Mirror article today

by Ashwarya 07.08.16 15:36

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Some amazing and well-informed comments allowed through on this Mirror article.

Captured so far:

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Linda Cowell ·
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Their negligence has cost Maddy and our Country so much yet they were never held accountable for leaving three little tots under 4 on their own night after night ?
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Zac Reed
Total waste of money. The parents are withholding information and should be the ones who pay for anything and not out of the millions in donations that have been used to pay the Doctors motgage etc. Disgusting.
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12 million and from what I have seen those two were never interviewed under caution? They still have custody of their other children and have had enough money to sue anybody who questions them? God bless Maddy, but may he haunt these two until the day they die
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i totally agree with you linda where were social services then anyone else would have had their children taken off them for doing what they did ,they should have been held accountable for their actions
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There can't have been much forensics to investigae anyway as it seems the Mcanns thouroughly bleached the house the car and everything else
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Vas Ali
Give it a rest now. Hundreds if not thousands of children go missing, are abused or murdered. Why aren't they getting this kind of publicity? What happened to her was sad but it’s down to the parents negligence.
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Paul White ·
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Had this been Parents from a council estate on a package holiday and the same thing happened, would this have played out the same?
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Didnt happen for Ben Needham did it?
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Sean Ingram nor Katrice Lee.
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Sarah Barker
It's a sad state of affairs but they need to stop work now. It's a tragedy, yes. But sadly children all around the world go missing every year and they need to be spending all this money on more recent cases.
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Bri Clark
If the parents had been working class and from a council estate, the police would have taken a completely different approach to this case. I still feel sure there is more to this case than certain people are prepared to admit. To leave children of that age on their own and go out is simple negligence. How much has been spent on the Ben Needham case by the way ? I doubt if it's even 1/10th of £12 million. Truth will out - eventually.
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Rocky Pinder
Just think how many childrens lives could of been saved if all the money wasted on this case was put into the NHS.
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Rocky Pinder
Good, so can we now forget this circus, and NOT report it anymore, its sooooo boring now.
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Jim Elliott ·
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Still waiting for the (minimum) charge of child neglect to be announced.
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No more paid (by the taxpayer) sun relaxing holidays for the London elite CID and the hangers on....
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This case was never what it seems. It was never reported accurately, or even responsibly.
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Jo Tutty
It was reported accurately over here in Portugal, but by this time the McCanns had hot footed out of the country. The Portuguese stopped investigations here as they had all the evidence they needed, but the McCanns would not answer any of their questions and went running off back to the UK to get their "influential friends" to stop them being harrassed by the Portuguese Police. The Inspector who wrote the book was the Officer in Charge and if you read the book and see the evidence it gives you can see why they were not going to waste any more time on it. They knew the answer but their hands were tied.
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Jo Tutty have you seen Buried by mainstream media the story of Maddie on UTube?
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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Gary Birkbeck ·
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Jo Tutty: I read the book, and I am aware of top-level interference from the Briish govenment of the time - within 24 hrs, before, in fact, the Portuguese police had had time to focus on the case. I was actually flabbergasted when it was announced that the British police were re-opening the case. A very expensive farce; and everybody involved must have known it was a farce.
I am also aware of the farcical - and corrupt - nature of the private 'investigations' implemented by the McCanns and funded by their bleeding heart website.
But we will never know. I just wonder who it was that was so important that the full might of the British government was brought to bear to protect them.
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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Gary Birkbeck ·
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Something else that bothers me: Why does it keep being dragged out and thrown in our faces?
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Mark Green ·
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Gary Birkbeck they're trying to maintain their innocence in the public or governmental eye! I really don't buy it, far too many inconsistencies!!
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hard job was it ! well i would give a donation to there pot for a new chamois to help them clean the speed cameras , easy one that
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Dene Ley ·
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If David Cameron hadn't put in his twopennyworth, this case would have been closed a long time ago.
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Tony Davey
Well and truly gone.
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thay sold her.jail time mum and dad.
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Hope you have some evidence for your allegation - they do like to sue people
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I doubt they sold her but they know more then they are saying.
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Mark Green ·
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Andy Sutherland No She Killed her, Accidently, but covered it up, to avoid manslaughter charges, we all know what happens to child killers etc, in prison!!!!
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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Trisha Jeffree ·
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OMG 12 million of tax payers money, totally wasted. So many children and adults for that matter go missing every year, you never hear of millions being spend by the police to try and trace them. I believe that the McCann's should be held solely responsible for the dissappearance of their daughter. Who in their right minds goes out to dinner leaving under age children asleep in bed, without any supervision and then goes out for dinner, in a foreign country as well. There is so much more to this case that will never see daylight. That is unless a retired polce officer dealing with the case spills the beans.
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It's over It's over It's over... it's O-V-E-R!
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makes you wonder .
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EXACTLY THEY JUST PROVED ,THERE ARE NOT GOOD PARENTS LEAVING 3 TOTS ALONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!!!
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by **sharonl** 07.08.16 18:16

Cameron is out, Theresa May is in and suddenly, not only is Operation Grange closing down but the Mirror is reporting it, with a good choice of photograph and a reference to the McCanns losing their case against Amaral.

by Doug D 07.08.16 18:36

And here is the link to the official Met statement:

Whoops, there isn’t one!

