MADDIE LIFELINE Madeleine McCann’s parents’ joy as £13million probe into her disappearance gets another £300k to keep search alive

MADDIE LIFELINE 
Madeleine McCann’s parents’ joy as £13million probe into her disappearance gets another £300k to keep search alive

• Tracey Kandohla
  

• 15:59, 2 Oct 2022
  
• Updated: 15:59, 2 Oct 2022
  
  

THE parents of Madeleine McCann have been offered a new lifeline in the hunt for their daughter as police have been given more time and money to continue searching.
It was feared the inquiry into Maddie’s disappearance was set to be shelved this month amid a new Prime Minister, Home Secretary and Metropolitan Police Chief.


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Madeleine McCann’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCannCredit: PA

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Maddie vanished during a family holiday in Portugal more than 15 years agoCredit: PA:Press Association
It would have heaped more agony on her mum and dad Kate and Gerry, already reeling from recently losing a long running bitter libel battle against a former Portuguese Police cop who wrongly claimed they could be responsible for the accidental death of their daughter and cover up of her body.
But now the pained couple from Rothley, Leicestershire, have “welcomed” Scotland Yard's pledge to carry on the search for Maddie, who vanished during a family holiday in Portugal more than 15 years ago.
A Home Office spokesperson told The Sun Online today: "Ministers previously approved a request for £302,470 of funding for this financial year (2022/23) in line with our Special Grant processes."
Whilst the sum asked for by Scotland Yard has been given the green light by newly appointed Home Secretary Suella Braverman - guaranteeing money for the probe codenamed Operation Grange until at least the start of April 2023 - it is down by nearly £50,000 from the previous financial year (£349,328).


That difference in cost could pay the annual salaries of two new PC recruits.
Heart doctor Gerry and medical worker Kate, both 54, recently said they welcomed the country’s top force's renewed help, saying: "We are grateful for the ongoing work and commitment by the British, German and Portuguese police.
"It is this combined police effort which will yield results and bring us those answers.
"The focus is now rightly on the search for Madeleine and her abductor(s).

"We hope that with the help of the public, hard work and diligence we can eventually find those responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance and bring them to justice."
A Scotland Yard source had previously said the inquiry was expected to wind down this year. 
But a spokesperson said this week Op Grange, with a much scaled down team, was "continuing for the foreseeable future".
The Home Office spokesperson explained that funding for the investigation, which has cost taxpayers nearly £13million since it was set up in May 2011, was considered on an annual basis.
The Maddie taskforce submits a figure it expects to spend - and so far this sum has always been approved.
The representative added that "as this is an operational matter" for the Met, how the grant is spent cannot be discussed.
"They submitted a funding request for 2022/23 which has now been approved," they added.
The McCanns cling onto a glimmer of hope that Maddie could still be alive. She would now be aged 19.

PRIME SUSPECT

Convicted German rapist Christian B, named in June 2020 as a prime suspect in her disappearance, has been questioned but not charged.
There is said to be insufficient evidence against him at this time. He protests his innocence.
Maddie vanished as a three-year-old from her family apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in May 2005.
She had been left sleeping alone with her younger twin siblings while her parents were dining with pals in a nearby tapas bar.
The McCanns were left “disappointed” by a ruling two weeks ago in the European Court of Humans Rights which saw them lose the latest round in civil action against retired cop Goncalo Amaral, who initially led the probe into their daughter's disappearance.
They are attempting to sue him for libel for suggesting they were involved in a faked kidnap - claims he published in a 2008 book and then repeated in media interviews.
They won the initial case but Mr Amaral appealed, and in 2016 Portuguese judges reversed the decision prompting the McCanns to appeal to the ECHR in Strasbourg.
But European judges rejected the appeal, giving the couple three months to decide whether to appeal again. 
In a statement Kate and Gerry said: "We are naturally disappointed with decision of the European Court of Humans Rights announced today. 
"However, much has changed since we started legal proceedings 13 years ago against Mr Amaral, his publisher and broadcaster.  

"We took action for one and only one reason: Mr Amaral’s unfounded claims were having a detrimental impact on the search for Madeleine.
"If the public believed that we were involved in her disappearance, then people would not be alert for possible clues and may not report relevant information to the relevant law enforcement agencies."


