Met chief calls for decision on funding of Madeleine McCann review

aiyoyo wrote:All I want to know is whether the Met Chief trusts the dog, and what he's going to do about it? Is he going to qualify that in the report or not?

Usually Police complain about tight budget hampering their work, but in this exceptional case it is the reverse way round. Police are in fact concerned about the open cheque without time frame limit, so could it be they already fear not being able to justify to the taxpayers over this expenditure. Since when Police complain about over budget if they are going to deliver what ever it takes to deliver.

I think the policy would be to leave that for last, so in fact they will never get to the real evidence. Didn't Redwood also mention the psychics' sightings? That seems pretty much the last resort to me, well after weighing up the evidence that made them arguidos in the first place.

The review will have to finish before they even touch the incriminating evidence - clear conscience for SY, Cameron et al..... endless sightings and speculations for the press.
Madeleine will and in fact already is a fall-back resource for headline news when either something needs to be covered up or there simply is no news and the sales figures have to be boosted. :bad:

Spaniel wrote: [...]
Four relatively young hospital doctors plus one female GP, and yes female is relative in my opinion, could seriously dent our faith in our NHS. I say "Our NHS" as it is the backbone, or core of everything we hold dear in the UK.

Swingers, Freemasons etc, nah. Far more simple, and who said "Follow the money" The money being lost orders.

***
This reminds me of a discussion with my old Maman back in 2007 re "Follow the Money", when she said not only to look at who can gain, but also at who can lose a lot ...

She's meanwhile turned 94 and still wants regular updates on the case. And she's still prepared to pay folding money to have the odious two at my kitchen table and ask some pertinent questions ...

From the Telegraph..........


Yard chief suggests Madeleine probe may be wound down

Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, has indicated that the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann may be wound down.



By Telegraph reporters

3:21PM BST 24 Aug 2012

Scotland Yard is to ask David Cameron whether the Government will continue to fund the inquiry into the missing child, who was last seen in her parents' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.


The Met opened a new inquiry, Operation Grange, 15 months ago at the request of Mr Cameron. The Government has provided an 'open cheque' into the review of the case. The inquiry has 28 homicide detectives and seven civilian staff working full-time and is thought to have cost £2.5m so far.


Mr Hogan-Howe is asking for a new commitment on financing the investigation, in comments that suggest there may be a limit on how long the police are willing to spend on the case. Previously he has said there is no limit to the time and manpower available to the probe.


He said the police are sifting through a "large cache" of documents. Portuguese police are refusing to reopen the inquiry.


Mr Hogan Howe said: "We are still reviewing a lot of material. It is a significant amount of money and we have quite a lot of officers tied up in this.


"There will be a point at which we and the Government will want to make a decision about what the likely outcome is.

"The Prime Minister agreed to fund this. We have not had any pressure to say you must stop spending more than x amount, we have received a lot of support. But by Christmas I would want a very clear view of what work is outstanding and what time line there is for that," the London Evening Standard quoted Mr Hogan-Howe as saying.

This year Det Chief Insp Redwood, who is leading the inquiry, said he believed Madeleine had been abducted by a stranger and could be alive.

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Just a reminder of what Andy Redwood said on Panorama 'The Last Hope'


So far, the review has cost taxpayers two million pounds. Officers have made two trips to Spain and visited Portugal four times, most recently last week. As Madeleine disappeared in Portugal, Portuguese police remain the lead agency and DCI Redwood and his team report to a team in Porto. But in one exchange in his interview with Panorama, he says that his team in Central London aims to solve the mystery.

“We are here in terms of seeking to bring closure to the case. That would be the ultimate objective and is our ultimate objective.”

Richard Bilton: “What does that mean?”

DCI Redwood: “Well closure means establishing what has happened to Madeleine McCann.”

RB: “Solving it?”

DCI Redwood: “Yes, solving it, of course.”


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What an absolute cop out. Scotland Yard's finest must be the laughing stock of the world. Almost £3m to come up with 'Madeleine is either dead or alive'.

Cristobell wrote: What an absolute cop out. Scotland Yard's finest must be the laughing stock of the world. Almost £3m to come up with 'Madeleine is either dead or alive'.

I couldn't agree more.

And when you think of the more productive work these officers could have been doing.....

And the articles on this saying the Portuguese police will not re-open the case implying they are not co-operating with SY. This is how team McCann will spin the end of the SY review - that reluctantly they agree that no more taxpayers money can be spent given no progress can ultimately be made due to those nasty unco-operative sardine munchers.

