Media Mayhem - MCCANN MEDIA NONSENSE OF THE DAY

Madeleine McCann 'forgotten in Portugal'

By Sophie Borland and Duncan Hooper
6:53PM GMT 08 Dec 2007

Almost all signs of the appeal for Madeleine McCann have now been removed from the Portuguese resort where she disappeared after posters were taken down from the town's Catholic church.

The priest of Our Lady of Light in Praia da Luz, where Kate and Gerry McCann prayed frequently for their daughter’s return, has also removed candles dedicated to the missing toddler.



Jose Manuel Pacheco, who presides over the small white-washed building, had become a close friend of the McCanns as they attended services every week.

The devout Catholics made the Church a focal point of the Find Madeleine campaign. In May, they even travelled to Rome to receive a blessing from Pope Benedict XVI

Billboards and shop windows in the town have already been cleared of the pictures and ribbons which sprang up everywhere as part of the massive search for news of Madeleine.

Meri Hanlin, a Canadian who runs the Harmony health food shop in the town, told the Daily Mail: "It's not that the locals don't care about what happened but they just want to get the village back to how it was.

"It's so many months on now and when it happened it just ruled everything here. For the locals it just got a little too much."



Kate and Gerry are striving to keep Madeleine's memory in the public eye as they approach Christmas without her. Their campaign is convinced that high-profile publicity is the best hope for bringing about their daughter's safe return.

They have made a new appeal for witnesses after it emerged that police had still not traced every holidaymaker who was in Praia da Luz on the night of her disappearance.

However, Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCanns, said: “The posters have been coming down at different stages over the past few months. There is no suggestion that the town has turned its back on Madeleine.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1572363/Madeleine-McCann-forgotten-in-Portugal.html

Original Source: SUN: MONDAY 24 DECEMBER 2007  By VERONICA LORRAINEin Praia da Luz  Published: 24 Dec 2007

A MISSING blue tennis bag could hold the key to Madeleine McCann's disappearance, a TV documentary will claim tonight. The bag - big enough to carry a small child - belonged to Maddie's dad Gerry, the programme says. It is claimed Portuguese cops have been hunting for the holdall, which disappeared at the same time as the four-year-old girl. The bag emerges as a potentially vital new clue in a Sky News investigation entitled The Madeleine McCann Mystery. Yet, bizarrely, the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell yesterday denied it existed - saying Gerry did not own such a bag and never had done.   Sky's crime reporter Martin Brunt stood by the documentary's claim last night. Former detective Tony Rogers, one of Britain's most experienced police officers, will be seen saying: "If it's a bag of a size that could be taking away from the flat a child, that would be of great interest to the investigating officer." The development came as Gerry and wife Kate, both 39-year-old doctors, faced their first Christmas without Maddie - who vanished on May 3 in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz. Yesterday, a family friend demanded that the "fundamentally flawed" case against them be DROPPED immediately by Portuguese police. The call came over fresh doubts about the validity of DNA tests. It is thought the Maddie probe has involved the same process of so-called "low copy number" DNA testing used in the Omagh bombing case - thrown out of court after a judge ruled it "potentially unreliable". Tonight's documentary also claims Portuguese detectives have failed to find and quiz a British paedophile with links to the Algarve. He was among 52 British sex offenders with similar connections whose details were given to police by UK cops. It is not known if he was the man who, in September, was at the centre of the hunt for the tot after witnesses picked him out from photos of 100 perverts. Nor can he be definitely linked to another suspect - the 32-year-old son of expat Brits who is said to have "groomed" and sexually assaulted a girl of 12 in the resort two years ago. That man is thought to be hiding somewhere in the UK. Brunt told The Sun a British source close to the probe said Portuguese cops had "worked very hard" to find the 52 and rule them out. But he added: "There is still one man they are concerned about." The documentary quotes top forensics consultant Professor David Barclay. He said Portuguese police had "looked at" paedophiles in the Praia da Luz area. He added: "They didn't check up on other people staying in the apartments." The new call for the McCanns to be cleared followed the storm over low copy number DNA testing - a technique allowing results to be interpreted from samples containing just a few cells. The pal said: "If the leaks from the police to the Press are true that low copy number testing is involved then we would demand the reliability of these tests is absolutely pinned down before it is used in cases such as ours. "It is ridiculous to form a case against someone using evidence that is fundamentally flawed." Gerry and Kate went to church in Rothley, Leics, yesterday with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. v.lorraine@the-sun.co.uk

[Acknowledgement pamalam at gerrymccannsblog.com]

December 2007 again?

2000 toys left for a missing child.  This seems a bit pointless, doesn't it?  Wouldn't it be better to donate to the search and buy a welcome home gift on her return?  

Some churches do collect donations of toys, usually under the shoe box appeal, on behalf of the Samaritans purse. I wouldn't mind guessing that this is what really happened there and the media twisted it as usual.

Kate McCann's heartbreaking Christmas message to Madeleine: 'Be brave sweetheart'

Friday 21 December 2007

Kate McCann sent her missing daughter a heart-rending Christmas message last night, telling her: "Be brave sweetheart.

"Our only Christmas wish is for you to be back with us again and we're hoping and praying that that will happen. Love you Madeleine."

Her face lined with exhaustion and despair, 39-year-old Mrs McCann also made an extraordinary appeal to any abductor holding the four-year-old girl, begging them to end "all this despair and anguish".

She struggled to control her emotions as she said: "You hold the key. At this time of year, when so many families are coming together, we beg you to help us be reunited with Madeleine.

"Please do the right thing and come forward."

The televised appeal came as Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry, also 39, prepared for what they called "the hardest Christmas imaginable."

The couple must try to hide their pain over Madeleine, who has now been missing for almost eight months, and make Christmas as joyful as possible for their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

Last night they released touching new photographs and video footage of their daughter taken at Christmas last year.

In one, she carries her present to her baby brother Sean. Another shows her standing on the family's kitchen table, excited by the celebrations. Poignantly, a third photograph shows her opening a present - the pink bag she took with her on the Portuguese holiday from which she never returned.

The contrast with this year's "very quiet, private Christmas" could not be greater.

Speaking directly to her daughter during the televised appeal, Mrs McCann said: "Madeleine, it's Mummy and Daddy here.

"Just know how much we love you, Madeleine. We all miss you so much. Sean and Amelie talk about you all the time, every day.

"We're doing everything we can, Madeleine, to find you and there are so many good and very kind people helping us. Be brave sweetheart.

"Our only Christmas wish is for you to be back with us again and we're hoping and praying that that will happen. Love you Madeleine."

In his internet blog Mr McCann said the twins had asked "if Santa will be bringing Madeleine home".

"It just about broke our hearts," he added.

The couple have given few public interviews since they were named as official suspects in Madeleine's disappearance from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May. But they allowed a friend to film them at their home in Rothley, Leicestershire.

Surrounded by the trappings of the season, including a tree and presents for the twins, they told of their heartbreak at facing Christmas without Madeleine.

Desperate: Kate and Gerry McCann have pleaded with Madeleine's abductors to end their nightmare

Mr McCann said: "Clearly for us and the rest of our family it's going to be the hardest Christmas imaginable without Madeleine here."

"Since Madeleine was taken from us on May 3, someone knows what happened to her and may well know where she is now.
"That person has it within their power to show us the compassion to end this terrible ordeal for us."

