Met Police (Operation Grange) - Bollocks or not bollocks?

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Marcus Rolloxicus Vulgaris



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Jimmy Dean

Oh, oobee doo
I wanna be like you oo oo

Re:  Sir Mark Rowley - Commisionaire of the Metropolitan Police Elect

Please please forgive and correct me if I'm wrong, do I remember a very recent email communication sent to the incumbent controller of Operation Grange (copied to  other important named factions), detailing specific anomalies relating to the Metropolitan police, task force Operation Grange's, curious approach to the Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann?

A missive highlighting particular areas of interest, previously unrecognized, as regards a criminal police investigation - specifics of importance but dismissed by the world's finest .... the Metropolitan Police?  The force engaged to further probe the case of Madeleine McCann, following the planned effective disgrace of the original police investigation conducted by the Portuguese police?

A well respected force in the European court of policing?

Perhaps Sir Mark Rowley, newly appointed Commissionaire for the Metropolitan Police, should also be factored in.  I hate to see favouritism - it's his official right to be given the opportunity to defend the force and it's blatant disregard and failings in respect of the life and memory of a three year old child.

Do you have children Sir Rowley?  If so, what would you expect of the establishment to protect your child?

You can't hide from this one, you personally spoke out on more than one occasion -  now is the time to redress the balance, to put your acclaimed talents to the test.  If you need any assistance, your schedule being so demanded. we are here to help.  Something tells me CMOMM/MMRG know more about the detail of this case than you ever did - nor ever will if you don't expand your mind.

Do the right thing, that must be a pretty hefty wage you bank every month - put it to good use and start telling the truth, forget the greasy pole you climb, that only leads to the decent of a greased pig  ask Boris Johnson - he knows, he was there.

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Any further assistance, we as a collective are at your disposal - and I mean that most sincerely.

Isn't it funny how the cannot respond or comment on the material that Petermac has sent in yet what anything that claims an abduction, including nonsense from Jon Clarke, can be splattered all over the press.

AMENDED: I understand that since our first email exchange the funding for Grange may have been further extended with the consequent effect on FOI requests.

I can't locate any confirmation of this. It was reported recently by Meteo and some obscure very badly translated report from another source but nothing official, nor can I locate detail of the claimed FOI. It seems a bit odd, unusual, for the story not to be reported by mass media. Much like Jon Clarke of the Olive Press, who recently reported an exclusive update about the German prisoner's extradition position - that wasn't reported by any other medium either. Maybe the clue is in the word 'EXCLUSIVE' ?



'May have been further extended' ..... it wouldn't be any surprise but the Home Office and Metropolitan Police are being very cagey about disclosing detail of their alleged ongoing investigation and it's funding. Since 2020 if I remember rightly.

It's a toss up where to stick this but in lieu of eventual relegation to garbage this will be the temporary destination - because..

>> There, Rowley oversaw Scotland Yard’s investigation into the disappearance in Portugal of three-year-old Madeleine McCann, handling the knotty international policing and media issues with intelligence, diplomacy and sensitivity. In 2018, after an unsuccessful bid to be Commissioner, losing out to Dame Cressida Dick, he retired from the service.

>> Another retired officer who worked closely with Rowley says he built a reputation for getting things done and not wasting time: ‘He’s not interested in bureaucracy.’ So impatient was he for change that at times he would go ahead with a plan without bringing everyone with him or considering all the consequences.

I must have blinked.

Anyway, on with the soycus..



Dressed in full uniform and clutching a clipboard, Mark Rowley walked out of the Royal Courts of Justice in London, down the steps and towards a row of microphones. It was January 2014. An inquest into the fatal police shooting in Tottenham of Mark Duggan had just concluded with a verdict of ‘lawful killing’ and the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner had a statement to make. As he began to speak, there were shouts from a group of Duggan’s supporters nearby. ‘Murderers, liars, racists, scum!’ they screamed, drowning out the officer’s words. One man came up to him, just inches from his face, and hurled abuse, but Rowley carried on.

