***'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016*** (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

by ChippyM 15.09.16 23:07

Kerry Needham says investigators on the case have been told by a witness that the driver of a digger was responsible for her son's death. there will be new searches focussing on finding the remains. I suppose they must be sure to take this step.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-investigation-breakthrough-cops-8845583

"The detectives told her to “prepare for the worst” and announced they would start a second search for the toddler’s body within weeks.
Police broke the grim news to Kerry after a friend of digger driver Konstantinos Barkas, known as Dino, came forward to say he believes Dino may have been responsible for the death of the 21-month-old Brit."

by MayMuse 15.09.16 23:34

If this is true it is so sad and shame on the person who withheld this information all these years.
Thoughts with Kerry and her family.

by **Tony Bennett** 16.09.16 6:36

ChippyM wrote:Kerry Needham says investigators on the case have been told by a witness that the driver of a digger was responsible for her son's death. there will be new searches focussing on finding the remains. I suppose they must be sure to take this step.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-investigation-breakthrough-cops-8845583

This seems a highly unlikely scenario.

How comes this story is surfacing now after 25 years? - Ben was reported missing on 24 July 1991.

The Greek police, rightly in my view, always had Ben's uncle, Stephen, in the frame, as Ben disappeared at exactly the same time as he roared off on his motorbike at lunchtime on 24 July. Ben was fascinated with the bike and had been playing with Stephen on the bike earlier in the day.

Years later, a TV programme revealed that Stephen had 'flashbacks' in which Ben had died as the result of an accident on his motorbike.

But whatever really happened, let us hope the case will finally be solved for once and for all.

by bobbin 16.09.16 8:26

Tony Bennett wrote:
ChippyM wrote:Kerry Needham says investigators on the case have been told by a witness that the driver of a digger was responsible for her son's death. there will be new searches focussing on finding the remains. I suppose they must be sure to take this step.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-investigation-breakthrough-cops-8845583
This seems a highly unlikely scenario.

How comes this story is surfacing now after 25 years? - Ben was reported missing on 24 July 1991.

The Greek police, rightly in my view, always had Ben's uncle, Stephen, in the frame, as Ben disappeared at exactly the same time as he roared off on his motorbike at lunchtime on 24 July. Ben was fascinated with the bike and had been playing with Stephen on the bike earlier in the day.

Years later, a TV programme revealed that Stephen had 'flashbacks' in which Ben had died as the result of an accident on his motorbike.

But whatever really happened, let us hope the case will finally be solved for once and for all.

As I recall Tony, it was also proposed that Stephen who had been so pressurised by prolonged police questioning was subject to auto-suggestion and under duress and extreme tiredness maybe thought that he had maybe been involved.

I can't find the reference at present but feel that it is premature to fall on one side or t'other at the moment.

He was a young lad at the time, in a foreign country with a language foreign to him, and under great shock and loss of his younger brother.

Let us wait and see if the searches do find anything. It is also not unknown for the truth to come out much later. Sometimes, as people age,and the harsh reality of a judgement day starts to approach, their views mature and change and they seek to clear their chests of a long carried burden.

by **Tony Bennett** 16.09.16 8:45

bobbin wrote:
As I recall Tony, it was also proposed that Stephen who had been so pressurised by prolonged police questioning was subject to auto-suggestion and under duress and extreme tiredness maybe thought that he had maybe been involved.

I can't find the reference at present but feel that it is premature to fall on one side or t'other at the moment.

He was a young lad at the time, in a foreign country with a language foreign to him, and under great shock and loss of his younger brother.

Let us wait and see if the searches do find anything. It is also not unknown for the truth to come out much later. Sometimes, as people age,and the harsh reality of a judgement day starts to approach, their views mature and change and they seek to clear their chests of a long carried burden.

I have a copy of Kerry Needham's book, 'Ben', but even after reading that, it didn't change my long-held belief that Ben died in a motor-bike accident on his uncle Stephens' bike that day. I hope I am wrong.