The couple said they cannot face spending Christmas Day in the house where they celebrated with Madeleine last year, so they plan to visit relatives.

They have been deluged with gifts for all three children from wellwishers across over the world.

The McCanns said they have been "immensely touched" by the gestures of support.

The next stage in the couple's ordeal will come in the New Year, when they begin the fight to end their status in Portugal as arguidos - official suspects.

They have both strenuously denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance and insist she was abducted while they ate dinner with friends nearby.

But their lawyers have warned them they could face a protracted battle through the Portuguese courts and might even have to go to the European Court of Human Rights to clear their names. Friends say they fear privately that they could remain suspects "for ever".

Portuguese police will wait until after Christmas before asking British police to reinterview the McCanns and their holiday friends.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/kate-mccanns-heartbreaking-christmas-message-to-madeleine-be-brave-sweetheart-6660883.html
...................

The Beat Goes On

Sonny and Cher

The beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da

Madeleine McCann kidnap photo shock

DETECTIVES have been given a photo which appears to show Madeleine McCann with an abductor.

James Murray - 20th January 2013




The Sunday Express was passed the picture independently but Scotland Yard appealed to us not to publish it while it continues sensitive global investigations into the missing girl.

Officers were happy for us to describe the potentially key evidence which shows a healthy fair-haired girl aged three or four in pink trousers, a green top and a blue hat.

The child is walking along a road, possibly near a port or airport as there are many people with suitcases in the area. It is sunny with a palm tree in the background.

Clarence Mitchell wrote:This is a matter for Scotland Yard and I am sure they will get to the bottom of it. Kate and Gerry have confidence in Operation Grange.

The photograph was allegedly taken in Brazil in June 2007, a month after Madeleine, three, was snatched from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on Portugal’s Algarve coast.

The girl is holding the hand of a swarthy foreign-looking man aged about 50 with long dark hair and a beard. He is wearing cut-off jeans and a green T-shirt.

Nearby, another man in checked shorts and a black T-shirt is pulling a red suitcase. There is no sign of a woman and the child looks out of place with the older men.

If the picture is genuine, it would be the biggest breakthrough in the case to date.

A Portuguese speaking man living in Brazil forwarded the photo to a detective on Operation Grange, the Yard squad trying to find Madeleine by reviewing thousands of documents.

The man suggests paedophile Raymond Hewlett, who died of throat cancer, aged 64, in Germany in 2010, was involved with others in the abduction.

Hewlett was staying on a Portuguese camp site when Madeleine was taken. In a deathbed letter to his estranged son Wayne he claimed to know what happened to her.

The man in Brazil has also sent the Yard a picture of a market scene, apparently shot in Portugal, purportedly showing Hewlett standing near a white van used in the abduction.

Hewlett denied taking Madeleine but later mysteriously said she had been “stolen to order” by gipsies. In an e-mail to the Yard, the man writes in Portuguese: “The London police holds in its hands the real opportunity to rescue Madeleine. I know how.”

He wants to be flown to London to give officers the “entire route taken by the bandits”.

The man says he is not a policeman, is not seeking money nor fame and wants to remain anonymous. He adds: “I am sending you more photos of the bandits taking Madeleine McCann and running from the police.

“Unfortunately, we have to break the normal investigation rules, only for this specific case. Your presence, together with me, and also your investigators, we will rebuild the bandits’ entire action.”

Giving his phone number and address he provides details of a flight from Ibiza to Munich in which one witness saw a girl looking like Madeleine “with the bandits”. Scotland Yard and the McCann investigators are used to dealing with letters from cranks, but are taking this more seriously because of the photographs provided.

We can also reveal the man has been in contact with Isabel Duarte, Kate and Gerry McCann’s civil lawyer in Lisbon.

Mrs Duarte told the Sunday Express: “It is an interesting picture but you cannot say it is Madeleine.

“I communicated with him by e-mail because I wanted to know where the picture was taken and who took it and who the men are.

“He was not prepared to tell me but said he would talk to the police. I don’t know exactly what this guy wants but it needs to be checked out. It is a matter for the police to look into.”

Last week she sent all details of her correspondence with the man to Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry in Leicestershire.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: “An image has been passed to us and it is being assessed.”

The Yard may send the picture to FBI imaging experts in America for an opinion.

This week the Yard is expected to ask detectives in Brazil to interview the man before considering whether to fly him to London. Officers want to know what he knows about Hewlett, who was jailed for abduction, attempted rape and assault of girls aged six, nine and 14.

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCanns, said: “This is a matter for Scotland Yard and I am sure they will get to the bottom of it. Kate and Gerry have confidence in Operation Grange.”

Operation Grange was launched in May 2011 at the request of Home Secretary Theresa May.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/371953/Madeleine-McCann-kidnap-photo-shock

Verdi wrote:Madeleine McCann kidnap photo shock

DETECTIVES have been given a photo which appears to show Madeleine McCann with an abductor.

James Murray - 20th January 2013




The Sunday Express was passed the picture independently but Scotland Yard appealed to us not to publish it while it continues sensitive global investigations into the missing girl.

Officers were happy for us to describe the potentially key evidence which shows a healthy fair-haired girl aged three or four in pink trousers, a green top and a blue hat.

The child is walking along a road, possibly near a port or airport as there are many people with suitcases in the area. It is sunny with a palm tree in the background.

Clarence Mitchell wrote:This is a matter for Scotland Yard and I am sure they will get to the bottom of it. Kate and Gerry have confidence in Operation Grange.

The photograph was allegedly taken in Brazil in June 2007, a month after Madeleine, three, was snatched from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on Portugal’s Algarve coast.

The girl is holding the hand of a swarthy foreign-looking man aged about 50 with long dark hair and a beard. He is wearing cut-off jeans and a green T-shirt.

Nearby, another man in checked shorts and a black T-shirt is pulling a red suitcase. There is no sign of a woman and the child looks out of place with the older men.

If the picture is genuine, it would be the biggest breakthrough in the case to date.

A Portuguese speaking man living in Brazil forwarded the photo to a detective on Operation Grange, the Yard squad trying to find Madeleine by reviewing thousands of documents.

The man suggests paedophile Raymond Hewlett, who died of throat cancer, aged 64, in Germany in 2010, was involved with others in the abduction.

Hewlett was staying on a Portuguese camp site when Madeleine was taken. In a deathbed letter to his estranged son Wayne he claimed to know what happened to her.

The man in Brazil has also sent the Yard a picture of a market scene, apparently shot in Portugal, purportedly showing Hewlett standing near a white van used in the abduction.

Hewlett denied taking Madeleine but later mysteriously said she had been “stolen to order” by gipsies. In an e-mail to the Yard, the man writes in Portuguese: “The London police holds in its hands the real opportunity to rescue Madeleine. I know how.”

He wants to be flown to London to give officers the “entire route taken by the bandits”.

The man says he is not a policeman, is not seeking money nor fame and wants to remain anonymous. He adds: “I am sending you more photos of the bandits taking Madeleine McCann and running from the police.

“Unfortunately, we have to break the normal investigation rules, only for this specific case. Your presence, together with me, and also your investigators, we will rebuild the bandits’ entire action.”

Giving his phone number and address he provides details of a flight from Ibiza to Munich in which one witness saw a girl looking like Madeleine “with the bandits”. Scotland Yard and the McCann investigators are used to dealing with letters from cranks, but are taking this more seriously because of the photographs provided.