That incident sums up the character of Sir Mark Peter Rowley (he was knighted in 2018), who has just been announced as the new Met Commissioner. Some police officers might have gone back inside once the crowds started to gather. Others would have made their remarks in the safer surroundings of New Scotland Yard. Not Rowley. He is not afraid of confrontation or delivering difficult messages and he doesn’t always do what convention and common-sense dictate – even if that sometimes risks creating trouble.

Rowley, 57, grew up in Birmingham and studied maths at Cambridge, before joining West Midlands Police where he worked as a beat cop in Digbeth and later as a detective. He could have stayed in his local force, climbing the ranks as other bright and ambitious officers did, but his interest in wider aspects of law enforcement led to him taking a job specialising in covert techniques to combat organised crime at the National Criminal Intelligence Service. He later moved to Surrey police, where he became Chief Constable, and then joined the Met in 2011, following the riots sparked by Duggan’s shooting.

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Rowley, 57, grew up in Birmingham and studied maths at Cambridge, before joining West Midlands Police where he worked as a beat cop in Digbeth and later as a detective. He could have stayed in his local force, climbing the ranks as other bright and ambitious officers did, but his interest in wider aspects of law enforcement led to him taking a job specialising in covert techniques to combat organised crime at the National Criminal Intelligence Service. He later moved to Surrey police, where he became Chief Constable, and then joined the Met in 2011, following the riots sparked by Duggan’s shooting.

There, Rowley oversaw Scotland Yard’s investigation into the disappearance in Portugal of three-year-old Madeleine McCann, handling the knotty international policing and media issues with intelligence, diplomacy and sensitivity. In 2018, after an unsuccessful bid to be Commissioner, losing out to Dame Cressida Dick, he retired from the service. At that point he was in charge of counter-terrorism, having been the public face of the national policing response to five attacks in six months. He returns to the Yard now after taking on a series of strategic advisory roles, co-authoring a crime novel, The Sleep of Reason, and after making trips to Mount Everest and a yoga retreat in the Himalayas.

Colleagues say Rowley has extraordinary drive and will reform the Met after taking time to understand the problems from the inside. In his previous policing posts, he would seek out different points of view before acting. ‘He listens,’ says one former colleague. ‘He genuinely wants people’s ideas and then takes decisions.’

Another retired officer who worked closely with Rowley says he built a reputation for getting things done and not wasting time: ‘He’s not interested in bureaucracy.’ So impatient was he for change that at times he would go ahead with a plan without bringing everyone with him or considering all the consequences. ‘He was called the tunneller,’ says the ex-officer. ‘He dug a tunnel so fast that everyone behind him had to try and hold it up.’

One project to suffer a disastrous collapse was Siren, which was designed to modernise Surrey Police’s computer systems for recording custody admissions, criminal cases and intelligence. The programme started in 2005 and continued while Rowley was in charge of the force; by the time it was abandoned, eight years later, costs had swelled to £14.8 million. A scathing report from auditors Grant Thornton said it had been ‘beyond the in-house capabilities and experience’ of the constabulary and the police authority. The report listed a catalogue of failings and said the scrutiny offered by chief police officers, among others, was ‘not sufficiently probing or robust’. Although none of the individuals responsible was named in the document, Rowley didn’t duck the criticism, saying, ‘I'm sure that all those involved in leading this project as officers or from the Surrey Police Authority share with me regret and disappointment that Siren did not realise the benefits for the public we sought.’

Rowley has always taken a keen interest in IT and the opportunities for law enforcement to use data science. He’s expected to make it a priority when he takes over at the Met. He has chaired the force’s Info Tech group, drawing up a strategy to provide officers with real-time information and enable them to work remotely. More recently he’s been involved in two technology companies, though one old colleague says he has a tendency to go ‘gooey-eyed’ in the presence of tech. ‘I hope he brings some outside people in, when he re-joins,’ he says.

