SY Review Team - Includes STATEMENT 6 Oct by Inspector Steve Bentley

by crispyroll 30.09.11 12:59

Please can someone provide me with an E-Mail from the SY review team? Does it exist?
I would like to ask SY why they are reading and translating all the files instead to ask McCanns and friends to do a reconstruction. Would that not be the first step? They will see all the lies McCanns and friends have been told.

by crispyroll 30.09.11 13:00

Sorry of course I wanted to say "all the lies McCanns and friends have told" and not "have been told".

by **Jill Havern** 30.09.11 13:14

Tony is having a meeting with NSY to discuss the additional evidence he's hand delivering to them so he should be able to let you have a contact email address for 'Operation Grange' in due course.

by happychick 30.09.11 18:26

Tony is having a meeting with NSY to discuss the additional evidence he's hand delivering to them

by Guest 30.09.11 18:57

happychick wrote:

Tony is having a meeting with NSY to discuss the additional evidence he's hand delivering to them

This is great news. clapping

by aiyoyo 30.09.11 20:18

Hat Off to Tony.

Perhaps Tony could ask : is it true mccanns' claim that the SY team is following leads as a result of or because of kate's book. We know the answer to this one OBVIOUSLY, but it would be interesting to have SY's answer as to why they didnt stop or warn the mccanns against making bogus claim or claims (bearing in mind also their Leh sighting bogus claim).

by Gillyspot 30.09.11 20:52

Well done Tony. Mrs

Lets hope they treat your evidence with the seriousness it deserves.

by Xavier 01.10.11 7:09

Gillyspot wrote:Well done Tony. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Lets hope they treat your evidence with the seriousness it deserves.

Amen to that Gilly. I am sure they will.

by **Jill Havern** 01.10.11 7:14

Just to clarify that Tony's meeting with NSY will take place on Monday.

Here's a quote from Tony on another thread

The Madeleine Foundation will be holding a Committee Meeting in central London this Monday (3 October) to mark the fourth anniversary of Amaral's removal from the Madeleine McCann investigation. Some leafleting will also take place. ALL members and friends will be very welcome to join us, please e-mail me at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] or 'phone me 01279 635789 for details.

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by ufercoffy 01.10.11 13:37

Tony is having a meeting with NSY to discuss the additional evidence he's hand delivering to them

I wonder when the Pro's will announce their meeting with NSY where they will hand deliver evidence that 'findable' Madeleine is being held in a secret lair in the lawless hills of PDL. God knows it's been long enough since Dave Edgar announced that's where she is and it seems not one of them, including Madeleine's parents, have been to check it out.

No, they're far too busy laughing at our efforts in their forums to search for Madeleine. At least Tony is pro-active and is in correspondence with the Review Team. If Madeleine was truly findable then they'd all be out there searching, but they do nothing except ridicule those who question the impossible abduction theory and threaten to sue them.

Good for you Tony airkiss

by **tigger** 01.10.11 15:07

I think that much of the fanaticism of the pros is due to the well known phenomenon of people in search of a cause to believe in.

The McCanns are defended with a fervour worthy of any religion. Their bible seems to be the press and the 'world according to Kate', or Mein Kampf, as I like to call it.

by Guest 01.10.11 18:39

I wonder how many lawless hills there are in PDL for Dave Edgar to search. With acknowledgemets to Ufercoffy who put the idea in my head, perhaps he could round up a motley gang of trolls - Garth and his chums, Ringo, Happy Larry, Murat Fan, Jayelles and the unknown charmless guests who've graced this forum from time to time - and head for the hills. Come on guys, surely it would be worth getting out of your basements for a while to do something worthwhile (not to mention a chance to claim the 2 milllion plus reward) and prove that we sceptics were talking trollocks (or something like that) all along.

