Here we go again!

Agreed, jd - people see what they've been 'trained' to see. In this case, what they've been 'fed' via the McCanns to the media.

Another useless 'lead'.

Re the Olive Press - copied from PeterMac's post in 'Gerry's Law'

Very strange. And consider the other person who claims to have been there 'that fated morning". One Jon Clarke of the Olive Press in Ronda.
I copy this from the MF site, with acknowledgements.
Let us now re-examine Jon Clarke’s claims about his visits to Praia da Luz. The item that jumps out as one reads his October 2007 Olive Press article is his claim is that he was there - in Praia da Luz - on ‘that fated morning’ in May 2007. Undoubtedly, he means Friday 4 May, the day the news first broke that Madeleine McCann was missing. He says he was there that morning. Unless he is using journalistic licence, or exaggerating, or simply fabricating the time of his arrival at Praia da Luz, let us hold him to his claim. That means that, unequivocally, he was there at or before 12noon that very morning, Friday 4 May 2007.

Now, how come he was there that ‘fated’ morning? He lives in Ronda, Spain. A quick glance at a road atlas tells us that Praia da Luz is over the border, in Portugal, around 440km or 275 miles away from his home town, Ronda. By no means is all of the journey on fast main roads; some of it is on slow, rural roads. In the estimate of two people who know the area well, you could not do the distance in less than five hours; indeed, six would be more likely. To get to Praia da Luz ‘in the morning’, therefore, he would have had to leave his Ronda home soon after 6.00am. The only other alternative is that he was actually in Praia da Luz the day Madeleine was reported missing (!).

But let us stick for a moment with Clarke starting up his motor at say 6.00am to 6.30am on Friday 4 May. We must then ask: Why did he go to Praia da Luz at all? Did anyone ask him to go there; if so, who?

As far as we know, news of Madeleine’s disappearance only began breaking on the British media at around breakfast-time on 4 May. There is no way that Clarke would have listened to the broadcasts all night - that is stretching credulity beyond its limit. And how realistic is that he switched on his radio at, say, 6am, and, on a whim, immediately afterwards, jumped in his car and tore off towards Portugal? After all, even if he had heard the news, Madeleine might well have been found by the time he got to Praia da Luz. Villagers from there and from the surrounding villages were all out there looking for her - as were dozens of police, dogs, staff of the Ocean Club and Mark Warners, and countless other holiday makers.
So, what are we left with? Apart from the remote possibility that he was already in Praia da Luz on the morning of Friday 4 May, i.e. he was staying there (which he does not say in his article), the only other option we can think of that fits the facts is that a newspaper or a press agency, knowing that Clarke was based somewhere in southern Spain, contacted him in the small hours of the morning and said: “Jon, get over there”.

Now, if that is right, who would have contacted him during that night? And if it was a newspaper or press agency, would they really have summoned Clarke out of his bed for a story that might die away any moment, if Madeleine had been found?

We can’t answer these questions. Only Jon Clarke can

unquote.

This is interesting Tigger....And there is an hour difference to the UK so if as I am sure the story broke in the UK around 7am then this would be at be least 8am in Spain. Then add the time to decide to drive to PDL and get there. Yes why did someone phone him in the early hours of that morning when the child could have been found by the time he even reached the border, and at that particular time was only another reported missing child so nothing out of the ordinary compared to past same stories..

This article is just full of ambiguous bollocks!


The former M&S worker called police after seeing the snatched toddler with 'gypsy' in Spanish supermarket Mercadona
A BRITISH expat based in Spain is ‘100 per cent sure’ she saw missing Madeleine McCann in a supermarket on the Costa del Sol.

The former M&S sales assistant, 63, is adamant the young girl is the missing Briton after seeing her with a man she describes as looking like ‘a gypsy’.

Yvonne Tunnicliffe, who has lived in Spain for six years, made the sighting while shopping at a Mercadona store in Alhaurin el Grande in 2009.


The grandmother has only now come forward, after reading about increasing suggestion that the toddler might have been snatched by a gypsy gang while on holiday in Portugal in 2007.
This sighting took place in 2009, but she decided to speak to "the Olive Press' in 2012! Another delayed reaction!
Where has she been since 2007 that she only read about the "gypsy" involvement now? That was peddled by the mccanns side by side with the paedophile abduction.
Team mccanns are legendary for covering all grounds for all sorts of eventualities that they want to spin.


“My whole body shook when I saw her, she looked just like her daddy (Gerry),” Tunnicliffe told the Olive Press newspaper.

“I’m certain it was Madeleine, I wouldn’t even say I’m 99 per cent sure, I’m 100 per cent sure.