As well as embracing technological advances, Rowley has already made clear that his mission is to ‘renew’ the traditional principle of ‘policing by consent’, where the service derives its legitimacy from the respect, cooperation and support of the public. ‘The founder of British policing, Sir Robert Peel, said in 1829 “the police are the public, and the public are the police”, and that principle is as true today as it was nearly 200 years ago,’ Rowley said in a speech in 2018. Since then confidence in the Met has dropped sharply, particularly among black people. While leading the fight against terrorism, Rowley saw how information from the public had helped save lives. Under his watch, there will be a huge push to rebuild trust between communities and the police.

It is arguably his most important task and one of the metrics by which he will be judged. To have a chance of success, and to lift the Met out of ‘special measures’, Rowley will have to re-shape his top team and impress on officers the need to get better at the basics of policing. The danger for him is that he will be blown off course, as his predecessor was, buffeted by scandals old and new, spending days on the back foot, apologising for mistakes and misconduct. The newly-appointed Commissioner – grounded, thoughtful and approachable – is acutely aware of the risks. But he will need to be at his most resilient as he starts the greatest challenge of his career, far greater than facing angry anti-police protestors outside the Law Courts.

Written byDanny Shaw

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The legacy..

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Yeah, I get where the tunneler comes in .... 'tunnel vision'.

The Tunneller followed the Dick. That is, Mark then Cressida if you thought i was being rude. Actually, I am vomiting. No wonder Duggan's followers believe he is not guilty. Rowley studied Maths at Cambridge? Pull my other leg it yodels. If he did study Maths at Cambridge, his very existence is an insult to all those who have studied Maths (anywhere) and to all those who have studied anything at Cambridge. He will probably get a congratulations card from Kate and Gerry. 
He "oversaw" the Madeleine case???? What a bastard.

Have I got this right?

A knighted and retired police officer is now dragging himself back into the breach to take over the Met?

Met Police reveal Maddie McCann could have been ‘abducted’ in ‘burglary gone wrong’

by Emma Dodds | Posted on26 04 2017

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Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley announced that there are new "significant" lines of enquiry that could mean Madeleine McCann might still be alive

As the 10th anniversary of Madeleine McCann's disappearance gets closer and closer, police have announced that they may be making a breakthrough in the case.

People across the world were shocked by the disappearance of the three-year-old girl who seemingly vanished just days before her fourth birthday whilst on holiday with her family in the Algarve, Portugal.

Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry, were initally named as suspects by the Portuguese police, but this was dropped shortly after.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley has also ruled out their potential involvement in the disappearance of their daughter.

He said: "The parents' involvement - that was dealt with at the time by the original investigation by the Portuguese.

"We're happy that's completely dealt with and there is no reason whatsoever to re-open that or start rumours that's a line of investigation. The McCanns are the parents of a missing girl and we're trying to get to the bottom of what happened.

Unfortunately, Mr Rowley could not confirm whether he thought Madeleine was dead or alive: "There's no definitive evidence as to whether Madeleine is alive or dead. That's why we describe it as a missing person inquiry. We understand why, after this many years, people will be pessimistic, but it's important we keep an open mind."

Mr Rowley, who has been in the force for 30 years, explained that she must have been abducted: "She wasn't old enough to make a decision to set off and start her own life. However she left that apartment - she's been abducted."

But he did reveal a theory that the police are now looking into, saying that they are pursuing a "small number of critical lines of enquiry" that they think were "significant" that had been uncovered thanks to public appeals.

He said: "One of the working hypotheses we've got was could this be a burglary that's gone wrong. Somebody's doign a burglary, panicked maybe by a waking child and that's what leads to MAdeleine going missing.

"In my experience, if you try to apply cold, rational logic of what someone sat in their front room might do compared to what criminals do under pressure, you tend to make mistakes."

