Media Mayhem - MCCANN MEDIA NONSENSE OF THE DAY

CaKeLoveR wrote:I can't remember the story of Sean and Amelie supposedly hearing Madeleine being mentioned on the radio; did this happen on the school bus? (If it happened at all, of course).

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/08/son-claims-hid-madeleine-kate-mccann-court

snipped: 
"Answering questions from the judge, Maria Emilia Castro, during the hearing, Kate McCann said her young son, Sean, had asked her about the allegations that she was involved in Madeleine's disappearance.
She told the court that Sean heard about Amaral's allegations on the radio while travelling on the school bus. "Sean asked me in October: 'Mr Amaral said you hid Madeleine.' I just said that he said a lot of silly things," she said."

Police re-interview McCann friends

Three close friends of Madeleine McCann's parents are among people being interviewed by police in Portugal today as part of the…

Wed Jul 11 2007 - 01:00

Three close friends of Madeleine McCann's parents are among people being interviewed by police in Portugal today as part of the investigation, a friend said.

Detectives from the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) want to speak to Rachael Oldfield, Russell O'Brien and Fiona Payne to go over their accounts of the events of May 3rd, when Madeleine was abducted from her parents' holiday let in the Algarve.

The McCanns were having dinner with a group of friends from the UK in a tapas restaurant opposite the apartment in the village of Praia Da Luz when the four-year-old was snatched.

Police have already interviewed the party in detail including one woman — who has not been named — who saw a girl being carried away by a man in Praia Da Luz and now believes it was Madeleine.

A spokeswoman for the McCann family said that the three were due to be reinterviewed at the PJ headquarters in Portimao from around 11am today.

Meanwhile Robert Murat, the only official "arguido" or suspect in the case, was called back for a second day of questioning. He was seen entering the PJ headquarters at around 10.30am today.

It is thought that among things he is being interviewed about is an e-mail which reportedly mentions "the missing English girl".

However Mr Murat's interest in Madeleine's disappearance is well known. He lives just a short walk from where she was snatched, has a daughter the same age and volunteered his services to help police investigating the case with translation.

Mr Murat (33) was thrown into the spotlight on May 14th, 11 days after the four-year-old from Rothley, Leicestershire, was snatched. Officers from the PJ swooped on Casa Liliana, the villa in which he lives with his mother Jenny, searching the villa extensively and taking several items away for analysis.

His girlfriend Michaela Walczuch and her estranged Portuguese husband Luis Antonio were also interviewed as witnesses and are among those also expected to be reinterviewed this week.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/police-re-interview-mccann-friends-1.809448

'Lives at risk when the colour of a vanished face doesn't fit the national news agenda'

The shocking case of Owami Davies from Essex highlights the continued unwillingness to focus on missing Black people, a concerned Darren Lewis says



I’m old enough to remember, in 1978, the distressing ­disappearance in Devon of 13-year-old Genette Tate.

Also the vanishing of London estate agent Suzy Lamplugh in 1986.

It is also nearly 20 years since Blackpool teenager Charlene Downes went missing on the night of Saturday, November 1, 2003.

As recently as two years ago, police were urging anyone with information to come forward.

North Yorkshire police are also still hunting for York chef Claudia Lawrence who disappeared in March 2009.

And the hunt for Madeleine McCann goes on, 15 years after the three-year-old went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in Portugal.

All of these cases led the national news agenda.

Rightly so. To this day there are loved ones still devoting their lives to the search for clues and for answers.

Even ahead of the upsetting conclusions to the disappearances of Libby Squire in 2019 and Sarah Everard two years later, we were all repeatedly flooded with appeals and asked to remain vigilant. We wanted to help.

Sarah in particular continues to lead important conversations around the safety of women.

Which makes the glacial pace of the search for Owami Davies, a Black woman from Essex, all the more concerning.

The 24-year-old student nurse has now been missing for six weeks, yet the average person wouldn’t know who she was.

My Daily Mirror colleague Melissa Sigodo is one of a handful of national reporters actively pursuing the case.

Too few others are.

Melissa has done a fine job ­highlighting the questions that have led to the ­Independent Office of Police Conduct investigating the handling of the case.

Officers had contact with Owami on July 6, the day she was reported missing. Their body-worn cameras show her looking dishevelled.

Why was all this not visible on the official missing person ­database until the next day?

And why on earth was the wrong picture used in the police appeals to find her? That is simply unforgivable.

Mina Smallman is the mother of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman – the murdered women whose bodies were found in a park in North West London two years ago.

Once details of the police’s shoddy handling of that case emerged there was a ­stampede to speak to her.

But Mina called out the unwillingness to help her find her daughters in the first place. “It wasn’t because I didn’t do interviews,” she said. “It was because they didn’t get the airtime.

Carol Morgan, mum of murdered student midwife Joy Morgan, was ­similarly uncompromising over the lack of help she received when her 20-year-old daughter vanished three years ago.

“Why wasn’t my Black Rastafarian face on the TV doing a press conference sitting with police officers on either side?” She asked. “It’s because I was Black and I wasn’t newsworthy.”

Jebina Islam, sister of murdered primary school teacher Sabina Nessa, maintains her loved ones would have had more widespread support had they been a “normal British white family”.

In America they have a name for it: “Missing White Woman Syndrome”, a phrase coined by the late, highly-respected news anchor, Gwen Ifill.

It isn’t particularly comfortable to read or hear – nor should it be. But it remains fact. Because the cases you’ve read here are a tip of the iceberg.

There are more – far, far more.

Black people on both sides of the Atlantic now use social media to spread awareness when they need the support denied to them by police and some sections of the media.

Their loved ones’ lives depend on it.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/lives-risk-colour-vanished-face-27804810

Archived

Maddy police ignored vital CCTV

By Richard Edwards and Fiona Govan in Praia da Luz

Last Updated: 1:10am BST 21/05/2007

Portuguese police searching for Madeleine McCann faced further accusations of incompetence last night after it emerged they had failed to seize footage holding potentially vital clues to the abduction of the British toddler.

Authorities revealed that detectives have not asked for surveillance pictures of vehicles leaving Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

Video: Don't forget Maddy

The criticism came as Madeleine's family admitted for the first time that they no longer think she is in Portugal.

Her aunt Philomena McCann revealed their belief in an email yesterday to well-wishers supporting the search for her.

She said: "We don't believe Madeleine is in Portugal any more and need to get her picture and the story across Europe as quickly as possible." Police have admitted they failed to notify guards on the border with Spain until the morning after Madeleine's mother Kate discoved her oldest child had gone missing.

The focus of the investigation, 16 days after Madeleine's disappearance, has returned to the Russian computer expert Sergey Malinka and his links with Robert Murat, the only formal suspect.

Detectives have reportedly discovered that Mr Murat telephoned Mr Malinka on his mobile at 11.40pm on the night the four-year-old disappeared.