Cristobell wrote: What an absolute cop out. Scotland Yard's finest must be the laughing stock of the world. Almost £3m to come up with 'Madeleine is either dead or alive'.

Oh dear yes. I think we could all have told them that for nothing.

So they're nearly done with the 196 fresh leads then and still haven't found the man in the cave?

They should have known following the dogs nose is way to go!

aiyoyo wrote:So they're nearly done with the 196 fresh leads then and still haven't found the man in the cave?

They should have known following the dogs nose is way to go!

I wonder how they will explain the findings of Eddie and Keela.......................away?

At least it wasn't front page news, way down the page and they're 'no longer accepting comments'. But no comments are shown, one wonders if they were mostly displeasing to TM?

I wonder if the review will now fizzle out? I don't see how they can solve it without a lot of very red faces.

As they've only got through 25% of the paperwork Redwood should never have concluded from incomplete evidence that Maddie could well be alive and actively worked together with the parents to create yet another age advanced picture. A picture moreover which was also - according to Kate - partly the work of the twins who decided she didn't look old enough so it was aged slightly more. As if they could know!

The material presented by Redwood leant strongly to Maddie being alive, being mentioned first, the work and expense of making up an age advanced photograph gives weight to that theory. Only at the end of his account we hear that 'sadly she could be dead'.
This possibility is shoved right at the back of the presentation and the 'aliveness' of Maddie is right at the top of the agenda.

It's quite interesting that the latest Maddie story in the DM was not on the front page and on the website comments were blocked. They're learning - perhaps they can't afford the half dozen or so moderators who have to check the comments and whoosh what percentage? 80% is my guess.

tigger wrote:As they've only got through 25% of the paperwork Redwood should never have concluded from incomplete evidence that Maddie could well be alive...

Yes, by my calculations, if the Scotland Yard Review Team is proceeding at the rate of 25% of the paperwork per year, then by today (26 August), their review is only 35.27% complete - that is, barely one-third. Could the Met Police, the government who ordered this review, and Rebekah Brooks who threatened the British Prime Minister into ordering it, ever forgive themselves if they allowed this vital review to be abandoned with, still, 64.73% of it incomplete?

Every single precious day allows this team of experienced (i.e. mostly within a year of two of retirement) officers to complete their penetrating analysis of another invaluable 0.069% of the documentation, plus go on any more taxpayer-funded trips to Oporto and Barcelona that may be required.

Newintown wrote:Redwood mentioned that Madeleine is either alive or dead, so if the review runs out of money and is brought to a halt, is he in fact saying that although he believes there is a 50% chance Madeleine was abducted and may be alive, she will have to stay with the people who are hopefully “treating her like a Princess” until she may be found at the age of 18 or so. Therefore the McCanns can carry on topping up their “Fund” for the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years with more book sales, fun runs, TV appearances (God help us all if that happens) under the guise of using it in the “search” for Madeleine, because the Met have given up on the case.

Yes, if this review ends inconclusively (which looks more and more likely now), because of the weight of publicity given by Redwood to the possibility of Madeleine still being alive, it would only achieve one thing - to legitimise the Fund and give it an added impetus it needs.

It's a war of attrition which has already been going on for more than 5 years and looks set to continue until every sceptic has been forced out of the game, given up, or passed away. The latest move by the head of the Met to force closure on behalf of the family shouldn't surprise anyone.

Cameron has to commit extra funds to this review, he has no choice, otherwise what was the point. You cannot allow an investigation/review to be only and third of the way through, what on earth would be the point of that. Why start it in the first place, you may as well just burn 3.5 million. I am sure it would cause an absolute furore amongst many MP's, and the public etc. if it was seen that this money had just been thrown away without anywhere nearing a conclusion. Do the police investigating case suddenly stop investigating because they have run out of money?

Isn't the answer to this financial dilemma for the Fund to cough up some cash for the SY review to continue. Surely better for these (presumably) experienced and competent detectives to continue the search rather than Kate and Gerry pick more dodgy detectives?

Only problem is, where is all the money from the book as the big advance didn't appear to be in the Fund accounts. Might need a lot of detective work to find the book money before SY can continue the search.

From Joana Morais, some very good comments at the end of this article.............

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25 August 2012 | Posted by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]




by Márcia Oliveira

The Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has suggested that the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine is exhausted.

