Media Mayhem - MCCANN MEDIA NONSENSE OF THE DAY

Mark Willis wrote:You know how you can see faces in clouds or a coffee meniscus?
Well...ok, maybe it's just me...

Weirdest looking pair of knees I've ever seen , and I don't mean the Trump May images !    

They are very weird knees.
They need a good ironing, at the very least!

Madeleine McCann detectives examine man's pictures after Sunday People probe


Wojciech Krokowski's flat was searched after the three-year-old vanished but he was ruled out and has now given us snaps he took around the time she went missing

By
Adam Aspinall

• 22:15, 24 OCT 2015
  
• Updated10:10, 25 OCT 2015
  

Officers are scouring ­dozens of images from the camera of businessman Wojciech Krokowski, from Poland.

They are focusing on those he took while in Praia da Luz around the time Madeleine went missing – on May 3, 2007.
Krokowski’s flat was searched after the three-year-old vanished. Portuguese cops later ruled him out
.
The images British ­detectives are looking at is in a batch of hundreds handed over to us by the Pole during an interview.

Among them is a ­picture of Mr Krokowski, 52, taken in Portugal in May 2007.

It bears a resemblance to the image of a man walking with a sleeping child – an ­artist’s impression of the ­kidnap which was released in September 2007.

The picture was publicised widely in the hope it would jog ­memories about Madeleine.

But British police agreed the picture was not Mr Krokowski.


Mr Krokowski told our ­investigators he liked taking pictures of ­children while he was on trips abroad.


He said he was amazed he had not been contacted since ­police reopened the case in 2011. The Pole insisted: “ I am ready to speak to them any time they want.”


Mr Krokowski said he ­wanted to ­remove a shadow that has been hanging over him since he ­became the ­subject of an international manhunt over Madeleine.

It is the latest twist in the long-running saga in which British police have vowed to leave no stone unturned to solve the mystery of what ­happened to Madeleine.

The extensive Scotland Yard review, which began in 2011, has so far cost more than £10million, with an extra £2million set for next year.

Mr Krokowski and his wife Anetta, 50, stayed in the Solimar apartments in Burgau just two miles from Praia da Luz between Saturday April 28 April and Saturday May 5 in 2007.

Madeleine was snatched from her apartment while her doctor parents Kate, now 47, and Gerry, 46, dined nearby with friends.
We tracked Mr Krokowski to his office in the Polish ­capital. He admitted he enjoys taking pictures of ­children on holiday but ­that it was for ­artistic purposes. In his first-ever newspaper interview he said: “I take ­photos of old people, young people, landscapes and I have a lot of pictures from places like Thailand, Greece, Portugal, France, with kids on them.

“But I never thought about kids as a sexual object. Nothing like this, never, never never. I am a simple man with normal sexual orientations.”

Mr Krokowski revealed that although Polish police officers quizzed the couple and searched their apartment and the home of his father, they never ­confiscated his camera or inspected his pictures.

Goncalo Amaral, the controversial detective who led the original Portuguese investigation before he was replaced, has said he regretted that the Polish police probe into the couple was not taken further and that they did not seize Mr Krokowski’s camera and look at his holiday pics at that time.

But Mr Krokowski, who describes himself as an “obsessive photographer” told us he still had every single picture he took the day Madeleine vanished and handed them over so we could pass them to Operation Grange.


Our man met Mr Krokowski at the offices of his interior design business in a suburb of central Warsaw near the banks of the river Vistula. Smart and professional, Mr Krokowski was in a meeting when we first called but cut the session short in order to speak to us when we ­explained who we were.

Over a couple of hours together he spoke at length about his involvement in the case and how he was eager to clear his name once and for all.

He revealed the accusations had cast a shadow over him and his wife for eight years after police knocked on his door.

The couple were made a top priority by Portuguese detectives in the ­immediate aftermath of Madeleine’s disappearance. They issued a CCTV picture of the Polish couple at a ­shopping mall in Portugal which went round the world.

The move came after a tourist claimed a man fitting Mr Krokowski’s appearance and driving a rental car was taking pictures of his children in the resort of Sagres just a 20-minute drive from Praia da Luz.

The tourist claimed he feared the man wanted to kidnap his daughter, who he said bore a striking resemblance to Madeleine.


But by the time the report was made, the Krokowskis had left for their Warsaw home. They pair were ­approached by police within half an hour after returning.

Their rental apartment in Portugal was also searched by forensic science experts but no charges were brought.

Mr Krokowski said he has ­taken a close interest in the case and was surprised he had not been ­contacted since the early days of the investigation.

He said: “I have followed this issue and know the British police are re-investigating.

“They have not been in touch with me yet but of course I am ready to speak to them any time they want to.

“Me and my wife came back to Poland via Berlin.
“We came back on the Saturday evening and took the train to Warsaw on Sunday morning.

“Half an hour after we got back the Polish police visited me at home and said they were there because of Madeleine.

“I said, ‘Welcome, please look around, go through my flat.’

“I flew back by plane and train, it would have been impossible to take someone with me.

“They seemed satisfied with that and I was never contacted again.

“But still on the internet I find the reports from the Portuguese police about us as ‘suspects’ and everything we were supposed to have done at this time.


“I am never comfortable when I read this and see I am a suspect. It’s not so good.

“I thought it was strange that I was a suspect. I am a normal man.

“I like ­children. I dream of having them but my wife has had some problems with alcohol and petty crimes over the years so we never had them.


“But I am a great ‘father’ to my friend’s ­children so it was a great pity for me that some ­parents lost their daughter.”

Speaking about the photos from his holiday in 2007, Mr Krokowski said he was happy to hand them over.

He added: “We are not the type of people to lie on the beach so we travelled a lot in that area between Sagres and Burgau and I have plenty of photos from our time there but the police never asked for them.

“I thought once maybe I should show those photos. They are not just ­landscapes, there are lots of people. Maybe something in there could be helpful.

“I collect all my photographs, I still have them from that trip, of course you can have them if they could help in anyway.”
The Sunday People can also reveal Operation Grange has been looking at possible leads in northern and central Europe.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-detectives-examine-former-6699750?ICID=FB_mirror_main

NIGEL NESSLING – Ipswich

16 November 2017  

An Ipswich man who became obsessed with child porn and downloaded more than 40,000 images has walked free from court after a judge decided not to send him straight to prison.
   
Nigel Nessling told police he initially saw an image of an eight-year-old girl and thought she was “pretty and cute” and became obsessed with viewing indecent images of children over a period of seven or eight years, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

“He said he needed to find more material to grow his collection and gained a thrill from forbidden fruit,” said Michael Crimp, prosecuting.

The court heard that police officers went to Nessling’s home in Larchcroft Road, Ipswich, on April 11 and seized items including two laptops, a hard drive and a tower unit.      

When the equipment was analysed it was found to contain 804 still and moving images in the most serious level A category, 818 still and moving level B images and more than 40,000 still and moving images in the lowest level C category.

There were also 3,000 prohibited images of children,.

Nessling, 59, admitted three offences of making indecent images of children and possessing prohibited images of children.

He was given a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work in the community.      

He was also ordered to take part in a 35 day rehabilitation activity programme and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for ten years. He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

Sentencing Nessling, Judge David Goodin said: “You plainly have it in you to be a decent, responsible member of society.”

He told Nessling, who is a father and a grandfather with no previous convictions, that the offences he had committed clearly crossed the custody threshold.      

However, he felt able to pass a suspended sentence because he had admitted the offences at an early stage and there was sufficient prospect of rehabilitation in his case.

Roger Thomson, for Nessling, said his client had taken part in a course to address his offending behaviour and was determined to put what he had done behind him.

He said Nessling had a good work record and was taking anti-depressants.    

http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/ipswich-man-avoids-prison-after-downloading-over-40-000-indecent-images-of-children-1-5283183

A disgraceful tissue of lies from the 'intelligent tabloid' #madeyouthink..

'The f***ing b******s have taken her': Witnesses tell of Kate McCann's screams on the night Maddie went missing 10 years ago

• Paul and Susan Moyes revealed what they saw from two floors above McCanns'
  
• They said Kate McCann was screaming as Gerry sobbed on a friend's shoulder
  
• Comes as another witness said she saw 'British looking' driver near apartment
  
• Also claims to have seen woman standing outside the apartment then 'hiding' 
  

By James Dunn For Mailonline
Published: 09:59, 3 May 2017  |  Updated: 12:00, 4 May 2017

Holidaymakers describing the night Madeleine McCann disappeared today revealed how they saw her distraught mother screaming 'the f***ing b******s have taken her'.