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by **tigger** 01.10.11 21:23

Marian wrote:I wonder how many lawless hills there are in PDL for Dave Edgar to search. With acknowledgemets to Ufercoffy who put the idea in my head, perhaps he could round up a motley gang of trolls - Garth and his chums, Ringo, Happy Larry, Murat Fan, Jayelles and the unknown charmless guests who've graced this forum from time to time - and head for the hills. Come on guys, surely it would be worth getting out of your basements for a while to do something worthwhile (not to mention a chance to claim the 2 milllion plus reward) and prove that we sceptics were talking trollocks (or something like that) all along.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Wasn't it the case that both Richard Branson and J.K. Rowling put up a million each as a reward in 2007. But I never see that mentioned anywhere, is it anywhere on their website? I wouldn't be too surprised to find both had withdrawn their offers.
J.K. Rowling isn't too fond of the Ms I think, she has been quick to state that she had nothing to do with the book.
But the reward is never mentioned in their many many interviews. Why not? It would get a lot more people looking.

by aiyoyo 02.10.11 16:14

The offerers probably did that as gesture only to advance or promote their names and did not expect to spend the money for they probably knew Maddie will never be found. It was just a symbolic gesture and nothing else cause you dont see them offering reward for other missing child do you?

by happychick 03.10.11 7:14

Good luck today TB clapping

by **tigger** 03.10.11 8:13

aiyoyo wrote:The offerers probably did that as gesture only to advance or promote their names and did not expect to spend the money for they probably knew Maddie will never be found. It was just a symbolic gesture and nothing else cause you dont see them offering reward for other missing child do you?

I overlooked the fact that advertising these offers wouldn't exactly make people donate to the Fund, would it?
The McCanns must have been really cheesed off, not getting their hands on the money. Branson is a businessman, too canny to donate. Now he looks good, free advertising for him and not a penny spent. Well done!

by **Jill Havern** 03.10.11 19:59

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More to come....

by pennylane 03.10.11 20:52

Thanks for posting the pictures, Jilly [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Tony, I hope things went really well for you today, and that you achieved a great deal during your visit to NSY. Thank you on behalf of those of us that are longing for this epic façade to be exposed and the perpetrators brought to justice. I am looking forward to reading a report on the day's events, when you have the time to submit one. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

In my opinion you are a hero. Thanks again! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by **Tony Bennett** 03.10.11 21:14

A visit by The Madeleine Foundation
to Operation Grange at Belgravia Police Station
to mark Goncalo Amaral Day 2011

Last year The Madeleine Foundation marked Goncalo Amaral Day (2 October) by handing in a petition at No. 10 Downing Street calling on Prime Minister David Cameron to set up a full public enquiry, with the power to summon witnesses, into all aspects of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. We still believe that one day, something like that will be needed. At the moment our petition calling for the public enquiry has attracted 880 signatures.

In the event, the Prime Minister did something very different. On 12 May 2011, on the very day that Dr Kate McCann published her book, ‘madeleine’, David Cameron announced that he was setting up a £3.5 million review by Scotland Yard into Madeleine’s disappearance. The purpose of this, he said, and we quote, was not to get to the truth, but ‘to support the family’. That review, it is now known, is called ‘Operation Grange’.

The Madeleine Foundation has taken the view that, given that several senior Metropolitan Police detectives are engaged on what purports to be a comprehensive review of the evidence, it is important that we (and anyone else who is in a position to do so) submit any evidence to that review that may point the Review Team towards the indications that Madeleine McCann died in her parents’ apartment and that there has been a cover-up of that fact.

Accordingly, on 24 August, following two earlier letters dated 11 & 21 July, we sent by recorded delivery post to the Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, a lengthy dossier of evidence, together with several enclosures. Our dossier also included information relating to a source within the McCann Team who had disclosed evidence to us which suggested that the main purpose of the McCann Team’s private investigations may not have been to find Madeleine. We did not disclose that person’s identity.

We thought that an appropriate way to mark Goncalo Amaral Day this year was to seek to deliver more evidence, this time in person, to a member of Operation Grange. One of the team, Detective Inspector Tim Dobson, kindly agreed a couple of weeks back to receive the dossier in person.

Accordingly, and by arrangement, the dossier was formally handed in to him at around 12.35pm today.

