Madeleine McCann police review to take years and cost millions

Madeleine McCann police review to take years and cost millions


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MPs criticise PM's ordering of lengthy and costly Scotland Yard review of police investigation into child's disappearance

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• [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], Friday 13 May 2011 15.46 BST
  
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Handout photo of Madeleine McCann. The Metropolitan police review of the investigation into her disapperance ordered by David Cameron has been criticised by MPs, and is likely to take years and cost millions. Photograph: Everton Fc/PA




The [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] review into the abduction of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] could take months or even years to complete and cost millions of pounds.



Detectives from Scotland Yard's homicide command face huge difficulties in examining all the paperwork that details the inquiry into the three-year-old's disappearance in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in 2007. First they will have to wait for all the documentation to be provided by the Portuguese [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and then all the material must be translated before a team of detectives begins the arduous task of reviewing the whole inquiry. They will also review all the files from police in Leicestershire, the McCann's home force which provided some support to the Portuguese, and those of private investigators who have been working on behalf of the family for the past four years.
Scotland Yard have begun an exercise to work out what size team should be involved in the Madeleine review. It is likely to include detectives from the child homicide unit at the Yard.

The prime minister's decision to order the Met to review the case was criticised by some politicians.
Labour peer Lord Harris of Haringey told the PoliticsHome website that he had worries about the way Cameron and the Home Office had behaved.

"It raises very big questions about political direction of the police," said Harris. "Of course it goes without saying that this is a very heart-breaking case, but what we are looking at is a case where the Met has no direct responsibility.

"There is clearly an issue about the resources being used and are they in effect saying that the Met is the default investigator for every case in the world involving a British citizen?
"It's not just a question of direct costs, it's a question of opportunity costs too. Our detective capacity is limited as it is."


The prime minister's official spokesman said that Cameron and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] had asked the Met to review the evidence in response to a request by the McCann family because of the "exceptional" nature of the case.
"There has been a huge amount of public interest in this case since it began, Madeleine McCann has been missing for a long time, there is the international dimension," the spokesman said.

"The prime minister has been clear that he wants to do everything he can to support the family."
The spokesman denied that Cameron and May had been directing police on an operational matter.
"It was done at the request of the home secretary. It was agreed by Sir Paul Stephenson. That is not a direction," he said.


Scotland Yard has had some high-profile success in solving cases which at first sight seemed intractable. After 16 years a new [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] following a DNA breakthrough.



It was a review by a senior homicide detective of all the evidence gathered in an investigation into a serial rapist in south London that led to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. After eight years in which no one had been arrested for scores of rapes it took the detective just a few hours with the paperwork to identify Reid as the main suspect. Five days later he had matched his DNA to two of the assaults and Reid was finally brought to justice.


The approach in the Madeleine review will be the same as in any re-examination of cases in the UK, a police source said. "What we do is painstakingly look at all the evidence, the paperwork, the CCTV, any suspects who came to light and were investigated. Sometimes it takes fresh eyes to see what was always there."

Madeleine of Rothley, Leicestershire, vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in May 2007. Her parents were dining in a restaurant about 100 metres away and were checking on Madeleine and her siblings every half an hour. The Portuguese inquiry was halted formally in July 2008.

before commencing on the review - if the Met asked Kate McCann the 48 questions she wouldn't answer for the Portuguese police and she provided the records she wouldn't before - medical and bank records - this might help the Met decide whether this was in fact a kidnapping, or an accidental death covered up by the parents. If they decided it was a cover up than the huge cost of a review could be avoided.

I agree with Pauline at 4.42 today. We can only hope that such obvious points will be covered but I fear that it will just be the same old routine in which the McCanns' word is trusted implicitly and there will be even more running round in circles looking for a myriad of unlikely abductors.

I have mixed feelings on this.