Police sources claim there had been a series of calls between the pair that day despite Mr Malinka allegedly claiming they hardly know each other.

They were also seen talking in an "animated" fashion by surveillance officers following Mr Murat in the days after Madeleine's kidnap, sources said.

In interviews with three different journalists in the past week, Mr Malinka's story has allegedly changed. He is said to have told one reporter, hours before he was detained, that he had not seen Mr Murat for three months.

In another interview after he was released by police he reportedly said he had not spoken to Mr Murat for "around a year".

He told The Daily Telegraph on Thursday he "could not recall". Asked again last night to clarify, he said: "I have never officially talked about when I last spoke to Robert."

Mr Malinka was questioned for five hours by police on Wednesday and computers were seized from his home. He was released and is being treated as a witness and not a suspect. He insisted yesterday he is innocent and had "nothing to do" with the kidnapping of Madeleine.

Police chiefs said that investigations are continuing and there is still the possibility that those released as witnesses could become suspects.

Mr Murat remains the main line of police inquiry but detectives have admitted they do not have the evidence to arrest him. It emerged yesterday that initial forensic results at Mr Murat's villa - 100 yards from where Madeleine was kidnapped - have failed to find any trace of the toddler.

Clothing, hair and soil samples found by specialist search teams at Villa Liliana, where Mr Murat lives with his mother, were sent to a laboratory on Monday night.

Police sources said yesterday they had "not confirmed suspicions about the British suspect".

Meanwhile, there was growing criticism at the police's failure to check motorway cameras for vehicles leaving Praia da Luz in the immediate aftermath of Madeleine's kidnap. Euroscut, the company responsible for maintaining and administrating 80 miles of road between Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António, on the Spanish border, said the cameras act mostly as a deterrent and only record for around two hours a day.

However, they are always monitored in a control room.

Police did not contact the company in the hours after Madeleine's disappearance to alert them and have not approached them since to review material.

Yesterday the global appeal for help in finding Madeleine led to reported sightings of her in Morocco, Crete, Switzerland and Spain.

Police said none of the reports had yet led to a positive outcome but urged the international community to remain vigilant.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070521053106/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F05%2F19%2Fwmaddy19.xml
....................

NOTE: Having done the rounds of the UK press, Fiona Govan now works for/with Jon Clarke at The Olive Press.

Sergey Malinka was keen to put as much distance between himself and Robert Murat as he could.

"It was terrible, horrible, they gave up the search": McCanns parents' torment when police stopped looking for Madeleine

Kate and Gerry McCann tell of the horrible moment when Portuguese police gave up the search for Maddie and left the family as the only people working to find her

Kate and Gerry McCann talk about the Portuguese and British Police

ByAlan Selby - 30 Apr 2017



Kate and Gerry McCann have told of their despair when the Portuguese police investigation closed and nobody else was looking for their daughter.

The “terrible and horrible” moment came in 2008, a year after Madeleine vanished.

It left the family as the only people working to find her.

Gerry said: “After the initial Portuguese investigation closed, no one else was doing anything ­pro-actively to try and find ­Madeleine.

"And I think every parent could understand that what you want – and what we have aspired to – is to have all the ­reasonable lines of inquiry followed to a logical conclusion.

Gerry spoke in the couple’s moving interview to mark 10 years since their daughter disappeared on holiday in Praia da Luz.

He continued: “It was terrible, it was horrible. As much as we tried and (were) fortunate to have had so many donations into Madeleine’s fund, and to use that money to try and investigate, your hands are tied. You don’t have the powers law enforcement have.

“Since the Metropolitan Police actually started their investigation, it has taken a huge pressure off us, individually and as a family.”

The McCanns, in an interview with the BBC’s Fiona Bruce ­broadcast today, said the battle with ex-Portuguese cop Goncalo Amaral caused frustration, anger and even risked harming the search.

He wrote The Truth of The Lie, accusing the McCanns of ­responsibility for Madeleine’s ­disappearance.

Amaral also took part in a TV documentary claiming the child was dead, there had been no abduction and her body had been hidden.

He was ordered to pay the McCanns £209,000 each in damages in 2015 after a court banned further sales of his book.


It felt so safe

But he appealed and Portugal’s Supreme Court rejected the libel action, saying he was protected by freedom of expression laws.

Gerry branded the judgment “terrible” and insisted they would pursue Amaral in the European courts. He said it was important to challenge him on behalf of the wider family, including his twins Sean and Amelie, 12.

And Kate said: “It has been very upsetting, and it has caused a lot of frustration and anger.”

Gerry highlighted the Metropolitan Police’s view – echoing the final report by Portuguese police – that there is no evidence Madeleine is dead.

Dismissing Amaral’s assertions, he added: “The prosecutor has said there’s no evidence we were involved in any crime.”

Last month the Home Office confirmed £85,000 was being given to the UK-based Met Police inquiry to cover costs from April to September.

In all, more than £11million has been spent.

Gerry said it was right to bring resources to bear to investigate criminal acts against Britons abroad.

He said: “I know it’s a single missing child, but millions of British tourists go to the Algarve and you’ve got a British subject who was the subject of a crime.

“Others within law enforcement have made it very clear, this type of stranger abduction is ­exceptionally rare and we need to put it into perspective.

“It’s partly why Madeleine’s case is attracting so much attention, thrown in with many other ingredients, but this type of abduction is exceptionally rare.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccanns-parents-say-cops-10324595

Everton Call On Missing Fans To Return Home Everton FC

Thursday 2nd January 2014 13:05 by Rob Urbani

Blues to show their support to the charity this Saturday.



Everton is backing an appeal for missing fans to make a safe return to their families in 2014.

The Club is supporting Missing People, an independent charity which offers a lifeline when a loved one disappears, during its FA Cup third round tie against Queens Park Rangers on 4 January.

At half-time, Everton will show the charity's appeal film to the Goodison Park faithful in addition to using its social media channels to communicate appeals for missing people in the area in the run up to the Cup tie, with fans being encouraged to support the appeal by using #EFCsearching.

The Blues have thrown their support behind the campaign to help find missing people like Madeleine McCann, who went missing in 2007. Madeleine's mother Kate McCann, who is an Ambassador for the charity Missing People and also an Evertonian, is attending the match to help raise awareness of the search for missing people in the area.

Speaking in Everton's matchday programme this weekend, Chairman Bill Kenwright, had this message in support of the campaign: "There are thousands of people who are reported missing across the country every year and it's truly heartbreaking to read, and hear, the distressing stories that are affecting the lives of those close to them.

"We have a strong tradition at Everton of working with, and supporting, our Community and because of that we wanted to use today's game to help raise awareness of those who, for whatever reason, are currently missing."

He added: "The thoughts of myself and everyone at Everton Football Club are with those currently affected. We wish you all the very best and hope 2014 is the year when you are reunited."