Speaking for the first time since she went missing ten years ago, Paul and Susan Moyes revealed what they saw from the apartment two floors above the McCanns'.

Mr Moyes, 68, said: 'The McCanns were in bits, he was crying on the shoulder of a friend. She was screaming "the f***ing b******s have taken her".'

Speaking to The Sun, he added: 'There was no doubt about the emotion that night.'

The couple, from Middlwich, Cheshire, claim they saw the McCann parents and their friends - known as the Tapas Nine - from their balcony before going to bed.

They were then reportedly woken by a friend of the McCanns banging on their door around an hour and a half later, at around 11.30pm on May 3 2007.

Another resident has also revealed key information on the night three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from her bed in the resort in Praia da Luz in the Algarve.
 
Jenny Murat, who lives 100 yards from the Ocean Club complex where the McCanns were staying, saw a car driving towards their apartment.

Speaking about the sighting for the first time, Mrs Murat told BBC Breakfast it was driving the wrong way down a one-way street.

'It was one of the small cars, like the rental cars – the normal, everyday sort of rental cars,' she said.

'I saw the driver, I was beside the driver. Both of us looked at each other. I think he had a very British look about him.'

Mrs Murat also described seeing a woman standing outside the family's apartment on the night Madeleine went missing.
'I noticed her there and she kind of looked as if she was trying to hide from me. I do remember she was wearing a plum-coloured top,' she said.

Mrs Murat's son Robert, a translator, was the first person to be made an arguido – a named suspect – in the case.

He told the BBC he still cannot face reading about the case on the internet, despite being cleared of any involvement.

'The internet is full of theories – I want to know the truth, not theories,' he said.

'I just want to know why that was the case. It didn't only lead to me being destroyed, it led to my whole family being destroyed, affected by those allegations. It was completely untrue.'

A special church service will be held at the Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz for all missing people, including Madeleine, at 9pm on Wednesday.

A candle bearing Madeleine's name and a card with her picture on have been placed outside the church in Luz where the service will later take place.

The card, reading 'Maddie with love' features a photograph of the little girl surrounded by diamante stickers, with a butterfly, yellow bow and flower.

Yellow ribbons, to signify hope, were placed around the village at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

The news comes after new information about the investigation was revealed this week by a Home Office report into the case.

A detective tipped to head up the Madeleine McCann probe was warned he would be ordered to prove she was abducted and ignore other leads.
 
Colin Sutton said a high-ranking friend in the Met called him and warned him not to lead the case when Scotland Yard announced it would get involved in 2010.

The source warned that he would be tasked with proving her parents Kate and Gerry were innocent and ignoring any alternatives to the abduction theory, he claims.

Speaking to Martin Brunt on Sky News, he said: 'I did receive a call from a very senior met police officer who knew me and said it wouldn’t be a good idea for me to head investigation on the basis that I wouldn’t be happy conducting an investigation being told where I could go and where I couldn’t go, the things I could investigate and the things I couldn’t.

Asked to clarify what he meant, he added: 'The Scotland Yard investigation was going to be very narrowly focused and that focus would be away from any suspicion of wrongdoing on the part of the McCanns or the tapas friends.'

The Tapas Nine refers to the McCann parents and the seven friends they were out to dinner with when Madeleine disappeared in 2007.

They were interviewed by Portuguese Police, who have always worked on the basis that Madeleine was abducted from her room, but Mr Sutton said other possibilities should be entertained.

Speaking on Searching for Maddie, which looks at the case ten years on from her disappearance, he criticises the narrow focus of both Portuguese and British police.

He added: 'If you are conducting a re-investigation you start at the very beginning. Look at all the accounts all the evidence all the initial statements and go through them and make sure they stack up and they compare.'

The documentary revealed details from a Home Office report on the case, ordered by then Labour minister Alan Johnson before the 2010 election, seen by Sky News' Martin Brunt.

The report shows that Gerry and Kate McCann's relationship with Portuguese police after they closed the investigation into her disappearance.

The Met took the unusual step of getting involved in the case in 2010 after the report was compiled, and recommends police collaborate with private investigators hired by the McCanns because of the 'unique nature of the case'.

However, it also reveals that much of the information gathered by investigators had not been shared with police investigating the case so far.

Highlighting the 'turbulent relationship' between the parents and detectives, it describes how the McCann's felt badly treated by the Portuguese authorities.

They were called in to speak to officers then asked to wait for hours, only for a detective never to appear, in treatment they described as 'inhumane'.

The relationship broke down entirely when Portuguese police closed the investgation in to Madeleine's disappearance in in Praia de Luz.

McCanns accused of pressuring Tapas Nine to 'keep them silent'

Daily Mail (no longer available online)
 
12th November 2007
 
Madeleine McCann's parents faced fresh allegations today that they are pressurising their friends into keeping silent over the events surrounding their daughter's disappearance.
 
One of the "Tapas nine" who was dining with the couple on the night Madeleine vanished is said to feel "obliged to keep silent".
 
Respected Spanish newspaper El Mundo quoted an un-named lawyer, said to represent the friend, criticising the McCanns' advisers.
 
The lawyer told the newspaper: "My client feels obliged to keep silent about what he can do to help the investigation, and not because of the Portuguese secrecy laws.
 
"This is very revealing about the strange circumstances surrounding this case.
 
"It's not that he is scared of the McCanns, but the economic and political lobby surrounding the couple is truly frightening to anybody.
 
"What my client wants is to reveal the whole truth, but he does not mean to accuse or blame anyone, as that is the job of the police.
 
"The only thing he wants is to help the police discover the truth about what happened before, during and after that dinner on May 3."
 
Last week El Mundo reported that lawyers acting for two of the McCanns' friends have contacted Portuguese police to say they wish to "correct" certain parts of their statements.
 
Gerry and Kate McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell denied the report and said it was not true that any of the couple's friends want to change their stories.
 
But the British lawyer, who has an office in London, told El Mundo: "If you take into account all of the pressure that has been placed on my client and on other people, it is perfectly natural and understandable that my client has not told Clarence Mitchell of his decision to hire his own lawyer to co-operate more closely with the police."
 
The lawyer also claimed that on the night of May 3 the McCanns did not call the police until they had discussed the possible implications for them of having left their three children alone in the holiday apartment.
 
The lawyer said: "The police were only informed after the group in question analysed the problems they could face for having left the children alone, and until now, my client has not had the opportunity to talk for himself about it all."
 
The lawyer, who is said to have been hired by the friend in September, was also critical of the help the McCanns have been given by the British authorities.
 
He said: "I understand perfectly that our government is legally obliged to help the McCanns.
 
"What I can't understand is that they have received help which goes far beyond what would be considered normal in a case like this.
 
However, from the very beginning it has been clear that the Madeleine case is not a normal police case.
 
"It's not my job to have to explain why and how certain politicians have intervened in this case, but I'm afraid these interventions have been prejudicial not only to my client, but also for determining the truth.
 
"My client has not received any personal support from the British authorities, only that which has come through the McCann couple.
 
"I don't want to accuse anyone, but there are people very close to the McCanns who are not helping them at all.
 
"The intention of my client is to bring to light the truth of this sad story, without any concern for who might be implicated."
 
Four of the Tapas Nine, the name given to Gerry and Kate McCann and the seven friends they were dining with on the night Madeleine disappeared from the holiday complex in the Algarve, have reportedly brought in their own lawyers as they prepared to be named as official suspects.
 
A Sunday newspaper named the four as Russell O'Brien and his partner Jane Tanner, Matthew Oldfield and Dr David Payne.
 
It claimed they had been warned they would join the McCanns and Robert Murat as "arguidos" after the discovery by Portuguese investigators of inconsistencies in key statements made immediately after Madeleine vanished.
 
Dr Payne, a 41-year-old cardiovascular researcher from Leicester, was the last person outside the McCann family to see Madeleine at the Ocean Club resort on May 3.
 
Gerry asked him to check on his wife and children while he having a tennis lesson at about 6.30pm.
 
Attention has also focused on Jane Tanner's claim she saw a man carrying a girl from the McCanns' ground floor apartment at about 9.15pm - when another witness says he was outside the flat at the same time but did not see her or the mystery man.
 
Mr Oldfield, 37, from south London, has said he entered the McCanns' apartment to check on the children about 30 minutes before Madeleine was reported missing by her mum.
 