We can also reveal the man has been in contact with Isabel Duarte, Kate and Gerry McCann’s civil lawyer in Lisbon.

Mrs Duarte told the Sunday Express: “It is an interesting picture but you cannot say it is Madeleine.

“I communicated with him by e-mail because I wanted to know where the picture was taken and who took it and who the men are.

“He was not prepared to tell me but said he would talk to the police. I don’t know exactly what this guy wants but it needs to be checked out. It is a matter for the police to look into.”

Last week she sent all details of her correspondence with the man to Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry in Leicestershire.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: “An image has been passed to us and it is being assessed.”

The Yard may send the picture to FBI imaging experts in America for an opinion.

This week the Yard is expected to ask detectives in Brazil to interview the man before considering whether to fly him to London. Officers want to know what he knows about Hewlett, who was jailed for abduction, attempted rape and assault of girls aged six, nine and 14.

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCanns, said: “This is a matter for Scotland Yard and I am sure they will get to the bottom of it. Kate and Gerry have confidence in Operation Grange.”

Operation Grange was launched in May 2011 at the request of Home Secretary Theresa May.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/371953/Madeleine-McCann-kidnap-photo-shock

The photo was proven to be fake.
The reason the photo couldn't have been taken in Brazil, was because it was taken at Ibiza airport in June 2007

Verdi wrote:Balloons launch highlights Madeleine McCann case

Original Source: HARBOROUGH MAIL: THURSDAY 26 MAY 2011 Thursday 26 May 2011 Published on Thursday 26 May 2011 13:10

Little Bowden Primary school children release balloons during international missing children's day. (Picture: Andrew Carpenter/001377-90) BRIGHT yellow balloons were released into Harborough’s skies to mark International Missing Children’s Day. Children from Little Bowden Primary School took part in the event yesterday (Wednesday), organised by missing children’s group Forever Searching. Youngsters gathered on Little Bowden Recreation Ground to release balloons with tags attached giving the details of children still missing in the UK. Forever Searching aims to actively raise awareness of missing children in the hope that they are traced and brought home to their parents. The group uses the colour yellow as it traditionally symbolises home-coming – historically yellow ribbons would be displayed when families were expecting the return of their loved ones. The organisation came about following the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007. As volunteers began their search for the Leicestershire three-year-old, it became apparent just how many children across the UK were missing. This sparked the need for greater public awareness of all missing children cases. Event organiser and Harborough mum Maxine Harris became involved with Forever Searching after Madeleine’s case hugely raised the profile of missing children. Maxine, who also works with the McCann family’s campaign, said: “You should never give up searching. I’d like to think that if it was my child, others would never give up. It’s good to feel that you’re actively doing something to help.” Money raised by the group is channelled into awareness events like the Little Bowden balloon launch and allows for pictures of missing children to be distributed around the world in the hope that the images will jog the memory of somebody somewhere. It is estimated that up to 110,000 children go missing in the UK every year. Most are found within a week with 1 per cent becoming long-term missing after a year. To find out more about the campaign visit www.foreversearching.com.

So these children have been exploited to advertise the international missing children's day and no doubt Missing People Charity.  Was any thought given to the effect that this may have on these children?  Will they not be anxious about the thought of children going missing Thought of being abducted?

Exploitation of children in the extreme - and just look how they laugh (the McCanns, not the children).  Live in fear oh child of mine - tomorrow you could be abducted by the bogey man.

I came across this rather dated article in an unexpected location today and as it touches on the Tapas 7 and the possibility that they might have been crumbling slightly, thought it worthy of reproduction.  It looks as if they're practically 'fireproof' -  courtesy of the UK government.  What can it be that gives them such strong protection?   Doctors, young children,top politicians, top policemen  -  there has to be some connection.

---

The Rothley-Deal

On 28 October 2007 the Mail published the following story:
McCanns 'are hiding a big secret', former police chief claims
Kate and Gerry McCann are hiding a “big secret” about the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine, according a former police chief claims. John Stalker, who headed a famous inquiry into whether suspected IRA men were killed by RUC officers, is suspicious of their silence. The former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police told the Sunday Express:
“My gut instinct is that some big secret is probably being covered up. I have watched the investigation into the Madeleine McCann case drag out for six months. One thing above all worries me: Why have the McCanns and the seven other members of their group – the Tapas Nine – remained so silent? Unlike other high-profile cases I have worked on, not one of them has been prepared to break ranks or really come out and support each other. After all this time and pressure, I cannot believe that nobody wants to speak. I have a real suspicion that we are not being told the whole truth. There is something else there, some issue that members of the party are embarrassed about”
Until this time British tabloids often where very critical gainst the McCann's. This changed dramatically in the following months. The question remains, why?, as evidence never changed since and every open question the Tapas Group didn't like to answer remained unanswered too. The Rothley Meeting mid-November 2007 was a secret meeting. It came to public just through the then still investigative work of some British journalists.
From evidence we know that for sure at this time it was under supervision of “spokesman” Clarence Eden Mitchell. From evidence of Leicestershire Police we know (see Freedom of Information Act, 13. Feb. 2009), that the case was already covered under the term “National Security”. Besides the close link to Downing Tsr. No. 10 it is also obvious that Mitchell has to be suspected to be an MI5/MI6 Agent.
Shorthly before the meeting seemingly two of the Tapas-Group were close to surrender and confession. Now at the Rothley Meeting all the main witnesses who are aware of a cover-up were “invited” to Rothley, even at least one of the former child carer at the Ocean Club. Seemingly they will have been told that they have to obey National Security. That means that here all the witnesses were required, under threat of significant penalties, on their silence. The other part of the deal but seemingly was: In addition, obviously with the paid help by Carter-Ruck professionals, the whole group where guaranteed an individual Super-Injunction, which means, no British tabloid will be allowed to publish, investigate or interview anyone of them any more. The deal obviously was the status of Untouchables versus Silence.

Daily express had had a supplement on Sunday bragging about their
100yrs of press freedom,I sent them a mail asking why they had
let the McCanns tell them what to print, I know I they won't answer 
but what a load of balder dash.ps i don't read any newspapers after
They all succumbed to McCanns wishes.

Original Source: EXPRESS:  - 01 - 02 - 03 -SUNDAY 28 OCTOBER 2007 Sunday October 28 2007 By John Stalker With thanks to jjp  for copying text from Screenshots