It’s that bloody ‘source’ again!

As the Met have stated they will not give a running commentary and there are now only four of them on the job, including NW, can we expect an official reprimand for the mole?

Rather doubt it.

Mirror being creative and making a story out of nothing as usual i.m.o.

by HelenMeg 07.08.16 22:13

Here comes the Mail now...
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by Doug D 07.08.16 23:12

How do these so called ‘journalists’ get away with copying an article pretty much verbatim from another paper, yet putting their own name to it, albeit with an accreditation, and therefore presumably getting paid?

Must be something they learned at school, where most of the so-called course work is just cut and pasted from the internet, at least that’s how it was with my kid’s schools and with help from the teachers to try and make it slightly less obvious.

These 'journo's' don't even bother to try to re-write anything.

Truly appalling.

by Cmaryholmes 07.08.16 23:29

Indeed, but the word 'abduction' is notable by its absence, and the comments so far are all very much against any more tax payers' money being spent on the 'investigation'. All the 'the poor parents' brigade seem to have changed their tune. I know I have.

by Doug D 08.08.16 10:04

Charlie Peat now getting paid for it in the Express:

Police searching for Madeleine McCann slash forensic tests amid cuts in £12million inquiry

POLICE searching for missing Madeleine McCann have axed the forensic branch of their investigation after failing to produce any leads.

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PUBLISHED: 01:46, Mon, Aug 8, 2016 | UPDATED: 02:07, Mon, Aug 8, 2016

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by Doug D 08.08.16 10:18

Just had a look at Charlie Peat and he has produced six bylines (byline = ‘the writer of the article! We need a new word ‘copy-writer’ maybe?) already today:

NO COMPROMISE: Britain will NOT pay money into Brussels coffers, top Tory blasts

BRITAIN should not pay any money into the European Union’s budget once the UK has ditched Brussels, Iain Duncan Smith has claimed.

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PUBLISHED: 05:29, Mon, Aug 8, 2016 | UPDATED: 08:54, Mon, Aug 8, 2016

British tourists BEATEN and ROBBED in same Cologne square as New Year’s migrant sex attack

TWO British tourists have been beaten and robbed by a gang in the same square as the Cologne New Year’s Eve migrant sex attacks.
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PUBLISHED: 00:00, Mon, Aug 8, 2016 | UPDATED: 00:02, Mon, Aug 8, 2016

Loyalist party leader John Boreland shot dead in Belfast

A POLITICIAN and member of a loyalist parliamentary group John Boreland has been shot dead in Belfast, according to police.
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PUBLISHED: 00:27, Mon, Aug 8, 2016 | UPDATED: 03:32, Mon, Aug 8, 2016

Boy, 10, killed on world's tallest water slide in Kansas City

A 10-YEAR-OLD boy has died on the world’s tallest water slide, police have confirmed.
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PUBLISHED: 04:13, Mon, Aug 8, 2016 | UPDATED: 04:43, Mon, Aug 8, 2016

GRAPHIC: Brutal moment olympic cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten crashes HEADFIRST in road race

THIS is the horrific moment the leader of the women’s road race at the Rio 2016 Olympics suffered a disastrous crash.
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PUBLISHED: 05:32, Mon, Aug 8, 2016 | UPDATED: 08:22, Mon, Aug 8, 2016

by Guest 08.08.16 15:32

What hair samples would this be I wonder. Extensive work was undertaken by both the Portuguese forensic laboratories and UK forensic laboratories on hairs found at the crime scene, from the Renault Scenic and other locations pertinent to the investigation, including aparthotel Sol e Mar Burgau. They were matched up against the McCanns, their friends and all persons known to have entered the specific locations. Nothing was found to assist the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance. This information is all documented in the PJ files.

At the time there was talk about the methodology used by the laboratories not being sufficiently advanced for the type of samples but if I remember rightly, this was later refuted by progress in the field of forensic sciences throughout Europe. Whether or not any of the hair samples were preserved in Portugal or the UK is debatable. I recall reading a long time ago that the forensic samples sent to the UK were never returned to Portugal but I'm not sure if this was verified by a reliable source. Regulations in this respect seem a bit sketchy, made more complicated I think by the passage between two countries.

IF there is any truth in this latest report, I would like to know where these hairs came from, what forensics tests were carried out, by whom and most importantly - what did Operation Grange hope to achieve? Something tells me this is old news being re-hashed as a precursor to ending the UK pseudo investigation, I certainly recall talk of hairs found in the Renault Scenic being tested/re-tested by UK laboratories via Operation Grange.

What were they looking for? The stock answer to forensic testing the hairs harvested has so far been.. "meaning those samples were from that person or individuals of the same maternal bloodlines." - In short - totally useless!

by Guest 08.08.16 15:37

Doug D wrote:How do these so called ‘journalists’ get away with copying an article pretty much verbatim from another paper, yet putting their own name to it, albeit with an accreditation, and therefore presumably getting paid?

Seems to be the way the press operate these days. A Press Association circulates a press release on any one story and it's published across the board - with a touch of tweaking here and there, depending on the persuasion of any one newspaper.

by Doug D 08.08.16 20:23

Natasha Donn’s take.

I don’t remember a previous ‘bizarrely weeks after the Resident heard from a reputable source in UK that an arrest was “imminent” story though.

