The cost of looking for Madeleine so far. £20 million?

by **sharonl** 18.03.12 20:34

The cost of looking for Madeleine so far. £20 million?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

How much has the search for Madeleine cost so far? It began at 10.00pm on Thursday 3 May when the McCanns said that Madeleine had been abducted.

Here is a rough calculation of the total costs so far, accompanied by a few notes:

£548,477 - The cost for Leicestershire Police's part in the search in 2007-8 was £548, 477, of which the Home Office refunded £525,069.

£4 million - A conservative estimate of the cost to the Portuguese Police of their investigation, just in 2007-8.

£3 million - A conservative estimate of the costs of the McCanns’ private investigations so far, made up as follows:
• At least £300,00, maybe more, to Metodo 3
• £½ million plus expenses to Kevin Halligen
• Salaries and expenses to Dave Edgar, Arthur Cowley and assorted other detectives, plus trips to Germany (Hewlett), Barcelona (Victoria Beckham-lookalike) and various other trips
• Salaries of Justine McGuinness and Clarence Mitchell plus expenses: £300,000 so far

£2 million - the estimated cost to Interpol and an assortment of police forces around the globe, who have had to deal with hundreds, possibly thousands of ‘sightings’ of Madeleine, in countries such as the U.K., Germany, France, Portugal, Morocco, Spain, Canada, Venezuela, Australia and New Zealand.
The estimate is based on say 1,000 ‘sightings’ requiring an average of say £2,000 of police time to investigate each sighting

£3.5 million - for the current Scotland Yard ‘Review’. The review is said to be staffed by 37 officers. If their average salary is say £40,000, and they work on the review for say at least a year, that would cost around £2 million alone (including e.g. pension and employer’s N.I. contributions), and that doesn’t include the cost of e.g. hotels and travel for visits to Portugal and Spain

£1 million - for lawyer’s fees: Edward Smethurst (co-ordinating lawyer), Carter-Ruck (suing lots of people), Michael Caplan Q.C. (extradition), Portuguese lawyers including extradition lawyers and Isabel Duarte, International Family Law Group (wardship proceedings before ms Justice Hogg in the High Court)

An unknown amount - for the current Portuguese investigation begun in Oporto.

An unknown amount - for answering various Freedom of Information Act queries from press and public about the case.

by Gillyspot 18.03.12 21:16

Thanks Sharonl

And not a pretty penny paid by the McCanns themselves!

by **Tony Bennett** 15.06.13 17:37

Sharonl’s post of 18 March 2012 updated

The cost of looking for Madeleine so far. £20 million?

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

How much has the search for Madeleine cost so far? It began at 10.00pm on Thursday 3 May when the McCanns said that Madeleine had been abducted.

Here is a rough calculation of the total costs so far, accompanied by a few notes:

£548,477 - The cost for Leicestershire Police's part in the search in 2007-8 was £548,477, of which the Home Office refunded £525,069.

£4 million - A conservative estimate of the cost to the Portuguese Police of their investigation, just in 2007-8.

£3 million - A conservative estimate of the costs of the McCanns’ private investigations and public relations advisers so far, made up as follows:
• At least £300,000, maybe more, to Metodo 3
• £½ million plus expenses to Kevin Halligen
• Salaries and expenses to Dave Edgar, Arthur Cowley and assorted other detectives, plus trips to Germany (Hewlett), Barcelona (Victoria Beckham-lookalike) and various other trips
• Salaries of Justine McGuinness and Clarence Mitchell plus expenses: £300,000 so far

UPDATE: If Clarence Mitchell is still being paid, even part-time, at least another £40,000 could have been added to these costs

£2 million - the estimated cost to Interpol and an assortment of police forces around the globe, who have had to deal with hundreds, possibly thousands of ‘sightings’ of Madeleine, in countries such as the U.K., Germany, France, Portugal, Morocco, Spain, Canada, Venezuela, Australia and New Zealand.
The estimate is based on say 1,000 ‘sightings’ requiring an average of say £2,000 of police time to investigate each sighting

UPDATE: Several more claimed ‘sightings’ have been investigated

£3.5 million - for the current Scotland Yard ‘Review’. The review is said to be staffed by 37 officers. If their average salary is say £40,000, and they work on the review for say at least a year, that would cost around £2 million alone (including e.g. pension and employer’s N.I. contributions), and that doesn’t include the cost of e.g. hotels and travel for visits to Portugal and Spain