MCCANNS 'ARE HIDING A BIG SECRET' Sunday October 28 2007 By John Stalker   I have watched the investigation into the Madeleine McCann case drag on for six months.   One thing above all worries me: Why have the McCanns and the seven other members of their group - the Tapas Nine - remained so silent?  My gut instinct is that some big secret is probably being covered up.   Unlike other high-profile cases I have worked on, not one of them has been prepared to break ranks or really come out and support each other.  After all this time and pressure, I cannot believe that nobody wants to speak.   Their answer has always been no comment but there is surely some division between them.  So what are they hiding?  I have a real suspicion that we are not being told the whole truth.   There is something else there, some issue that members of the party are embarrassed about.   While they continue to refuse to talk it is unlikely that we will find out what it is for a very long time but one thing is certain - it will eventually come out.   The sad fact is that we still have a missing girl and I believe the investigation will be focusing on the theory that she is dead.   The likeliest scenario is that her abductor panicked when he realised the attention the case was creating and killed her days after snatching her.   My fear now is that unless we find her body or her killer strikes again we will never know what really happened to that tiny child.   My instinct, based on years of policing similar cases, is that we are looking at an abduction where the child was targeted in the days before her disappearance.   On the night she vanished it is likely that her abductor simply spotted his opportunity and struck while he could.   I have been horrified by the abject failure of the Portuguese detectives to adhere to basic principles of policing.   The investigation does not seem to have taken a step forward from where it was in the first week after she went missing.  I cannot believe that the Portuguese only sent selected DNA samples to the forensic science lab in Birmingham.   There is absolutely no sense in that whatsoever.  To fully evaluate poor-quality DNA traces, as we believe these were, forensic experts need to see the whole picture.   In the past, when I have dealt with traces of bodily fluids, it is very difficult to establish how they got to be where they were.   All DNA is highly transferable and that is the most likely explanation for the alleged traces found in the McCanns' hire car and on her mother's clothing.  Robert Murat, the other suspect, was seen close to the apartment the day after Madeleine disappeared and freely admits having helped police as a translator.   If he was in that apartment, or anywhere near it, ther is no doubt he would have transferred some of Madeleine's or the twins' DNA on to his clothing.   I don't believe for one minute that Kate and Gerry McCann or their friends are capable or guilty of having murdered the four-year-old.   All the criticism of Kate and Gerry and their friends has been completely out of order.  They are extremely intelligent and articulate people and, just because they have never visibly cracked in public to the extent that they are beaten, does not mean that they are guilty of anything sinister.   Yes, they have had more doors opened for them than other people would have in similar circumstances, but their main aim is to discover what happened to Madeleine.  That should be the aim of all concerned.   But my gut instinct still forces me to wonder: What is the secret that the Tapas Nine are so carefully hiding?

....................
Another wannabe - how many more?

Aww bless him. I am sure people feel much safer in their beds buying the tyres he advertised and then there is the sun awning advert....look it up on you tube.

aquila wrote:Aww bless him. I am sure people feel much safer in their beds buying the tyres he advertised and then there is the sun awning advert....look it up on you tube.

Hi aquila,even "Stalker" uses, Abductor scenario,with No evidence?

The main point is the"Super Injunction or 100 year D-notice" attached to Madeleine's case,so even the UK Police cannot investigate it,Operation Grange!

Detectives say Madeleine McCann could have been snatched by slave traders for rich family

Investigators have told of fears the missing youngster was smuggled into Africa by slave traders who “snatched her to order” for a wealthy family

25th April 2017

Madeleine McCann may have been snatched to order by slave traders and sold to a rich family, it is feared.
A former Scotland Yard detective has called for an investigation into fears she could have been taken by ferry to Mauritania in west Africa.

Colin Sutton said the suggestions “needed to be looked at” after Madeleine vanished almost a decade ago.
Slavery was only outlawed in the nation in 2007, the year Madeleine vanished, aged three, during a family holiday in Portugal .

“If someone wanted to get a three-year-old child into Africa it’s the obvious route.

“The infrastructure and contacts for people smuggling are clearly there.”

It was not known if police probing Madeleine’s disappearance had looked at links to Mauritania.

But private detectives hired by the McCanns believe there are “strong reasons” to think she was taken to Morocco, a route into the country.

Their claims were based on sightings and the proximity of Praia da Luz, where she went missing on May 3 2007, to the town of Lagos, where boats regularly depart for Africa.

It is also just a four-hour drive to the Spanish port of Tarifa, where ferries cross to the Moroccan port of Tangier.

Kidnappers could have smuggled Madeleine from Praia da Luz into North Africa in just five hours using the ferry.

Portuguese police failed to seal the border with Spain – just an hour from the resort – in the hours after she vanished.

When the Mirror re-traced the most likely route an abductor would have taken, checks on the Tarifa-Tangier ferry were virtually non-existent.



There were no searches carried out on vehicles boarding the boat.

An abductor could easily have hidden Madeleine in the back seat or boot of a car and boarded the ferry with a £24 ticket.

In Tangier, they could have taken her to a safe house or moved her unhindered into another African country.



Interpol detectives in Gibraltar received a tip in August 2007 that a man was seen carrying a child resembling Madeleine in Tangier.

The informant said the girl seemed “unhappy, ill-tempered and did not speak” as the man tried to buy her shoes.

Soon after her disappearance a traveller told Crimestoppers they saw a girl resembling Madeleine on the Tarifa-Tangier ferry in a dark blue Portuguese-registered saloon car on May 7, four days after she went missing.

Two days after that sighting, a girl “identical” to Madeleine was seen with a man at a petrol station next to an Ibis hotel in Marrakech, in the most credible sighting so far.

Tourist Mari Olli noticed a blonde girl on Avenue Abdel Krim Khattabi, a key route through the busy city and the direct road from the port.

Locals claimed the road was often used by smuggling and trafficking gangs.

Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann of Rothley, Leicestershire, were so concerned about links to North Africa they went to Morocco the month after she disappeared.

Trafficking gangs are known to operate between Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania.

The US State Department’s annual trafficking report in 2015 warned girls were being trafficked for sex in the Middle East.

It warned: “Mauritania is a source and destination country for women, men and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking. Women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking in the country or the Middle East.”

Mrs Olli and British husband Ray Pollard, who live in Spain, had not heard of Madeleine’s disappearance when they saw the girl they believe was her.

It was only when they returned home and saw the news that they made the chilling connection.

Mari said the youngster she saw, who was wearing blue pyjamas, looked “sad” and asked: “Can we see Mummy soon?”

The petrol station’s footage was deleted before it could be checked for clues.

But on the same day an unnamed British man also spotted a girl he believed was Madeleine outside a hotel in the city.

Mrs Olli alerted Portuguese and UK authorities and gave a statement to Scotland Yard detectives, who promised to call back – but she claims they did not.

In desperation she emailed Leicestershire Police, describing the moment she saw who she believes was Madeleine at around 10am.
She wrote: “I saw the girl inside the shop. She was wearing clear blue pyjamas.

“Some pattern on the top, trousers little darker.

“Don’t think the trousers had any pattern. She was very small. Under one metre. She was with a man. She was standing alone, the man about a metre from her.

“I looked back at her, she was very sweet. It was a strange situation because the man didn’t look like her father.

“And it was very strange to see a blonde small girl standing alone in Marrakesh.

“She was very small and normally you would hold her in your arms or at least her hand.

“And he was turning away from her. She looked sad. I looked at her face, she looked at me.

“Then she turned to the man and said something that sounds like: “Can we see Mummy soon?”

Mrs Olli, who lives in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol, said she blamed herself for not stepping in to challenge the man with the girl.

“I’m still questioning it, of course I am.

“Even after all this time I still think about what I saw.

“I can’t handle it to be honest, it’s so difficult to talk about that I just start crying.

“I try not to think about what I could have done.

“The one thing I’m still convinced about is that it was Madeleine.

“I could kick myself for not doing more.

“If I’d known then that Madeleine had been taken, then of course I would have done something.”

Portuguese police files made public in 2008 revealed British police passed on the email to their counterparts in Portugal.

But Mrs Olli claimed she was never spoken to by Portuguese officers and believes they made no attempt to trace the girl.