Mr Rowley described this as a "sensible hypothesis" and that there was a lot of evidence where people had "acted suspiciously". It had led to the police narrowing down the 600 suspects they had identified over the last six years down to a small group of people who were investigated and have now been ruled out.

Speaking to ITV, Mr Rowley said: "I know we have a significant line of inquiry which is worth pursuing, and because it's worth pursuing it could provide an answer. But until we've gone through it, I won't know whether we are going to get there or not."

He then revealed that they would not be releasing all the information they currently have as that might hinder the investigation: "Ourselves and the Portuguese are doing a critical piece of work and we don't want to spoil it by putting tit bits of information out publicly."

The Police Assistant Commisioner resolutely and defiantly vowed that the police would do everything they could "reasonably" do to get to the bottom of what happened to little Maddie: "Our mission here is to do everything reasonable to provide an answer for Kate and Gerry McCann.

"I'd love to guarantee that we will get to an answer, sadly investigations can never be 100% successful - but it's our job to do everything we can do reasonably to find an answer as to what happened to Madeleine.

"Pedro, the senior member of the Portuguese team, and I have a shared determination - if we can find an answer, that's what we're going to do."

Mr Rowley wavered from his professional persona for a moment to reveal a softer side: "I so wish I could say that we will solve this. We solve more than 90% of serious cases here at Scotland Yard. I so wish I could say that we'll solve it, but sadly a small number of cases don't get solved.

"As a professional police officer who deals with families in awful situations, it always hurts that you can't guarantee success. But we'll do everything we reasonably can."

We hope they can solve the case.

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British policing is in trouble. Recorded crime in England and Wales stands at a 20-year high. Fifty-four per cent of the public have little or no confidence in the police’s ability to deal with crime in their area. Hardly surprising when, across England, one in four residents are served by a police force in special measures. The largest and highest-profile of these is the Metropolitan Police.

Its new commissioner, Mark Rowley, takes over in the most unpromising of circumstances. His predecessor was forced out, having lost the support of Sadiq Khan, the mayor, after a series of scandals. It’s Rowley’s job to win back Londoners’ confidence, turn the tide on crime and restore morale in the force. If he fails, the whole British model of policing will be thrown into question.

The Tories will be watching him anxiously. More than half of voters say the party has done a bad job of reducing crime since the 2019 election. For Suella Braverman, the new home secretary, gripping law and order must be just as much a priority as dealing with small boats. Both issues have the potential to do the Tories electoral damage.

The public loss of confidence in the Met is striking. Five years ago, 68 per cent of Londoners said the police did “a good job”. This has now fallen below 50 per cent. The Met solves just 1 per cent of reported vehicle crime and 4 per cent of home burglaries. Last year also saw the highest number of teenagers killed in London in the modern era: one every 12 days. This low morale is not limited to the public. The Met’s own staff survey asked what they thought would happen if they contacted the police as a member of the public. Only a third thought they’d see a “good” service.

Rowley’s job, while difficult enough, is set to become harder still. The shooting of Chris Kaba, an unarmed black man, this month has led to public and political pressure for the suspension of an officer. But the Met Police Federation has complained that his suspension is “based purely on public perception”. This divide shows how hard it is to both reassure frontline officers that they will be supported while also dealing with public concerns about the use of force.

Rowley left the Met in 2018 after missing out to Cressida Dick on the top job. One of the things he did while away from the force was to serve on the advisory council of the “Liveable London” project run by Policy Exchange, a think tank. Its head of crime and justice, David Spencer, has now produced a report on what the commissioner should do in his first 100 days.

Its main argument is that the attempt by the Met to create a “strategic centre” has failed and it needs to return to neighbourhood policing as the most effective way of cutting crime and restoring public confidence. Until four years ago, all 32 London boroughs had a chief superintendent in charge of local policing. But since 2018 these chief superintendents are in charge of huge swathes of territory made up of between two and four boroughs.