Met Police €14 million Maddie inquiry has “no plans for any further forensic work”
Portugal Press August 8^th, 2016
Nine years since three-year-old Madeleine McCann went missing from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, a UK tabloid has revealed that Metropolitan Police have completed their final forensic work, and it did not take them forwards.

“There are no plans for any further forensic work to take place,” reported the Mirror newspaper over the weekend - bizarrely weeks after the Resident heard from a reputable source in UK that an arrest was “imminent”.

The source working with tabloids like the Mirror and Sun claimed that Grange was “desperate” and “has decided that a botched burglary is what happened” even though there has not been one scrap of forensic evidence to back this.

Bearing in mind the description ‘botched’, critics’ contention has always been that the perpetrators of this burglary would have left some kind of trace evidence in their wake.

But since the last contact to this office by our UK source, there has been absolutely no word about the case - not even any stories about potential Madeleine sightings around the world, which usually come during the summer season.

Now, the Mirror’s story - picked up by other tabloids in the UK - suggests once again that the £12 million police probe launched in 2011 will be “scrapped” in the autumn, due to the fact that it has cost so much and resulted in so little.

The announcement is described as a “new blow” to Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry who lost the latest round in their long-running court battle with former Portuguese detective Gonçalo Amaral in April and are understood to be pursuing the issue still in the Supreme Court.

Amaral meantime has been busily writing a second book on the mystery ([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]), and has told us that he is quietly confident that the civil battle will get to a point where the liens on his assets and property are finally removed.

Through his court battle with the McCanns, Amaral has maintained that the intention behind it was to asphyxiate him both financially and as a human being.

Indeed, without the help of a number of public appeals, the former PJ coordinator would not have been able to afford the legal help he has had so far.

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by Doug D 10.08.16 9:50

Good to see PeterMac alive and well and adding comment to Natasha's article. (I'm assuming PM is indeed him)

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Posted here for those who don't like clicking on links:

PM • [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
So even Scotland Yard now accept what the PJ knew on Day 1. There was NO evidence of entry, NO evidence of exit, NO damage to the "jemmied, smashed and broken" shutters, NO fingerprints, NO hair, NO DNA, NO shoe marks, NO scuff marks, NO witnesses, . . . Nothing. Dr Amaral knew this, the British Police who went there to assist knew this, the public prosecutor knew this, and several courts in Portugal know it. The only thing that WAS found was traces of Human Cadaverine and Human blood, in 14 places associated with the family - and to nowhere else. And those were found by the Top British Dogs - so the tabloids can forget the ritual xenophobia. Add the weather reports for that week which show that the famous 'pool photo' can only have been taken on the Sunday - not the Thursday as they insist, and we are left with only one serious option to consider

by whatsupdoc 10.08.16 10:37

Doug D wrote:Good to see PeterMac alive and well and adding comment to Natasha's article. (I'm assuming PM is indeed him)

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Posted here for those who don't like clicking on links:

PM • [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
So even Scotland Yard now accept what the PJ knew on Day 1. There was NO evidence of entry, NO evidence of exit, NO damage to the "jemmied, smashed and broken" shutters, NO fingerprints, NO hair, NO DNA, NO shoe marks, NO scuff marks, NO witnesses, . . . Nothing. Dr Amaral knew this, the British Police who went there to assist knew this, the public prosecutor knew this, and several courts in Portugal know it. The only thing that WAS found was traces of Human Cadaverine and Human blood, in 14 places associated with the family - and to nowhere else. And those were found by the Top British Dogs - so the tabloids can forget the ritual xenophobia. Add the weather reports for that week which show that the famous 'pool photo' can only have been taken on the Sunday - not the Thursday as they insist, and we are left with only one serious option to consider

Thanks for the update on Richard's new mystery film , Doug D , (I'm posting that here as I don't know if the dust has settled on that thread yet) and thanks for the post re Peter M. These few words must be the best synopsis I have seen.

We have had little truth from the McCanns and only a few clues to work with so it is not unreasonable to see why there have been so many theories put forward. The shutters, shutter wild claims,dogs and the weather are all facts and fortunately the dogs and the weather weren't tampered with by the McCanns.

by NickE 10.08.16 11:37

Verdi wrote:What hair samples would this be I wonder. Extensive work was undertaken by both the Portuguese forensic laboratories and UK forensic laboratories on hairs found at the crime scene, from the Renault Scenic and other locations pertinent to the investigation, including aparthotel Sol e Mar Burgau. They were matched up against the McCanns, their friends and all persons known to have entered the specific locations. Nothing was found to assist the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance. This information is all documented in the PJ files.

At the time there was talk about the methodology used by the laboratories not being sufficiently advanced for the type of samples but if I remember rightly, this was later refuted by progress in the field of forensic sciences throughout Europe. Whether or not any of the hair samples were preserved in Portugal or the UK is debatable. I recall reading a long time ago that the forensic samples sent to the UK were never returned to Portugal but I'm not sure if this was verified by a reliable source. Regulations in this respect seem a bit sketchy, made more complicated I think by the passage between two countries.

IF there is any truth in this latest report, I would like to know where these hairs came from, what forensics tests were carried out, by whom and most importantly - what did Operation Grange hope to achieve? Something tells me this is old news being re-hashed as a precursor to ending the UK pseudo investigation, I certainly recall talk of hairs found in the Renault Scenic being tested/re-tested by UK laboratories via Operation Grange.