He told police that although he had seen the McCanns' two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, their sister's bed was out of his sight-line.
 
Dr O'Brien, 36, from Exeter, was away from the group for up to 45 minutes between 9.30pm until 10.15pm while he tended to his own child who was sick in his apartment.
 
He told police he had changed her bedlinen, but staff at the Ocean Club were said to have denied any change of sheets was requested.
 
The McCanns and their friends have always denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance - and insist she was kidnapped.
 
They are barred by strict Portuguese secrecy laws from speaking about the events of May 3 but recently issued a statement denying they had a "pact of silence" or that they were covering up a secret.
 
Portuguese police are preparing to send a three-man team led by chief investigator Paulo Rebelo to the UK to reinterview the Tapas Nine.
 
British detectives will ask questions put to them by their Portuguese counterparts.

[Acknowledgement  mccannfiles/pamalam]

Swiftly followed by..

Madeleine investigation grinds to a halt as police are barred from asking suspects 100 new questions
 
By VANESSA ALLEN
14 November 2007
 
The Madeleine McCann investigation has hit an impasse as police are being blocked from asking the McCanns 100 new questions.
 
Detectives said a 'root and branch' review of the six-month inquiry had 'confirmed suspicions' but failed to uncover any new clues which could solve the disappearance.
 
They have drawn up a list of questions they want to put to Kate and Gerry McCann but they will not be allowed to do so unless they convince a public prosecutor that they have a case against them.
 
They also want to interrogate the other members of the so-called Tapas Nine, and to quiz relatives about the couple and their relationship with their children.
 
But the Portuguese public prosecutor has said he will not authorise any new interrogations without seeing stronger evidence in the case.
 
Police have privately admitted that it would take 'a miracle' for them to build a better case against the couple, although they still hope there could be a forensics breakthrough in the investigation.
 
A source told the Portuguese newspaper 24 Horas that detectives were waiting for further test results from the Forensics Science Service in Birmingham.
 
He said: "The tests were requested more than three months ago but the results have not yet arrived. These tests are fundamental to direct the investigation.
 
"The letter of appeal (to the British authorities) is concluded. It contains over 100 questions which will be put to Kate and Gerry McCann, their family members and their friends.
 
"The purpose is to confirm the testimonies produced at the time the little girl disappeared."
 
Preliminary results from the FSS proved inconclusive, as did forensic tests carried out in Portugal.
 
An FSS spokeswoman said tests were ongoing, but a Portuguese police laboratory source revealed growing frustrations within the investigation about the lengthy wait for results.
 
He said: "The truth is that those tests - despite being complex - are carried out in 90 days maximum. One cannot understand the English delay."
 
Detectives have prepared letters of appeal to the British authorities, asking for British police to re-interview Mr and Mrs McCann, both aged 39, and the seven friends with whom they were on holiday.
 
They also want the couple's laptops seized, and some personal items including Kate's bible and diary. But the public prosecutor, Jose Magalhaes e Meneses has refused to authorise the moves without seeing stronger evidence.
 
A police source told 24 Horas: "The new analysis of the evidence, carried out by the team which took charge of the case, has confirmed all the suspicions that exist but nothing more.
 
"There is no new data. New operations were carried out, other people who had not been interviewed at the time were interrogated. But nothing new came of it.
 
"If a body does not turn up or unless somebody comes forward with a credible lead we continue increasingly without any chance of closing the case."
 
Mr and Mrs McCann have provided police with a list of 25 witnesses they would like to see interviewed, including several relatives, in the hope they would give detectives a better picture of their family relationships.
 
A friend said they had heard nothing more from detectives since sending them the list last month, and admitted that frustrations were growing.
 
He said: "Of course there are frustrations this is still unresolved.
 
"There are frustrations amongst Kate and Gerry's friends, that's for sure.
 
"They want to help them in any way they can but are barred from talking because of Portugal's strict privacy laws."
 
Meanwhile it emerged yesterday that police suspected the McCanns as early as July but did not act on their suspicions as they feared they might leave Portugal.
 
A source told Correio da Manha: "They feared the two would stop co-operating, which is exactly what happened when they were made arguidos."
 
Publicly the police insisted the parents, of Rothley, Leicestershire, were not suspects, but then named them as arguidos in September.
 
McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Once again, we will not comment on speculation in the Portuguese media.
 
"Kate and Gerry have nothing to hide and we hope they will be cleared as soon as possible."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-493208/Madeleine-investigation-grinds-halt-police-barred-asking-suspects-100-new-questions.html

Madeleine McCann: Crimewatch response 'overwhelming'

   15 October 2013


Kate 'I feel a whoosh coming on' McCann

Police probing the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal say there was an "overwhelming response" to an appeal on the BBC's Crimewatch, with almost 1,000 calls and emails.

Officers suggested the 2007 case bore hallmarks of a "pre-planned abduction".

Scotland Yard said it was also looking into possible links to burglaries and bogus charity collections in the area.

Crimewatch editor Joe Mather said several callers gave the same man's name after e-fit pictures were shown.

Madeleine, from Rothley, Leicestershire, was three years old when she disappeared from her parents' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007.

Police outlined their latest findings in the search for Madeleine on BBC One's Crimewatch on Monday.

Detectives released two e-fits of a man seen carrying a child in Praia da Luz at 22:00 on the night Madeleine went missing and it was revealed that police now suspect Madeleine could have been taken later than previously thought - just before her mother returned to the apartment to check on her.

In an update, Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood, the senior Metropolitan Police investigating officer, said there had been 730 phone calls and 212 emails "as a direct result of the specific lines of enquiry we issued yesterday".

"Detectives are now trawling through and prioritising that material," he said. "This will take time."

Crimewatch's editor said the appeal "went better than expected" with many of the calls received from British people who had been at the resort at the time but had not previously contacted the Met.

Mr Mather told BBC Radio 4's Today programme a number of different names for the "key 10pm sighting" were mentioned and several callers suggested the same name.

Thursday 3 May 2007: Timeline


   20:30 Kate and Gerry McCann leave their apartment to have dinner at a Tapas bar
   21:05 Gerry McCann checks on Madeleine and her siblings
   22:00 A man is seen carrying a child wearing pyjamas heading towards the ocean
   22:00 Kate McCann raises the alarm that Madeleine has gone missing

Det Ch Insp Redwood told Crimewatch a number of men had been seen by witnesses in the area on the day Madeleine vanished and one theory was they could have been carrying out reconnaissance.

He said they wanted to track down men seen "lurking suspiciously" near the McCanns' apartment block.

The Metropolitan Police say their inquiries have led to the timeline and "accepted version of events" surrounding Madeleine's disappearance being significantly changed.

Det Ch Insp Redwood said it had been a "revelation moment" when police discovered a man seen by the McCanns' friend Jane Tanner at 21:15 was almost certainly an innocent British holiday-maker collecting his two-year-old daughter from a nearby creche.

He said: "Our focus in terms of understanding what happened on the night of 3 May has now given us a shift of emphasis.

"It takes us through to a position at 10pm when we see another man who is walking towards the ocean, close by to the apartment, with a young child in his arms."

Crimewatch featured a detailed reconstruction lasting close to 25 minutes.

The film is also to be shown in the Netherlands, Germany and Irish Republic this week as tourists from those countries were known to be in the resort at the time.

Det Ch Insp Redwood said he would be travelling to the Netherlands and Germany to continue the appeal.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry told the programme they were "hopeful and optimistic" after the fresh appeal for information.

Mrs McCann said: "We're not the ones that have done something wrong here. It's the person who's gone into that apartment and taken a little girl away from her family."

The film is also to be shown in the Netherlands, Germany and Irish Republic this week as tourists from those countries were known to be in the resort at the time.

Det Ch Insp Redwood said he would be travelling to the Netherlands and Germany to continue the appeal.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry told the programme they were "hopeful and optimistic" after the fresh appeal for information.

Mrs McCann said: "We're not the ones that have done something wrong here. It's the person who's gone into that apartment and taken a little girl away from her family."

The two e-fit images released are of a man a family had seen with a blond-haired child of three or four, possibly wearing pyjamas, heading away from the McCanns' holiday apartment.

Det Ch Insp Redwood said he could be the man who took Madeleine - but there could be an innocent explanation.

He also said there had been a four-fold increase in the number of burglaries in the area between January and May 2007 and one possible scenario was that Madeleine had disturbed a burglar.