“She had mousy blonde hair in scruffy plaits, very fair skin and looked about seven or eight, which is how old she would have been now.”
This sentence is laughable. How could a girl looking 7 or 8 in 2009 co-relate to Maddie.
Besides,what has Maddie age now (that of 7 or 8) got to do with how she looked back then in 2009 when she was supposed to be only 5? Is this grandma real or just lacking in the brain department? Looks like either they didn't prepare the scripts properly for her or she'd forgotten her lines.



Tunnicliffe contacted police a week after the sighting and was visited by detectives who immediately took her back to the store to view CCTV footage.

But police were informed by the store’s manager that footage was only stored for one week and had subsequently been destroyed.


She was 100% certain the girl she saw was Maddie, yet she waited more than a week later before contacting Police only for Police to be told the CCTV was destroyed - so how convenient! If this grandma's tale exists, then whoever put her up to it must have insider info about CCTV weekly deletion.

So convinced was she of the sighting, she was unable to sleep for much of the week and finally drew a number of sketches of both the girl and man for police.


More bits of ambiguity.javascript:emoticonp('')
She draw the picture for which Police? Spanish? Which week didnt she manage to sleep? Pre or Post her reporting to the Police?
Did she give this to the Mccanns detectives to follow up?

Fighting back tears, she told the Olive Press: “It really upset me and I couldn’t stop thinking about it and why I hadn’t gone to the police straight away. It took her three years since 2009 to come forward to tell the Press - where has she been meanwhile, and what did she hope to achieve now? And this is going to help find Maddie? Christ on a bike. Whoever made her regurgitate that is disgusting?

“It was Christmas and we had friends over. I kept getting sidetracked.”
Oh dear, festive celebration is thrown into the equation, and her "turkey dinner and intoxicating partying" took priority over the missing child - sounds familiar? And this is from a "grandma" so convinced it was 100% Maddie, yet she was able to push her aside while she socialized? Surreal or what?

On the sighting she said: “The girl’s demeanour bothered me. I don’t think she belonged to the man because she didn’t look anything like him.
Of the demeanour that bothers her she didnt expand on that; just reinforcing she didnt resemble the man ...typical spin stuff are made of.

“He had dark, curly hair down to his neck and was wearing a distinctive bullring-type earring."
In case people dont know how gypsy looks like - that's the description for you!


“He sounded Portuguese and was certainly not from Alhaurin.”

I think this is the main "HIGHLIGHT" of the whole purpose of this article - a Portuguese gypsy took Maddie.

Tunnicliffe claims the girl – who was wearing a pale blue top and trousers – did not look Spanish.
Stating another obvious - how can the alleged girl whom she claimed as 100% Maddie looks anything like Spanish?

“It disturbed me for a long time and still upsets me thinking about it now,” an emotional Tunnicliffe added.

What's betting this "disturbed grandma" didn't phone the mccanns' hotline or the UK Police crime unit hot line about it.

When contacted by the Olive Press, a Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed: “It’s an open investigation and any information received will be reviewed and considered by detectives.” This is a "can't go wrong" classical :- a nameless spokesman with a general remark.

The McCanns’ spokesman was unavailable for comment as we went to press.
This is another classical, how can they resist to mention the mccanns PR? No they just can't - there you have it - not available for comment. Just another lot of bull manure well spread.


Not an iota of substance in that sighting. The mccanns are blind spinning in the wind!

If there wasn't a small missing girl at the centre of all this, you would laugh at the predictability of these "sightings". They always seem to crop up at times where something is happening the McCanns don't want publicised, so they try to deflect with spin of their own. This really does seem like a dredging the bottom of the barrel effort though. Doors this reflect the fact that a sighting a few years ago might have been slightly more believable? Perhaps there is some truth that interviews are being carried out with key witnesses at the moment after all.

jd wrote:This is interesting Tigger....And there is an hour difference to the UK so if as I am sure the story broke in the UK around 7am then this would be at be least 8am in Spain. Then add the time to decide to drive to PDL and get there. Yes why did someone phone him in the early hours of that morning when the child could have been found by the time he even reached the border, and at that particular time was only another reported missing child so nothing out of the ordinary compared to past same stories..

NO, jd, there isn't a time difference. Portugal is same as uk - I remember because Portuguese posters have said in the past................

Time zone

Portugal is regulated by the Western European Time Zone (WET), the same time as in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Portugal

candyfloss wrote:

jd wrote:This is interesting Tigger....And there is an hour difference to the UK so if as I am sure the story broke in the UK around 7am then this would be at be least 8am in Spain. Then add the time to decide to drive to PDL and get there. Yes why did someone phone him in the early hours of that morning when the child could have been found by the time he even reached the border, and at that particular time was only another reported missing child so nothing out of the ordinary compared to past same stories..