A 2013 report showed 14,672 missing persons incidents were reported to Merseyside Police over 12 months, and the charity is keen to raise awareness of the 250,000 people who go missing in the UK each year, 140,000 of whom are children.

Jo Youle, Missing People Chief Executive said: "We're extremely fortunate to have this sort of support from a club like Everton and hope to harness the power of Goodison fans to help us search for missing people.

"We urge anyone in the area to take to Twitter and Facebook, follow @missingpeople and use the hashtag #EFCsearching to help us reunite missing people with their loved ones."

To help support Missing People, text Hope to 70707 to donate £3.

Text costs £3 plus network charge. Missing People received 100% of your donation. Obtain bill payer's permission. Customer care 08448 479800. Charity No. 1020419

[Acknowledgement: pamalam of gerrymccannsblog]

Pictured: Kate and Gerry McCann looking relaxed and happy watching Everton in the FA Cup

The couple were spotted enjoying themselves at Goodison Park in Liverpool - and even shook hands with Harry Redknapp

ByAnthony Bond

16:04, 4 Jan 2014 Updated19:00, 4 Jan 2014

They are living through unimaginable pain as they continue to search for their missing daughter.





But Kate and Gerry McCann still managed to enjoy an afternoon out today to watch their beloved Everton in the FA Cup.

The couple were spotted enjoying themselves at Goodison Park in Liverpool as their team took on Queens Park Rangers.

In one picture, Kate and Gerry share a laugh together, with Kate looking on lovingly at her husband.

The couple, who were sat next to Everton chairman Bill Kenwright, also shook hands with Harry Redknapp, the manager of QPR.

The couple's daughter Madeleine was three when she went missing in the Algarve in 2007. One of the most famous images of the youngster shows her wearing an Everton football shirt.

The couple were at the game to support Missing People, an independent charity which offers support to relatives when a loved one disappears.

Everton are backing an appeal for missing fans to make a safe return to their families in 2014. Kate McCann is an ambassador for the charity.

It emerged today that detectives from Scotland Yard have identified three key suspects for the toddler's abduction.

Cops believe a gang of burglars was working close to where Madeleine went missing.

As reported by the Daily Mail, mobile phone data shows that the men made a high number of calls to each other after the three-year-old went missing.

One line of enquiry is that the burglars panicked after waking the youngster and decided to kidnap her.

Kate and Gerry were yesterday blocked from giving evidence at the libel trial of an ex-detective who accused them of covering up their daughter's death.

The couple wanted to take the stand to explain how false claims in Goncalo Amaral's book about Mad­­­eleine's disappearance had left them devastated.

But in Lisbon, judge Maria de Melo e Castro ruled that neither the McCanns nor Amarel can give evidence.

The McCanns' lawyer Isabel Duarte said: "Obviously Gerry and Kate were disappointed."

The couple, both 45-year-old doctors from Rothley, Leics, are suing Amaral, 56, for £1million over his book The Truth of the Lie and a related TV documentary.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-kate-gerry-pictured-2987648#ixzz2pRkrVTt0

Lest they forget - almost nine years ago..

Maddie McCann case Suspects’ phones could be ‘treasure trove of evidence’

By Reporter
January 4, 2014, 9:09 pm

Police probing Maddie McCann’s disappearance could uncover a treasure trove of evidence on phones used by three suspects, according to a forensics expert.

Former police officer Neil Morgans, who runs A Star Forensics, said cops hunting Maddie’s abductors could use texts, photos and videos on suspects’ phones to place them at the scene of the crime.

He said the phones can still be tracked even if they’ve changed hands several times and data on the devices would still be there even if it had been deleted and subsequent owners had thrown away the SIM card.

His comments come after it was reported that officers at Scotland Yard have narrowed their prime suspects down to three burglars who were operating at the resort in Portugal where Maddie disappeared in 2007.

Reports state that mobile phone data suggests the three men were near to where the missing girl vanished.

British detectives are working on the theory that the burglars may have panicked after waking Madeleine and decided to take her away with them.

Neil Morgans said information on the three men’s phones could provide a breakthrough in the case.

He said: “Police need to get hold of these phones. If they had considered a ransom then they might have taken photos and videos of her.

“Images could still be obtained from the devices even if they were deleted.

“Some photos could have meta-data showing where pictures were taken. Again, that could help show if they were in the area of the abduction.

“There may also be information contained in text messages.

“The phones can be tracked using their unique serial numbers. Even if the phones have changed hands several times they could still be found.”

The three male suspects are said to have made an unusually large number of calls to each other in the hours after Madeleine was reported missing from her holiday flat in the Algarve.

Cops believe the crooks, including at least one Portuguese man, had already carried out one burglary in the resort of Praia da Luz, disturbing a child.

During their bungled investigation Portuguese police attached no significance to the raid, which came a few days before Madeleine disappeared.

Informal discussions are said to have taken place at Scotland Yard about arresting the three burglars and searching their homes and other sites.

It’s believed background checks have been carried out into their criminal history, their friends and relatives and the vehicles they’ve used.

https://www.sundaypost.com/news/uk-news/maddie-mccann-case-suspects-phones-could-be-treasure-trove-of-evidence/

The power of the press - or not as the case may be..

McCanns filmed at cafe on day Maddy disappeared



The Paraiso restaurant, where staff say the McCanns played on the sand on the day Maddy went missing. Below: Gerry and Kate McCann say they were not at the cafe at all during the week their daughter disappeared.

September 22 2007 04:46 AM

A BEACH-side restaurant was today at the centre of claim and counter-claim over the movements of the McCann family on the day that Madeleine went missing.

Staff at the Paraiso restaurant in Praia Da Luz say they saw Gerry and Kate McCann there with Madeleine between 5pm and 6pm on the afternoon of May 3, less than four hours before she disappeared.

Gerry was said to have been dancing happily with Madeleine on the sand directly in front of the restaurant, which sits on stilts on the beach.

Staff later recognised the McCanns from television in the middle of the week following Madeleine's disappearance and called the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) who took the footage away.

The apparent sighting could be proof of where the McCanns were that day, eliminating claims there were a "missing six hours" in their account.

But the McCanns insist they were not at the restaurant.

Mr McCann is believed to have played tennis all afternoon before changing and going to meet friends for a tapas dinner at around 8.20pm.

Mrs McCann has told police she spent time by the pool in the Ocean Club complex where they were staying that afternoon.

The staff's accounts of the restaurant visit have featured in media reports both in Portugal and the UK.

But the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "We cannot and will not comment on matters that go to the heart of the police investigation; however, my understanding is that these particular reports are inaccurate."

One of the McCanns' friends is reported to have said that others in the group went there to feed the children before putting them to bed, although the McCanns were not there.

But today a source at the restaurant said staffHe said the footage showed Gerry McCann dancing with Madeleine in the beach.