This is the only reference I still have - the blurb for the 2001 TV documentary on the case:

TV Documentary 2001

Revisits the case of Ben Needham, who disappeared ten years ago when he was twenty one months old whilst the family were staying on the Greek island of Kos. No trace of him has ever been found, although there have been several reported sightings and false trails. Ben's uncle Stephen Needham undergoes hypnosis to see if he can revive any memories of the day that may prove useful. He has disquieting images of killing Ben in a motorbike accident and burying him, but since police suggested this to him on several occasions during past interrogations this may not signify anything.

by Silverspeed 16.09.16 8:50

The reports are saying that this digger driver has recently passed away and that the supposed witness now feels able to come forward. The digger driver's identify has been revealed on the news, which is a bit unfair especially if this turns out to be another false dawn and he is innocent. But I do hope that Kerry and her family do eventually find closure one way or another.

by **Tony Bennett** 16.09.16 9:26

Silverspeed wrote:The reports are saying that this digger driver has recently passed away and that the supposed witness now feels able to come forward. The digger driver's identify has been revealed on the news, which is a bit unfair especially if this turns out to be another false dawn and he is innocent. But I do hope that Kerry and her family do eventually find closure one way or another.

This is becoming a virtual carbon copy of the Madeleine McCann case.

No body.

Reported missing, maybe opportunistically abducted by a stranger who just happened to be driving past and saw Ben, or (of course) ' stolen by gypsies'.

In the Madeleine McCann case we had:

Euclides Monteiro, dead tractor-driver from the Cape Verde Islands, who supposedly abducted Madeleine.

Now we have a dead digger-driver who is supposed to have killed Ben!

by sandancer 16.09.16 11:00

My thoughts are with all the Needham family today ,I hope they can find some closure and peace in their lives.
I hope the McCann team doesn't jump all over this ( a source close to the family ) ,for once I hope they can behave with some dignity or am I hoping too much !

by Equity 16.09.16 11:58

Tony Bennett wrote:
ChippyM wrote:Kerry Needham says investigators on the case have been told by a witness that the driver of a digger was responsible for her son's death. there will be new searches focussing on finding the remains. I suppose they must be sure to take this step.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-investigation-breakthrough-cops-8845583
This seems a highly unlikely scenario.

How comes this story is surfacing now after 25 years? - Ben was reported missing on 24 July 1991.

The Greek police, rightly in my view, always had Ben's uncle, Stephen, in the frame, as Ben disappeared at exactly the same time as he roared off on his motorbike at lunchtime on 24 July. Ben was fascinated with the bike and had been playing with Stephen on the bike earlier in the day.

Years later, a TV programme revealed that Stephen had 'flashbacks' in which Ben had died as the result of an accident on his motorbike.

But whatever really happened, let us hope the case will finally be solved for once and for all.

Ben went after Stephen asking for a ride (which he had done many times in the past) it was at this point Ben went silent and his grandparents presumed he had gone with Stephen on his bike - "it was the logical explanation" said his gran, which is why the alarm wasn't raised for so long.

The police were suspicious as they noticed Stephen's bike showed signs of a recent accident which Stephen said had happened the day before when he avoided some tourists on quad bikes.

"In 2001, Stephen underwent hypnosis on camera, to confront the doubts created by the police interrogation. He recalled crashing his motor scooter and burying Ben with a spade - but the memory was proven to be a false one".

I watched the programme but can't remember how it was proved to be a false memory - it was all very strange.

It's not nice to think that a much loved child could die in a tragic accident through the fault of a relative who in fear and panic made the fateful decision to cover up the death - but it could happen I suppose.

by **Tony Bennett** 16.09.16 12:10

Equity wrote:
Ben went after Stephen asking for a ride (which he had done many times in the past) it was at this point Ben went silent and his grandparents presumed he had gone with Stephen on his bike - "it was the logical explanation" said his gran, which is why the alarm wasn't raised for so long.

The police were suspicious as they noticed Stephen's bike showed signs of a recent accident which Stephen said had happened the day before when he avoided some tourists on quad bikes.

BBC News report today:

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

Missing toddler Ben Needham may have been crushed to death by a digger, campaigners searching for him have been told.

Ben, from Sheffield, was 21 months old when he disappeared on the Greek island of Kos on 24 July 1991.

The official campaign group, headed by his mother, said police were set to excavate two sites on the island.

Police, who suspect Ben died 25 years ago, have told his mother to "prepare for the worst", the Daily Mirror says.

Kerry Needham told the newspaper: "They are no longer looking for a missing person. How do I cope with that?"

No trace

Ben vanished after travelling to the island with his mother and grandparents who were renovating a run-down farmhouse building in the village of Iraklis.

The dig is to take place close to where Ben was last seen playing near his grandparents' home.

Det Supt Matt Fenwick, of South Yorkshire Police, said: "There will be planned operational activity at two locations on the island that have been identified as areas of interest to the investigation.

"We continue to keep an open mind and have updated Ben's family about certain lines of inquiry we're currently exploring."

He said an appeal in May, when officers returned to Kos to carry out house-to-house visits and distribute leaflets and posters, had "prompted new information and lines of inquiry".

