corrupt reign whilst in Essex, where he was Divisional Commander for the Southend area until 1998. It was well-known that all major police matters in those days were settled at Thursday afternoon meetings at the Southend Masonic Lodge; all the Superintendents used to knock off at Thurday lunchtime and make their way down there. Many of the cops swapped stories about his corrupt actions. One of the stories told at the social was how one summer evening Hayman drove around at speed in his brand new red sports car up and down the promenade round along Southend, gaily throwing V-signs at passers-by.

Just the sort of cop who made it to the top of the Met.

sharonl wrote:From Portugal

http://www.publico.pt/Sociedade/madeleine-mccann-policia-britanica-diz-ter-estado-em-portugal-em-agosto-mas-pj-e-pgr-desconhecem_1511047

Scotland Yard officers were in Portugal last August to discuss with the authorities to research the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, confirmed on Thursday an official source in London, but the PGR and PJ Portuguese say ignore this information.

"They were in Portugal in August and met with the Portuguese police, but we will not disclose it," said a spokesman for the British police agency Lusa.

The help of British police in the search for Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal in 2003 just days before completing four years of age, was ordered by the British Government in May this year.

The intervention of British Prime Minister, David Cameron, came after an open letter from the parents of Madeleine McCann, Kate and Gerry for an "independent review, complete and transparent" process of inquiry.

The couple, who came to be accused made ​​by the Portuguese authorities in 2007, intended to be analyzed all the information gathered by the Police of the two countries.

Investigations by the Judicial Police (PJ) Portuguese ended with the filing of the case by the Attorney General's Office (PGR) in July 2008.

Contacted by AFP, both the PJ and the RMP have not confirmed the information that officers from Scotland Yard were in Portugal in August to discuss the Portuguese authorities with the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine.

PJ said an official source of "knowing" such information as the PGR said through his spokesman, he has "no knowledge" of this alleged investigation, adding that "in fact, nothing was asked or notified."

Now in being reported in 3 papers in Portugal

Madeleine: British police met with Portuguese officers in August, says official source, but the PJ and PGR are not aware of this(from MCF forum)

http://aeiou.expresso.pt/madeleine-poli ... em=f672660

So who was the spokesman for the British police, and why are the PJ not aware of this visit?

The Press Asscociation are reporting this visit..........

Madeleine police in Portugal talks
(UKPA) – 1 hour ago

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5ja7-IV7uuGctqLpd_1Hw5uxgcGCQ?docId=N0271701315491180103A

Doh, it's like the India sighting all over again - two differing stories!

Interesting !
Michael Todd was also from Essex.
As was my ex-boss. Bartlett, a coward, whose knees started to tremble when Todd was appointed ACC.
Need to do a bit more research
Shall be back.

Tony Bennett wrote:
Incidentally whilst I would like to have faith in D.C.I. Redwood's team I believe the main purpose of his men going to Portugal may well be to get their hands on the files the PJ want to keep from prying eyes, and that as some have suggested, this information might find its way back to the McCanns.

It is sad that one has such little faith in one's own police forces, but recent events have shown us the level of corruption at the top.

.

Prior to the Madeleine case I had never questioned the honesty of our police force and I had faith in many politicians. Not any more!

However, the internet gives me optimism that the truth will become increasingly more widely known.

It was a before this case that I started doubting, but this case has indeed erased my last confidence in authorities. And a big portion of humanity, although all at the sudden you will find people that go beyond their own interest to find justice and all those basics as freedom of speech.

The UK Press Association are directly quoting the Met that police have been to Portugal in August to carry out formal meetings.