What were they looking for? The stock answer to forensic testing the hairs harvested has so far been.. "meaning those samples were from that person or individuals of the same maternal bloodlines." - In short - totally useless!

Could it be the hair Amaral was talking about in a PT TV show back in 2014?

"Amaral explains hair samples were simply not followed up as British lab technicians claimed it was impossible to test hair samples without roots.
“It is possible, and even at the time it was possible!” Amaral insisted.
“These hair samples are in Portugal! They were returned in Portugal and they are in the files. It’s simple! All the public ministry has to do is take the hairs and send them to a European laboratory, or anywhere where these kinds of exams are done without roots.”

by Guest 02.10.16 12:45

Another Mirror article! As the 'Intelligent Tabloid' is now acting as the McCann champions of civil rights, I bring this to the attention of the forum - a most disgusting example of modern journalism which should, by rights, wipe The Mirror off the map..

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As this seriously implicates a forum member, please delete if necessary.

Just another manic Sunday for the Great British tabloid.

by **Tony Bennett** 02.10.16 12:55

Verdi wrote:Another Mirror article! As the 'Intelligent Tabloid' is now acting as the McCann champions of civil rights, I bring this to the attention of the forum - a most disgusting example of modern journalism which should, by rights, wipe The Mirror off the map..

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As this seriously implicates a forum member, please delete if necessary.

Just another manic Sunday for the Great British tabloid.

Just to be clear, the forum member is Elca Craig, who also runs the Shining in Luz blog. He has until now adopted a female persona.

More than once I have publicly stated on CMOMM that he is an open McCann-supporter who makes absolutely no bones about his pro-McCann stance and was chosen by the UKJustice Forum owner John Lamberton as one of his Moderators precisely because he is a McCann-supporter (as he himself also is).

I think there is a lot more than meets the eye about 'Elca Craig'. He has for years employed Sergei Malinka's mother as his cleaner. His connections to the circle of people around Robert Murat and the McCanns may be a lot stronger than people realise

by Guest 02.10.16 13:18

Tony Bennett wrote:
Verdi wrote:Another Mirror article! As the 'Intelligent Tabloid' is now acting as the McCann champions of civil rights, I bring this to the attention of the forum - a most disgusting example of modern journalism which should, by rights, wipe The Mirror off the map..

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As this seriously implicates a forum member, please delete if necessary.

Just another manic Sunday for the Great British tabloid.
Just to be clear, the forum member is Elca Craig, who also runs the Shining in Luz blog. He has until now adopted a female persona.

More than once I have publicly stated on CMOMM that he is an open McCann-supporter who makes absolutely no bones about his pro-McCann stance and was chosen by the UKJustice Forum owner John Lamberton as one of his Moderators precisely because he is a McCann-supporter (as he himself also is).

I think there is a lot more than meets the eye about 'Elca Craig'. He has for years employed Sergei Malinka's mother as his cleaner. His connections to the circle of people around Robert Murat and the McCanns may be a lot stronger than people realise

Yes, I realise all is not as it seems - all the more reason to think this Mirror article is a disgrace to the profession of journalism. I believe this has been going on for a few months, so why report on it now.

This case gets more ridiculous by the day with the McCann support network playing cat and mouse.

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

by MayMuse 02.10.16 13:50

Wow just wow!
Appalling!
Are there no laws for this kind of thing?

Sicko & weirdo, on par with troll... Journalism at its best?

Is this to gain some form of backhanded favour/ sympathy for the McCanns?

Just can't get my head around this story, I've read it twice & it is so sad.

Poor, poor Madeleine.
She has become just a name in the game.

IMO
Edit. Noted the "dig" at Amaral, shakes head!!

by jeanmonroe 02.10.16 14:02

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Ghoulish Madeleine McCann tour takes tourists where missing tot stayed and cops dug for body

22:15, 1 Oct 2016 Updated 22:15, 1 Oct 2016

By Alan Selby , Phil Cardy
------------------------------------------------------------

There's a 'libel' writ, right there, for Alan Selby and Phil Cardy, from the 'distraught' McCan'ts!

'dug for body'!?

Nobody's gonna 'donate' to their private, ltd, 'search' fund, to 'fund' a 'search' for a LIVE Madeleine, if cops 'dug for body' in PDL.

Alan and Phil could deffo be 'hindering/hampering/harming' the 'search' for a live Madeleine by including in their headline, 'cops dug for body'!

Get the chequebook ready, Mirror Newspapers.

Bet the 'headline' is 'changed' within minutes of 'reading' this 'post'!

by Roxyroo 02.10.16 16:20

And there's good old Tannerman too, lest we forget!

by **Tony Bennett** 02.10.16 17:59

Exchange today between John Lamberton, owner of the UKJustice forum, and 'Elca Craig':

John Lamberton @ Elca Craig/ShiningInLuz

Would you like to respond to the criticisms by Alan Selby and Phil Cardy of the Mirror who no doubt have made a nice little earner out of Madeleine McCann stories?

Elca Craig/ShiningInLuz @ John Lamberton

Not straight away. I reserve the right of first bite for my blog.

Forum readers may be interested to know that there are at least 3 legs to this story.