Portuguese police in turn complained about lack of co-operation from Moroccan authorities.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/uk-world-news/detectives-say-madeleine-mccann-could-12936292

The Daily 'intelligent tabloid' Mirror #makesyouthink - investigative journalism at it's finest, aided and abetted by a former Scotland Yard cop - the ever vacillating Colin Sutton.

Madeleine is not in North Africa the poor girl is no more,the only
hope is finding her remains so she can have a decent Christian
burial so we can say,RIP beautiful little girl.

Portuguese police to probe 'Madeleine dumped at sea' - Daily Mail [article no longer online]
 
14th October 2007
 
Portuguese police are becoming increasingly convinced that Madeleine McCann's body was dumped at sea.

Detectives are believed to be keen to re-interview a British nanny who claims she saw a mystery boatman kicking at something in the middle of the night two days after Madeleine McCann disappeared.

Former Mark Warner nanny Charlotte Pennington said she spotted the man in a small dinghy just off the Praia da Luz seafront. She claims he was kicking at an object stored in the boat's hull.

When she moved closer to investigate, the man - whose name she has given to Portuguese and British police - stooped out of sight then hurriedly rowed away.

Portuguese police are taking the sightings seriously and Miss Pennington, 20, and are looking to interview her once again.

She was working in the Ocean Club's creche on May 3, the night Madeleine disappeared. She is the only person to have given a full, public description of the events of that evening.

She told police how she heard Kate McCann scream: "They've taken her" on the night of May 3, when Madeleine vanished, and that she saw the first official suspect Robert Murat standing outside the Ocean Club that night.

Miss Pennington said the man was wearing a reflective yellow jacket with a hood but she could not make out his face.

One police source today described the sighting as 'credible'.

Miss Pennington said: "I'm pleased they are taking this seriously as it means they aren't just looking at the McCanns as suspects."

Miss Pennington's account potentially tallies with repeated suggestions that Madeleine was smuggled out of the Algarve on board a boat, or that her body was dumped at sea.

It also tallies with a second report today claiming new evidence proves that Madeleine was alive when she was taken from her bed.

Police have been told Kate McCann knew instantly her daughter had been snatched because the bedclothes were in exactly the same position, raised above the mattress as if they were still lying over the little girl.

Friends of the McCanns believe this prove she was taken and did not just wander off, which would have ruffled the bedclothes.

The Daily Mail has a tendency to re-write and overwrite its articles. The article reproduced above was a re-write of a previous article that was published on 27 September 2007. A section of the original article was removed from the subsequent re-write and is reproduced here:

'Former Mark Warner nanny Charlotte Pennington said she spotted the man in a small dinghy just off the Praia da Luz seafront at 11.30pm. She claims he was kicking at an object stored in the boat's hull.

When she moved closer to investigate, the man - whose name she has given to Portuguese and British police - stooped out of sight then hurriedly rowed away.

Portuguese police are taking the sightings seriously and Miss Pennington, 20, has twice spoken to Leicestershire detectives about her evidence.

Yesterday Miss Pennington said the man was wearing a reflective yellow jacket with a hood but she could not make out his face.

However the following day she was shocked to see a man - whom she had come to know over the preceding week - wearing exactly the same distinctive jacket as the man in the boat.'
....................


[Acknowledgement:  Nigel Moore of mccannfiles at pamalam's gerrymccannsblog]

Exclusive: I feel like I'm cursed Madeleine aunt opens heart for first time on boyfriend's brutal murder

Original Source: NEWS OF THE WORLD SCOTLAND : 03 JUNE 2007

James Mulholland & Jacqueline McGhie 3 June 2007

SHATTERED Jacqueline McCann fought back tears last night as she spoke about her secret trauma and admitted: I feel there's a jinx on me.
 
The aunt of missing tot Madeleine McCann bit her lip as she told how she found lover Alan Saunders dying in a pool of blood after a vicious hammer attack.
 
And as she revealed for the first time the secret agony that still haunts her, the 46-year-old said: "I'll never get the image of Alan lying there out of my mind.
 
"I still haven't got over losing him. Now this has happened to Madeleine I can't take it all in - I feel like I'm cursed."
 
Accountant Alan, 39, was battered to death by evil junkie Scott Anderson just yards from the home he shared with Jacqueline.
 
And last night the traumatised Scot told us: "It was horrific. I told myself it wasn't happening, it was the only way to cope.
 
"Now I can't work because I'm severely depressed, my concentration is gone. It's all too much."

She has a special bond with four- year-old Madeleine - who has been missing for 31 days - because they share the same May 12 birthday.
 
Her disappearance has rocked the entire family - and now devastated Jacqueline is struggling to come to terms with the second heartache.
 
She told us: "I don't know how much more I can take. They have to find Madeleine, I can't cope with losing someone else so close to me."
 
Jacqueline and boyfriend Alan had been dating for seven years
 
before he was cruelly taken from her on March 16, 2003.
 
She explained: "We were really happy together, Alan was a lovely person and so good to me. He was my boyfriend and best friend.
 
"The only problem we had was the neighbours."
 
Heroin addict Anderson, now 39, and his girlfriend Diane Ledgerwood, 38, made life hell for everyone living in their quiet street in Busby, Renfrewshire.
 
The louts blared music day and night as they partied with junkie pals. And the druggies left hypodermic syringes and bags of rubbish strewn in the road.
 
Jacqueline, who still lives in the street, told us: "We couldn't get any peace and I was really scared. I'd had trouble previously with break- ins and nightmare neighbours at another house. To go through it again was too much to bear."
 
After months of silence, mild- mannered Alan snapped as he passed the yobs' drugs den.
 
Anderson shouted abuse from an open window - and it was the last straw for Alan, who yelled at him to clear out of the street.
 
The strung-out junkie flew into a rage and ran downstairs to rugby-tackle stunned Alan to the ground. Vile Ledgerwood also ran out and joined in, raining down blows on the cowering victim.
 
Cowardly Anderson then battered Alan on the head five times with a hammer before he and Ledgerwood ran off, leaving him to die.
 
Neighbours called the police, who broke the horrifying news to distraught Jacqueline.
 
She told us: "I was taken along the street to identify him.
 
"It was one of the worst moments of my life, to see the man I loved dying in the road.
 
"I wasn't ready to say goodbye, I went into total shock and was unable to process what was happening.
 
"There is so much more I'd have said that night if I'd known that was the last time I'd see him. But he was only going a few streets away to visit his mum, how could I have known?"
 
Tragic Alan was rushed to nearby Hairmyres Hospital, East Kilbride, but died a few hours later.
 
Police swooped on the junkies' grotty home where Anderson - who had 26 prior convictions, including one for armed robbery - confessed.
 
In May 2004 he pled guilty to murder at the High Court in Glasgow. He was sentenced to a minimum of 13 years and is now in Shotts Prison, Lanarks. Charges against Ledgerwood were dropped.
 
Jacqueline was still struggling to rebuild her life when her beloved niece went missing on May 3.
 
She said: "There was no way I could even think about my birthday on May 12 with Maddie gone.
 
"It's a difficult time anyway, just after the anniversary of Alan's death, but I have to stay strong.
 
"I've been through so much already, I just have to hope and pray that our Madeleine is found."

Dec 23 2010 Exclusive by Annie Brown


 
IN the window of Patricia Cameron's porch is a photo of her niece Madeleine McCann with the caption, "Still missing, still missed, still looking."


Another Christmas is about to pass, the fourth since Madeleine disappeared in May 2007, leaving only pain and longing behind.