"British detectives reviewing the search for Madeleine McCann have travelled to Portugal for "formal" meetings with authorities.
Scotland Yard said its officers have conducted their first face-to-face discussions with police chiefs who led the massive hunt after the youngster vanished.
Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing from her family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3 2007 as her parents dined with friends nearby.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "MPS officers travelled to Portugal at the beginning of August and had their first formal meeting with Portuguese authorities to discuss ways to progress the investigative review."
Portuguese detectives' investigation - helped by officers from Leicestershire Police - into her disappearance prompted appeals for help across the world.
But the official inquiry was formally shelved in July 2008 and since then no police force has been actively looking for the missing child, who would now be eight.
The Met launched a review of the original investigation in May after a request from Home Secretary Theresa May supported by Prime Minister David Cameron.
Hundreds of possible sightings of the girl have been reported around the world since she went missing, but so far they have all come to nothing."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5ja7-IV7uuGctqLpd_1Hw5uxgcGCQ?docId=N0271701315491180103A

So who was the spokesman for the British police, and why are the PJ not aware of this visit?

Is it possible they met with what's his name humpty dumpty from "she is in a lair" iso real police officers??

From Joana's website................

Maddie 'unites' PJ and English police

9 September 2011 | Posted by Joana Morais



Process: English Prime-Minister forces the review of all information

by Henrique Machado


Three elite officers from the British investigative police, Scotland Yard, arrived discreetly in Lisbon earlier last month. And they followed immediately to a meeting that was scheduled at the Judiciary Police [PJ] headquarters - in order to "tune up the cooperation mechanisms" in the analyses of new leads in the Maddie case, this was confirmed to Correio da Manhã by Pedro do Carmo [pictured above], the National joint director of the PJ.

The news was advanced yesterday by SkyNews after this team, from the Scotland Yard, was created in May by the direct order of Prime Minister David Cameron; following an appeal made to him by Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of the young girl who disappeared in Praia da Luz, Lagos, on the night of May 3, 2007. The aim of the English investigators, who returned to London the following day is to comb thoroughly all the information and leads that were followed in the process - so they can suggest new steps to be taken to the PJ if appropriate.

The process is formally archived, "but it is the interest of PJ and of the Scotland Yard that we can, one day, get to the truth of the facts" of what happened in Praia da Luz, Pedro do Carmo adds. The head of the PJ, who chaired the meeting, advanced that it was a "constructive" meeting - ​​that united the British and elements of the PJ from Portimão, where the investigation unfolded.

It continues to arrive to the Portuguese and British police dozens of information, anonymous or not, about what could have happened to the English girl, with four years of age then, inside the apartment 5A of the Ocean Club. The majority concern the sightings in various places around the world, which have revealed themselves to be unfounded; others are more credible and have to be checked. Some point to kidnapping; others to the involvement of adults close to the child.

David Cameron gave in to the couple

The imposition of the British Prime-Minister to the Scotland Yard, in May, at the time of the book launch, ‘Madeleine’, in the United Kingdom, which coincided with the eight birthday of the missing child's disappearance, caused controversy in England. It was seen by some as a populist measure, of a politician that gave a differential treatment to the McCann couple - who had characterized Cameron as a "devout father and family man", asking him for a "independent review and transparent of the process". The Prime-Minister replied assuring them that he would commit the Scotland Yard to the case.

"The English have evidence": Gonçalo Amaral, former investigator of the process

Correio da Manhã – What can the English police add to the investigation?

Gonçalo Amaral – The English can always present the conclusions to which they themselves arrived in 2007. Because they know, they have the evidence of what happened - they don't need to investigate anything. All this is now a mere ‘show off’.

– How can these meetings be justified now?

– Only in terms of the political image of the English Prime-Minister. They are not coming here certainly to ask to consult a process, that they, from the first hour, have in England and fully translated in English...

– Is this another media maneuver from the McCanns?

– I don't know, however, if the Scotland Yard is investigating and if they no longer pay their detectives, they can return the money from the book.

in Correio da Manhã, September 9, 2011

http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2011/09/maddie-unites-pj-and-english-police.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JoanaMorais+%28Joana+Morais%29

Gonçalo Amaral – The English can always present the conclusions to which they themselves arrived in 2007. Because they know, they have the evidence of what happened - they don't need to investigate anything. All this is now a mere ‘show off’

A mere show off which is costing £3million?