1 is stuff that only comes from my blog, AFAIK. Thus my blog is getting read by the Sunday Mirror/

2 is stuff that only appears on this forum. Therefore this forum is being read by the people above.

3 is stuff that does not appear on my blog or on this forum. Therefore folks are digging behind the scenes.

Let the story run. I am more likely to find out exactly what happened that way.

-----------------

ETA: Further to my reference upthread to Sergei Malinka's mother, it's interesting that 'Elca's blog Shining in Luz has a special section devoted to Sergei Malinka.

This extract appeared recently in one of the blogs in the Sergei Malinka section:

QUOTE

Mr Malinka has been a peripheral figure in our lives recently. He is working from a base near Lagos, with his girlfriend, in a upmarket estate agency that he owns. The average property he deals in is perhaps €3 million, and Mr Malinka appears to be doing well. The property market seems to be recovering here in general. The government has an incentive scheme in place for anyone spending €500,000 plus. So the top end of the market is doing particularly well again.

We happened to be in touch with a group of foreign investors who want enough land to build an entire urbanisation, and Mr Malinka was able to come up with a suitable large plot of land instantly. These type of deals seldom go through straightforwardly. The investors have the whole world to pick from, so whether they choose Portugal is anyone’s guess.

UNQUOTE

Unsurprisingly, 'Elca's blog defends both Robert Murat and Sergei Malinka at every opportunity

by MayMuse 02.10.16 18:56

What a rather odd exchange, almost as odd as the article.
Elca Craig should be ashamed of his/herself as this does not help Madeleines cause, it is making a mockery IMO

by Guest 02.10.16 19:26

Tony Bennett wrote:Exchange today between John Lamberton, owner of the UKJustice forum, and 'Elca Craig':

John Lamberton @ Elca Craig/ShiningInLuz

Would you like to respond to the criticisms by Alan Selby and Phil Cardy of the Mirror who no doubt have made a nice little earner out of Madeleine McCann stories?

Elca Craig/ShiningInLuz @ John Lamberton

Not straight away. I reserve the right of first bite for my blog.

Forum readers may be interested to know that there are at least 3 legs to this story.

1 is stuff that only comes from my blog, AFAIK. Thus my blog is getting read by the Sunday Mirror/

2 is stuff that only appears on this forum. Therefore this forum is being read by the people above.

3 is stuff that does not appear on my blog or on this forum. Therefore folks are digging behind the scenes.

Let the story run. I am more likely to find out exactly what happened that way

Elca/Olga 'shining in Luz' Craig is a journalist of sorts is s/he not?

The Sunday Mirror - 'the intelligent tabloid' tracking a blog such as that? Pull the other one - there are fairies at the bottom of my garden..

by Guest 02.10.16 19:28

It's the Oktoberfest 2016.

Talking of which - any documentaries on the horizon?

by jeanmonroe 03.10.16 16:48

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Deflect, deflect, deflect!

Way TOO 'much' about Ben Needham in UK Madia, at present!

'old' story, 'revamped' anyway, imo.

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by MayMuse 03.10.16 17:50

jeanmonroe wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Deflect, deflect, deflect!

Way TOO 'much' about Ben Needham in UK Madia, at present!

'old' story, 'revamped' anyway, imo.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

You could be right, it has a similar ring to it.
This is the blog link for the Mirror article. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
The Luz Challenge? How crass!
Seem to remember another Luz reference, was it the Luz Key?

by **Tony Bennett** 04.10.16 8:54

Our member (or is it 'former member'?) Elca Craig has replied to the Mirror article in his blog, 'Shining In Luz'

It is basically a long rant. I have put quotes from the Mirror article in brackets.

I stated earlier (as I have done before here) that Elca Craig is basically a pro-McCann who believes that Madeleine was abducted. He is also convinced that the Smith sighting is crucialand states that 'it happened,' despite all the evidence to the contrary on CMOMM. He adds a dig at Goncalo Amaral. I've highlighted these relevant parts of 'Elca's article in red:

======================

Madeleine v the Mirror

October 3, 2016

elcacraig1964

Tags:

Alan Selby, Andy Redwood, Aoife Smith, Apartment 5A, Burgau, Correio da Manha, Crimewatch 2013, Gonçalo Amaral, Jane Tanner, Luz Challenge, Madeleine McCann, Martin Smith, Mirror online, Nossa Senhora da Luz, Ocean Club, Operation Grange, Phil Cardy, Scotland Yard's 2014 Luz dig, Tannerman

-----------

The article in the Mirror dated 01 Oct 16, written by Alan Selby and Phil Cardy, neatly sums up what is going on in the Madeleine McCann case in UK media, and what is going wrong.

The headline screams it all. “Ghoulish Madeleine McCann tour takes tourists where missing tot stayed and cops dug for body”

From this headline, you can be safe in assuming that there is so little going on in the case that the media are scraping the bottom of the barrel for Madeleine-related stories.

Shall we now have a look at the article itself to see what is going wrong?

“Tourists are being offered a ghoulish sightseeing tour of the town where Madeleine McCann was kidnapped.

The sick trips take visitors to the apartment where the missing three-year-old was last seen alive and the tapas restaurant where her parents were dining when she vanished.

The twisted organiser also takes his clients to nearby wasteland which police dug up in searches in Praia da Luz in Portugal’s Algarve.