Patricia said: "Christmas is one of the toughest times. But every family occasion is marred because there is a little person who is not there.


"It doesn't get any easier. If anything, it gets harder."



This week, Patricia became a family representative for the charity Missing People, who help with searches and support those left behind.


She wanted to take on the role to highlight the plight of the many left with a void in their life - the parents, the children, the sisters, the brothers, the uncles and the aunts of the missing.



The organisation are asking the Government to give families of missing people the same rights as victims of crime, access to legal and financial assistance and emotional support.


It hurts Patricia deeply to watch her little brother Gerry and his wife Kate grow emotionally and physically weaker because of the loss and endless searching for Madeleine.


Patricia said: "Gerry is the baby of the family. I feel very protective and it hurts me to see him looking so tired. They are both just exhausted. They have so much on their plate.



"They are overwhelmed by trying to be breadwinners, investigators and parents. That's why I support the Missing Rights campaign. People need all the help they can get."
 
Madeleine was snatched from the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007, as Gerry and Kate dined nearby.



For the McCanns, there was a desperate need for funds to pay for legal advice and a worldwide search.



Patricia said: "It is so hard to watch Kate and Gerry push themselves constantly. When Madeleine first went missing, family and friends had to step in to help them pay the mortgage.



"Money is constantly tight but they have to keep going. They will never give up looking and that costs money. Families of the missing still need to pay bills while they search but there is no right to any financial help."



After Madeleine disappeared, Patricia took on the role of babysitter for Kate and Gerry's twins, Sean and Amelie, now five, while their parents searched.


As a result, there is a close bond between Patricia and the children.


She bathes the twins when she visits the McCanns and chats to them about Madeleine and her memories of her.



Patricia said: "Kate listens sometimes. It is always nice for her to hear someone else's memories of Madeleine, something more of her little girl."


There are treasured photos of Madeleine as a toddler, with her aunt holding her in her arms. Patricia was Madeleine's godmother and there was a special bond between them.



When Patricia and her mum, Eileen, visited her son, Paul, who was studying medicine at Cambridge, she would pick Madeleine up from the nearby McCann family home and take her on a special day out.


Patricia said: "She would say to the twins they were too little to come and so it was just her. That made her feel grown-up.



We would have lunch and feed ducks in the park. Not expensive things, just precious memories.



"There were times she had my mum and I in stitches. She was so sharp and funny."


And Patricia remembers vividly a holiday in Ireland with 46 extended family and friends, and playing rounders on the beach.


Patricia said: "Madeleine was a little daredevil. She was the only one who would go in the water. It was the Atlantic and it was freezing. She was a determined little thing."


Madeleine's grandparents suffer terribly. Eileen and Kate's parents, Susan and Brian Healy, fear they'll never see her again.



Patricia said: "My mum and Kate's parents have become very close. They understand each other and what they are going through.


"It is hard for them. They think about Madeleine all the time and have some terrible days. A friend of my mum's died recently.



When she was sick, she told my mum she would send her a sign from heaven to let her know if Madeleine was there."


Eileen calls the twins her bonny lassie and bonny laddie, and carries one under each arm.



Patricia added: "They are crazy about their granny."


Christmas cards from the McCanns are still signed with the names of all three children.


And there are still Christmas presents in Madeleine's room ready for her to come home.


In the meantime, Kate is exhausted juggling family life with writing a book she hopes will help finance the continued search for her daughter.


It is expected to be in shops next April, to coincide with the fourth anniversary of her disappearance.



Patricia is a nurse and the hands-on carer in the family.


Perhaps that's why it is unusual for her to take on a task like this for Missing People. The lobbying and the campaigning have always been roles for Gerry and Kate.


But they are just too busy. Patricia spent a few days with them last week to give them a break before Christmas.



She said: "Gerry has changed. He is more serious and is always exhausted. It breaks my heart to see him like that.


"Kate has always been thin but they have just had the cold and she looks even thinner now.


"They are both drained emotionally, psychologically and physically.


"They are on a treadmill. They are trying to do their best for their wee daughter who is missing and they are trying to do their best for the wee twins in front of them.


"That's why organisations like Missing People are vital. I wish at the beginning we had used the kind of support they offer."



Patricia will never give up hope that Madeleine will be found.


She said: "There are cases of people being hidden and kept for years and those cases give you hope. You have to think like that.


"She could be alive. We just haven't found her."



There were over 40,000 incidents of people going missing in Scotland last year.


Missing People have caring, highly skilled staff and volunteers working around the clock all over the UK.


The role of Family Representative is the first of several planned new volunteer opportunities available in Scotland, and involves acting as a spokesperson to the media and local community.


See www.missingpeople.org.uk



Three years of heartbreak

TIMELINE
May 3, 2007 Madeleine disappears from Praia da Luz, days before her fourth birthday.

May 7, 2007 Police release a description of the kidnapper.
May 10, 2007 Police question Kate and Gerry about why their kids were alone in the apartment.

May 11, 2007 Search of local area called off.
May 12, 2007 Madeleine's fourth birthday.

May 15, 2007 Local resident Robert Murat is named as an official suspect.
Late May 2007 McCanns enlist help of private investigators.

May 30, 2007 McCanns meet the Pope in Rome.

June 17, 2007 Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa claims vital clues may have been destroyed.

September 7, 2007 Gerry and Kate named as suspects.

September 9, 2007 Gerry and Kate return home.

September 16, 2007 Sir Richard Branson donates £100,000 for McCanns' legal bill.

October 2, 2007 Policeman in charge of inquiry is removed from case and demoted.

November 1, 2007 Gerry returns to work as surgeon.

July 21, 2008 Robert Murat and Kate and Gerry McCann have official suspect status lifted.

July 21, 2008 Portuguese attorney general archives the case. It can be reopened if new evidence comes to light.

May 1, 2009 A projected photo of Madeleine aged six is released.

May 22, 2009 Convicted paedophile Raymond Hewlett denies anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance.

December 21, 2009 Facebook page claiming to be created by Madeleine's kidnapper is removed.



January 28, 2010 On 1000th day since disappearance, McCanns host a £150-a-head fundraising dinner.



November 2, 2010 McCanns launch online petition calling for joint review of the case by Portuguese and UK governments.


November 3, 2010 McCanns appeal for cash as Find Madeleine Fund, which once topped £2million, runs dry.

Perhaps the McCanns wouldn't be quite so short of cash if they hadn't squandered such huge amounts of the more than £2,000,000 that they received on highly expensive lawyers and PR people -  seemingly just to protect them and their reputation.  I don't know if it's true but I've read that they also used a sizeable amount of that donated cash to pay off their mortgage!  I wonder if that was what the donors intended?

They should just be grateful that they've received more money than any other known family of missing children.

McCanns defend using public fund to pay mortgage

Andrew Hough - 30th October 2007

LONDON (Reuters) - The parents of missing Madeleine McCann repaid two instalments of their mortgage with money from the fund set up to help find her, their spokesman confirmed on Tuesday.

But Kate and Gerry McCann stopped taking money from the one million pound “Find Madeleine” fund after they were made official suspects, Clarence Mitchell said.

He was speaking after media reports on Tuesday that the couple made two 2,000-pound repayments on their 460,000-pound detached house in Rothley, Leicestershire with fund money.

He confirmed the couple made two repayments in July and August, but defended their motives.