Earlier this year, the force secured £450,000 from the Home Office to help in the search on top of the £700,000 it secured in 2015.

A DNA test was carried out on a man in Cyprus in an attempt to establish if he could be Ben but it proved negative in 2013.

In 2012, a police operation focused on a mound of earth and rubble close to where the toddler was last seen but no trace of him was found.

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

The way this reads, sounds like the police almost know that bones will be found

by Equity 16.09.16 12:47

Tony Bennett wrote:
The way this reads, sounds like the police almost know that bones will be found

I thought that about the McCann case in 2014 when they said DCI Redwood would be sweeping over PDL in a Portuguese military helicopter.

by sallypelt 16.09.16 13:42

Call me cynical, but something doesn't sound right with this claim. Take this extract, for example:

"He claims Dino accidentally crushed the boy to death with the digger after the curious child wandered onto the site. His workmates had helped keep his dark secret ever since, out of loyalty to their friend".

Now why would a worker cover up an accidental death, if he was working on a building site? According to the article, Ben "wandered onto the site". That would make his guardians responsible for leaving a child of that age, unattended outside. There was no need for the operator of a digger to hide an accidental death, in such circumstances.

by sallypelt 16.09.16 15:07

South Yorkshire Police have spoken to the witness - who claims Ben's death was accidental - but detectives have not ruled out murder.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3791887/Ben-Needham-breakthrough-Police-tell-missing-boy-s-mother-believe-crushed-digger-Greek-island-Kos-1991.html

by **Tony Bennett** 16.09.16 16:28

sallypelt wrote:South Yorkshire Police have spoken to the witness - who claims Ben's death was accidental - but detectives have not ruled out murder.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3791887/Ben-Needham-breakthrough-Police-tell-missing-boy-s-mother-believe-crushed-digger-Greek-island-Kos-1991.html

I am just not buying this.

Sorry.

by Liz Eagles 16.09.16 16:34

Tony Bennett wrote:
sallypelt wrote:South Yorkshire Police have spoken to the witness - who claims Ben's death was accidental - but detectives have not ruled out murder.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3791887/Ben-Needham-breakthrough-Police-tell-missing-boy-s-mother-believe-crushed-digger-Greek-island-Kos-1991.html
I am just not buying this.

Sorry.

I'm not buying it either.

by willowthewisp 16.09.16 17:00

The Eponymous South Yorkshire Police? Sir Bernard Hogan Howe, learnt his Policing methods in South Yorkshire!
According to press reports,the PCC person got his decision wrong on suspending Chief Commander in charge of the Hillsborough case,after still supporting his Officers at the full Trail of the case,South Yorkshire Police had to admit their part in the Policing of the Football Event April 1989 was at Fault? The Police Fabricated,Altered the Police Evidence Note books and Police Officers Statements?
Miners-Orgreve,Police Officers altered the arrested miners statements,fictitious Arrests,All cases dismissed at Crown Court Trails!
BBC informed about the "Live Police Raid" on Cliff Richards abode,involvement of Yorkshire Police,Not enough evidence to proceed to Criminal charges over alleged abuse of children,Operation Yewtree?

by canada12 16.09.16 17:21

A far more likely scenario for me would be that Ben was killed accidentally on the motorbike and his body was placed in the excavation hole by Stephen.

I suppose if they locate a body, an autopsy might be able to determine cause of death by the injuries sustained and therefore they might be able to determine whether the injuries were consistent with a motorcycle accident or a digger accident. And also DNA evidence and other evidence like paint chips, or whatever else might have been left behind as a result of whatever killed him.

by MayMuse 16.09.16 18:24

My father wouldn't hurt an ant...

http://breakingnewsi.com/my-father-wouldnt-hurt-an-ant-let-alone-a-child-son-of-jcb-driver-linked-to-toddler-ben-needham-says-his-father-is-being-blamed-because-he-is-dead

by MayMuse 16.09.16 18:51

If they find anything at all? Why publicise this now, why not wait until they have concrete evidence? This just harms the families ( on both sides) more.

Always thought it strange that "Dino" who they are accusing now stated in 1991 that there was a white car or van parked in the lane just prior to when Ben went missing. Many years later it was traced back to the families translator who said they had visited, but I think the family denied them ever visiting, not sure if it was ever pursued further.

So, are these media reportings preparing the way from an abduction to accidental death scenario? sad

by **sharonl** 16.09.16 19:04

This reminds of Wayne Hewlett when he claimed that Ray Hewlett made a confession on his deathbed that he knew who had abducted Madeleine. Sorry to be cynical, but I would say that lots of papers will be sold today and either this story will go cold tomorrow or it will be ruled out.