Bernard Hogan-Howe, chief commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, also known as Scotland Yard, will question the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, if he is going to continue to fund the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

For over a year, Scotland Yard has been re-investigating the case at the request of Cameron. According to British newspaper [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], the operation involved 28 homicide detectives and seven civilians. And so far, the new investigation has cost the state 2.5 million pounds (3.1 million euros).

Now, Hogan-Howe prepares to ask for a new commitment on investigation funding, in comments that suggest there may be a limit on how much time the police are willing to spend on the case.

"We are still reviewing all of the material. It is a significant amount of money and we have several employees attached in this case", he said, noting that "there will be a time when the government will have to make a decision" - that is, whether or not it wants to continue with the operation.

"The prime minister agreed to fund this investigation. We have not had any kind of limit on the money that we spend, we have received a lot of support," said Hogan-Howe, quoted by British newspaper [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. However, the chief commissioner of police states that "until Christmas I would like to see very clearly what work is needed and how long we will have to do it."

In April this year, Andy Redwood, from the Homicide and Serious Crime Division at Scotland Yard, said he believed Madeleine McCann was abducted by a stranger and could be alive. "We sincerely believe that there is a possibility of her being alive", he stated.

Madeleine McCann disappeared five years ago in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, when sleeping alone with her younger twin siblings, while their parents dined at a restaurant near the apartment they had rented.

The case was investigated for 14 months by the Portuguese Judicial Police, having been filed without results.

In May last year, the English executive decided to fund all the steps of a new investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine. "The government hopes that Scotland Yard can bring a new perspective to the case and will provide the necessary financial support for this", an official State communication stated.

At the time, David Cameron wrote a letter to Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of Madeleine, promising them that he would try to help find her.

The McCann couple, who were made arguidos by the Portuguese judicial authorities in July 2007, continues to blame the Portuguese police for not solving the case.

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Tony Bennett wrote:

tigger wrote:As they've only got through 25% of the paperwork Redwood should never have concluded from incomplete evidence that Maddie could well be alive...

Yes, by my calculations, if the Scotland Yard Review Team is proceeding at the rate of 25% of the paperwork per year, then by today (26 August), their review is only 35.27% complete - that is, barely one-third. Could the Met Police, the government who ordered this review, and Rebekah Brooks who threatened the British Prime Minister into ordering it, ever forgive themselves if they allowed this vital review to be abandoned with, still, 64.73% of it incomplete?

Every single precious day allows this team of experienced (i.e. mostly within a year of two of retirement) officers to complete their penetrating analysis of another invaluable 0.069% of the documentation, plus go on any more taxpayer-funded trips to Oporto and Barcelona that may be required.

Surely a productive and efficient police force must know that the crucial evidence is to be found within 5 to at most 20 % of the documents, have those analyzed first, and from there if necessary expand to look at a wider scope, and not waste time looking at every thing in chronological order just for the sake of it.

I suspect in so far as the Portugal cooperation goes they effort was only in releasing the files to Mets but there was no joint review per se.
Joint review is an idea sold to us by the British media. Far as I know the Portuguese side has never ever confirmed the joint review. If there was a joint review it's joint only in the sense each side was doing their own review independent of each other. Each doing their own thing.

If after spending all this money on having the statements translated, yet SY see no cause to interview all the Tapas 9 with their abundant inconsistencies and contradictions, statements that show from their own words they are covering up and not telling truths...This only proves to me they never had any intention of seeking the truth from this review. The remit 'as if the abduction happened in the UK' shows they only ever held the line of abduction, not open to any other possibility. A line of abduction where after 5 years there has never been one single shred of evidence of one...astounding! Whilst at the very same time ignoring statements that a 5 year old child could see they are lies and a cover up

As I have felt from the start of it, the point of this review is to come to a conclusion that will defunct the case in an effort to demoralize the truth seekers so they give up, to stop people who don't believe the mccanns to forget about them. They will never pursue the Tapas statements as they know this is where the truth of the scam lies and will be revealed

jd wrote:If after spending all this money on having the statements translated, yet SY see no cause to interview all the Tapas 9 with their abundant inconsistencies and contradictions, statements that show from their own words they are covering up and not telling truths...This only proves to me they never had any intention of seeking the truth from this review. The remit 'as if the abduction happened in the UK' shows they only ever held the line of abduction, not open to any other possibility. A line of abduction where after 5 years there has never been one single shred of evidence of one...astounding! Whilst at the very same time ignoring statements that a 5 year old child could see they are lies and a cover up

As I have felt from the start of it, the point of this review is to come to a conclusion that will defunct the case in an effort to demoralize the truth seekers so they give up, to stop people who don't believe the mccanns to forget about them. They will never pursue the Tapas statements as they know this is where the truth of the scam lies and will be revealed

Hi jd, so what can we do about it, seriously, what can we do about it?