THIRTY BRITISH POLICE IN NEW MADELEINE MCCANN HUNT

Friday September 9,2011

By David Pilditch and Tracey Kandohla A NEW investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was under way last night after senior Scotland Yard detectives flew to Portugal.

Officers from a 30-strong squad specially set up to revive the search for Madeleine McCann, who vanished four years ago, met Portuguese authorities for the first time.

The top secret talks took place last month but details emerged for the first time yesterday.

Last night Madeleine’s devoted parents Kate and Gerry told how the development gave them fresh hope of a breakthrough in the hunt for their daughter. Heart specialist Gerry, 42, and former GP Kate, 43, were said to be “extremely pleased” the meeting had taken place.

It is the first time any international police force has been searching for Madeleine since the official Portuguese inquiry was shelved in July 2008. The couple’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell said Kate and Gerry believed it was “a positive step in the right direction”.

Kate and Gerry believe potentially vital clues were missed in the botched Portuguese investigation
McCann family source

Scotland Yard confirmed its officers conducted their first face-to-face “formal meeting” with Portuguese police who led the hunt for her.

The McCanns, of Rothley, Leicestershire, believe vital clues were missed and leads never followed up during the shambolic investigation.

The despairing couple were left to search for Madeleine by themselves and hired a team of private eyes.

They insisted they would never stop looking for Madeleine, who vanished days before her fourth birthday, and were given a huge boost when David Cameron stepped in to help following a personal appeal in May.

Mr Cameron told the couple Home Secretary Theresa May had ordered Scotland Yard to launch a new operation funded by the Government. They were tasked to carry out a review of the investigation from start to finish and bring a new perspective to the case.

Yesterday it was revealed the Yard team carrying out the new inquiry consists of 30 officers, the same size as a murder squad.

It is being led by Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, of the Met’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command, who has been dubbed Britain’s top cold case detective. The McCanns hope the renewed efforts could unearth a vital new clue in the four-year mystery.

Mr Mitchell said: “Kate and Gerry are extremely pleased that the review is progressing. It is a positive step in the right direction.”

The Portuguese detectives’ investigation, helped by officers from Leicestershire Police, led to hundreds of possible sightings of Madeleine across the world but so far all have come to nothing. A Scotland Yard spokesman said last night: “Officers from the Metropolitan Police travelled to Portugal at the beginning of August and had their first formal meeting with Portuguese authorities to discuss ways to progress the investigative review.”

The McCanns met members of the London-based squad several times before the Portuguese meeting. A source close to the couple said: “They are relieved. Things are finally being done and Kate and Gerry are being kept informed of every move.” The couple, who have six-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, are convinced it is only a matter of time before they get a significant breakthrough.

Their private investigators, headed by former Detective Inspector David Edgar, have also met the new team.

The family source said: “Kate and Gerry have had several meetings with police reviewing their daughter’s case. They know the officers have a difficult task ahead but they feel positive. They have been told that if something has been missed they will find it. They are relieved that something is finally happening.

“Kate and Gerry believe potentially vital clues were missed in the botched Portuguese investigation and their private eyes are hoping the Met will bring a new perspective to the case, which is being conducted in tandem with Portuguese police. The review is still in its very early stages. Officers are busy going through everything from scratch and analysing it.”

When the review was announced, Sir Paul Stephenson, the then Metropolitan Police Commissioner, insisted there was “always a chance” it could lead to Madeleine being safely reunited with her parents.

The review team has drawn expertise from Scotland Yard’s specialist crime directorate.

More officers will be drafted in if new evidence is found, including scenes-of-crime experts and forensic scientists.

The team is currently sifting through 20,000 pages of evidence assembled by Portuguese detectives. They will review witness statements, make a fresh appeal for ­information and carefully re-check alibis.

A police source said: “They will be looking for something that has been overlooked or not developed which could lead to a fresh line of inquiry – a sighting, a tip-off, something that didn’t ring bells at the time but could be vital.”


http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/270093

You only need read as far as Kate and Gerry believe potentially vital clues were missed in the botched Portuguese investigation to realise what a complete load of bollocks it all is.
Sorry about the language but this 'review' farce is a step too far.
Supported yet again by the totally bent UK media in association with the totally bent Scotland Yard on the say so of the totally bent Government.