One would hope that the case might be re-examined in its entirety which would mean that the McCanns should be prepared that they are very likely to fall under the examining spotlight. No leaving their stone unturned this time because it didn't suit their belief of what had happened to their daughter - their rocks must be checked under regardless of what may be found by those investigating. I would also hope that they are not so able to direct or cause confusion to any review or any investigation this time round.

Excellent if Madeleine's whereabouts can be determined from a review and somebody brought to justice although personally I am of the mind that due to the time expired and nobody coming forward after so many appeals and a big reward it is more likely there is no live Madeleine to find.

I think it is a little sad that this is weighted in favour of one child and one family and would hope that Mr Cameron offers the same support to every British family who still has a missing child. This missing child story very likely did touch a nation and even the viewing world but maybe only because the parents were in a position to call upon favours or the aid of influential people. Are all parents in this position? I doubt it which could mean that when a child goes missing it becomes a little like the NHS postcode lottery of how much assistance you might receive to find your child. I don't begrudge Madeleine the help she is receiving in the slightest and hope that I am wrong and an unharmed Madeleine is found as a result of the new enquiry. What I do find a little distasteful is that Ben Needham, for one, will still be missing and unlikely to have all this attention spent in finding him. It would be brilliant if this new government interest is extended to every missing child.

Apologies if I sound a tadge mean towards the McCanns and Madeleine as that actually isn't my intention - would just hope that other parents receive the same treatment as they are. Let's hope that I am wrong on both counts and Madeleine is found fit and well and Ben Needham and any other missing child gets all the help they require to find out what happened to them too.

"The prime minister has been clear that he wants to do everything he can to support the family."



Huh! Just like the previous Prime Minister. And his government weren't adverse to the odd bucket of whitewash!
I wouldn't have thought that Cameron would allow anything other than a result that confirms his 'support'! His personal interest in the case goes back to before he was Prime Minister when he met with the gruesome twosome and also he had Mitchell as the Conservative party media co-ordinator during the election.

Martin wrote:"The prime minister has been clear that he wants to do everything he can to support the family."



Huh! Just like the previous Prime Minister. And his government weren't adverse to the odd bucket of whitewash!
I wouldn't have thought that Cameron would allow anything other than a result that confirms his 'support'! His personal interest in the case goes back to before he was Prime Minister when he met with the gruesome twosome and also he had Mitchell as the Conservative party media co-ordinator during the election.

Well the McCanns should use the millions expected from book sales to reimburse the Met. Otherwise its a "double-whammy" for the hard working folks of this nation. Pay for the investigation/review/whitewash by purchasing the book AND through your taxes! And don't forget the Suns special offer of only £18 per copy!!!!

Seriously, the Met should invoice the McCanns.

pauline wrote:before commencing on the review - if the Met asked Kate McCann the 48 questions she wouldn't answer for the Portuguese police and she provided the records she wouldn't before - medical and bank records - this might help the Met decide whether this was in fact a kidnapping, or an accidental death covered up by the parents. If they decided it was a cover up than the huge cost of a review could be avoided.

Straight in the goal there Pauline, but I have the nagging feeling that the full and independent review does not involve any scrutiny of the neglectful parents.

No one else in the world gets the attention like the mc morons do i hope any new attention to the case will see them charged and locked up

reading a report in the irish Independent today (sat) Gerry said that David Cameron said the money for the met. police review 'would not come out of the police budget'. So where is the money coming from? My mother always told me 'money does not grow on trees.'

Gerry was speaking at a book launch in the Merrion Hotel Dublin (not the cheapest hotel in Dublin by the way). The Mccanns didn't have book launches in the Uk as they were worried about the possibility of those who do not believe them causing trouble. They said half their mail comes from Ireland and is supportive. Due to the Queen's visit next week, there is a security lockdown in Dublin so they must have felt safe (as they did on their holiday!) to have a book launch in Dublin.