It wasn't even necessary to have those Tapas 7 statements 2008 translated. They were conducted in English. I cannot imagine SY would not have the full transcripts AND the videotapes ...

Nina wrote:Hi jd, so what can we do about it, seriously, what can we do about it?

There are always ways Nina, just need to keep positive and plugging away at them and something will give. To me its a battle and not one I shall ever give up on, in the end justice will prevail. We are Maddies only true voice, her parents applied to give her away to the courts after a few days!

jd wrote:

Nina wrote:Hi jd, so what can we do about it, seriously, what can we do about it?

There are always ways Nina, just need to keep positive and plugging away at them and something will give. To me its a battle and not one I shall ever give up on, in the end justice will prevail. We are Maddies only true voice, her parents applied to give her away to the courts after a few days!

It is difficult to keep positive when even SY appear to be looking at abduction, when there isn't one piece of factual evidence that Madeleine was abducted.
It certainly is a battle, of wills , and one that I shall stay fighting for as long as I am able.

IMO the McCs c.s. have been using smoke and mirrors since the beginning. Confusion is good, to quote one of the main players. Why would an intelligent, professional LE like SY not be able to do the same thing???

Nina wrote:
It is difficult to keep positive when even SY appear to be looking at abduction, when there isn't one piece of factual evidence that Madeleine was abducted.
It certainly is a battle, of wills , and one that I shall stay fighting for as long as I am able.

I fully understand what you mean, the way I look at it is that everyone connected to the mccanns and in support of them, only have one motivation to cover up the truth in whatever role they play in it (however big or small). Nothing in life is impossible, they are human at the end of day and humans always make mistakes. The biggest force is people power, will take time & dedication to build it but this is the biggest weapon against them. People power also will give more powerful and influential people the confidence to stand up too. Brick by brick we will get there I believe

qoute aiyoyo
"Surely a productive and efficient police force must know that the crucial evidence is to be found within 5 to at most 20 % of the documents, have those analyzed first, and from there if necessary expand to look at a wider scope, and not waste time looking at every thing in chronological order just for the sake of it. "
The review has been ongoing without the public being updated on its progress or what has been investigated and when. How do we know that things are being looked at in chronological order? Same as we do not know whether or not any of the holiday group have been questioned.
I remember reading this about the review

It is understood that key areas being investigated by Scotland Yard – include analysis of a huge amount of mobile phone cell site evidence that was gathered but never analysed. That evidence could help to trace any suspects who were around the resort.
this mobile phone activity will presumably include that of the holiday group; as dodgy as the creche records imo.

russiandoll wrote: quote: It is understood that key areas being investigated by Scotland Yard – include analysis of a huge amount of mobile phone cell site evidence that was gathered but never analysed. That evidence could help to trace any suspects who were around the resort.
this mobile phone activity will presumably include that of the holiday group; as dodgy as the creche records imo. unquote

Whereas brilliant work has been done by others: here is a snippet:

'Strange that Webster and Payne were silent for between 75 and 90 hours, and then happened to switch on their mobiles at 1930, 2000 on 3/5.' Tweeted by Kiko. (sorry lost the date - about 3 weeks ago I think).

Quite a lot can be inferred from that fact alone.

tigger wrote:russiandoll wrote: quote: It is understood that key areas being investigated by Scotland Yard – include analysis of a huge amount of mobile phone cell site evidence that was gathered but never analysed. That evidence could help to trace any suspects who were around the resort.
this mobile phone activity will presumably include that of the holiday group; as dodgy as the creche records imo. unquote

Whereas brilliant work has been done by others: here is a snippet:

'Strange that Webster and Payne were silent for between 75 and 90 hours, and then happened to switch on their mobiles at 1930, 2000 on 3/5.' Tweeted by Kiko. (sorry lost the date - about 3 weeks ago I think).

Quite a lot can be inferred from that fact alone.

***
Sorry, but wasn't that the switch-off of Murat & Gerry at nearly the same time and for the nearly same length of time ... ???
Otherwise, could you provide a link, so that I can check myself?