NO, jd, there isn't a time difference. Portugal is same as uk - I remember because Portuguese posters have said in the past................

Time zone

Portugal is regulated by the Western European Time Zone (WET), the same time as in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Portugal

BUT Candyfloss he was in Spain and there is an hour ahead time difference...I should know I phone it every day!!!

Spain is an hour ahead of GMT though.

P.S. Just thought, of course the clocks go forward at the end of March so won't that make Portugal an hour behind us in May?

Progress! So now all we need to do is find a gypsy man with an egghead and acne who owns a yacht and is married to someone that looks a bit like Posh Spice and probably smells of garlic. I expect Dave Edgar is packing his suncream and speedos as we speak.

Jean wrote:Spain is an hour ahead of GMT though.

P.S. Just thought, of course the clocks go forward at the end of March so won't that make Portugal an hour behind us in May?

I know Spain goes back or forward the same time as us..we are always the same one hour behind them. Its countries like Australia that may go back or forward a week or two different to us

[quote="candyfloss"]

Yvonne Tunnicliffe, who has lived in Spain for six years, made the sighting while shopping at a Mercadona store in Alhaurin el Grande in 2009.

The grandmother has only now come forward, after reading about increasing suggestion that the toddler might have been snatched by a gypsy gang while on holiday in Portugal in 2007.
Doh

Reading this drivel where, please?

Don't bother to answer: when, where, which media; please just put another penny in the pocket of etc etc please.

tigger wrote:Re the Olive Press - copied from PeterMac's post in 'Gerry's Law'
[Snip]

Now, if that is right, who would have contacted him during that night? And if it was a newspaper or press agency, would they really have summoned Clarke out of his bed for a story that might die away any moment, if Madeleine had been found?

We can’t answer these questions. Only Jon Clarke can

unquote.

Same can be asked of the BBC, ITV, Sky, ect who sent journalists out to PdL on May 4th.

[quote="Portia"]

candyfloss wrote:

Yvonne Tunnicliffe, who has lived in Spain for six years, made the sighting while shopping at a Mercadona store in Alhaurin el Grande in 2009.

The grandmother has only now come forward, after reading about increasing suggestion that the toddler might have been snatched by a gypsy gang while on holiday in Portugal in 2007.
Doh

Reading this drivel where, please?

Don't bother to answer: when, where, which media; please just put another penny in the pocket of etc etc please.

From an interiew Clarence Mitchell gave. He stated categorically that Romany (he was specific like that) gypsies could have snatched Maddie

[quote="ShuBob"]

Portia wrote:

candyfloss wrote:

Yvonne Tunnicliffe, who has lived in Spain for six years, made the sighting while shopping at a Mercadona store in Alhaurin el Grande in 2009.

The grandmother has only now come forward, after reading about increasing suggestion that the toddler might have been snatched by a gypsy gang while on holiday in Portugal in 2007.
Doh

Reading this drivel where, please?

Don't bother to answer: when, where, which media; please just put another penny in the pocket of etc etc please.

From an interiew Clarence Mitchell gave. He stated categorically that Romany (he was specific like that) gypsies could have snatched Maddie

Or some paedophile priest, or some 'consenting adults' or the Holy Ghost herself, come to that. What a charade!

Regarding time zones confusion on previous page -

Remember that we, in UK, are NOT on GMT (greenwich mean time) after March - we are on BST (british summer time). We put our clocks forward one hour (for the school kids apparently).

So part of the year we are 1 hour different!

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_185398

listener wrote:Regarding time zones confusion on previous page -

Remember that we, in UK, are NOT on GMT (greenwich mean time) after March - we are on BST (british summer time). We put our clocks forward one hour (for the school kids apparently).

So part of the year we are 1 hour different!

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_185398

Not to Spain we're not. Its Australia and that part of the world that change their clocks different to us

ShuBob wrote:Same can be asked of the BBC, ITV, Sky, ect who sent journalists out to PdL on May 4th.

I have always wondered if the 'Campbell' that was booked in on May 2nd was Lori Campbell

Dont know about Spain or Oz, but in summer, we in the UK are on UTC +1 but Portugal does not change their clocks so they remain on UTC. That is why part of the year we are the same as Portugal, but in the Summer we are 1 hour ahead.

listener wrote:Dont know about Spain or Oz, but in summer, we in the UK are on UTC +1 but Portugal does not change their clocks so they remain on UTC. That is why part of the year we are the same as Portugal, but in the Summer we are 1 hour ahead.

