MORE RUBBISH FROM MITCHELL AND MCCANN IN TO DAY'S SUN

Leaks, smears ... now plane lies
ANTONELLA LAZZERI
Published: 12 Apr 2008
MADELEINE McCann?s parents yesterday blasted claims they and the Tapas Seven had demanded a private jet and five-star hotels to return to Portugal.
Cops there want them all to take part in a reconstruction of Maddie?s abduction.


Private jet ... denial


But a Portuguese newspaper alleged some of the group said they would only return if their ?extravagant? demands were met.

24 Horas quoted a Portuguese judicial source as saying: ?One of the couples demanded a private jet to travel with their children to the Algarve. Another demanded they be put up in a five-star hotel.


Quizzed ... Oldfield
?The only thing missing from the list was a request that we send them to the moon on skates.?
Official suspects Gerry and Kate McCann were already furious after full police statements they made were leaked – in what they regard as a crass attempt to smear them.

Yesterday their spokesman Clarence Mitchell angrily denied the paper?s report. He said: ?No such demands have been made. All talk of private jets and five-star hotels is complete rubbish.?

The claims were also denied by the Tapas Seven – pals who were dining with the McCanns the night Maddie vanished in Praia da Luz days before her fourth birthday.

In a statement, Jane Tanner, 37, partner Dr Russell O?Brien, 36, Dr Matthew Oldfield, 37, wife Rachael, 36, David Payne, 41, wife Fiona, 34, and her mum Dianne Webster, 61, slammed the ?blatant lies?.


Quizzed ... Payne
They insisted: ?All talk of private jets and luxury hotels is as nonsensical as it baseless.?

Faro police chief Guilhermino Encarnacao confirmed the group had stipulated certain conditions, the paper claimed.

But Mr Mitchell said: ?They would only be in the context of logistics. For example many of them are very busy hospital doctors and would want to know how long they would be needed for.

"But I don?t think it has even got to that stage yet.?

Yesterday police chief Paulo Rebelo – who is heading the Portuguese Maddie probe – cut short his visit to Britain where he was involved in reinterviews of the Tapas Seven.

He was said to have been ?red faced with fury? after the leaking of the McCanns? police statements.

Kate?s words – read out on Spanish TV – revealed Maddie asked her why she had not come into her room when she was crying the night before she vanished.


Quizzed ... Tanner
A source close to the Maddie case said: ?The first police chief in charge of Maddie?s case was removed for briefing the Portuguese press. Since Rebelo took over there have been no such leaks, until this week.

?He feels it embarrassed him while he was in England working with British officers. He has gone back early to try to track down who was behind the leaks.?

Heart specialist Gerry, 39, and Kate, 40, of Rothley, Leics, are in discussions about a possible return to Portugal to help police piece together the events of that night but mood of co-operation has soured markedly following police leaks. The McCanns want a Crimewatch-style TV reconstruction.

"All this nonsense over the last 24 or 36 hours does not in any way endear them to the idea of going back," Mr Mitchell said.

It has still to be decided whether the McCanns – who also have three-year-old twins Amelie and Sean – will be interviewed again.

Yesterday Mr Mitchell attacked the Portuguese cops? ?smear campaign? against the parents as ?shameless and brazen?.


He said even Leicestershire Police had ?expressed concern? over the leaked witness statements.

And he insisted Maddie?s comments about her crying ?puzzled? her parents and were said as ?a breezy aside?.

Mr Mitchell added: ?It was out of character for Madeleine to cry, and with hindsight Kate and Gerry think someone could have disturbed her that night.

?People are asking were they negligent? But they felt that Madeleine and the twins were safe and secure.

?They decided to be even more accurate and careful in the times they checked on the children.

?They took every precaution but their system failed and they were incredibly unlucky.?

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:please: What a load of Bull S**T this man talks "It was out of character for Madeleine to cry" NOW how the hell does he know that ?????? Kate told us she was crying the night before? get your story right MITCHELL

Sorry But this is an old peace of news with to days date on it But I have not seen it before

scotclogs. I hadn't seen it before either and it is quite interesting.

Clarrie And he insisted Maddie's comments about her crying "puzzled" her parents and were said as "a breezy aside".

What part of "where were you last night when we were crying" is a "breezy aside" type of comment - when coming from a 3 year old?

It is on old article, for some reason many news reports show the current date when you go into them. Anyway, since we are discussing it, here is a reminder:-

'Tapas Seven demanded private jet and 5-star hotels to return to Portugal for Maddie reconstruction,' Portuguese police claimLast updated at 22:27 11 April 2008

Add to My Stories A planned reconstruction of the night Madeleine McCann vanished has been hampered by extravagant demands by the McCanns' friends, police are said to have claimed yesterday.
Portuguese officers have asked Kate and Gerry McCann and the so-called Tapas Seven to return to the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz for a re-enactment of the events of May 3 last year.

Friends of Kate and Gerry McCann (clockwise from top left): Fiona Payne, Jane Tanner, Russell O'Brien and Rachael Oldfield

Portuguese police leaks are 'shameless smears' to discredit our name, say McCanns
The couple are considering the request, but police allegedly said their friends demanded private jet travel and five-star hotel accommodation.
A source is said to have told the Portuguese tabloid newspaper 24 Horas: 'The demands they make to return are impossible to entertain.
'One of the couples demanded a private jet to travel with their children to the Algarve. Another demanded they be put up in a five-star hotel.
'The demands they all made demonstrate a clear strategy by lawyers. The only thing missing from the list was a request that we send them to the Moon on skates.'


Key witness: Jane Tanner, one of the Tapas Seven, said she saw a man carrying away a child near the McCanns' holiday flat
The McCanns, their seven friends, their spokesman Clarence Mitchell, his predecessor and two other holiday friends were all asked to return for the reconstruction, the newspaper reported.

Madeleine: Missing for almost a year
The Tapas Seven are university friends Matthew Oldfield, Russell O'Brien, David and Fiona Payne, plus Mr Oldfield's wife Rachael, Mr O'Brien's partner Jane Tanner and Mrs Payne's mother Dianne Webster.
All have been re-interviewed by British police this week - at the request of their Portuguese counterparts - about their accounts of the night of May 3.

Portuguese police were said to be suspicious about a series of alleged contradictions and inconsistencies in their witness statements.
Senior police chief Guilhermino Encarnacao confirmed that some of the witnesses - who also included a man who played tennis against Mr McCann and TV producer Jeremy Wilkins, who saw Mr McCann on the might of May 3 - had imposed certain conditions on their return to Portugal.

But he told 24 Horas: 'The reconstruction is important but it's not crucial to the investigations.'


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