"One member of staff remembered later that he saw them and we went to check the CCTV that they were here," he said.

"On the machine it was saying the same date (May 3) between five and six. The date was on the machine at the time.''

He added that police had checked if the footage showed the McCanns before taking it.

"I gave the PJ the video, I didn't know if it was them or not so we watched to check that it was them, otherwise we would have been giving them something that was not interesting," he said.

He conceded that the timer on the machine could have been showing the wrong date, possibly from a day earlier that week.

But it is understood the McCanns' position is that they did not go to the restaurant at all that week, although they did visit much later during the time they stayed on in Praia Da Luz.

Nevertheless, the restaurant source insisted: "The machine could have been on the wrong date, I can't promise it was the right date -- but it was them.''

He added: "I have heard the friend said they (the McCanns) weren't here -- if they weren't, they weren't; but as far as I'm concerned, they were.''

However, he conceded that the images were grainy.

Holding up a newspaper, he said: "The image isn't very good quality . . . you can't see faces exactly like you see on this, it's difficult.'' were sure it was the McCanns and had watched the footage with PJ officers to check before handing it over.

https://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/mccanns-filmed-at-cafe-on-day-maddy-disappeared-26319996.html

Goes to show how easily people were convinced they had seen Madeleine before Thursday, if she was substituted for another one of the groups kids.

Now we're fighting for our lives

News of the Screws World

By Sarah Nuwar
09 September 2007

ANGUISHED dad Gerry McCann fought back last night after he and wife Kate were named official suspects over Maddie, and declared: "We're entirely innocent. But now we're fighting for our lives."

The 39-year-old heart surgeon vowed to take on the Portuguese legal system and insisted: "We did NOT kill our daughter! We WILL clear our name and we will NOT give up on Madeleine."

And it was revealed early today that the couple are to leave Portugal this morning, with their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie.

The McCanns spokesman said: "It is emphasised that their return is with the full agreement of the Portuguese authorities and police."

Earlier Gerry confessed the couple are bracing themselves for still more shock twists in the four-month investigation. And he revealed how he:

BACKS wife Kate 100 per cent.

FEARS cops are under too much pressure to come up with a result.

HARBOURS serious doubts about the Portuguese legal system— which tried to wheedle a confession out of Kate by offering her a light jail sentence.

KNOWS that, amazingly, under local laws they may have cobbled together enough to charge them.

Despite his refusal to buckle under the growing pressure, Gerry admitted: "We thought we were in our worst nightmare but now it just keeps getting worse and worse.

Vulnerable

"It's such a vulnerable position. It's appalling. We've never had to say it until now...but we did not kill our daughter. I never believed it would come to this.

"But when the paranoia sinks in, you're under severe pressure and things are going down a certain line, then it does look bad.

"In a system that you don't know and you don't really trust it's incredibly frightening."

Gerry spoke out after he and Kate endured a tense grilling by detectives and were officially labelled ‘arguidos'—Portuguese for suspects.

The couple were quizzed in the town of Portimao—30 miles from the Praia da Luz holiday apartment where Madeleine vanished on May 3—for a total of 24 hours.

Legally, Gerry is now barred from talking about the detail of the inquiry.

He is not allowed to explain why police now suspect him, or rebuff the new evidence they believe they have unearthed more than 100 days after Maddie went missing.

Although he is "absolutely confident" there is no evidence to link him and Kate with any suspicion of murder, Gerry admitted the latest twist of events had left him with "anxieties".

"I don't need to tell you how things don't stack up," he said.

"I know 100 per cent Kate could NOT have done anything. I know that's true from what I did that night.

"And in terms of what Kate knows about me, I was away from her for just ten minutes."

Gerry and Kate, who continues to hold on to Maddie's favourite Cuddle Cat toy for comfort, have always said that they put their three children to bed in the apartment at 7pm.

They told police that at 8.30pm they went for a meal with a group of friends in the family resort.

Each adult in the party of nine took turns to check on the children.

Gerry denied he would have had time to hide a body, if as police suggested, he or his wife had killed Maddie by accident.

"As I said, I was away from the table for ten minutes," he said. "Six minutes of that was spent speaking to another guest I met as I came out from checking on Madeleine.

"All of this can come out. And it doesn't stack up." But friends fear there is now evidence that raises suspicions about the McCanns' chronology of events.

They worry that any apparent discrepancies in timings are being given undue weight by police.

Nevertheless they are convinced such doubts can be blown out of the water.

And Gerry could only say: "I hope that the due diligence and processes will win through in the normal way and not the need for a result."

He said the Portuguese police's attitude towards him and Kate had shifted in the last five weeks.

There has been a steady stream of slurs against them in the local and national Portuguese press.

The Leicester couple's family in the UK believe these came directly from police sources.

The McCanns now fear the cops may be about to arrest and charge them. Gerry told us: "Our lawyer said the weight of it is that, under the Portuguese legal system, they've got enough to move forward against us."

Crack

Then he revealed they may consider flying in a crack legal team from the UK to assist their Portuguese advisor.

But he confessed he is frustrated they are not allowed to use any of the £800,000 Madeleine Fund— boosted by celebrity appeals including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and soccer star David Beckham—to pay their mounting legal bills.

"It seems like a disaster that we've got this huge donated fund and now we're not allowed to use it for legal costs because we're under suspicion," said Gerry.

"I never really imagined we'd be in this situation.

"And it could get worse I suppose. But ultimately if it comes to that, sooner or later, there'll be a formal process whereby we can rebut things in court. Then it will all come out.

"We'd have to be patient but ultimately we'll have the opportunity to have all of the evidence examined and discover the whole picture about what happened.

"And that's what's sustaining me. At least now we've got a clearer view of what we're up against whereas what we had before was smear and innuendo.

"We know what we have to fight now. The problem is we DO have a fight, but before I wasn't quite sure.

"You get paranoid when there's a political shift. Because of the amount of pressure there's been on the Policia Judiciaria, and all the criticism, you always wonder how far they'll go.

"Now I've seen what they've got I'm actually clearer in my mind why they've shifted and treated us so differently.

"I'm still concerned with their perception of the evidence, but that's for us to sort out with legal support." Gerry then voiced their other big concern now that the spotlight has turned on him and Kate.

"It's a real double-edged sword," he said. "While this investigation focuses on us it's NOT focusing on looking for Madeleine."

He admitted the last few days of gruelling police interviews had been draining on the couple.

But he said that despite everything Kate was coping under the strain.

"I'm thinking clearer this morning," he added. "What we're negotiating with the police is to be allowed to go home to the UK.

"We're desperate to get back for the kids' sake and for emotional reasons.

"It's not that we're running away. If there are two people in the world that can't run away it's us. Anyway, we have to move accommodation because the lease on our villa is up this week.