Devoted couple? What - a couple whose child has gone missing because they neglected her? This seems a strange form of devotion to me.

And why oh why are Scotland Yard informing the McCanns regulary on progress when they are the main SUSPECTS in this case!

Big Vern wrote:You only need read as far as Kate and Gerry believe potentially vital clues were missed in the botched Portuguese investigation to realise what a complete load of bollocks it all is.
Sorry about the language but this 'review' farce is a step too far.
Supported yet again by the totally bent UK media in association with the totally bent Scotland Yard on the say so of the totally bent Government.

My thoughts exactly. I am always suspicious of posters who suggest that "...things are not looking good for the McCanns" or "..the end is nigh for the McCann's!". This is a McCann lead review with Clarrie the mouthpiece - he has a job for life!

Gillyspot wrote:And why oh why are Scotland Yard informing the McCanns regulary on progress when they are the main SUSPECTS in this case!

Same reason 'call me Stu' had to keep the McCanns informed.

Cheshire Cat wrote:

Gillyspot wrote:And why oh why are Scotland Yard informing the McCanns regulary on progress when they are the main SUSPECTS in this case!

Same reason 'call me Stu' had to keep the McCanns informed.

With Big Verns excellent comment and this it is just showing that a massive pail of whitewash is being stirred in readiness for the finished report to come out. What a waste of over £3 million of OUR money if this is so!

Big Vern wrote:You only need read as far as Kate and Gerry believe potentially vital clues were missed in the botched Portuguese investigation to realise what a complete load of bollocks it all is.
Sorry about the language but this 'review' farce is a step too far.
Supported yet again by the totally bent UK media in association with the totally bent Scotland Yard on the say so of the totally bent Government.

I too have lost faith.

I just hope for another kind of justice for Madeleine, something that is not in the hands of all corrupt politicians. If photos of Kate give the real picture, it might already be working.

Big Vern wrote:You only need read as far as Kate and Gerry believe potentially vital clues were missed in the botched Portuguese investigation to realise what a complete load of bollocks it all is.
Sorry about the language but this 'review' farce is a step too far.
Supported yet again by the totally bent UK media in association with the totally bent Scotland Yard on the say so of the totally bent Government.

Hang on! read that article again, it's been penned by Clarence! It's part of the strategy for them getting their version of events in before the review is completed.

Nowhere does that article directly quote Plod.

It's just the Team's media bullshit.

Ignore it.

**Edit - I posted this on the Missing Madeleine Forum, it applies to this discussion as well **

I don’t think it’s so much whether they will come to a different conclusion, more a case of what evidence have they got which would lead SY away from the PJ’s findings.

You have to think given the Team’s ability to create / utilise / maximise every possible sighting that if something credible had come to light to support their theories they would have been shouting about it from the rafters.

Yet we’ve seen nothing of any merit over the last four years from the Team which could actually add weight to the abduction theory.

What seems to be the strategy of the Team with the review is to ignore the evidence gathered by the PJ completely and instead try to create the impression that important leads were missed which would support their theory.

This is the paucity and desperation we’re dealing with here. They are seriously suggesting to intelligent and experienced investigators that unknown leads, with unknown evidence were missed or ignored by the PJ because that rogue cop, Amaral, working alone and in the shadows, was trying desperately to fit them up.

The strategy here seems to comprise of the Team telling SY’s finest to ignore the 17,000 pages of information that was collected and to concentrate instead on what wasn’t gathered -whisper it quietly- it wasn’t collected because there was nothing there!

I can’t see that having mileage with Plod now they appear to have unlimited resources and remit with which to review the investigation and the collected evidence.

I think the fear and paranoia we have about SY’s conclusions is not borne from evidence out there which would allow SY to draw a different conclusion, more the fact that we can’t believe, given the evidence collected and stored for the last four years, the McCann’s have remained untouchable.

Me

I agree with you this is just Team McCann spin.