For example, one of these new basic command units covers Harrow, Barnet and Brent — almost a million people. Another deals with Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham, which together have a population larger than Liverpool’s.

But as the area covered by superintendents expanded, their discretion over how to police their patches contracted. This change has coincided with an 18-point drop in the number of Londoners saying the police do a good job in their area.

The obvious answer is to restore the old 32-borough model. Chief superintendents should be encouraged to make their own decisions about what would work best in their area. London is hardly a city suited to a one size fits all model of policing. The career prospects of officers should be measured against how effective they are at both tackling crime and restoring public confidence in the force.

A more localised approach should concentrate the Met’s efforts on the crimes that bother people most. This should mean a crackdown on anti-social behaviour and other forms of crime often dismissed as low-level. The Met currently records almost no offences when anti-social behaviour is reported, so risks being institutionally blind to the activities that make life miserable for many.

If British policing is to get out of this funk, it needs Rowley to succeed. So do ministers. A Conservative government that cannot keep the streets safe is not one that will survive for long. Rowley needs to persuade ministers to amend the police regulations to make it easier to dismiss poorly performing officers. At the moment, the bar is too high: police disciplinary processes are treated as if they were court cases rather than internal personnel procedures. Unless that changes, it will be almost impossible to remove those officers whose failures hurt the reputation and effectiveness of the force.

One former policing minister tells me that “there’s undoubtedly a problem that senior officers are not being backed up by tribunal chairs”, discouraging them from acting. Commanders, he said, need to be able to remove bad eggs. It doesn’t have to be Line of Duty’s AC-12; just the ability of managers to manage.

The tightrope Rowley has to walk is between offering moral support to his officers, whose actions are often taken out of context and scrutinised on social media in a way their predecessors’ never were, and making clear that police cannot deviate from the highest standards. Cressida Dick got this balance wrong, leaning too much towards backing her officers in almost all circumstances.

One thing Spencer recommends is random re-vetting of officers, involving interviews with their colleagues, members of the public they have dealt with, a sampling of their electronic record and analysis of their social media postings. This could nip in the bud the racism, misogyny and homophobia that was revealed to be so prevalent at Charing Cross police station. If the Met is not proactive in trying to root out bigoted officers, it will always be just another scandal away from a further loss of public confidence.

For the next few days, the policing requirements of the Queen’s funeral will dominate. In Whitehall, this is regarded as the most complex policing and security operation since the London Olympics in 2012. But once that is done, attention must turn to how to fix London’s failing police force and how a reformed Met can provide an example to other forces around the country. Without that, public consent will be in jeopardy.

James Forsyth is political editor of The Spectator

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A timely reminder of the aforementioned 2018 report..

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Another timely reminder..

'Take the knee', what an utterly ridiculous term of phrase.

Where when and why are you going to take the knee - the nearest charity knee auction in support of the kneeless?

I'm posting this again as a reminder of how The Home Office has carefully constructed it's wording as regards funding of Operation Grange..

Funding for Operation Grange

Posted by: HO News Team, Posted on: 5 June 2019

Clarification on the funding for Operation Grange.

There is continued interest from the media and the public concerning funding for Operation Grange, the Metropolitan Police Service’s (MPS) investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

We have received a request from the MPS to extend funding for Operation Grange until 31 March 2020. Funding for the investigation is provided by the Home Office through Special Grant funding which is usually available to police forces when they face significant or exceptional costs.

All applications for Special Grant funding are considered carefully on their individual merits, however, decisions are made in batches to allow us to better consider the impact on the overall policing budget.

Due to this, the next round of Special Grant funding will not be decided until October, however we have written to Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime in the meantime with assurance that the MPS will receive a similar level of funding for Operation Grange for 2019/20 as it did for the previous year.

Last year the Home Office provided £300,000 of funding to the MPS. The cost of Operation Grange to date is £11.75m.