The primary objective of the fund, a not-for-profit company, was to help efforts to find Madeleine, but it can also provide financial support for her parents to cope with the stress, he said.

The couple have not worked since the young girl disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May, just before her fourth birthday.
Mitchell said once they were made official suspects in the case, they stopped using the fund for mortgage repayments.

It was a mutual decision with the fund, after they conceded they would not be entitled to the money, he said.

Mitchell confirmed that because of their financial predicament, Gerry McCann, 39, will return to work as a consultant cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester on Thursday.

It remains unclear what his wife, also 39, will do after reports said she was unlikely return to work as a locum GP.

“Gerry is about to go back to work quite soon and his financial position will improve on a personal level and hopefully they won’t need to ask the fund for any further assistance in future,” Mitchell told Sky News.

“But I do hope that people who have contributed to it do understand that their monies are being channelled towards finding Madeleine in every form and part of that is to help the family cope in this time of stress.

“How would you feel, losing your child and then potentially losing your house on top of that?”

The six-month anniversary since Madeleine went missing falls on Saturday and Mitchell said the couple would be attending a church service in their home town.

“It will be a quiet day, quite low key with a number of religious services,” he said. “As Gerry often says to me: it is just another day without Madeleine.”

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-mcanns/mccanns-defend-using-public-fund-to-pay-mortgage-idUKL3080452520071030

"Really positive": Maddy's mum Kate goes to Downing Street to back new missing children hotline

Kate McCann, whose daughter disappeared in 2007 aged three, said the 116000 missing children phone number was a "lifeline"

Paul Cockerton - 23rd May 2012


Kate McCann (left) meets Holly Valance at a reception for missing people at Downing Street



Kate McCann has hailed the launch of two initiatives to help find missing children.

She was among guests at a Downing Street reception tonight to celebrate the introduction of a new Europe-wide hotline and the relaunch of an official website with information about Britain's missing and abducted children.

Mrs McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared in Portugal in 2007 aged three, said the 116000 missing children phone number was a "lifeline" for families like hers.

She said it was a "really positive day" and spoke of a shift in attitudes among politicians towards the problem.

"In the last few years there's been greater awareness and certainly there's been a greater political will," she said.

"We just need to keep spreading the message. It is a big problem, and we do need the Government's backing."

The 116000 missing children hotline, which is free, confidential and available 24 hours a day, is operated by specialist support groups in 16 European countries, including France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Holland and Poland.

Britain's official website to help find missing and abducted children - www.missingkids.co.uk - has also been redesigned ahead of International Missing Children's Day on Friday.

Home Secretary Theresa May hosted the reception in Number 10 for campaign groups, celebrity supporters and families of missing children.

Also attending was Nicki Durbin, whose 19-year-old son Luke went missing after a night out with friends in Ipswich, Suffolk, in May 2006.

She said: "There's been a huge change in the last year, and more people are aware about all of our missing ones."

Two London cabs sporting advertisements for the newly-relaunched website were parked outside the front door of Number 10.

Another 300 black cabs will carry appeals for missing children inside for passengers to read, thanks to an idea by former taxi driver father Colin Outhwaite, father of ex-EastEnders star Tamzin.

The heavily pregnant actress said: "It's an amazing idea. I couldn't believe no-one had ever thought of it before."

Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (Ceop) will run the website.

Peter Davies, chief executive of Ceop, said: "Missing children have always been taken seriously by people.

"I think this is a sign of a refreshed momentum within the police service, quite possibly within Government, and certainly within our partners, to get a series of better services provided to prevent children going missing, to find them more quickly if they do go missing, and to deal effectively with their return."

Martin Houghton-Brown, chief executive of Missing People, added: "Disappearances such as Madeleine McCann's tragically demonstrated the need for co-ordination across the world when a child goes missing.

"116000 is introduced so that people can call when someone disappears regardless of which EU country they are in."

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said vulnerable missing children need the best support possible.

"Government has set a clear direction for this with our missing children and adults strategy, calling on local and national organisations to prevent, protect and provide support for missing children and their families," she said.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-mum-kate-goes-845462
....................

Oh look .... and there's Mr Clarence 'Fix it' Mitchell.  Now where would we be without the intelligent #makesuthink tabloid - marooned?

After all that   still no explanation to excuse the £12m+ funding allotted to a bogus review/investigation into the disappearance of just one missing child.  This jolly reception was held one year after the launch of Operation Grange - in the words of Roger Daltrey .... 'I'm free!!!'

NB:  How did Kate McCann manage to sneak in through the back door to become an ambassador to this charity?  Answers on the back of a brown envelope - it'll get there....

Kate McCann (left) meets Holly Valance at a reception for missing people at Downing Street 

How can you have a reception for missing people. If they are there, they are not missing ! !

You need to ask, why Kate McCann was chosen to launch two new initiatives to help find missing people when she couldn't be bothered to help find her own missing precious three year old daughter.

Au contraire, she, aided and abetted by 'im indoors, went out of their way to scupper the official Portuguese police investigation.

Verdi wrote:You need to ask, why Kate McCann was chosen to launch two new initiatives to help find missing people when she couldn't be bothered to help find her own missing precious three year old daughter.

Au contraire, she, aided and abetted by 'im indoors, went out of their way to scupper the official Portuguese police investigation.

You also need to find the endless promotional material for Missing People and other agencies on the findmadeleine website (a snip at 37k) which was whooshed like a pair of Portuguese curtains.

The update section of the findmadeleine website used to carry and promote lots of positive fundraising messages loaded with agency logos.

This all disappeared.

It really is a swamp.

'Don't say anything until they've turned off microphone', Gerry warns Kate on Spanish TV

24th October 2007

Gerry McCann warned his wife: "Don't say anything till they've taken off your microphone" as she broke down in tears at the end of an interview on Spanish television.

Kate started sobbing as the 30-minute interview by a Spanish TV presenter drew to a close.

But instead of turning to comfort her, Gerry's immediate reaction was to whisper the warning in extraordinary scenes played out to millions of viewers.

The couple were savaged in a phone vote which accompanied an exclusive interview they gave to late-night programme 360 grados on Spain's Antena 3.

Nearly 70 per cent of the callers said they thought the McCanns were not telling the truth about their daughter's disappearance while only 30 per cent gave the couple their backing.

Gerry nearly stormed out of the television interview after being quizzed over drugging his children.

Sources said Mr McCann was "fuming" at being asked a question that the Spanish interviewer had promised not to pose. Mr McCann stormed out of a previous interview with another Spanish TV channel.

A source said today: "Kate and Gerry were annoyed towards the end of the interview because of the drugs question. Gerry was on the verge of another walkout."


A source close to the McCanns insisted Gerry's warning to Kate followed a question about allegations they had drugged their daughter which the programme makers had been told they could not ask.

The source said: "Kate was very upset she was asked the question and Gerry was furious. "What was said wasn't said because they have anything to hide."

"I don't know how anyone could harm anyone as beautiful as Madeleine."

In her first television interview since she was named as an official suspect in the search for Madeleine, she said she was as confident of finding her daughter alive now as she was on the day she went missing nearly six months ago.

"Maybe even more so," she said. "I think she is possibly being held by someone in their house but I don't know.


"I strongly believe Madeleine is out there and we have to do everything we can."

The 39-year-old GP broke down as she told how her life felt incomplete without her daughter, whose fourth birthday passed shortly after she disappeared.