The ghouls are then invited to speculate on the involvement of Madeleine’s doctor parents Kate and Gerry.”

The article has only just started, and already the errors are creeping in.

I have never been inside the Tapas area, so obviously I have never taken a visitor to the restaurant.

The ‘wasteland’ so beloved of the UK press is actually undeveloped land complete, I understand, with planning permission and so is extremely valuable. My first visitor went to this plot and found out why Operation Grange got it so wrong in digging it up. Selby and Cardy are obviously as ignorant now of the reasons for this as Operation Grange was at the time. It goes further than this as the Mirror duo clearly don’t know the true importance of the mound to the case.

Visitors can choose to discuss the involvement of Kate and Gerry, or not, as they wish. Just as they can choose to discuss, or not, the many other people involved in the case.

That, by the way, includes the UK media, and how journalists like Selby and Cardy make money out of filling up column inches with another story about Madeleine McCann.

Back to the article.

“Last night the couple were said to be distressed by the latest outrageous twist in the story.”

Notice the key phrase “were said to be” i.e. we are expected to take Selby and Cardy’s word for it. The crucial element here is simple. I have attempted to contact the McCanns on several occasions, with the aim of demonstrating to them just how much valuable information they are sitting on, presumably unaware that they have much of value that would advance the search for Madeleine McCann. This happens to include the Smith sighting, where I believe the McCanns are ideally placed to obtain information that I cannot. To date, I have not had a response from the McCanns or from a McCann representative, so if Selby and Cardy really did manage to get my blog onto the McCann radar, it is a step forward.

To the McCanns, or any of their representatives, I repeat an offer I have made previously. If you choose to engage in an information exchange with me, there is much significant progress to be made. This progress will NOT be made by Operation Grange (who lack an understanding of Luz), nor will it be made by a further team of private investigators, nor will it be made by UK or Portuguese media. I am happy to DEMONSTRATE examples of this to show what is being missed. I am further happy to give primacy to the McCanns in deciding how and when such newly discovered information should be deployed.

Once more, back to the article.

“And the tours, dubbed the ‘uz Challenge’, have triggered disgust among other Brits in Praia.

Yesterday one astonished expat who lives in the area said: “This is in appalling taste. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it.”

This roughly says it all. Selby and Cardy now claim to have a source in Luz, but said fellow has never heard of me or heard of tours which have been running since March. That tells you how good Selby and Cardy’s sources aren’t. By the way, if Selby or Cardy is still reading my blog, kindly stop calling the place Praia. Two journalists should know that praia simply means beach. The place is not called Praia, it is called Luz, Lagos.

The Lagos tacked on the end is to locate this Luz in the district of Lagos, as opposed to Luz, Tavira, which is in the eastern end of the Algarve, in the region of Tavira. If you are going to be sloppy, at least make the same mistake that most journalists make and call it Praia da Luz (which is wrong, but generally accepted).

“The gruesome tours are being offered on the internet by a British grandfather in his 60s who has become obsessed with the case since emigrating to Praia da Luz.

He says he lives in “Maddieville” and is offering his version of “Mission Impossible” to work out what happened to Madeleine.”

We did not emigrate to Praia da Luz. An early part of my blog makes it clear that within the family no-one had any interest in Madeleine McCann as none of us followed the story in 2007. Oddly, not a single one of us twigged the connection to Madeleine McCann, otherwise we would have probably gone elsewhere.

As to calling Luz “Maddieville”, when Operation Grange decided to fly over Luz in a helicopter in June 2014, followed by sealing off the centre and establishing a circus to entertain the media, then Maddieville became an appropriate term. Mr Selby and Mr Cardy, you are making money off the back of Madeleine McCann each time you write another sensationalist article about her. Do you consider yourselves to be serious investigative journalists? Or is it just that you don’t care?

The Mirror article continues:

“Our source said: “The guide is obsessed with Maddie. He’s written thousands of words about the case and pored over maps, photographs and police transcripts.

“We don’t know why he is so hung up on it””

If your source knows so much about me, why has your source only just become aware of the tours? Does your source exist? Why have we not met each other in Luz before how?

“The tour takes in this block of flats, where Maddie was last seen”.

This, Selby and Cardy, is a mistake I have seen before, so quite possibly this is a stock item used by the Mirror. The last time I saw this mistake I simply shrugged it off, so I cannot name and shame the two journalists responsible for that article. But I can name and shame Alan Selby and Phil Cardy for this one. It illustrates perfectly the lack of research you have put in and the fodder you have churned out. Madeleine was in block 5, in apartment 5A, as everyone knows. You have chosen to show a photo of block 6, describing it as “where Maddie was last seen.” As far as I know, Madeleine was never inside block 6.

If this IS simply an ongoing Mirror error, you two need to get off your backsides and get this part pulled, before some other duo repeats the mistake.

As a matter of interest, does either of you know what is significant about block 6 in relation to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann?

“Then, in an offensive comment, the sicko says: “You have to come up with a way in which the McCanns, for whatever reason, disposed of Madeleine’s body, and the body was not found in searches.”

In a reference to the officer in charge of the original search, the tour guide says: “Gonçalo Amaral struggled, and in my opinion failed, to come up with an explanation.”