It took a little while before we could see him. Only one person was on the front desk, a man of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean appearance who was busy filling in a car accident insurance form in quadruplicate for someone, and was intent on completing the task before looking up at the queue in front of him. After several minutes, I asked if he could let D.I. Dobson know we were here.

He still wanted more time to complete his form, which he did. I then asked him again if I could speak to D.I. Dobson or D.C.I. Redwood, and he said he’d never heard of them. I said they were from ‘Operation Grange’. “Never heard of them”, was his reply. Eventually he summoned a colleague of southern Asian appearance, and after a further wait of about 10 minutes, D.I. Dobson appeared and showed myself and a fellow Madeleine Foundation Committee member into a small interview room.

D.I. Dobson was polite and correct throughout. We were allowed time to explain briefly what was in the dossier (see below). A covering letter was attached to the dossier, which he scanned. We had time to raise one or two questions. One point he emphasised very strongly was that, and I quote: “This is a review, not an investigation”.

The difference, I think, can be summarised thus: “A review is a look at the evidence to see if there should be a formal re-investigation”.

Asked if the review could pursue specific lines of investigation or, for example, interview people of interest, he stuck to the script and said: “This is only a review”, adding that: “Any lines of enquiry will be incorporated in the final recommendations we will be making to the Portuguese Police”. I said: “But presumably you will not only be reporting to the Portuguese Police, but also to those who commissioned this report?” He said: “Oh yes, to them as well, of course”.

We asked who was the current co-ordinator of the Portuguese Police investigation, and he said: “I don’t actually know, but even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you”. My colleague queried this, to which he replied: “Actually, I don’t know her name, but I can tell you that it’s a woman”.

At that point, the ’phone in the interview room rang. D.I. Dobson said: “I’m sorry, I’m being called upstairs on something urgent, I’ll have to close this now”.

And away we went.

We are not going to disclose the contents of the dossier nor of the covering letter, but we can say that it included a great deal of detail about the actions of the following individuals:

* Brian Kennedy

* Francisco Marco, boss of Metodo 3

* Antonio Jimenez/Gimenez, employed as the chief detective for Metodo 3 and Brian Kennedy during 2007 and 2008. Jimenez/Gimenez is now in prison for corruption and theft of £25 million of cocaine, offences committed whilst he was a top (but corrupt) police officer in Barcelona

* Marcos Aragao Correia, a lawyer from Madeira

* Francisco Pagarate

* Edward Smethurst, the McCanns’ co-ordinating lawyer

* Kevin Halligen, who has been in custody facing serious fraud charges for nearly two years

* Dave Edgar, the current ‘senior private investigator’ for Brian Kennedy and the McCann Team

* Those who created the shell company, ALPHAIG.

Finally, we hereby once again put on record our thanks to D.C.I. Redwood for agreeing to receive the material and, as we have said before, and no doubt will again, insofar as this Scotland yard Review Team is a genuine search for the truth, we wish them well and every success.

The Madeleine Foundation
9pm
Monday 3 October 2011

by Guest 03.10.11 21:55

Thanks for the info Tony. Well done to you. clapping

They all seem to be a bit vague as to who's who, and what's what, but I hope they will look at all your evidence, and the evidence in the files, and get this investigation re-opened and moving again. Thank you to you and the researchers for all the hard work you have put in thanks

by Ollie 03.10.11 22:00

Tony...[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by Guest 04.10.11 10:04

Tony and the rest of your team, for taking the mountain to mohammed. :fingerscrossed

by Xavier 04.10.11 10:35

I am not sure about this. Sorry to be a wet blanket but this is absolutely disgraceful.

First of all Mr Bennet was kept waiting by front desk staff, and then he only had a short interview with DI Dobson, interrupted by a phone call. Which sounds to me like a dubious ploy to cut the interview short. In short Mr Bennet was given the brush off.

Do these people not know how important and influential Mr Bennet and the Madeleine Foundation is? And that Mr Bennet is a solicitor? And how many people signed their petition? And how many supporters they have?