CM is now off with Burson-Marstella who turn disasters into totally harmless everyday events. They are obviously still getting help from CM and this shows they still fear anything which brings down their wall of "media defence" they have built within the public's perception.

Well, I for one would caution against too much haste and scepticism in dismissing the efforts of Scotland Yard and in presuming they are part of a whitewash. Thirty officers, with more available, and an 'investigative' review rather than a simple 'review' actually sounds very hopeful. It would be a mistake to underestimate the professionalism and determination of the British plod when it comes to solving a potential child murder, or a genuine abduction - they are outstandingly good at it and it is both ridiculous and libellous to accuse the review team of having any interest in being part of a whitewash without any basis in fact. Take the parents charged this week with the so-called 'honour killing' of their teenage daughter; it may have taken seven years to gather the evidence, but patience pays off, and they have eventually been charged. Remember, also, the case of little Adam (the torso in the Thames) and the extraordinary lengths the investigating officers went to in order to discover his identity and to uncover the crime. Scotland Yard has only just begun, there is no reason to believe that the team is not made up of people of integrity whose only agenda is to establish the truth in regard to what happened to Madeleine, and no reason to believe that the Portuguese will not be willing to co-operate in the review, etc - they also want to see the crime solved. If Scotland Yard has been given the go ahead to investigate and not merely review, there is every reason to still hope that the truth will yet leap out from all the confusion, dross and spin which derailed the original investigation.

A bit less negativity, a bit more belief in the integrity of the majority of British police, please. Unfounded mistrust of professional people who are in all likelihood unknown to the people criticising them here doesn't do the image of this forum any good at all.

So "call me Stu" was not professional according to you?

And what about the diplomatic people, you would expect a lot of integrity there?

Maybe you're right, maybe this group will do an excellent job, but seen the damage all the other people, who are also supposed to be integer and professional, has done a healthy dose of skepticism is to be expected.

Madeleine McCann: Scotland Yard returned to Portugal

http://www.ptjornal.com/201109092747/mundo/madeleine-mccann-scotland-yard-regressou-a-portugal.html

Author: António Henriques | Readers: 75

Friday, September 9, 2011 17:16

Investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was developing in August, officers from Scotland Yard returned to Portugal, to make arrangements whose purpose is not known.

Scotland Yard was in Portugal last month, but it is unclear for what purpose. The Judicial Police would not confirm the presence of those agents, but a spokesman assured the Lusa news agency that there was a visit to Luso soil in August.

In May, it is recalled, Gerry and Kate McCann, Maddie's parents, sent a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron, which called for the reopening of the investigation of the child's disappearance, which occurred four years ago.

The case is filed since 2008 in Portugal, but on English soil continue efforts related to the disappearance of a minor. And if there are developments, the Attorney General's Office (PGR) unknown.

"Nothing has been requested or a statement," said the PGR. The alleged return to Portugal from Scotland Yard will have taken a day after more sightings. A girl with physical similarities, seen in India, a wave media. But it was not Madeleine.

The British child was almost four years when she disappeared on 3 May 2007, the apartment where he vacationed with her family in Praia da Luz (Algarve). Apparently, the investigation continues.

Hilary wrote:A bit less negativity, a bit more belief in the integrity of the majority of British police, please. Unfounded mistrust of professional people who are in all likelihood unknown to the people criticising them here doesn't do the image of this forum any good at all.

If Goncalo Amaral has no trust in the English then why should we? I would imagine Goncalo is closer to the investigation than you are.

This is his latest comment :- "The English can always present the conclusions to which they themselves arrived in 2007. Because they know, they have the evidence of what happened - they don't need to investigate anything. All this is now a mere 'show off'

Does this spokesman have an identity or is he yet another McMystery?

sharonl wrote:Does this spokesman have an identity or is he yet another McMystery?

It's all Clarence's words.

Mindst you it's a bit rich the Team complaining bitterly of the PJ leaking information on the case back in 2007 then allowing this "unnamed" and mysterious spokesman to do exactly the same 4 years later.