Funding for Special Grant applications can be paid retrospectively for operational work already done in the same financial year. As usual, full details of any Special Grant awards in 2019/20 will be published after the end of the financial year.

The Home Office maintains an ongoing dialogue with the MPS regarding funding for Operation Grange.

When considering special grants applications, the Home Office does not take a view on whether an investigation should continue, which would be an operational matter for the police.

As this is an ongoing police investigation, questions about Operation Grange should be directed to the MPS.

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Another ex-cop trying to make a name for himself to boost the already inflated pension fund and/or with an axe to grind.

Admittedly, Coxon is very active in his pursuance of justice in the name of Madeleine McCann, perhaps a trifle over enthusiastic with his pursuits?  Whatever, let's just hope it's for the right reasons.  Clearly a member of the social media Madeleine McCann club who are sometimes a little misguided, the leadership is questionable to say the least.

Coxon appears to spend rather a lot of time writing to the press and the Metropolitan Police if you believe social media to be the source of all knowledge.  In my view Coxon would be more credible if he moderated his social media presence, as it stands it's the sort of style that gives credence to the 'troll' accusations.

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Here is one such example, publicized by an individual who also appears to have interest in the case of Madeleine McCann, albeit on the fringe..

Source, or at least one other:

An Open letter to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] from John Coxon a Retired Metropolitan Police Officer …

Posted by:

Greg Lance – Watkins

Can't post the link, it's defunct.

Metropolitan Police - update on Madeleine McCann disappearance
22nd May 2014

Today, Thursday 22 May, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, head of Specialist Crime and Operations, met with media at New Scotland Yard to update them on Operation Grange, the London based investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

All UK based media outlets were represented at the meeting, as well as media organisations from Portugal, America, and others.

The meeting was held to outline the Metropolitan Police Service position in relation to the ongoing investigation given the speculation and numerous stories that have been running for the past few weeks. AC Rowley confirmed that in the coming weeks there would be specific police activity in Portugal led at all times by the Portuguese authorities (under the auspices of an International Letter of Request or 'Rogatory letter'), with officers from the Metropolitan Police Service working alongside.

Following a meeting with the media Assistant Commissioner Rowley said:

"DCI Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer, and his team will be in Portugal carrying out various lines of enquiry.

""Thorough serious crime investigations work systematically through all credible possibilities and therefore it should not be assumed that this substantial upcoming phase of work in Portugal will immediately lead us to the answers that will explain what has happened.

"What you will see is normal police activity you would expect in any such major investigation.

"Similarly, this should not be seen as a sign that the investigation is nearing a conclusion. I fully expect that there will be much more work to do when this particular phase of activity comes to an end. It is helpful that any reporting of activity in Portugal is set in this context.

"We will be updating Mr and Mrs McCann throughout the activity as we have been throughout the investigation.

"We will not be giving information on when this activity is to occur.

"The very fact that we are in the position of moving towards substantial activity in Portugal shows that the relationship between the MPS and Portuguese colleagues is working."

AC Rowley issued a letter to media on 6 May 2014 stating that the advice he was receiving from Portugal was that their approach to media handling was different and they do not brief the media on current investigations.

They clearly stated that if the MPS provide any briefings or information on the work they are undertaking on our behalf, or if reporters cause any disruption to their work in Portugal activity will cease until that problem dissipates.

Assistant Commissioner Rowley reiterated that position today:

"We have made it clear to colleagues in Portugal that we will not be giving operational updates. I appreciate this will be frustrating to you (the media) especially given the help you have provided to us with public appeals so far which has added significant evidence into our files. However, if this was an investigation in London I would not be making public details of operational investigative activity that we were planning or how it might link in to the investigation.

"Of course complications are added when an investigation is taken abroad.

"My letter last month did map out where we stood in terms of how we could manage the media demand in this investigation. If media interfere with police work, that work will stop. I suspect that the boundaries around what that is will be apparent and I asked you to cooperate with the requests of the Portuguese authorities as the most important thing is to make this inquiry go as smoothly as possible.