Portugal (Mainland and Madeira) is in the Western European Time Zone. Western European Standard Time (WET) is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Like most states in Europe, Summer (Daylight-Saving) Time is observed in Portugal, where the time is shifted forward by 1 hour; 1 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+1).

After the Summer months the time is shifted back by 1 hour to Western European Time (WET) or (GMT).
http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/europe/european-union/portugal/

I am familiar with the Olive Press and to be honest it's one of the better free press papers available in Spain. Most of the others are just a waste of space. I just commented on the Olive Press article on their website...

"Hi Olive Press

I had you guys (Olive Press) down as being a serious bit of FREE PRESS on the Costa del Sol, but seeing this absolute rubbish being reported has completely changed my opinion and that of others too. You've blown your street cred. Is that what were you trying to achieve by publishing this? The article is full of holes and is just not credible. Get a grip please and get back to what you do best.

Regards"

http://www.diydoctorholidays.co.uk/projects/timezones_in_europe.htm

Just to make sure: Portugal is always is in the same timezone as the UK. As can be seen from the countries coloured green, they will always be an hour ahead - as is the case in the Netherlands.
Spain being one hour ahead of Portugal, anyone phoning the Olive Press at six in the morning from the UK/Portugal, will get them at seven in the morning in Spain, even if it's only half a mile over the border.
So someone would have had to phone the Olive Press either that night or very early in the morning from Portugal - about 5 am, for someone to jump into a car and get to PdL before midday. (about a 5 - 6 hour drive).

Invinoveritas wrote:

listener wrote:Dont know about Spain or Oz, but in summer, we in the UK are on UTC +1 but Portugal does not change their clocks so they remain on UTC. That is why part of the year we are the same as Portugal, but in the Summer we are 1 hour ahead.

Portugal (Mainland and Madeira) is in the Western European Time Zone. Western European Standard Time (WET) is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Like most states in Europe, Summer (Daylight-Saving) Time is observed in Portugal, where the time is shifted forward by 1 hour; 1 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+1).

After the Summer months the time is shifted back by 1 hour to Western European Time (WET) or (GMT).
http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/europe/european-union/portugal/

Thank-you both. I have always believed that Portugal did not change the clocks in summer but now realise that belief was incorrect. Thanks for putting me right!

Apologies to all for disrupting the thread :flower:

From Spudgun...........

Wednesday, 22 February 2012


Where's Madeleine McCann NOW Competition for March

http://spudgunsspoutings.blogspot.com/2012/02/wheres-madeleine-mccann-now-competition.html

If this wasn't such a tragic tale about a 'missing' little girl this article would be hysterical in a comic. Cue Sunday Sun - they're bound to have a scoop for the first edition. I know what I'd like to see on the front page, but doubt it'll ever happen!

Which of the clarrypr puppets will run with this tomorrow? And if they do it just reinforces what we all know about the press in the UK. I've been out all day, but as far as I know there's been no mention of Halligen, no mention of Pat Brown in Portugal and nothing about Tony Bennett's pre trial hearing. If they do go with this absolute load of garbage it will totally hack me off. The real news is the 3 items mentioned not some shaking barmpot 100% sure she saw Maddie with a gypsy. Call in Jez Big Fat Gypsy Wedding Wilkins and he's got another tv show to produce right there.

She waited a week FGS - did she stop shaking or was that keeping her awake. Then she reports it, so why well over 2 years later has the Olive Press printed the tripe?

Just come on line and clicked on the Olive Press link. http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2012/02/22/i-saw-maddie-in-a-supermarket-on-the-costa-del-sol/
got this -

Sorry! We Couldn't Find The Page You Were Looking For...
Unfortunately the page you were looking for has either moved to a new location or has been removed.
Please try using the search field above to find what you were looking for or use our site map.

Anyone else able to access it ?

It may be interesting to see the Sun on Sunday, (or possibly not !) since Jon Clarke used to invent write Madeleine stuff with Lazerelli, and did not put anything about Madeleine into his own paper, the Olive Press from May to October that year. Everything went to the Sun

PeterMac wrote:Just come on line and clicked on the Olive Press link. http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2012/02/22/i-saw-maddie-in-a-supermarket-on-the-costa-del-sol/
got this -

Sorry! We Couldn't Find The Page You Were Looking For...
Unfortunately the page you were looking for has either moved to a new location or has been removed.
Please try using the search field above to find what you were looking for or use our site map.

Anyone else able to access it ?

It's working fine on my Mac. Once again THE photograph.

It will let me into the on line print edition, but not the on-line version for comments.
Anyone else able to access the individual article ?