Go back to basics.
1 Buy a pack of highlighting pens

2 Read the McCanns initial statements.
3 Then read their subsequent statements.
4 Then read the Tapas7 intial statements
5 Then read the Tapas7 Rogatories

6 Buy a new pack of highlighting pens

7 Bring the McCanns in for "clarification of a number of points"
8 Interview them separately
Or as my old DI used to say "Bring his grandmother in"

ROSA wrote:No one else in the world gets the attention like the mc morons do i hope any new attention to the case will see them charged and locked up

I agree with you Rosa , there are so many missing children , it must be heart wrenching for the parents of those other children to see so much being put into this case while their children are still missing , I can only imagine their frustration..

sometimes when i hear them talk on TV about the mccanns or if they are mentioned in the newspapers... i feel like screaming to the world ''open your eyes- this story is not a simple abduction,,,there is more to this !!!''.but- then , i have to remember that for YEARS the only time we hear them mentioned it is in a sympathetic wishy-washy way !!!! lets be honest- at very least...these folk should be getting dealt with for neglecting their kids ( but got told they were 'good' parents- by WHO?) BUT- after years of not hearing much...people forget the circumstances & just remember the 'abduction' story !!! however- many of us at some point looked into the whole story- which is out there if we look- despite the media trying to keep us in the dark! that is when we see that its not about neglect/abduction- I think this is about lots MORE- this is about covering up a death ( possibly even a murder)...perverting the course of justice....& to top it all off.... a fraud which involves scamming half the world for millions to help find a missing kid all in my opinion,- that NOBODY is actually out there looking for!!! but while the media cannot/ will not say anything other than '' poor mccanns '' there will be loads walking around just blindly accepting this unbelievable story of an abduction -without any evidence- & the longer the mccanns & their lawyers can keep it this way & keep people in the dark...the easier it is for them to scam money in their ongoing search... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

butterfly23

Pretty neat though, don't you think?

TM minders thought of everything, right down to the "McCann exhaustion" by the public.

"We have heard enough already, ok it was abduction, enough!"

SCOTLAND YARD SQUAD HUNTING MADELEINE MCCANN COSTS £6,228 A DAY


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For 2011/12 the cost, which is being met by the Home Office, was £1,929,354


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31st March 2013
By Jonathan Corke
THE British police hunt for Madeleine McCann has cost at least £3.8million.

Scotland Yard has been investigating Madeleine’s 2007 disappearance in Portugal since May 2011.

And figures obtained by the Daily Star Sunday show the probe is costing around £6,228 a day.

The vast majority is being spent on wages, with 38 staff currently working on the inquiry, which is called Operation Grange.


As we have previously revealed, ­Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell, who led the Jill Dando ­murder inquiry,
is overseeing the probe.


He has 28 detectives working for him, along with three of the UK’s top cold case specialists from the Metropolitan Police’s Murder Review Group.

There are also six members of police support staff involved.

The figures we have obtained suggest the cost of the investigation, which the Met describes as an “investigative ­review”, is rising.

For 2011/12 the cost, which is being met by the Home Office, was £1,929,354.

The figure for 2012/13 is £1,869,933 but this does not include January to March of this year. And
based on daily costs over the past few months, the total bill is now likely to be well in excess of ­£4million.

The Met is recovering the cost, which includes thousands spent on flights to Portugal, from Home Secretary Theresa May’s department on a quarterly basis.

With the backing of Prime Minister David Cameron, she has asked the force to carry on the probe.

Madeleine, of Rothley, Leics, was just three when she vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.

Earlier this month it emerged the police in Cyprus had alerted Interpol after a Briton claimed to have seen a girl who looked like
Madeleine in the holiday resort of Ayia Napa.

But there has yet to be any positive news regarding the sighting.

Madeleine’s parents Kate, 45, and Gerry McCann, 44, remain hopeful their daughter can be found.

After the Portuguese police shelved their probe, the couple had to rely on private investigators in the hope of a breakthrough.