If this is another scam, though responsible for creating the story and reporting it should bow their heads in shame.

by MRNOODLES 16.09.16 19:05

I don't want to call this to be honest. But I get the feeling there's been some really important information held back. thinking

by **sharonl** 16.09.16 20:00

Equity wrote:
Ben went after Stephen asking for a ride (which he had done many times in the past) it was at this point Ben went silent and his grandparents presumed he had gone with Stephen on his bike - "it was the logical explanation" said his gran, which is why the alarm wasn't raised for so long.

A child under 2 goes missing and it is presumed that he went with his uncle on a bike - Really??

If this was a teenager I may be inclined to agree with that statement - but a baby? Sorry, I would be frantically searching for him not presuming anything.

by DENNISSALLY 16.09.16 20:27

I totally agree Mr Noodles. I watched the poor Mother Kerry & her pain & anguish is so obvious it really upset me. If this is true then shame on them to have held this back adding more pain to Kerry & her family. I have to be honest tho as if it was an accident & beautifully little Ben wandered into the site which I believe the grass was waist length high, then why cover it up? Accidents do happen and unfortunately parents have knocked down their own toddlers however why cover it up? Perhaps something more sinister was at play who knows but rather than Kerry wait until her dying day praying he is alive when he is not is best for her. Until we know more of the circumstance surrounding this, and indeed if he is found am just content for the time being she can bring her little boy home.
Off track just a little but the raw hurt & pain in Kerry today when i watched her made me think of the coldness in Kate McCann. She displayed ice in her eyes with no tears, no pain & and I never once saw the raw hurt in Kate like I did in poor Kerry today, God help her.

by Verdi 16.09.16 20:57

This is a copycat case pure and simple, I'm frankly surprised the family allowed this to continue unchallenged - or am I?

JCB driver v. tractor driver, both dead and can't answer for themselves. People have always compared the dignity of the Needham family against the lack of dignity of the McCanns. I've always had my doubts.

Whatever, this latest hype is yet another flash in the pan. It wasn't so long ago that the UK police were zoning in with the agreement of the Greek authorities, to dig up an area where Ben went missing.

Déjà vu?

by **Tony Bennett** 18.09.16 9:02

Verdi wrote:This is a copycat case pure and simple...

JCB driver v. tractor driver, both dead and can't answer for themselves. People have always compared the dignity of the Needham family against the lack of dignity of the McCanns. I've always had my doubts. Déjà vu?

The Ben Needham story has been developed still further by the Sunday Times this morning, in what can only be described as an uncanny and distinctly eerie echo of the Madeleine McCann case.

This is all I can get from the Sunday Times website; the rest of the article is hidden behind a paywall:

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

A ‘deathbed confession’ and whispers swirl around missing Ben

Claims that Ben Needham was crushed by a digger 25 years ago are rejected by the accused builder’s son, but other locals on the Greek island where the toddler vanished back the theory

Christina Lamb, Chief Foreign Correspondent, Kos
September 18 2016, 12:01am, The Sunday Times

Ben Needham disappeared on Kos in July 1991, aged 21 months, while on holiday with mother Kerry and her then boyfriend. British police return to the island this week - REUTERS

The son of the Greek builder alleged to have made a deathbed confession that he accidentally crushed the missing British toddler Ben Needham to death with his digger 25 years ago and hid the secret, has furiously denied the accusation.

“If you look through our family albums, you will see my father always smiling,” Valadis Barkas, 30, told The Sunday Times yesterday. “If he had done something like that, you would see the guilt in his eyes.

“He was as innocent as a baby,” he added. “You can ask anyone on the island.”

South Yorkshire police will fly to Kos…

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

This brings to mind the outrageous Sun story of 1 September 2010, in which a mystery man is alleged to have brought Raymond Hewlett's death-bed confession all the way to his long-estranged son, Wayne, in Telford, only for him to burn it and, after that, tell the McCann Team and the Sun all about it.

We now have, in both the Madeleine McCann and Ben Needham disappearances:

1. No body
2. Main suspect dead
3. Main suspect tractor/digger driver, and now
4. Deathbed confession.

It looks to me as though someone is feeding this rubbish drip by drip to the media. I wonder if there is a sinister purpose to all this?

'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

No trace

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re;Kerry Needham

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Re: 'Kos dig' starts 26 Sep 2016 (was: Kerry Needham 'prepared for worst' by investigators)

Now...a deathbed confession

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

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