"The trouble is I don't know how long all this is going to take. It's four months already. Everything is slow. It's just the culture. Kate's not too bad, though. In fact, she's pretty resilient.

"But when we were trying to decide whether to return to Britain that's when this smearing started in the papers. And Kate just thought, ‘They want us out!'

"I said, ‘Kate, there's no point in staying if it's counter-productive.'

"She realised that was right but the thought of returning home brought back all the emotions of pain almost as bad as the first few days after Maddie vanished. That sense of loss and the thought of never seeing her again.

"Kate gets that more than I do. It's still intermittent grief and pain."

[Acknolwedgement: pamalam at gerrymccannsblog]

[Acknowledgement pamalam at gerrymccannsblog]

This is very strange behaviour by the police, if it wasn't a proven fact, it would be in the category of media made up rubbish.

Police ‘have not learnt lessons of Madeleine case’

Sean O’Neill, Chief Reporter
Monday May 01 2017, 12.01am, The Times [Note time stamp]

The errors that blighted the Madeleine McCann investigation would be repeated if another child was abducted in Europe this summer, a senior British detective who worked on the case in Portugal a decade ago has warned.

“I think people would be shocked to realise that ten years on we’re not that much further forward,” Graham Hill, a former detective chief superintendent who is now a criminologist, told The Times.

The lessons of the failed investigation in 2007 have not been learnt and the same lack of trust, co-operation and understanding continues to exist between European police forces today, he claimed. International discussions about a co-ordinated approach to abduction cases were held after Madeleine’s disappearance but became bogged down in territorial issues and European Union bureaucracy.

Dr Hill, 54, said: “Now is a good time to say enough is enough; what are we going to learn from this, or are we not going to learn anything? Are we going to walk away and say we’ve spent umpteen million in taxpayers’ money and not learnt anything?”

The international hunt for Madeleine began on May 3, 2007 when the three-year-old went missing while on a family holiday at Praia da Luz on the Algarve. She was asleep in an apartment with her twin siblings when it is believed that she was abducted while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann from Rothley, Leicestershire, dined with friends in the same holiday complex.

The couple, now aged 49 and 48, spoke out yesterday before the tenth anniversary of her disappearance on Wednesday. Mrs McCann said that the family were bracing themselves for the coming days. “Ten years — there’s no easy way to say it, describe it, accept it. And now here we are . . . Madeleine, our Madeleine — ten years,” she said in a message on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page. “Most days are similar to the rest — another day. May 3rd 2017 — another day. But ten years — a horrible marker of time, stolen time.”

In his first in-depth newspaper interview about the case Dr Hill said that theorising by “armchair experts” about what might have happened to Madeleine, right, had drowned out debate about how to respond to a similar incident in future. The former policeman was head of behavioural analysis at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre in 2007 and was sent to the Algarve to assist the Portuguese investigation.

He said: “I don’t think they really wanted us there. The lead detectives saw our presence as an insult. It became clear we were just being told little bits of information but we were kept away from what was really happening.”

He believes European police forces should create a specialist hub to manage investigations into child abductions that cross separate jurisdictions.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/police-have-not-learnt-lessons-of-madeleine-case-r56stc2pl

Snipped from above 141 ^^^

He said: “I don’t think they really wanted us there. The lead detectives saw our presence as an insult. It became clear we were just being told little bits of information but we were kept away from what was really happening.”




They weren't  wrong were they, they didn't trust you.
The PJ and Mr Amaral are a very professional outfit, they smelt the BS from the beginning. 

Lest they forget..

Madeleine McCann police probe German serial strangler who targeted holiday parks

EXCLUSIVE: The new suspect in the Madeleine McCann investigation is Martin Ney, a child killer known as the 'Masked Man' — who resembles photofit of man spotted around time of the disappearance in May 2007

ByMartin FrickerNews Reporter
Tracey Kandohla

   23:00, 4 May 2019Updated10:52, 7 May 2019

A German child murderer is believed to be a new suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann 12 years ago.

Investigations are being linked to Martin Ney, 48, who is serving life in prison for killing three children.

Known as the “Masked Man”, he closely resembles a photofit of a man said to have been seen with a child in his arms shortly after Madeleine, three, vanished.

And vital new evidence is said to place Ney – now serving life in his native Germany – in the Algarve when the youngster disappeared in May 2007.

The revelation comes as parents Gerry and Kate face the anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance on a family holiday in Praia da Luz.

Ney, originally from Hamburg, targeted children on holiday – entering their tents or villas wearing a mask and armed with a weapon.

He was first identified by Scotland Yard as a possible suspect by investigators working for the McCanns in 2011 – but Berlin police chiefs then ruled out involvement, saying he was only interested in boys.

Now sources claim detectives have new evidence linking him to Madeleine’s disappearance.

Ney was working for an evangelical church on a project for the homeless in Portugal at the time Madeleine vanished.


Martin Ney and the masked photofit through which he was linked to the case ( Image:
Internet Unknown)

But he told investigators he did not commit any murders there and denied any involvement in her disappearance.

The former youth worker was convicted in 2011 of killing three boys and was sentenced to 27 years.

His victims, killed between 1992 and 2001, were Stefan Jahrd, 13, Dennis Rostel, eight, and Dennis Kleinfrom, nine.

He was also quizzed over the disappearance of German boy Renee Hasse in Aljezur, Portugal, in 1996, but never charged.

Scotland Yard and Portugal’s Policia Judiciaria have kept the new suspect’s name a closely guarded secret, but former top Portuguese cop Goncalo Amaral claims he has knowledge a German is being investigated.

He refused to identify Ney by name, but says a German suspect was quizzed by PJ detectives as part of their 2008 probe.

Mr Amaral said he was ruled out of the investigation but jailed in his home country for offences “unconnected” to the Madeleine case.

And he may not be the only suspect in the frame.

In 2015 it was reported British police were “closely following” a second German child killer suspected of murdering a schoolgirl. It is not known what the outcome of the probe was.

Amaral told Australian podcast Maddiehttps://www.9news.com.au/maddie that he believes British police will close the case by making a German suspect their “scapegoat”.

He said: “They are preparing the end of the investigation, with a German paedophile who is in prison right now.”

There are also fears Ney may have been part of a paedophile ring operating on the Algarve around the time Madeleine vanished.

Another pervert with links to Germany, British man Raymond Hewlett, was living an hour’s drive from Praia da Luz at the time.

A British couple gave police information that the 64-year-old had told them he spoke to gypsies who were interested in buying youngsters.

They claimed he also boasted of making a “good business trip” with his family to Morocco to make a mystery “sale”.

The pervert was living with his wife and children on a Portuguese campsite when Madeleine disappeared.

Hewlett later moved to Germany and refused to answer questions when confronted by private detectives hired by the McCanns.