Police are also looking at possible bogus charity collectors operating in the area at the time and have released two e-fit images of Portuguese men they would like to identify.

Police have also released e-fit images of two men seen in the area around the time that Madeleine disappeared. Two are of fair-haired men who fit similar descriptions.

Portuguese police shelved their inquiry in 2008 but Scotland Yard began a review of the case in May 2011 and opened a formal investigation in July this year.

BBC News correspondent Tom Burridge in Praia da Luz said Portuguese police have not commented on the Met investigation but have given the impression that they are co-operating well with their British counterparts.

Mark Williams-Thomas, a child protection expert, said it was a "pity" there were no plans to show the Crimewatch appeal in Portugal.

"There are a lot of residents there who may have information," he told Today.

He suggested further progress in the case required Portuguese police to reopen their investigation.

Madeleine and her brother and sister were left in the apartment at 20:30 while her parents dined with friends at a nearby restaurant.

Mr McCann checked on them at 21:05 and Mrs McCann raised the alarm at 22:00.

In the programme, Mrs McCann described the moment that "panic kicked in" after returning to the apartment to find her daughter missing.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-24530186

____________________________________________________________________

New poll.  Mod

https://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t14853-madeleine-mccann-justice-or-whitewash-mark-2#379970

'Our friend Kate McCann, the perfect mum,' two of her closest friends speak out

Original Source: MAIL: SUNDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2007

By LAURA COLLINS
Last updated at 18:09 16 September 2007

Calm, laid-back, loving and happy. Away from the headlines and the horrors, this is how Kate McCann's friends knew her to be with her children.


Yesterday, at the end of a week in which Kate has been described as 'struggling' to cope with three 'hysterical' children and short-tempered with Madeleine, two of her oldest friends, Linda McQueen and Nicky Gill, have spoken out in her defence - and told of her heartbreak and devastation.

Nicky said: "The things that have been said are unfair and hurtful. It's frustrating for Kate and Gerry that anything is taking the focus away from Madeleine and away from the search for her.

"At the bottom of all this, Kate is a mother who has lost her daughter and she needs all the help she can get. Kate is a warm, loving, loyal friend.


"We're her friends. We'll do whatever it takes. We'll continue to support and help right to the end."

The 39-year-old personal trainer, who lives in the Liverpool suburb of Childwall, has known Kate since they met at the age of six on their first day of school.

"If anybody was meant to have three children under the age of three, it was Kate," she said. "She's so cool, calm and laidback. I never saw her run ragged once. She was just so happy."

Nicky also defended Gerry, who had been described as 'absent' when it came to child care. She said: "Gerry is a fabulous dad. He's a working father but very hands-on. He's like a fourth kid, rolling around with them in a very rough-and-tumble way, and with a fabulous sense of humour.

"He and Kate balance each other really well. They have a very special relationship."

Linda McQueen, a 45-year-old teacher from Formby, Merseyside, has also known Kate since they were children. She said: "The family had a great routine - their mealtimes, bedtimes and bathtimes in particular were great fun.

"We holidayed with them as part of a big group earlier in the year. It was just lovely."

Having a large family was, Linda explained, something of which Kate always dreamed. "They were up and down about whether they could have children and then they went through IVF so Madeleine, all of the children, was a dream come true."

Nicky added: "It seems so cruel that this happened to them just when they had all they wanted."


Both women have been in close contact with Kate and Gerry since Madeleine disappeared from their villa in Praia da Luz on May 3. Yesterday Linda recalled how she had spoken to Kate at about 2am on the night Madeleine vanished.

"She just said, 'Somebody's taken Madeleine, somebody's taken Madeleine.' She sounded shocked and frantic and was just trying to get everything up and running to find her. It was just awful. This cold, icy feeling came over you."

Nicky spoke to Kate the next day, by which time "she was exhausted, physically and emotionally".

The McCanns have been criticised by some for a 'too slick' publicity campaign to try to find their daughter.

But Linda said: "Kate and Gerry were so traumatised that they went into a cocoon in the first couple of days. But all the advice they were being given was, 'Get Madeleine's face out there.' So that's what they did. They will do whatever it takes to find her."

Nicky said: "I think Kate has done extremely well. It's horrendous. She is the kindest, most caring person. But the frustration is that every day spent talking about Kate and Gerry is another not finding Madeleine."

Linda added: "They're an amazing couple. They have their vulnerable times and their dark moments.
"But Kate can't let Madeleine down and we'll get through it.

"I think it's only a small minority who are critical of Kate. The rest are sticking with us and keeping Madeleine in their prayers.

"We need to refocus on Madeleine. That's the most important thing to Kate - to get the focus back on Madeleine."

Perfect mothers leave their children alone whilst out on the lash - with the doors left unlocked of course.

Linda McQueen, a 45-year-old teacher from Formby, Merseyside, has also known Kate since they were children. She said: "The family had a great routine - their mealtimes, bedtimes and bathtimes in particular were great fun.

"We holidayed with them as part of a big group earlier in the year. It was just lovely."


I wonder was this Donegal ? 
If not where and when? 


interesting these friends address everything that Kate needs "defending" 


Where are they now in support of Kate to find Madeleine? 


The quietness of friends and family over the years is quite telling. Early days names  were named... 
then it became a source or a close friend said etc

Was that due to Mitchell's involvement or something else?

" We'll continue to support and help right to the end " ?

Err , where are you now , nothing from any of her friends for the past 10 years ? 

Has the " end " come for you ? 

" The family had a great routine - their mealtimes , bathtimes and bed times in particular were great fun " 

How often did friends stay around for the children's meals , baths and bed times ?

Maybe not so " into each other " as the Tapas group were , they were allegedly desperate to get the children tucked up so they could eat , drink and be merry together . The British way apparently !!!!

Perhaps friends were called on to help when the mother was feeling stressed, even fun can be hard work!

Perhaps the narrator was talking of the parents mealtimes, bath times and bed times being fun!

Perhaps this is the most ridiculous character witness that ever hit the press, since Harold Shipman was said to be an excellent and meticulous hands-on doctor.

Perhaps it's just a load of old twaddle.

" Perhaps the narrator was talking of the parents mealtimes , bath times and bed times being fun ? " 

Noooooo !! Don't want to even think about it ! That's put me right off my lunch !

McCanns demand Portuguese police interview 25 key witnesses

Last updated at 13:28 04 November 2007

Kate and Gerry McCann have demanded that Portuguese police interview 25 witnesses they believe hold the key to solving the mystery of their daughter's disappearance.

The couple's lawyer, Michael Caplan QC, has submitted the list of names to the Portuguese authorities along with a 'petition' for the defence team to be given access to the case file against them.

Mr Caplan is taking advantage of the rights that people are afforded as arguidos, or formal suspects, to demand information and action from the police.

A friend close to the family confirmed that the witnesses the McCanns wish to be interviewed include employees at the Ocean Club resort where the family had been staying in Praia da Luz, including nannies who were working in the club's creche.

Among those said to be on the list is Catriona Baker, the nanny assigned by holiday firm Mark Warner to look after Maddie.



News of the submissions by Mr Caplan came as Mr and Mrs McCann were formally told by British police liaison officers that the Portuguese police were 'reviewing' the case against them.

However, after talks with Leicestershire Police on Friday, Madeleine's parents have privately expressed their confidence that they will not now be charged.

They have even considered what role they could take in the police investigation if their arguido status is dropped.

The McCanns are loathe to lose any input and have considered becoming 'prosecutor's assistants'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-491603/McCanns-demand-Portuguese-police-interview-25-key-witnesses.html

Kate McCann DID scream 'They've taken her' claims new nanny witness

By DAN NEWLING

Last updated at 16:41 25 September 2007

The first eyewitness account of the frantic moments after Madeleine McCann disappeared can be revealed today.

Nanny Charlotte Pennington confirms that Kate McCann did scream: "They've taken her, they've taken her!"

The mother's precise words have become a pivotal issue in the case, with Portuguese police questioning why she would automatically assume Maddie had been abducted.

Mrs McCann's family have countered this by insisting they recall her shouting: "Madeleine's gone."

Miss Pennington, however, one of the first people to set foot in the couple's apartment after the disappearance, says she heard the mother use both phrases.

The 20-year-old Briton, who tended children for the Mark Warner holiday complex in Praia da Luz, firmly believes the McCanns are innocent.

Speaking publicly for the first time yesterday, she described Mrs McCann in the aftermath as "a broken woman" who was shuddering and unable to move.