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The parents have been offered a new lifeline as police have been given more time and money to continue searching for their daughterCredit: Alamy

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The McCanns cling onto a glimmer of hope that Maddie could still be aliveCredit: PA:Press Association

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Portuguese cop Goncalo Amaral claimed Maddie's mum and dad were responsible for her deathCredit: PA

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/19983178/madeleine-mccann-parents-joy-search-continues/

I don't believe there is any searching whatsoever.  

Lazy journalists.

This is somewhat disappointing. We heard not so long ago that they would finally shut down this farcical investigation, but now it looks like they drag on op. strange until kingdom comes. Frustrating. Is it because they still don't have their ultimate scapegoat... I mean suspect? Maybe they figured at last that Christian Brückner doesn't fit the bill.

Good old Tracey spreading false information as usual , still insistent her hero's went to ECHR over Ameral , 

Dragging Breukner in as well , when was he questioned dear ? 

Great journalism as usual Kandolhla !

"Maddie vanished as a three-year-old from her family apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in May 2005."     ?????


And was then found, returned to her parents, and vanished again on another holiday in the same resort under identical circumstances in May 2007 ?

crusader wrote:I don't think they will shut down their "investigation" there will be too many awkward questions to answer.

I'm afraid you are right, they can conveniently refer to the "ongoing investigation" if asked awkward questions. Again, frustrating. It's going to be ten years next year. And although that journalist might be spreading fake news, I don't think this is; I think the bit about the 300000 Pounds for Op. Grange is actually true.

When giving due consideration to the funding of Operation Grange, it's important to fully understand how grants are allocated by the Home Office rather than taking it for grant-ed that specific sums are dished out annually.

There lies (?) a problem, the government nor it's respective agencies are too happy about revealing their internal policies in the raw, so to speak. They prefer jargon that creates misunderstandings and thus confusion.

Lest we forget..

Funding for Operation Grange

Posted by: Home Office news team, Posted on: 5 June 2019

Clarification on the funding for Operation Grange.

There is continued interest from the media and the public concerning funding for Operation Grange, the Metropolitan Police Service’s (MPS) investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

We have received a request from the MPS to extend funding for Operation Grange until 31 March 2020. Funding for the investigation is provided by the Home Office through Special Grant funding which is usually available to police forces when they face significant or exceptional costs.

All applications for Special Grant funding are considered carefully on their individual merits, however, decisions are made in batches to allow us to better consider the impact on the overall policing budget.

Due to this, the next round of Special Grant funding will not be decided until October, however we have written to Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime in the meantime with assurance that the MPS will receive a similar level of funding for Operation Grange for 2019/20 as it did for the previous year.

Last year the Home Office provided £300,000 of funding to the MPS. The cost of Operation Grange to date is £11.75m.

Funding for Special Grant applications can be paid retrospectively for operational work already done in the same financial year. As usual, full details of any Special Grant awards in 2019/20 will be published after the end of the financial year.

The Home Office maintains an ongoing dialogue with the MPS regarding funding for Operation Grange.

When considering special grants applications, the Home Office does not take a view on whether an investigation should continue, which would be an operational matter for the police.

As this is an ongoing police investigation, questions about Operation Grange should be directed to the MPS.

https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2019/06/05/home-office-update-on-funding-for-operation-grange/

Any comments Commisioner - Sir Mark ?

From the horses mouth - or the Nags Head as the case may be. .

Operation Grange

On 12 May 2011 the Met announced that, at the request of the Home Secretary, it had agreed to bring its particular expertise to the Madeleine McCann case.

The then Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, considered the request and took the decision that on balance it was the right thing to do. This was subject to funding being made available by the Home Office, as this case is beyond the Met’s jurisdiction.
Investigative review

The Met’s involvement, known as Operation Grange, is led by the Specialist Crime Command unit and involved, in the first instance, an ‘investigative review’. This was a review of all of the investigations that had been previously conducted into the circumstances of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
Ongoing investigation

In July 2013 the status of the Met’s enquiries changed to that of an investigation, working with the Portuguese authorities to pursue specific lines of enquiry.

The Portuguese authorities retain the lead and the Met continues to work in support of them.

The Home Office continues to fund Operation Grange.

https://www.met.police.uk/notices/met/operation-grange/

Of course it's a toss-up as to who set the ball rolling in the first place. A few people have tried to take the credit .... or blame!

One such culprit was Rebekah Brooks, she of the News of the World - the murky Murdoch empire.