This is pathetically cheap journalism. Throw in the word “offensive” throw in the word “sicko” and what you have is sensationalist claptrap.

Are you aware of public opinion in Portugal? Because I am. I have therefore phrased this issue in a manner which makes it clear that a highly experienced police officer has failed to come up with a reasonable explanation. Therefore anyone who is anti-McCann, and based on my contacts within Portugal, that appears to be just about everyone, is asked not “do they think the McCanns did it” but rather “if they maintain the McCanns did it, precisely how did the McCanns do it.”

That is, of course, completely in contradiction to your implication that the tour aim is to work out how the McCanns did it.

Just as a point of clarification, I remember sitting in the Paraíso for lunch one day. It happened to be roughly where the Tapas 7 congregated following their beach outing on 3 May 2007. A table two down from us was occupied by two couples, obviously British tourists. One of the men said in a loud voice “well, all you have to do is look around to see how easy it would be to hide a body in this type of rough land”. It is a common misconception.

On with the words of Selby and Cardy.

“The guide lists several places that his clients will be taken to. They start at Apartment 5A at the Ocean Club Hotel where the tot vanished.”

Oh dear. I don’t have clients, as no-one is paying a single cent for any tour. There isn’t an Ocean Club Hotel. The Ocean Club is a collection of apartments and villas, not a hotel. Do tours start at Apartment 5A? No, they start wherever my visitor wants them to start.

Tour 1 started at a hotel in the north of Luz. Have you Mirror chaps any idea of the relevance of City Sol or Quinta dos Figos? I doubt it very much.

Tour 2 started at a hotel much beloved of the media when they choose to descend on us en-mass[e]. As it so happened, they were choosing to leave us alone that time, so the main activity was to sample some dinner selected from the hotel’s menu.

Tour 3 started at a large but decrepit villa on the eastern outskirts of Burgau. I wonder if you are aware the relevance of Burgau in the Madeleine case?

Tour 4 will start from a smallish, well kept Portuguese home in the centre of Burgau. It is
possible there may a visit to one of the local hostelries.

“From there they go a few hundred yards to the tapas restaurant where her parents were eating with friends – although the guide says a meal will not be possible as the place has closed. Then they visit the spot near the apartment where the McCanns’ friend Jane Tanner saw a mystery man carrying a child, though police later ruled out the sighting.”

The distance from the garden gate of 5A to the entrance of the Tapas area is important, because it factors into how long each parental check took. It is 20.5 metres, or about 23 yards, nothing like your few hundred yards.

You are aware that the man spotted by Tanner was walking across the junction of Rua Agostinho da Silva and Rua Martins? And that the junction is in front of apartment 5A? And that those using the car park of block 5 to do their parental checks passed this junction on the way there and on the way back? Why would a visitor to 5A not simply do the Tanner sighting as they went round this junction, on their way to the Tapas zone?

Unless you have kept up to date with the case, you will probably not be aware that a Freedom of Information request was answered by Scotland Yard in December 2015.

Part of the response stated that Tannerman was still a person of interest to Operation Grange, so he had not been ruled out at that date.

Back to Selby and Cardy.

“They will also take in the scene of the sighting by Martin Smith, a retired businessman, who said he saw a man carrying a child in the direction of the beach.”

The tour does take in the Smith sighting, if the visitor wishes to do so. It happens to be an important sighting and much can be gained from examining the location in which it took place. You two, however, are showing your ignorance again. Martin Smith did not say the man headed to the beach. His statement says that he does not know where the man went after they passed. And if you check Aoife Smith’s statement, she never mentions the beach either. Judging by DCI Andy Redwood in the Crimewatch episode of Oct 2013, he was also labouring under this “to the beach” misapprehension.

“Other places in the tour are the areas where police carried out searches two years ago.

The first is scrubland to the south-west of the McCann apartment, around the size of three football pitches and surrounded by villas and apartments. The two other sites are on the other side of Praia da Luz on either side of the road out of town.”

I repeat, all tours are customised to what the visitor wants the see. The area of land in the centre of Luz has been visited once, to point out some salient facts that Operation Grange missed, and it looks as if you are ignorant of these points. As to the two areas to the east of Luz, I have never visited those in my life, and no-one has requested these areas to be included in any tour.

“Another ghoulish spot on the tour is the Our Lady of the Light church in the centre of Luz.” How many errors can you stuff into a single report? No one has ever requested to see Nossa Senhora da Luz, and I have never been inside the church in my life. I am, however, respectful of both the Catholic and the Anglican communities that share the the church, while it would appear that Selby and Cardy are willing to spread malicious gossip about this place of worship.

“Police searched there and a nearby cemetery with rumours circulating that Madeleine was put into someone else’s coffin to be cremated.”

Unless you have a cite from the PJ Files or another reputable source, this again is cheap sensationalism. I have never heard of a police search of Nossa Senhora da Luz. It certainly was NOT searched by Operation Grange. I have never heard of a search of Luz cemetery. But the question is, do you two ever read back what you write before you publish it? Why would anyone search a cemetery looking for a body that had been cremated? Do you understand the difference between burial and cremation?

“From there the guide said he would start looking at all the red herrings and conspiracy theories which had sprung up around the case.

These include the rumour Madeleine could have been been hidden on the nearby beach or under rocks.”