"We are trained to comfort people in this type of situation but she was just inconsolable," she said.

Miss Pennington is considered a vital witness by Portuguese detectives with whom she spent more than four-and-a-half hours giving a statement.

She also claims British expat Robert Murat, the first suspect in the case, was in the area of the Ocean Club complex that night. He has repeatedly denied that he was there.

Talking from her mother's home in Leatherhead, Surrey, yesterday she told the Daily Mail: "I was in the apartment less than five minutes after they found that Madeleine had gone.

"When we were coming out we saw Kate and she was screaming: 'They've taken her, they've taken her!'

"I was standing right in front of her outside the apartment's back door, in the alleyway. I was very close to her. It might not have been the first thing she said. But she definitely said it.

"I was one of three Mark Warner staff who saw her shouting it. They have all given statements to the Portuguese police saying that."

The "they've taken her" version of events was first given in the Portuguese press two days after Madeleine disappeared on May 3.

It remained unchallenged until last Thursday when a source close to the McCann family claimed Kate had actually shouted: 'Madeleine's gone!'

Miss Pennington flew out to start work at Praia da Luz on April 28 - the same day that the McCanns arrived. She had worked for Mark Warner on two previous occasions.

She was employed as a nanny in the Ocean Club resort's Baby Club, looking after children aged four to 12 months.

However, she also came into close contact with Madeleine, her two-year-old sister and brother Amelie and Sean, and their parents, both doctors aged 39.

She dismissed claims that the McCanns were not seen for six hours leading up to the disappearance.

She said: "I was helping give the children high tea. The twins were there and Madeleine and both parents.



"It was supposed to finish at 5.30pm but because they were a big group and really social, it didn't finish until about 6pm. There was nothing out of the ordinary at all."

After tea Miss Pennington went to work at the resort's evening creche, in which parents could leave their children while they went out for supper.

Just before 10pm the last mother arrived to collect her child from the creche and mentioned that she had just bumped into a man, who had been shouting a name.

"She didn't get the name, but she said it sounded something like 'Abbey, Gabby or Maddie'. We automatically went into lost-child procedure. In these situations, the first thing we do is investigate the scene.

"We knew that one of the other nanny's charges was called Maddie. We told the head of department what had happened and she took us straight to the apartment.

"There were no children in the room. The twins had been taken out already, I think by one of the McCanns' friends.

"When we were coming out we saw Kate and she was screaming: 'They've taken her. They've taken her!'

Asked if it was the only thing she said, Miss Pennington answered: "It might not have been the first thing she said. But she definitely said it. She also repeated Madeleine's name and said: 'She's gone, she's gone'.

"I couldn't really believe what I was seeing - she was just so distraught. She was screaming out and tears were running down her face.

"Everyone else was running around trying to help.

"Kate and her friend, who was looking after her, were the only ones who weren't out looking for Madeleine."

While Gerry McCann leapt into action and began frantically searching the resort, she said his wife remained outside the apartment, shuddering with tears and unable to move.

Asked why she thought Mrs McCann might have shouted "They've taken her", Miss Pennington said:

"I'm not really sure. But maybe she saw some people looking at Madeleine earlier that day, and she immediately thought that they must have taken her."

The nanny was one of three staff who steered Mrs McCann to the nearby reception area, where they asked her to describe what Madeleine was wearing.

But she remained so hysterical that she could hardly communicate.

"We get missing children all the time, and I have seen plenty of hysterical mothers. But none of them were like Kate."

She confirmed reports from the McCanns' friends that Murat was at the scene.

"He was outside the lobby just before we started on our big search," she said.

"He was adamant that he wasn't there. But he was. He was there in the road, he was just looking. It was about 10.30. He was just watching

"I didn't know his name then. But the next day he was our interpreter and I met him then. He didn't take part in the searches, but he was there."

Murat has insisted that he was at his home nearby throughout the evening of Madeleine's disappearance. Portuguese sources have claimed that he will soon be told that he is no longer a suspect.

Miss Pennington explained that she spent the rest of the evening searching for Madeleine, before finally going to bed at 4am.

The following afternoon she was one of the first people to give witness statements to the Portuguese police.

Since then, she said, she has spoken to a Portuguese detective once and to two British detectives.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483715/Kate-McCann-DID-scream-Theyve-taken-claims-new-nanny-witness.html

.... but I won't forgive the f*****g t****r who tried to find the girl....

This article has now been whooshed:

Madeleine McCann: the police are hunting for a needle in a haystack. Should we really be drawn into this circus?
By Dan Hodges Society Last updated: October 14th, 2013
1 Comment

Images of the "man" police want to question (Photo: PA)
The circus continues. This morning the police have issued a new e-fit of a man they say they want to interview in relation to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. It is on the front of every newspaper, website and television bulletin in the country.
We are being asked to examine it. To rack our brains and scour our memories. Is there anything about this man we find familiar? Is there anything we can do to help the investigation?
Our natural instincts kick in. We stare at it. Then we stare deep into ourselves. What if it was our own child, we say. So we stare once more. At the lifeless, digitally produced eyes of the monster. The man who may have snatched that little girl.
And at that point we are no longer observers of the circus, but part of it. And because we have become part of it, the harder we stare, the less we see.
Two e-fits have been produced this morning. According to police they are of the same man. But in fact, they are of two men. Their hair is different. Their eyebrows are different. Their noses are different. Their ears are different. Their lips are different. Their cheekbones are different.

But we’re all part of the circus now. So we say nothing.
The images of the “man” are being broadcast because, according to police, he represents a crucial lead. But if you listen harder you realise that’s not what the police are saying at all. Yes, a spokesman claimed, it was of “vital importance” the man in the images is identified and interviewed. But he then conceded that he “may or may not be key”. According to Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood “Whilst this man may or may not be the key to unlocking this investigation, tracing and speaking to him is of vital importance to us.”
He may be the key. He may not be the key. In the same way you or I may be the key, or may not be the key. But we are definitely part of the circus. So we say nothing.
And why is it “vital” this man be traced? Because he was seen with a child. Has anyone said it was Madeleine? No. Was he seen hanging around other children? Has he any record of child abduction, or demonstrating any inappropriate interest in children?
Apparently not. According to the police they need to interview him because “We have witnesses placing him in the resort area around the time of Madeleine's disappearance”. Praia da Luz has a resident population of over 3,000 people. That excludes the additional thousands who visit on holiday. And yet being “in the resort area” is now enough to warrant police investigation. But we are part of the circus. And fortunately, we weren’t in the area at the time. So we say nothing.
Is there anything else that makes this particular individual so important to the investigation? Apparently not. Here’s Det Ch Insp Redwood again: "This is far from our only line of inquiry and there will be e-fits released of other sightings as well, who we are equally keen to trace. These people were seen on the day of Madeleine's disappearance and the days leading up to it."
So it seems there is nothing special about this “suspect”. There will be other e-fits. Other appeals. Other questions asked about people who “were in the area”. But we are part of the circus now. So we wait for them. And say nothing.
We certainly don’t question whether the police investigation is indeed making any headway. And why should we? The police spokesman assures us they are making “massive steps forward". Though they have also sought to “try and draw everything back to zero… take everything back to the beginning and then reanalyse and reassess everything, accepting nothing”. The police are moving forward, but they are also heading back to zero.
The investigating team also appear to be spreading their net wide. “Our requests for help need to be repeated in many different countries,” says Redwood. You may not have been in Praia da Luz. You may never have been to Portugal. You may not live in the UK. You may, in fact, live anywhere on the planet. But the police need your help. Even though they are making great progress. "We still have a lot of material to investigate and much work to do," Redwood admits.
And so before our very eyes we see the police engaged in this game of hunting a needle in the haystack. And yet we say nothing. We have our ringside seats to the circus. And we will not be vacating them.
But there are some who don’t have seats to the show. They are the faces that stare out from the website Missing Kids. It currently features 123 children who are currently missing from home. The youngest is three years old. The most recent date of disappearance was Michelle Brewer, reported missing six days ago. The oldest, Mary Flanagan, reported missing on December 31st, 1959.
They will have no television appeals. No e-fits. No special police units established after direct intervention from the Prime Minister.
Madeleine McCann is gone. But the circus rolls on.

Madeleine McCann: Crimewatch to show 'fresh version of events'

13 October 2013

The timeline and "accepted version of events" surrounding Madeleine McCann's disappearance have significantly changed, British police say.

The Metropolitan Police said a BBC Crimewatch appeal to be aired on Monday would feature "the most detailed reconstruction" of the case yet.