One thing that puzzles me. Surely New Scotland Yard would have more than one person on the front desk?

by **Tony Bennett** 04.10.11 11:01

Xavier wrote:I am not sure about this. Sorry to be a wet blanket but this is absolutely disgraceful.

First of all Mr Bennett was kept waiting by front desk staff...

This is a local police station, NOT Scotland Yard HQ, which is about a mile away on Victoria Street. Operation Grange is based in offices within that building; as is clear from my account, the front desk officer had no knowledge of their existence. Anyone who has had dealings with police station front desks will know that these are a notoriously weak aspect of modern policing. Sometimes you are lucky even to see a person on the front desk at all; you may be confronted by a buzzer and even then it is not uncommon for police to take several minutes to appear. It is also very common for police officers to be engaged on front desks completing a variety of incident forms, sometimes for crime recording purposes, at other times merely to assist a person in making an insurance claim. They generally do not want to be interrupted whilst completing them.

...and then he only had a short interview with DI Dobson,

We have absolutely no complaints about DI Dobson having a short interview with us; indeed he went beyond what was strictly necessary by taking us into an interview room and having a short chat. He could simply and politely received our dossier and covering letter, and said 'Thank you and goodbye'. He did more than that, and for that we are grateful.

interrupted by a phone call. Which sounds to me like a dubious ploy to cut the interview short.

Who knows?

In short Mr Bennett was given the brush off.

We disagree. We arranged the hand-over of the dossier in advance, we met DI Dobson, and we had a short chat including questions about the review process. If it were a 'brush-off', DI Dobson could (a) have refused permission for us to hand over the dossier in person and (b) refused to have a chat with us.

Do these people not know how important and influential Mr Bennett and the Madeleine Foundation is?

Hmmm. We are neither important nor influential, indeed certain sections of the media seem to regard as 'sickos'. However, we have amassed a considerable volume of evidence dealing in particular with numerous contradictions among the statements of the McCanns and the 'Tapas 7' and to that we have added detailed research into the activities of those connected with the McCann Team's private investigations which we say reveals many significant indications. Under standard police policies, guidelines and procedures, a senior police officer MUST evaluate the significance of what we have now (on two separate occasions) provided by way of evidence - and any report and recommendations made in D.C.I. Redwood's final report will need to include an evaluation of the significance of the information supplied - and as to whether or not it might lead to new lines of enquiry being opened into possible criminal acts by anyone or even to a full re-investigation, either in Portugal, or in the U.K., or both.

And that Mr Bennett is a solicitor?

I practised as a Solicitor only between September 1993 and November 1999.

And how many people signed their petition?

880 so far, not hugely impressive, but 880 better than none.

And how many supporters they have?

Depends how you define 'supporters'.

One thing that puzzles me. Surely New Scotland Yard would have more than one person on the front desk?

No. see above.

by Xavier 04.10.11 13:22

Oh I see. Thank you very much Mr Bennett. I got the impression that you presented it at Scotland Yard from the photograph of you under the iconic sign. My mistake.

But are they treating the Madeleine Foundation with the respect it deserves?

by aiyoyo 04.10.11 14:02

xavier

your tail is showing.

by Guest 04.10.11 14:04

Aiyoyo: you've got there before me with that observation!

by Xavier 04.10.11 14:30

aiyoyo wrote:xavier

your tail is showing.

I am sorry. I don't understand.

by pennylane 04.10.11 14:55

Hello Tony, :bye:

Thank you for reporting on yesterday's achievements and your meeting with DI Dobson at Belgravia Police Station. Well done to you and anyone who helped bring this meeting together. I hope that the information contained in your dossier is given the respect it deserves. yes

I'm afraid my own feeling is that the 'Review' is a big hoax, just like the abduction... a shady end to a horrid crime!

RIP Madeleine roses

by Ollie 04.10.11 15:41

If this review turns out to be a whitewash or hoax then DC will be accountable considering the millions it is costing. I know there are police of the highest integrity and so hope this review will not be a whitewash.