But he reportedly wrote to his estranged son saying Madeleine had been “stolen to order” by a gypsy gang.

Hewlett, who was jailed several times for sexually assaulting young girls, died from throat cancer in 2010.

This week’s fresh development was first reported by Portuguese newspapers on Friday, the anniversary of her disappearance.

They said the “foreign” man was in the Algarve when the three-year-old vanished from her parents’ holiday apartment in 2007.

A source said the fresh information meant police are “nearer” solving the case.

The Policia Judiciaria and Scotland Yard have both refused to comment.

A spokesman for Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry said: “We will not comment on operational details.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-police-probe-german-14997724

Déjà vu?

I blame Basil Fawlty.

Madeleine McCann cops leave barmaid stunned as they quiz her about ex-boyfriend

British expat Carol Hickman - who works just 450 metres from where Madeleine vanished in Portugal - said two plain officers asked about decorator Michael Jehle, 51

News
ByDan Warbuton

22:00, 22 FEB 2020Updated22:02, 22 FEB 2020


Carol said the police visited her two weeks ago – first at the bar, followed by an interview at her home (Image: PHOTOS ROLAND LEON)

A barmaid told of her shock yesterday after police hunting for Madeleine McCann quizzed her about an ex-boyfriend.

British expat Carol Hickman – who works just 450 metres from where Madeleine vanished in Portugal – said two plain-clothed officers asked about decorator Michael Jehle, 51.

The police, who were acting for Scotland Yard, wanted phone ­numbers and any Facebook contact for the German.

Another of his exes was quizzed shortly after Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007 – and had her freezer searched.

Yesterday, baffled Carol described Mr Jehle as “a friendly hippy”. And when our team tracked him down he said he had nothing to hide.

Carol, who works at Kelly’s bar in the resort of Praia da Luz, said the ­officers were trying to trace her ex and another of his old flames, a German woman.

The 59-year-old, who has lived on the Algarve since 1997, said: “They came into the bar asking for me. They said, ‘You can thank Her Majesty for this visit’. That’s when I knew they were from Scotland Yard.


Martin Smith and his family said they saw a man carrying a small blonde girl who they believe to be Madeleine (Image: NC)

“They asked if I could remember May 3, 2007. Of course I remember. I was in the bar working and we had a call from friends saying a little girl had vanished. We went out on the search and we were out all night.”

Carol said the police visited her two weeks ago. She added: “They were asking all these questions about Madeleine and were interested in my German ex-boyfriend.

“There’s no reason to suspect him at all. He was a friendly hippy. I just find it so strange, the whole thing.”

It is the second time Kelly’s bar – a four-minute walk from the McCanns’ apartment – has been linked to the investigation. On the night Madeleine vanished, retired businessman Martin Smith, from Co Louth, Ireland, was there with his family.

As they left they saw a man carrying a small blonde-haired girl which they still believe to be Madeleine. Yesterday, Martin said: “I’d say it was definitely the child.”

The latest developments came as it was revealed for the first time that Scotland Yard detectives visited Portugal five times in 2019.

There is nothing to suggest Mr Jehle or the German woman are considered suspects. It is thought they could help police obtain new information to help in the search.

Mr Jehle now lives in Monte Novo, 20 miles from Praia da Luz. He told us: “I don’t know anything about Maddie McCann. [The police] know where I live, they have my phone number, they can call me.”

In 2007 another of Mr Jehle’s ex-partners told how she had been quizzed by police. On a second visit they reportedly checked her fridge, cupboards and pantry.

British police launched Operation Grange, in 2013. Some £12million has been spent so far. Last night the McCanns’ ­spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “Kate and Gerry are always encouraged to hear police are chasing potential leads and are very grateful to British and Portuguese police for the work they are doing.”

Mr Jehle now lives in Monte Novo, 20 miles from Praia da Luz. He told us: “I don’t know anything about Maddie McCann. [The police] know where I live, they have my phone number, they can call me.”

In 2007 another of Mr Jehle’s ex-partners told how she had been quizzed by police. On a second visit they reportedly checked her fridge, cupboards and pantry.

British police launched Operation Grange, in 2013. Some £12million has been spent so far. Last night the McCanns’ ­spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “Kate and Gerry are always encouraged to hear police are chasing potential leads and are very grateful to British and Portuguese police for the work they are doing.”

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/barmaids-shock-after-police-hunting-21556437

Madeleine McCann's grandmother dies of coronavirus as police search intensifies

Eileen McCann, Madeleine's paternal grandma, died from coronavirus weeks before police publicly announced a new suspect in the little girl's 2007 Algarve disappearance

ByTracey Kandohla

   20:29, 11 Jun 2020Updated20:31, 11 Jun 2020



Madeleine McCann’s paternal grandma has tragically died causing more heartache for Kate and Gerry.

Eileen McCann, aged 80, passed away last month from a coronavirus-related death just weeks before German police broke bombshell news that they believe Maddie is dead.

They are now investigating a new prime suspect over her abduction and possible murder.

Widow Eileen - one of Maddie’s devoted grans and Gerry’s mum - said shortly after her granddaughter was snatched in 2007: "When I lost my husband John two years ago I thought that my world had collapsed. But losing Madeleine is ten times worse."

The former shop assistant and cleaner from Glasgow, spent many months in Portugal’s Praia da Luz supporting and comforting her devastated son, daughter-in-law Kate and their toddler twins Sean and Amelie after the kidnap.

She said at the time: "As long as they don’t find her body, I’ll never give up hope. When we do finally get her home she’ll have so much love and hugs from us all."

Along with family members, Eileen was a stalwart for launching a global campaign to keep Maddie’s disappearance in the global spotlight and find her abductor.

Eileen’s wish, and that of Kate’s parents, retired joiner Brian and former teacher Susan Healy from Liverpool, was for them all to learn the fate of their adored grandchild before their own life’s end.

Heart doctor Gerry and ex GP turned medical worker Kate, both 52, of Rothley, Leicestershire, are understood to have attended Eileen’s small funeral amidst Covid-19 social distancing restrictions in St Coval’s, East Renfrewshire.

Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said tonight: "The family will definitely not be commenting on a private family matter."

Kate’s uncle Brian Kennedy, also from Rothley, said: "We do not wish to comment on private family matters."

A source close to the couple said: "It is yet another tragedy for the family and people who know them will be very sorry to hear."

Mum of five Eileen, who hails from Donegal, Ireland, was a driving force along with two of her three daughters Philomena and Tricia and son John in campaigning to find Madeleine.

She and family members were happy to conduct media interviews to help keep the youngster’s disappearance in the media headlines in a bid to track down her kidnapper.

She had previously told of her belief that her ‘hyperactive’ and inquisitive granddaughter was drugged to stop her screaming out before she was snatched.

She said: "There is no way they carried her out of there without her awakening. If she was taken when she was sleeping by somebody she did not know, she would have screamed the place down."