It will also broadcast e-fits of a number of men police want to find.

Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, was three when she went missing in Portugal in May 2007.

Portuguese authorities dropped their investigation into the case in 2008, but Scotland Yard started a review in May 2011.

It has yet to give any details, ahead of the Crimewatch appeal, about how its understanding of events in May 2007 has changed.

Madeleine disappeared from her family's holiday flat in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, as her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, dined out with friends at a nearby restaurant.
'New significance'

The purpose of the Crimewatch appeal, which police are describing as the "most complex and detailed" so far in the case, is to try to identify a number of computer-generated images, or e-fits, of men who were sighted in and around Praia da Luz on or before Thursday 3 May 2007.

As part of that effort, a reconstruction - almost 25 minutes long - of events leading up to and surrounding Madeleine's disappearance will be shown.

A short clip released in advance by police shows an actress playing Madeleine running across a tennis court as two adults, apparently her parents, play a game.

During the search for their daughter, the McCann family released a photograph of Madeleine, believed to be one of the last taken of her during the holiday, holding several tennis balls.

Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood, who is heading the investigation, said: "The timeline we have now established has given new significance to sightings and movements of people in and around Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

"Our work to date has significantly changed the timeline and the accepted version of events that has been in the public domain to date.

"It has allowed us to work with Crimewatch to build the most detailed reconstruction as yet, and highlight very specific appeal points.

"I hope that when the public see our investigative strands drawn together within the overall context of that appeal, it will bring in new information that moves our investigation forward."

DCI Redwood said that police had sought to "try and draw everything back to zero... take everything back to the beginning and then reanalyse and reassess everything, accepting nothing".
Phone records

He added: "The careful and critical analysis of the timeline has been absolutely key. Primarily, we are focused on the area between 8.30pm and 10pm.

"We know that at 8.30, that was the time that Mr and Mrs McCann went down to the tapas area for their dinner, and we know that at around 10pm, that was when Mrs McCann found that Madeleine was missing."

Madeleine's parents will make a live appeal in the studio during the programme and, ahead of the broadcast, they told the BBC how much they still miss her.

"When it's a special occasion, when you should be at your happiest, and Madeleine's not there, that's when it really hits home," Mr McCann said.

Mrs McCann added: "It's when you have the big family occasions... and you haven't got your complete family."

Earlier this month, police said phone records may be key to the case after it emerged officers were analysing data from phones belonging to people who were in Praia da Luz when Madeleine vanished.

The Crimewatch appeal, which will be shown in the UK on BBC One on Monday from 2100 BST, will also be broadcast in the Netherlands and Germany.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-24509235

Liar!  Liar!  the Crimewatch production was not an update or appeal on behalf of a police investigation - it was a reiteration of the McCann and their friends version of the truth, the story line.

Madeleine McCann: Crimewatch response 'overwhelming'

15 October 2013



Police probing the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal say there was an "overwhelming response" to an appeal on the BBC's Crimewatch, with almost 1,000 calls and emails.

Officers suggested the 2007 case bore hallmarks of a "pre-planned abduction".

Scotland Yard said it was also looking into possible links to burglaries and bogus charity collections in the area.

Crimewatch editor Joe Mather said several callers gave the same man's name after e-fit pictures were shown.

Madeleine, from Rothley, Leicestershire, was three years old when she disappeared from her parents' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007.

Police outlined their latest findings in the search for Madeleine on BBC One's Crimewatch on Monday.

Detectives released two e-fits of a man seen carrying a child in Praia da Luz at 22:00 on the night Madeleine went missing and it was revealed that police now suspect Madeleine could have been taken later than previously thought - just before her mother returned to the apartment to check on her.

In an update, Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood, the senior Metropolitan Police investigating officer, said there had been 730 phone calls and 212 emails "as a direct result of the specific lines of enquiry we issued yesterday".

"Detectives are now trawling through and prioritising that material," he said. "This will take time."

Crimewatch's editor said the appeal "went better than expected" with many of the calls received from British people who had been at the resort at the time but had not previously contacted the Met.

Mr Mather told BBC Radio 4's Today programme a number of different names for the "key 10pm sighting" were mentioned and several callers suggested the same name.

Det Ch Insp Redwood told Crimewatch a number of men had been seen by witnesses in the area on the day Madeleine vanished and one theory was they could have been carrying out reconnaissance.

He said they wanted to track down men seen "lurking suspiciously" near the McCanns' apartment block.

The Metropolitan Police say their inquiries have led to the timeline and "accepted version of events" surrounding Madeleine's disappearance being significantly changed.

Det Ch Insp Redwood said it had been a "revelation moment" when police discovered a man seen by the McCanns' friend Jane Tanner at 21:15 was almost certainly an innocent British holiday-maker collecting his two-year-old daughter from a nearby creche.

He said: "Our focus in terms of understanding what happened on the night of 3 May has now given us a shift of emphasis.

"It takes us through to a position at 10pm when we see another man who is walking towards the ocean, close by to the apartment, with a young child in his arms."

Crimewatch featured a detailed reconstruction lasting close to 25 minutes.

The film is also to be shown in the Netherlands, Germany and Irish Republic this week as tourists from those countries were known to be in the resort at the time.

Det Ch Insp Redwood said he would be travelling to the Netherlands and Germany to continue the appeal.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry told the programme they were "hopeful and optimistic" after the fresh appeal for information.

Mrs McCann said: "We're not the ones that have done something wrong here. It's the person who's gone into that apartment and taken a little girl away from her family."

The two e-fit images released are of a man a family had seen with a blond-haired child of three or four, possibly wearing pyjamas, heading away from the McCanns' holiday apartment.

Det Ch Insp Redwood said he could be the man who took Madeleine - but there could be an innocent explanation.

He also said there had been a four-fold increase in the number of burglaries in the area between January and May 2007 and one possible scenario was that Madeleine had disturbed a burglar.

Police are also looking at possible bogus charity collectors operating in the area at the time and have released two e-fit images of Portuguese men they would like to identify.

Police have also released e-fit images of two men seen in the area around the time that Madeleine disappeared. Two are of fair-haired men who fit similar descriptions.

Portuguese police shelved their inquiry in 2008 but Scotland Yard began a review of the case in May 2011 and opened a formal investigation in July this year.

BBC News correspondent Tom Burridge in Praia da Luz said Portuguese police have not commented on the Met investigation but have given the impression that they are co-operating well with their British counterparts.

Mark Williams-Thomas, a child protection expert, said it was a "pity" there were no plans to show the Crimewatch appeal in Portugal.

"There are a lot of residents there who may have information," he told Today.

He suggested further progress in the case required Portuguese police to reopen their investigation.



[As featured on the official Find Madeleine website]

Madeleine and her brother and sister were left in the apartment at 20:30 while her parents dined with friends at a nearby restaurant.

Mr McCann checked on them at 21:05 and Mrs McCann raised the alarm at 22:00.

In the programme, Mrs McCann described the moment that "panic kicked in" after returning to the apartment to find her daughter missing.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-24530186

Sick internet trolls target Kate and Gerry McCann after Crimewatch special

THE new investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance has been hit by vile trolls.

Published 20th October 2013

Scores of people are thought to have made nuisance calls to the inquiry following a fresh appeal for information on the BBC's Crimewatch show.

Many boasted on Twitter about their time-wasting stunts, with some claiming they told the police new e-fits released on the programme looked like Madeleine's father Gerry, 44.

Twitter user LadyReeve wrote: "Awks when the e-fit is Gerry McCann! I'm going to ring in and name him just in case the police haven't got it yet #Crimewatch."

Another user called KCAEC said: "Who's gonna be the 1st person to phone in and say they recognise the e-fit......its Gerry McCann!"

Someone called Jont-o'-Lantern Gore also tweeted: "Chain smoking pack after pack of cigarettes to change my voice so that I can prank call Crimewatch."

Others on Twitter confirmed that police had been sidetracked by a spate of misleading calls.





Trevor Allman, a former London councillor, said: "Apparently a lot of people have pointed out to the police that the e-fit photo on last night's Crimewatch looks like Gerry McCann."

So far the Crimewatch appeal has generated 2,400 calls and emails to police with information.

The sick phone calls emerged amid growing support for hate-filled opponents of Gerry and Kate McCann, 45.

Detectives are monitoring the internet for vile messages about the couple after a Facebook group targeting the pair attracted 11,000 members.