I couldn’t possibly tackle all the idiotic theories or idiotic groups that surround the Madeleine McCann case. The beach one certainly dates back to June 2014, when the UK media announced that Operation Grange was to dig the beach. That dig never occurred.

“He is clearly unaware or not bothered by the disgust his warped pastime is causing.

Several street signs have been sprayed with the message “Stop McCann Circus” in response to all the negative publicity the picturesque Algarve town receives.

Critics said the sightseeing tour is in appalling taste.”

The manner [in] which this is written implies I had something to do with graffiti that appeared in Luz. I had nothing whatsoever to do with it, so I resent the implication.

By the way, Luz isn’t picturesque, a word you would never use to describe the place if you had actually visited. And that point is pertinent, because the construction date and manner of the Ocean Club reflect upon the security systems in the complex and in apartment 5A, so please try to get it right.

Having got that out of the way, let’s tackle the disgust my “warped pastime” is causing. In your article, you have not identified a single person who has come forward to make such a comment, merely unnamed sources. Turning to the idea of warped concepts, who raised the notion that Madeleine went into someone else’s coffin and was cremated? That would be Alan Selby and Phil Cardy writing for the Mirror. Who is getting paid for writing this appalling tripe? That would be Alan Selby and Phil Cardy from the Mirror.

If you were serious journalists you would investigate the case properly, but instead you choose to regurgitate sensationalist material.

“I prefer to remain anonymous, in the background, a non-character in the case.

“That means my musings are more likely to be judged on merit alone.

“Hopefully, that in turn maximises the chance of working out what happened to Madeleine McCann.”

Anyone can read my blog and make up their own mind as to whether I am putting myself before Madeleine or whether Madeleine is the priority. Those who know me well will also know that I publish on one of the more popular forums devoted to finding out what happened to her. Between my blog and that forum, a considerable amount of progress has been made. That progress would increase if these findings were read by the McCanns, serious UK media reporters, and Operation Grange.

“Explaining the twisted thinking that produced the tour, the man says: “My first thought was simple.

“I just could not make a ghouls tour of Luz fly. Then the idea began to intrigue me.

“How does one make a ghouls’ tour of Luz actually work?

“The solution is cheap and cheerful. It comes out of the best penny dreadfuls in Victorian era. You do not bother about the truth. Or the facts. You simply go for the thrill value.”

He continues: “I suppose, at a push, with all the red herrings around, I could develop a ghouls’ tour with at least 20 points on the map.

“There must be at least ten more red herrings in the Madeleine story, surely.

“The difficulty is my brain is not into red herring stories and my heart is not into this line of action.”

And you, Alan Selby and Phil Cardy, have produced the modern day equivalent of the Victorian penny dreadful by not bothering about the facts but simply going for sensationalist thrill value. Whereas the line I have bolded quite clearly shows that while a ghouls tour is possible, I do not do ghouls tours. For example, a ghouls tour would definitely incorporate a visit to Nossa Senhora da Luz to retell the Mirror nonsense about the cremated body, whereas the church has never featured in any tour and I have never been inside it.

“While this deluded man amuses himself with his outrageous “game” the British investigation into the disappearance codenamed Operation Grange has cost at least £12million.”

This [is] the standard end to a Madeleine McCann story. Throw in the cost of Operation Grange. As it so happens, I have sent Operation Grange several pieces of intelligence regarding the case. I have no idea whether these were found useful or not.

In Portugal, Correio da Manha has run with an equivalent story to the Mirror’s, but in Portuguese. I shall be looking at that to see if it gives me an entry point to the Portuguese media.

In the UK media, Alan Selby and Phil Cardy have squandered an opportunity to advance the understanding of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, and instead have taken Mirror money to write a lurid story based on Madeleine’s disappearance. Congratulations guys, you are number two and number three on my list of journalists I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole.

by willowthewisp 04.10.16 11:43

Hi Mr Bennett,it would seem that you have unearthed a few more"Not supporters"to what may have happened to Madeleine McCann,it was thought at one time that the original reporters from the Daily mirror had come close to solving the mystery?
But it would seem as though these Two reporters are scraping the dregs of dross from the proverbial barrel.
This"personal"attack on a person or Two who may have become delicate thorns touching the "Nervous system"inflicting discomforting jolting attacks within their body,not like the"Fear" they wished to impose on a former Portugal Police detective?
keep up the good work, as the"Thorn" of crowns must be taking effect?

by Guest 04.10.16 12:03

@TonyBennett

It's a very long winded way of saying the Mirror article is a load of rubbish. I actually had a hunch that the shining in luz person may have been behind the report - being a journalist of some sort.

Yesterday I had a quick google using a few key words and came across this..

McCanns hit out at ghoulish Madeleine tours

Kate and Gerry McCann are deeply hurt by the "disgraceful" way in which tourists are making tours to visit the spot where their daughter Madeleine disappeared, a friend has said.

30th April 2008

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Not exactly the same as the latest report but an nonetheless an eerie similarity. Olga/Elca Craig has written for the Telegraph in the past.

by Liz Eagles 04.10.16 12:04

Well.... after Stephen Birch, here comes Elca Craig (who can't declare being male or female on this forum but is apparently male) and is doing ghoul tours of Luz with a badly written blog and indignation that could pierce the heart of any serious journalist.

It's panto time again.