Three-year-old Maddie had been left sleeping alone with her younger twin siblings while her parents were dining in a nearby tapas restaurant with pals whilst taking it in turns to make half hourly checks on the kids.

Eileen was convinced Maddie’s abductor struck at his first opportunity after closely monitoring the family’s footsteps during their stay at a luxury poolside complex.

She said previously: "I really believe that whoever took her gave her a drug first to stop her screaming and raising the alarm.

"Without a doubt, I believe the person who carried Madeleine out of the room that night had sedated her first. She is not the type of child to go off with a stranger.

"She’s alway been chatty and hyperactive at times but she’s not one of these children who talks to anyone, she needs to get to know someone first."

Tough talking Eileen has always been a fierce critic of the doubters who have continually slammed her son and daughter-in-law for leaving their children alone and wrongly believing they were somehow responsible for their eldest child’s disappearance.

Kate and Gerry were made suspects - ‘arguidos'- in Maddie’s disappearance by the Policia Judiciaria in September 2007, four months after she had vanished but were later cleared on any suspicion of wrongdoing.

Eileen defended the couple not choosing to use the resort’s babysitting service, saying: "They don't like leaving the children with strangers.

"It wasn't something they did very often - they have a nanny at home whom they trust. They're normal parents who love their children and would never neglect them in any way. Any suggestion they were neglecting them is completely insulting."

In a heartwrenching interview when the McCann's made their painful return home to the UK without Maddie, Eileen told how Kate collapsed in tears in her daughter’s bedroom.

She said: "Kate needed to go into Madeleine’s room as soon as she got back. She wanted some time alone there. It was very traumatic for Kate. I can't imagine how sad she must have felt. Madeleine's clothes and toys were just the way they had been left.

"Kate believes Madeleine is still alive and I imagine said a little prayer for her."

She told how daughter Trish had called her saying: "Kate’s in Madeleine’s room. She’s really upset."

Eileen, who had been in Portugal with the family but had flown back to Scotland, had earlier witnessed Kate’s despair at the airport, saying: "She was really distressed and kept saying she didn't think she’d be going back without Madeleine.

"We kept hugging and kissing and I said to her ‘Be strong.’ She kept saying ‘But I'm going back without Madeleine’ and I told her: 'You have to think about the twins now."

Over the past 13 years Eileen has continued to be a tower of strength to her son and Kate and the family have frequently got together, more recently in Scotland.

German police, being assisted by Scotland Yard, say they are investigating convicted rapist Christian Brueckner over Maddie's kidnap and murder.

German detectives are convinced she is dead and say they know how she was killed but have no idea where her body is.

Despite 600 new tips off - 400 to the Met Police and 200 to German Police - following a high profile appeal for information no charges have yet been brought against the 43-year-old German suspect.

He is currently in prison for raping an American pensioner and has now been moved to his own cell over fears for his safety.

Kate and Gerry welcome the significant breakthrough but say until a body is found they will "continue to hope" Maddie could still be alive.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-madeleine-mccanns-grandmother-dies-22178118

Have I seen this before I ask myself?

Girl stolen aged 4 with fake Disney offer miraculously reunited with UK family 53 years on

Susan Gervaise vanished in 1969 when a traveller family offered to take her on holiday to Disney World in Florida, US, with their children and never brought her back

ByJerry Lawton

20:29, 6 Oct 2022Updated09:19, 7 Oct 2022

Madeleine McCann’s parents were given fresh hope she may be found after a Brit girl stolen aged four was reunited with her family 53 years on.

Susan Gervaise vanished in 1969 when a traveller family offered to take her on holiday to Disney World in Florida, US, with their children - and never brought her back. [pull the other one]

She was taken to Canada, Australia and New Zealand by her new `mum and dad’ who lied they had adopted her.

Meanwhile, her UK family spent five decades desperately searching for her fearing they would never set eyes on her again.

They have now been reunited after Susan’s husband posted an appeal on Facebook in Australia.

Within 30 minutes her relatives in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, quickly found out about it and responded .

Now Susan has been reunited with four of her six siblings.

The mum-of-three spoke out to give hope to other relatives of missing children such as the McCanns whose daughter Madeleine vanished aged three on holiday in Portugal in 2007 [oh yeh?]

Susan, who lives in Australia and herself has four grandchildren, said: “As a child I lived with my six siblings in an old vicarage on a travellers' site. We weren’t travellers.

"My mum was on her own and we were all in and out of foster care.

"I was befriended by a couple on the site who were from Scotland, the woman, who I call my mum, had MS and they had two sons. I think they wanted a girl.

"They asked my mum if they could take me to Disney World and she gave them my birth certificate so I could be put on their passport .

"Instead, they took me to Canada, then Australia and later New Zealand.

"This was always their plan."

Susan, whose family surname is Preece, was told she had been put for adoption after her biological parents disowned her. [I thought it said drowned her ]

"I lived with the travelling community and lived a cherished life where I was spoiled rotten," she said.

"My mum died from MS when I was 10, but even then, being raised in the hub of a travelling community I was very loved.

"I have always been happy growing up. I travelled the world."

Susan, who runs the Fresh Start Mission charity with her traveller husband Hamilton, 57, found out the truth when she needed to upgrade her passport and could not trace any evidence of an adoption.

"The enormity of what happened to me didn’t hit me. I just carried on with my life," she said.

"It was only when somebody who was adopted asked me what my family back in the UK would be feeling and that was a lightbulb moment for me.

"When I spoke to my family they were crying hysterically because I was alive."

She timed her visit to the UK to meet them with her 57th birthday so she could throw a party with her family.

Tragically her biological mum died eight years ago without knowing her daughter was safe.

[And here we go again - the real reason for this EXCLUSIVE]


Madeleine’s parents Gerry and Kate haven't lost hope ( Image:
PA)

"To this day we don’t know why the police were never involved," Susan said.

"I’m thinking it must have been because my mum gave them permission to take me and the fact we were in and out of foster care.

"But there have been several appeals through Missing Persons over the years and my mum continually returned to the traveller’s site after moving away to look for me.

"It gives a message to anybody who has lost somebody that miracles do happen.

"There is hope."

Susan’s niece Emma, 41, a support worker, said: "It was said that Susan’s mother did go out looking for her over the years but with no luck.

"After she died there were so many questions that remained unanswered.

"Things were different back then. There was no paper trail, no police report.

"We never thought this would happen.

"It’s been amazing – especially for my mum. She has Parkinson’s and dementia so it’s amazing she’s been reunited with her sister before she deteriorates.

"She’s now complete."

Madeleine’s parents Gerry and Kate were unavailable for comment.

But a source close to the family said: "They have always said that until they are faced with incontrovertible evidence to the contrary they will continue to believe Madeleine could still be alive and they may one day be reunited with her.