Madeleine disappeared from the McCanns' holiday apartment in Praia de Luz, Portugal, in 2007.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/346131/Sick-internet-trolls-target-Kate-and-Gerry-McCann-after-Crimewatch-special

History repeating itself..

'IT'S PERSONAL' Furious Gerry and Kate McCann say their court battle with cop was NEVER about winning money but about stopping his Maddie cover-up ‘smears’

Kate and Gerry McCann face a huge bill that could wipe out search funds for the missing girl after losing their new court appeal to silence Gonçalo Amaral

By NEAL BAKER and GERARD COUZENS
1st February 2017, 3:45 pm
Updated: 2nd February 2017, 1:54 am

MADDIE McCann's parents have slammed "untruthful and malicious" allegations made by a former cop who was yesterday cleared of breaching libel laws, according to a pal.

Kate and Gerry McCann face a huge bill that could wipe out search funds for the missing girl after losing their new court appeal to silence Gonçalo Amaral, who claims they covered up their daughter’s death.

Gerry and Kate McCann, pictured in July 2014, are reported to have lost their high court bid to silence an ex-cop who claims they covered up the death of their daughter.

Supreme Court judges in Portugal met on Tuesday to resolve the couple’s fight against a lower court’s decision in April last year to reverse their 2015 libel win against the former detective.

Although the hearing took place in private - and an official public decision is not set to be sent to lawyers acting for the litigants until later in the week - it emerged late on Tuesday the afternoon that the case had gone against Gerry and Kate McCann.

The ruling was handed down on the eve of their younger twin children’s 12th birthdays.

"It was never about winning big libel damages but all about them silencing him to stop them spouting his untruthful and malicious lies," a close friend told The Sun.

"It has always been more of a personal battle and they are bitterly disappointed they have lost but not totally surprised."

The friend added: "Any award made would have gone into the Madeleine's Fund to help find their daughter and would never have been used for Kate and Gerry's own use.

"And the whole point of the libel action was to try and stop Mr Amaral spreading wicked and false lies which they felt hampered the search for Madeleine."

It's a blow to the couple who have committed thousands of pounds in the search for Maddie, and who hoped to force the former detective to pay more than £1million in compensation.

If they are ordered to pay Mr Amaral's legal costs, the money may have to come from the Find Madeleine fund - which has dwindled to around £480,000.

The McCanns could also be forced to use money from the fund if a Home Office grant for the Scotland Yard investigation, which runs out in August, is not renewed.

The couple now face the nightmare prospect of being sued for damages by Amaral, who led the initial hunt when Madeleine vanished aged three from their Algarve holiday apartment in May 2007.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the couple said: "What we have been told by our lawyers is obviously extremely disappointing.

"It is eight years since we brought the action and in that time the landscape has changed dramatically, namely there is now a joint Metropolitan Police-Policia Judiciaria investigation which is what we've always wanted.

"The police in both countries continue to work on the basis that there is no evidence that Madeleine has come to physical harm.

"We will, of course, be discussing the implications of the Supreme Court ruling with our lawyers in due course.”

The ruling also means the former detective will not have to pay the McCanns the €500,000 (£430,000) he was ordered to give them after the first court ruling in 2015.

Another close family pal said on Tuesday: "This news is devastating, not just for Kate and Gerry but for Madeleine wherever she is."

A source added: "It’s not good news.

"We just don’t know what to do but we need to sit down with our lawyer and discuss it. We’ve gone to the pinnacle of the Portuguese legal system and we’ve lost.

"We now have to pay a sizeable amount in costs."

It marks a major milestone in Gerry and Kate McCann’s eight-year fight over a book written by Amaral, who led the initial hunt when then-three-year-old Madeleine vanished from their Algarve holiday apartment in May 2007.

Amaral was ordered to pay Kate and Gerry £430,000 plus interest in damages after losing round one of their libel battle in April 2015 over his hurtful book ‘The Truth of the Lie.’

Appeal judges reversed the initial ruling by a court in Lisbon in April last year, siding with the former police chief and overturning a ban on his book.

The decision sparked a fresh appeal by the McCanns to the country’s highest law court.

The McCanns’ Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte lodged the couple’s new appeal last May after vowing to fight the U-turn by judges over Amaral’s book.

Criticising the ruling in favour of the ex-police chief, which a friend of the McCanns said had left them “seething,” she said: “This decision was an appreciation of the law and not the facts.

“We can appeal to the Supreme Court which we will do as we have instructions from our clients.”

It is not known at this stage what the McCanns’ final legal bill, which is expected to include Amaral’s legal costs, will come to.

It is thought they will have to use reserves from their official Madeleine’s Fund to pay the bill - with it set to be wiped by Portugal’s Supreme Court shock ruling.

The judge who ruled in the McCanns’ favour in April 2015 said Amaral’s right to freedom of speech were conditioned by the fact he had been in charge of the investigation into Maddie's disappearance until shortly before the publication of his book.

She concluded he played on his status as a long-serving police officer to present personal opinions and claims about the high-profile case as fact.

The appeal judges said Amaral’s right to express his opinions overruled any duty of confidentiality he had as an ex-police chief heading the Madeleine McCann investigation once the case files were put into the public domain.

Amaral is understood to have earned £344,000 from his book before it was banned and a subsequent TV documentary.

He claimed in the book Maddie had died in their holiday flat and they had faked her abduction to cover up the tragedy.

The book was released just three days after Gerry and Kate were told their status as formal suspects had been lifted on July 21 2008.

The McCanns told the Lisbon court staging the Amaral libel trial in the summer of 2014 they were left “devastated and crushed” by his allegations.

Portuguese prosecutors reopened their probe into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance in May 2014, and are now working in close coordination with Scotland Yard’s scaled-down Operation Grange probe into the youngster’s fate.

Last year Kate and Gerry revealed they had told their twins “everything” about Madeleine’s disappearance and said the youngsters still remember her and talk about her often.

Kate, 48, from Rothley, Leics, said Madeleine’s twin siblings Sean and Amelie, now 12, knew about Amaral’s allegations.

She told the court in July 2014 after applying to make a statement: “I believe that’s what's in Mr Amaral’s book and the documentary is very distressing to adults. To a child it could be very damaging.”

Asked by the judge how she felt after reading the book, she said: “I was devastated. It made me feel quite desperate because of the injustice I felt towards my daughter and our family as a whole.

"It was very painful to read and I felt sad for Madeleine. I also felt anxious and fearful because of the damage I felt it was doing in Portugal.”

She went on to accuse Amaral of “consistently smearing” her and Gerry and claimed they feared the book may have stopped people coming forward with information about their daughter’s whereabouts.

The full extent of the hunt for the missing Brit was recently revealed with a total of 8.685 across 101 countries and territories.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2750157/furious-gerry-kate-mccann-court-battle-with-cop-was-never-about-winning-money-but-about-stopping-maddie-cover-up-smears/

Déjà vu? The UK tabloids have such a winning way with their prose and such a taste for the melodrama.

No matter, there's always he ECHR to fall back on. Lodge a bogus appeal with the highest of the high, who knows how many years this could go on?

The best of it is, through the auspices of the McCann League of Defence, the Portuguese police were prevented from properly investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The McCanns could have applied for the PJ to continue their investigation when it was to be archived but they didn't - they were quite happy, relieved I think were Kate McCann's words, that the investigation had come to an end. There has never been any evidence to suggest the McCanns have ever actively searched for their missing child, only the engagement of a string of bogus private investigators. Three years later, after much begging and pleading - apparently, Operation Strangeways is established to continue 'proactively' re-reviewing and re-investigating Madeleine's disappearance - which continues to this very day.

Question.... What exactly was the Find Madeleine Fund Co Ltd created for?

Revealed: The nanny who could help clear the McCanns' name

Last updated at 14:50 14 October 2007

This is the nanny Madeleine McCann's parents believe will be a key witness in their fight to clear their names and find their daughter.

For five months the identity of the Mark Warner employee who was looking after Madeleine in Praia da Luz's Kids Club in the hours before her disappearance has been a closely held secret.

She was witness to the McCanns' movements during the week they were on holiday in Portugal and fed Madeleine less than three hours before she disappeared.

On the morning after Madeleine's disappearance it is believed she even told Portuguese police of a man she had seen acting 'suspiciously' around the apartments.

Today we can reveal her identity as 20-year-old Catriona Baker, the daughter of a nurse and draughtsman from Manchester.

The McCanns believe Ms Baker is a key witness in the defence that they are assembling with the aid of a team of lawyers and investigators.