UPDATE: Scotland Yard admit that this has so far cost around £4.9 million

£1 million - for lawyer’s fees: Edward Smethurst (co-ordinating lawyer), Carter-Ruck (suing lots of people), Michael Caplan Q.C. (extradition), Portuguese lawyers including extradition lawyers and Isabel Duarte, International Family Law Group (wardship proceedings before Ms Justice Hogg in the High Court)

UPDATE: According to this post: https://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t5983-a-compendium-of-lawyers-used-so-far-by-the-mccanns the McCann Team had by March 2012 spent £4,112,000 on lawyers so far. By now, after more work on the Amaral and other libel trials this is probably well over £4.75 million

An unknown amount - for the current Portuguese investigation, allegedly begun in Oporto.

An unknown amount - for answering various Freedom of Information Act queries from press and public about the case.

OVERALL UPDATE ON COSTS: Likely to be well over £20 million, with the prospect of a ‘full-blown’ Scotland Yard ‘re-investigation’ to come shortly

by sheila.edwards 15.06.13 19:04

by Guest 15.06.13 20:37

Tony, with all due respect:
quote
"OVERALL UPDATE ON COSTS: Likely to be well over £20 million, with the prospect of a ‘full-blown’ Scotland Yard ‘re-investigation’ to come shortly" ...
Unquote

I do agree that such amount might have bought a non-functioning high-speed train or something yes

[google 'Fyra" in Belgium and the Netherlands ...]
But: don't you think, that [still at minimal cost p.p.] it's worthwhile to unearth what really happened?
As you may have noticed, I am not in the league of "whitewash". I continue to believe detectives, be they SY or any other corps, most of whom became one to get justice done.

by **Tony Bennett** 15.06.13 21:03

Châtelaine wrote:But: don't you think, that it's worthwhile to unearth what really happened?

REPLY: If I examine the track record of the British authorities and Scotland Yard in this matter to date, then, frankly, NO. You may recall that some 4 years ago we initiated a campaign for a full public inquiry (along the lines of an inquest) into Madeleine's disappearaence, with the power to summon witnesses, as the best way of establishing the truth in this case. We took our petition right to the very door of 10 Downing Street in October 2010. Four years on. I still maintain that this is what is needed, not not another £5 million of Scotland Yard

As you may have noticed, I am not in the league of "whitewash".

REPLY: Then let us, as is the custom on this forum, agree politely to disagree.

I continue to believe detectives, be they SY or any other cops, most of whom became one to get justice done.

REPLY: Through personal experience and wide reading on the subject of police corruption, I contend that detectives these days should only be believed if there is reason to trust and believe them. Send me your address by 'pm' or e-mail and I'll be pleased to send you a copy of Graeme McLagan's 'BENT COPPERS' to start off with informing you about this. The book documents, over three decades of corruption, how whole police departments of major police forces in the UK became corrupt, and how even anti-corruption units also quickly became corrupt. One ex-convict I spoke to was sent to Wandsworth jail for a year for his part in a scam. After he'd been sentenced, taken to jail and strip-searched, he was taken to his cell, where he was introduced to his cell-mate: the recently-jailed head of the elite Metropolitan Police Anti-Corruption Squad. The book also explains how corrupt coppers begin to draw newcomers into their corrupt webs by starting off with something simple like £20 in a brown envelope for, e.g. 'losing a document'. Once they accept suh a gift,they are suckered and drawn in for life. Look at the efforts of Alistair Morgan, continuing today, to get to the truth about who killed and ordered the killing of his brother, Daniel Morgan in 1987: six reviews, five of them proved to have been corrupt, and even now, after 26 years, the corrupt in the Met are still covering up this crime. Did you read about the Hillsborough disaster? There were 23 years of dozens of police officers lying in statements - because their senior officers directed them to. I could make this a very long posting with legions of similar stories...

by Guest 15.06.13 21:11

All fair and I'm "listening", Tony, but ... I claim my position to believe in right until it's been proven wrong.
Of course, there are - have been - bended cops. As so many things in life and on so many levels. But IMO the major part is doing what they think is right, or - even - what they're passionate to do. E.g. catch a criminal. Get JUSTICE done.

by sheila.edwards 15.06.13 21:25

and getting paid to do.no more Shannon Mathews or worse or all children more vulnerable to abduction in society for all OBVIOUS reasons case should be solved. I still cant understand why it hasent been really but hope it will be soon now