"I feel sad and I feel lonely and our life is not as happy without Madeleine," she said.

"I feel anxious she is not with us."

The cameras were stopped while she composed herself.

When the interview resumed Mrs McCann revealed how her two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie ask about their big sister.

She said Amelie told her: "Madeleine is coming home to my lovely house and I am going to share my toys with her."

She continued: "They do ask about Madeleine. Madeleine was a big part of their life.

"They are not upset and they are not distressed but they are very much aware she is not there."


Her husband Gerry said: "The hardest thing for me is when they say, 'When is Madeleine coming back home?' and we have to say, 'We don't know but everyone is looking for her'."

Mrs McCann broke down again at the end of the interview when she was asked about the last time she saw her daughter.
Missing: 'I strongly believe she is out there and we have to do everything we can'

Mr and Mrs McCann gave their first television interview to the Spanish channel Antena 3 as they launched a new hotline targeting people in Spain, Portugal and North Africa, appealing to them for clues as to their daughter's fate.


They had been warned by their legal team that they could be prosecuted for talking publicly while still bound by the strict Portuguese secrecy laws.

But their lawyers cleared them to speak last week.

Broadcasters from all over the world, including Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters, had asked for the first broadcast interview, but the family wanted to target the Iberian peninsula.

Mrs McCann said: "Somebody knows something. It is not about us. It is about Madeleine.

"We have not even seen her since she was four. She needs our help. She needs her family."


Mr McCann, also 39, added: "We want people to try to help reunite our lovely four-year-old girl with her parents."


The couple said they were confident they would be cleared of any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance.

Mrs McCann declared herself "100 per cent" sure while Mr McCann said he was "much more optimistic" since a new officer, Paulo Rebelo, was appointed to the case.

The consultant cardiologist said: "We have not been charged with anything. Investigations are continuing. The only thing is finding Madeleine."


His wife added: "It really is secondary. I will take anything that is thrown at me."

Mrs McCann defended her and her husband against accusations they had seemed calm and "too cool" in the weeks and months after their daughter vanished.

"We know we are innocent, totally innocent. That is why we are calm. We know each other," she said.

Mr McCann said the couple remained "completely united" and added: "Nothing that has happened to us has come close to upsetting us the way Madeleine going missing did.

"We have our own heartache and grief but we are absolutely determined to help in the search."

He described the last time he saw his daughter, saying: "I was the last to see her. I saw her and thought how beautiful she was, and how lucky I was to be a father of three children."

The couple refused to discuss claims that DNA evidence was found in their apartment and their hire car, and dismissed claims that they sedated their children as "ludicrous".

But Mr McCann said: "We are certainly not scared.

"There is no evidence DNA tests will show anything other than us being completely innocent."

He said the group of friends who were with them in Praia da Luz - the so-called Tapas Nine - knew they were not involved in the disappearance.

He added: "They know we are innocent, absolutely. They will help us. They will clear our names."

Asked if he had any regrets, he replied: "Not from the minute we found Madeleine gone."

Roberto Arce, who interviewed the McCanns for the Spanish television programme 360 Grados, spoke later about the couple's demeanour and emotional state.

"Kate looked prostrate with pain," he said. "Much more depressed than I've ever seen her before. She cried for the first time.
"Gerry looked much happier with the massive campaign that's been put in place to find his daughter."

He added: "The McCanns don't say in the interview there are clues Madeleine - dead or alive - is in Spain.


"But privately they confessed afterwards there are.

"I can't say what they are and I'm not sure they're necessarily more solid than other leads.

"But they maintain there are, in Spain as well as in neighbours like Morocco, but that Spain's involvement in all this is very important."

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/dont-say-anything-until-theyve-turned-off-microphone-gerry-warns-kate-on-spanish-tv-6683183.html
....................

My apologies for repeating this shear unadulterated tripe - second thoughts, I'm not in the least bit sorry for repeatedly drawing attention to the gross misrepresentation the truth, spewed forth on a daily basis by the UK's mainstream media..

'POISONOUS LIAR':  Top cop who taunted Kate and Gerry has made nearly £350k from Maddie McCann in book and DVD deals



Kate and Gerry McCann are currently challenging Goncalo Amaral at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to stop him from cashing in

Nick Pisa - 4th November 2018

AN ex-police chief who cruelly claimed Madeleine McCann’s parents covered up her death has made more than £350,000 from his book and a DVD.

Portuguese cop Goncalo Amaral’s huge earnings from The Truth Of The Lie have been revealed in court documents.

Kate and Gerry McCann are in a legal battle with Amaral at the European Court of Human Rights over the smears.

Amaral cruelly claims Madeleine, abducted aged three from an Algarve holiday apartment in 2007, died in an accident and the McCanns then covered it up.

Kate and Gerry, who have fought a lengthy legal battle to stop Amaral cashing in, are currently challenging him at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. A source close to them said: “If Goncalo Amaral continues to make these outrageous claims then he will find he has a tough fight on his hands.

“Kate and Gerry are not going to let him get away with what he said about them.”

Amaral’s earnings from the book are revealed in documents filed at the ECHR.

They show he made 342,111 euros from book sales in 2008-2009 and another 40,000 euros from the DVD spin-off.

The book was translated into multiple languages, with more than 180,000 copies printed. There are fears Amaral plans a follow-up.

An injunction against the book, stopping further sales, was issued in 2009 when the McCanns began a libel action against Amaral, who led the initial Portuguese police inquiry into Madeleine’s disappearance.



They won the case in 2015 but the ruling was overturned on appeal — a decision upheld by Portugal’s Supreme Court. Amaral was awarded compensation.

The injunction on the book was also lifted, leading to thousands more sales and even more cash for Amaral. He is said to have made at least £20,000 from interviews with newspapers and TV stations.

The McCanns have gone to the ECHR in a final effort to avoid paying Amaral £750,000 in compensation.
But it could take until 2021 before the judges decide.

The McCanns fear if they lose, Amaral’s payout will wipe away what is left in the fund set up to finance the continuing search for Madeleine.

Sources close to the family also fear Brexit may have an impact — with judges taking “vengeance” over Britain leaving the EU by ruling against them.

In their argument to the ECHR, the McCanns’ legal team describe the pain and emotional agony Kate and Gerry have gone though since Madeleine disappeared during a family holiday in Praia da Luz in May 2007.

They detail the anguish of the couple being absurdly made suspects by the Portuguese police followed by the pain of Amaral’s outlandish accusations.

The lawyers say Amaral’s book “incriminated innocent citizens, accused of terrible crimes they never committed”. It goes on to say they are trying to “protect not only their reputation but that of the child as well”.

They also say Amaral’s book was “extravagant” and “damaged the good reputation” of the McCann family.

Amaral previously argued in his defence that the book’s allegations come from the police investigation.

He was removed as the investigation head in October 2007 and subsequently left the police to write his book.

A source said: “Kate and Gerry still have full confidence the European Court of Human Rights will find in their favour.

“It hasn’t altered their determination to carry on searching for their daughter. They have never given up hope and this case is an awful distraction but they feel compelled to do something.”

The Met Police has spent £11.6million on the hunt for Madeleine. Last month a request was made to the Home Office for a further six months funding.

The McCanns’ Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte said: “This will be our final appeal. The basis is the violation of my clients’ fundamental human rights.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7658444/cop-made-350k-off-maddie-mccann/
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Emotional agony....