"On a recent visit to Portugal DCI Redwood was surrounded by a large media group asking for comments from him.

"I appreciate that media group may not solely be UK agencies, and other media may state they are unaware of our repeated requests.

"DCI Redwood and his team will not be giving comment.

"Please allow them the room to manoeuvre and work on what is a live investigation into the disappearance of a young girl. If you get any information ahead of our actions do not publish anything that may give suspects advance notice.

The family have also made their wishes clear about allowing us and the Portuguese the room to carry on with our work and this was reinforced this publicly by Kate McCann when Andy and his team were last in Portugal.

"In my initial letter I asked editors to think twice - that advice stands. We all want the same outcome - to do everything possible to try to find answers for the McCann family.

"It is only fair on you I am upfront with you about what you can get and how the media might impact on the investigation.

"I am well aware that updates may help control this investigation and I am committed to doing this in a transparent way but mindful that nothing we do will damage the integrity of the investigation or the best possible chances of bringing it to a conclusion."

Police announce "substantial activity" in search for Madeleine McCann The Portugal News

BY BRENDAN DE BEER · 22-05-2014 12:16:00

British police involved in the search for Madeleine McCann on Thursday forecast there would be "specific police activity in the coming weeks."

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British police said during the briefing held at New Scotland Yard that searches in Praia da Luz will be led at all times by the Portuguese authorities (under the auspices of an International Letter of Request), with officers from the Metropolitan Police Service working alongside.

PJ police in Lisbon this week told The Portugal News that only one specific area has been approved for searches according to the international letter of request.

Police also confirmed that while the Metropolitan Police had expressed a clear willingness to accompany the investigation in Portugal, they had not yet received a formal request by Wednesday evening to do so. Police here told The Portugal News such an application was a prerequisite for any joint-action on the ground.

Meanwhile, the meeting on Thursday morning in London was held to outline the Metropolitan Police Service's position in relation to the ongoing investigation given the speculation and numerous stories that have been running for the past few weeks.

According to Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, who led the meeting, "DCI Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer, and his team will be in Portugal carrying out various lines of enquiry."

He added that thorough serious crime investigations work systematically through all credible possibilities and "therefore it should not be assumed that this substantial upcoming phase of work in Portugal will immediately lead us to the answers that will explain what has happened."

He predicted that media will see normal police activity expected in any such major investigation.

"Similarly, this should not be seen as a sign that the investigation is nearing a conclusion. I fully expect that there will be much more work to do when this particular phase of activity comes to an end. It is helpful that any reporting of activity in Portugal is set in this context."

He also revealed British police will be updating Kate and Gerry McCann throughout the activity "as we have been throughout the investigation."

He further stressed that "the very fact that we are in the position of moving towards substantial activity in Portugal shows that the relationship between the MPS and Portuguese colleagues is working."

AC Rowley issued a letter to media on 6 May stating that the advice he was receiving from Portugal was that their approach to media handling was different and they do not brief the media on current investigations.

They clearly stated that if the MPS provide any briefings or information on the work they are undertaking on our behalf, or if reporters cause any disruption to their work in Portugal activity will cease until that problem dissipates.

Assistant Commissioner Rowley reiterated that position on Thursday: "We have made it clear to colleagues in Portugal that we will not be giving operational updates.

"I appreciate this will be frustrating to you (the media) especially given the help you have provided to us with public appeals so far which has added significant evidence into our files. However, if this was an investigation in London I would not be making public details of operational investigative activity that we were planning or how it might link in to the investigation."

AC Rowley also called on media to allow Portuguese police the room to manoeuvre and work on what is a live investigation into the disappearance of a young girl.

He said: "If you get any information ahead of our actions do not publish anything that may give suspects advance notice."

[Acknowledgement - pamalam at gerrymccannsblog]