"Cases such as this show them they should never give up hope."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/fresh-hopes-madeleine-mccanns-parents-28174152
...................



Now there's something to ponder over your horlicks ....

MADDIE PROBE FAILURES Madeleine McCann’s disappearance ‘was not taken seriously enough by bungling Portuguese cops who missed crucial DNA tests’, say top Brit detective

Ex-Scotland Yard detective Colin Sutton slammed police for basic mistakes like not checking CCTV

By Laura Burnip

Published: 11:46, 22 Apr 2017Updated: 12:38, 22 Apr 2017

A TOP Brit ex-cop has slammed Portuguese police for failing to take Madeleine McCann's disappearance seriously and making basic errors in the crucial days after she vanished.

Ex-Scotland Yard detective Colin Sutton told the Mirror that bungling police carried out haphazard door-to-door inquiries, failed to do vital DNA tests and didn't check CCTV in Praia de Luz after the three-year-old was reported missing.



Top ex-Scotland Yard detective Colin Sutton has put together the five most likely scenarios for Maddie's disappearance. Credit: CMOMM[/i

He also said he believed if Maddie had gone missing in the UK, cops would have known more about what happened which "may well have led to something".

Sutton said: "I would like to think that any police officer who is told a three-year-old girl has gone missing will be instantly taking it extremely seriously.

"It was not taken as seriously as it should have been."

Sutton criticised cops for taking 45 minutes to arrive at the scene, failing to check the resort's limited CCTV and not releasing information to the public.

He said: "It defies belief that they did not publish e-fits once they had them.

"Their lack of PR explains why the McCanns were so pro-active on that front. They were trying to fill the vacuum."

He said house-to-house inquiries should have happened straight away, but admitted that the manpower needed to cover the holiday complex would not have been immediately on hand.

But he said the force "just didn't do a good job" with forensics, and officers were pictured even wearing gloves as they searched for fingerprints. [i][Previously covered here on CMOMM by forum member 'onehand' and esteemed friends]

Sutton, who led more than 30 murder investigations for the Met Police, said: "The abductor would have had to pull back the duvet, probably physically remove Cuddle Cat from Madeleine's arms.

"If the reports are true that no DNA tests were carried out on cuddle cat before Kate washed it, that's astonishing.

The initial hunt for Maddie was led by Goncalo Amaral, who has clashed with the McCanns after publishing a book called The Truth of the Life which claims the McCanns faked Maddie's abduction.

The McCanns claimed the book was hurtful and launched a libel battle against Amaral in April 2015, but the Supreme Court upheld his right to freedom and expression.

Amaral was reportedly looking for a British publisher while finishing off the closing chapters of a second book about Maddie’s disappearance.

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/902807/madeleine-mccanns-disappearance-was-not-taken-seriously-enough-by-bungling-portuguese-cops-who-missed-crucial-dna-tests-say-top-brit-detective/

No wonder Colin Sutton rapidly skedaddled from CMOMM when honest decent folk started asking awkward questions!

Madeleine relatives launch fighting fund


Philomena McCann, aunt of Madeline, said she was "heartened" by the support she received when she lobbied politicians at Westminster. Photograph: Cathal McNaughton/PA

A fighting fund intended to help secure the return of the missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann was launched as her family thanked the public for their support today.

The findmadeleine.com site enables people to donate money online to help the search, which is now approaching its second week.

Robert Murat, a 33-year-old estate agent, was questioned by police as a formal suspect, but released after the detective running the investigation said there was not enough evidence to charge him. However, he will not be allowed to leave Portugal and must report to police regularly.

Madeleine's family held a press conference in Leicester to launch the fund, attended by colleagues of her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, and the former England and Leicester Tigers rugby captain Martin Johnson.

"We want Madeleine back," her uncle, John McCann, said. "A lot of people have offered help in different ways, and this fund will help our family to get our darling wee niece back.

"If, as a result of this fund, we are successful in getting Madeleine back and we can help other families in a similar situation, that would be fantastic."

Dr Doug Skehan, colleague of Gerry McCann, paid a warm tribute to him and his wife. They remain in the Portuguese resort of Praia Da Luz, where their daughter disappeared on May 3.

"They have become very successful doctors in our community," he said, adding that staff at Leicester's hospitals had donated £10,000 in the last day.

"It was very much part of daily conversation to learn of their family. It has been a very great shock to all of us when we learned of Madeleine's abduction."

Johnson said Madeleine's disappearance had "touched everyone", adding: "As a parent, it really does hit home."

Madeleine's great uncle, Brian Kennedy, thanked the public for their "moving" support which had helped "keep her parent spirits up."

Tonight, video images of the missing child will be broadcast at half-time in the Uefa Cup final between Sevilla and Espanyol, being played at Hampden Park, in Glasgow.

A two-minute film, Find Madeleine, will be screened in an attempt to raise awareness of the case among visiting fans from the two Spanish teams.

Leaflets with pictures of the youngster, who was abducted in Portugal nearly a fortnight ago, will also be placed on seats at the stadium.

Earlier today, Gordon Brown told Madeleine's family that he was prepared to help "in any way he can".

Her aunt, Philomena McCann, met the chancellor while in Westminster lobbying MPs for support, and said: "It's been extremely helpful and I'm very grateful to Gordon Brown for taking the time to listen to us. "

Mr Brown said the government would continue to urge the Portuguese authorities to keep the investigation at "maximum intensity".

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/may/16/ukcrime3

A very bad marketing ploy, using the words 'Fighting Fund' to publicize a limited company posing as a charity - the word fighting conjures thoughts of combat. Clearly that was/is the true intention, as proven over the months and years but to advertise it as such, when asking the public to donate, was indeed a bad move.

And then there is the Spanish connection making yet another appearance..

Tonight, video images of the missing child will be broadcast at half-time in the Uefa Cup final between Sevilla and Espanyol, being played at Hampden Park, in Glasgow.

A two-minute film, Find Madeleine, will be screened in an attempt to raise awareness of the case among visiting fans from the two Spanish teams.

OK so geographically I can see a connection between Portugal and Spain, being in such close proximity but that's where it begins and ends. Any connection thereafter appears to stem from the McCann faction - like for example the introduction of Metodo3, the private investigators hired to 'find Madeleine'. Not forgetting the English language tabloid equivalent hosted by a British freelance investigative journalist, who has taken a very active interest in the case of Missing Madeleine McCann - or should that be an active interest in the parents Gerry and Kate McCann.

The Spanish connection niggles, it's so much more prevalent than one could reasonably expect. Not forgetting the Barcelona incident that piqued the interest of the two British 'private investigators' hired by The Fighting Fund to search and find Madeleine. So interested were Cowley and Edgar from the lawless hills of Flintshire, they didn't appear to think there was any need to travel to Barcelona to 'investigate'.

So many gaping holes still to be filled.