But following high-level diplomatic talks with the Portuguese authorities, in 2011 the Metropolitan Police agreed to
review the case.


HMM...............? If this is investigative journalism, then it appears something was already brewing in the background,and Brooke coerced Cameron into the review is just smoke and mirror?


And the force has told us it still has a large team involved.
\
If this bit of info is current then it would appear the Review is not planning to wind down yet.


In responding to a Freedom of Information request, the Met said: “A major investigation team is assigned to Operation Grange.


“This is made up of one detective chief inspector, three detective inspectors, five detective sergeants, 19 detective ­constables, six police support staff.

“The MIT is assisted by three murder review group officers.

“Staff numbers are open to change depending on the needs of the ­review.

“The MIT also continues to work on its existing outstanding ­homicide cases.”

It also confirmed that Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood is the senior investigating
officer and that he is “supervised” by ­Detective Chief Superintendent Campbell “who has oversight of this investigation”.

Blue bits are my comments. If the quotes are anything to go by, then it would appear they are reviewing a murder case.

One wonder whether Mr & Mrs choked on their morning cornflakes over this article.
The contents appear to be a result of FOI and some investigative journalism. This is one instance where Mr. cannot complain about Hacked Off Regulated press or not; neither can he wheel out the pink creature to spin.

in response to a freedom of information request - the press it seems are still very much interested.

Maybe the press are the ones who are now Hacked Off?

Yes Aiyoyo that is interesting about the murder review officers.

plebgate wrote:in response to a freedom of information request - the press it seems are still very much interested.

Maybe the press are the ones who are now Hacked Off?

Yes Aiyoyo that is interesting about the murder review officers.

You mean the Press are PISSED off by the Mr. - quite right too!

IMO the new regulator of the Press should be called "Hacked Off" and not the Royal Charter.

The Press is going to exert their pound of flesh at the opportune time.

aiyoyo wrote:

plebgate wrote:in response to a freedom of information request - the press it seems are still very much interested.

Maybe the press are the ones who are now Hacked Off?

Yes Aiyoyo that is interesting about the murder review officers.

You mean the Press are PISSED off by the Mr. - quite right too!

IMO the new regulator of the Press should be called "Hacked Off" and not the Royal Charter.

The Press is going to exert their pound of flesh at the opportune time.

Yes I think they are biding their time.

Most of these costs are wages. Wouldn't these officer be paid anyway, regardless of the McCann case review? Or would they have been made redundant?

Scotland Yard said that they could afford to allocate 30 officers to the review because the murder rate was down. If this is true, then surely the true cost of the McCann case review are the costs over and above what would have been incurred had the review not taken place, plus any McCann case specific costs such as the trips to Barcelona (to obtain info from the corrupt Metodo 3) and Portugal.

sharonl wrote:Most of these costs are wages. Wouldn't these officer be paid anyway, regardless of the McCann case review? Or would they have been made redundant?
.

Quite.
All this "costing" of operations nonsense started a long time ago. You plan an operation and factor in the full on-costs and senior management then make a decision on whether to do it. But if they decide NOT to do it, the costs are exactly the same. Which is the part they don't fully understand.

Whether the costing of "wages" to a specific operation is a misnomer or not remains an open accounting debate IMO.

Deployed for a specific operation means the deployed team look at no other cases, therefore their wages is case-specific, hence cost of the case. Had the same team remained in their office doing what they do routinely, generally a bit here and there, they still have to be paid, and the costs of wages remain same.
Attribution of costs to case-specific operation always include salaries, even if team allocated for the case is not a newly created one, but one plucked from other departments. It is just parts and parcels of Accounting Practice terms for accounting (and maybe tax) purposes, if I am not wrong.

In a sense including wages cost as case specific operations cost isn't wrong as otherwise the employment of the team could be used elsewhere. It is how accounting is done in the business world, and I believe accounting practice is more or less standard even in governmental organisations and police force.