Ms Baker has told friends she is convinced of the McCanns' innocence. She is still in contact with Kate McCann and was said by friends to have been hit hard by her charge's disappearance, even being offered trauma counselling by Mark Warner Holidays.

Intriguingly, Ms Baker revealed to one friend - spoken to by this newspaper - that she told Portuguese police of a man she saw acting strangely near the apartments in the days leading up to Madeleine's disappearance on May 3.

She was interviewed for just three hours by police on the morning after Madeleine's disappearance. This compares with the four-and-a-half hours endured by Charlotte Pennington, another nanny at the resort who was witness to Kate's 'hysterical' reaction to Madeleine's disappearance.

The Mail on Sunday has also learned that within 24 hours of that interview Ms Baker was dispatched by Mark Warner to take up a new position in the Greek resort of San Agostino along with four other members of staff.

They were all linked to the seven holidaymakers who had eaten in the resort's tapas restaurant with Kate and Gerry McCann on the night of Madeleine's disappearance.

It is believed Ms Baker has since been reinterviewed by both British and Portuguese police but she has been told not to comment on the investigation.

The young nanny, described as 'fun and vivacious', has been deeply affected by Madeleine's disappearance, telling friends of nights without sleep and a complete loss of appetite.

Writing to one concerned friend nine days after Madeleine disappeared, she admitted: 'I was her nanny, so it's been tough for me, you wouldn't recognise me.

'It's hit me so hard I've hardly slept or eaten. My mum came to see me, but transferring me to "San Ag" has put me back at stage one as I am so stressed again.

'Love you loads, thanks for writing. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch, I have not been out of the house much.'

To another she added: 'Thanks so much for your support ... I am trying to cope, but not really liking "San Ag"... I don't plan on staying here. If they don't send me back to Portugal. I'll go home.'

She had been introduced to Gerry and Kate McCann on the first evening of their holiday at the Ocean Club resort as Madeleine's designated nanny and had developed a 'good relationship with the couple and especially with Madeleine', according to a friend.

On the day Madeleine disappeared Ms Baker had spent nearly six hours with the toddler, along with five other children aged between three and five. Two of those are believed to have been the children of the McCanns' friends, David and Fiona Payne.

Madeleine and her two-year-old twin siblings, Sean and Amelie, were placed in the resort's Kids Club, where Ms Baker worked, at around 10am while their parents took a stroll before collecting them at 12.30pm for lunch back at the apartment.

In the afternoon, the McCanns played tennis while Madeleine went back to her nanny at the children's club, who gave her tea at 5.30pm. Madeleine, Sean and Amelie were picked up by their parents at 6pm.

Ms Baker was not with the McCanns when the alarm was sounded over Madeleine's disappearance just before 10pm. However, she joined the search shortly after 11pm after completing her duties as a night babysitter.

Mark Warner did not return Ms Baker to Portugal from Greece and she has since left the company. She is now a live-in nanny looking after three children. Her location is being withheld on the request of the McCanns.

Ms Baker refused to comment about the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, adding: 'I don't want to go through it again.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-487506/Revealed-The-nanny-help-clear-McCanns-name.html

Where the £2m you gave to find Madeleine McCann has gone

By Vanessa Allen
Updated: 08:28, 29 January 2009

The fund set up to help find Madeleine McCann raised almost £2million in the first ten months after she vanished, it was revealed yesterday.

The wave of shock and public sympathy that swept Britain after her suspected abduction led supporters to donate money at a rate of almost £260 an hour.

Accounts lodged with Companies House show the fund received £1.4million in bank donations, another £391,000 over the internet and £64,000 from the sale of T-shirts and wristbands.

In total, it received £1.85million in its first ten months and earned £33,424 in interest. It spent £815,113 on the search for Madeleine in that time.

This included £26,000 to fund the purchase of merchandise and £250,000 on the fees for private investigators.

But the accounts – which have been made public for the first time – have been published with a warning that donations had gone on to fall dramatically and were now ‘significantly lower’ than in the immediate aftermath of the three-yearold’s disappearance in Portugal in 2007.

Support for her parents – Kate and Gerry – was rocked when Portuguese police named them as suspects, and when it emerged they had used public donations to pay two £2,000 instalments on their mortgage.

Madeleine vanished from a holiday flat in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, while her parents ate dinner at a nearby restaurant with friends.

The accounts provide a fascinating insight into the surge of support the family received, but also the costs of their worldwide campaign to find their child.

The fund’s biggest expense in the first ten months was £250,000 spent on private investigators hired to try to find her, including the Spanish agency Metodo 3.

Agency boss Francisco Marco boasted he would find Madeleine within three months, but his ‘leads’ seemingly came to nothing and the firm is no longer involved with the hunt.

The fund spent £123,573 on campaign management, which is believed to include the salary of the McCanns’ temporary spokesman Justine McGuinness and the fees of a PR agency.

A later spokesman, former BBC journalist Clarence Mitchell, had his salary paid by one of the couple’s wealthy benefactors.

The fund spent £111,522 on legal fees and expenses and £81,904 on posters and television and newspaper adverts appealing for information about Madeleine. Mr and Mrs McCann, both 40, set up the fund in May 2007.

Legal restrictions meant it could not be set up as a charity, so it is run as a not-for-profit company by a board made up of McCann friends, colleagues and relatives.

Mr McCann’s brother John is its chairman and wrote a foreword to the accounts. He said: ‘As expected, the level of donations has fallen over time, although we have a number of loyal donors continuing their support.’

He went on: ‘However our expenses are ongoing and likely to increase . . . The release of the police investigation files has enabled our investigative team to access a wealth of new information to be followed up, resulting in increased search and investigation activity.

'We will continue to ensure that Madeleine is not forgotten and will leave no stone unturned in our continued search for her.’

The accounts cover the months from May 2007 to March 2008, when the fund had £1.05million remaining in its coffers.

It has since been boosted by several libel payouts to the McCanns and their friends, the so-called Tapas Seven, which they donated to the fund.

The McCanns were cleared as suspects last August.

Their spokesman Mr Mitchell said: ‘People will be able to see that every penny of the money they so generously donated has been spent properly in the hunt to find Madeleine.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1131284/Where-2m-gave-Madeleine-McCann-gone.html

Hasn't always been plain sailing for Messrs McCann press wise has it - despite the ever present Media Monitor extraordinaire.  Or did they allow the  odd report to slip through the net as potential suing material?

At a glance..

Maddie McCann preacher speaks 10 years after comforting parents following disappearance

THE preacher who comforted the parents of Madeleine McCann has spoken out about the case near the scene of her disappearance.

By Michael Havis, in Praia da Luz / Published 4th May 2017

Father Haynes Hubbard became Anglican Father at Nessa Senhora da Luz church just days after Maddie vanished from her bed.

He recalls how the church, which serves the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, where the McCanns stayed, was engulfed.

"There were four or five rows of photographers taking pictures of Kate, Gerry and the church," he told Daily Star Online.

"It sounded like applause as Kate and Gerry left church, but it wasn't applause, it was cameras flashing.

"And then it got really nasty, really personal and really unpleasant. It was tough times."

Tough as times were, however, Father Hubbard says it was worth it to keep Maddie in the spotlight.

"I think Kate and Gerry have paid a tremendous price. I know they did for the first two or three years," he said.

"But they were prepared to pay that because it suggested that people might still be looking for their daughter."

And he believes the price will be worth it in the end, hoping that the McCanns could one day be reunited with Madeleine.

"I'm going to continue hoping. That's what that service was about, saying we are hoping that she will show up," he told Daily Star Online.

"Nobody's given an answer, or a reason why that might not happen. We will keep hoping until that definitive answer is there, until there's no reason to hope anymore."

Father Hubbard made his remarks after a moving ceremony in Praia da Luz where a special message from Madeleine's mother, Kate, was read out.

It said: "10 years without Madeleine — If that thought had even entered my head back in May 2007, I wouldn't have lasted another day.

"And now, a decade on, it's still inconceivable. How can it be our little girl — who brought us the gift of parenthood?"

It comes as Daily Star Online revealed sick Maddie merchandise is available online.

Kate also said the family continue to miss Madeleine "every second" and paid tribute to their supporters in Praia da Luz.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/611238/maddie-mccann-disappearance-10-year-anniversary-portugal-preacher-parents-kate-gerry

Old Father Hubbard's got some skeletons in his cupboard.

Allow me to assist..