Ben In Daily Mirror today

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-mum-tells-of-new-845618

I have great admiration and respect for this lady and truly hope she finds Ben. Her remarks re Cameron are spot on.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-may-be-buried-at-a-building-site-845614

The Greeks are trying to get British police to provide 3D ground scanners capable of detecting human bones buried beneath rubble

Why are they not calling in the dogs. They can detect human remains decades after, interesting article here...

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/04/etan_patz_search_renewed_can_cadaver_dogs_smell_30_year_old_corpses_.html

At least Ben Needhams case has got front page coverage...............

I distinctly remember that there was a suggestion about gypsies taking him, either that or people had seen a blond child with gypsies at a later date.

Whether this was suggested by newspapers or tourists, I don't know.

I thought Ben was always supposed to have been abducted. So why this sudden shifting of focus, I wonder.

I admire Kerry Needham and believe that she genuinely thinks that Ben was abducted. However, there may be other explanations for his disappearance as outlined in the Mirror article and perhaps these are now gaining ground. There is some evidence that the search for Ben when he first disappeared may not have been as widespread as it should have been.

Whilst it would be marvellous were Kerry and Ben to be reunited, I suspect that this will not be the final outcome and the truth may lie somewhat closer to home. And this is not intended ( as I have said above) to cast any veil of suspicion over Kerry Needham herself.

In September 2007, Carol Sarler wrote a very interesting article linking Ben`s case to Madeleine`s to emphasise the xenophobic nature of some of the reporting in both cases which suggested that Europe was overrun with " swarthy gipsies abducting children". I can`t find that article on line any longer but she also suggested that perhaps Ben wandered off or that he was involved in an accident following which he was hastily buried.

I don`t believe that Madeleine was abducted. Neither do I believe that Ben Needham was abducted. All IMHO of course.

Children stolen by gipsies were very popular in Victorian literature as well as in the very early silent films.

Somewhat surprising that it has persisted through the centuries.

Re the abduction of a child in literature: Ruth Rendell 'The tree of hands' - which has a heart wrenching part in it when the mother loses her child.

I would be delighted if Ben were to be found alive but I feel that this is virtually impossible. I agree with Alison's comments. I wonder if either of Ben's uncles - then 11 and 17 years old - could have been involved, though I don't know how they could have kept the secret for so long.

Kerry`s brother Stephen was suspected of involvement by the Greek police. The family originally thought that Stephen had taken Ben for a ride on his moped. Kerry has always refuted any involvement of a family member and this is mentioned in the Mirror article and in other places.

If another family member was involved, then perhaps they felt that they could not tell the truth at the time because they panicked and the longer time went on, the harder it would be. I imagine that one reaction of Kerry Needham would be " Why didn`t you tell me what really happened, rather than let me believe for years that Ben might be alive?"

Sadly the image of a truck reversing and dumping its contents onto a very small child playing on the exisiting heap, and then driving away again totally unaware of what had happened fits all the criteria for Occam's Razor.

PeterMac wrote:Sadly the image of a truck reversing and dumping its contents onto a very small child playing on the exisiting heap, and then driving away again totally unaware of what had happened fits all the criteria for Occam's Razor.

Totally agree. Though I wonder what the deal is with this not being investigated for over two decades. I cant believe the driver only just remembered something like that. Who knows. Perhaps they were a village peasant and didnt watch tv much at the time but happened to in recent times when it has been on the news again? I also thought this case was reopened last year by the Greek police, so what is the Mail on about?

The case was presented as a likely abduction, so why should he or anyone else consider the other options.
The local police probably just cast around a bit to see if he was around, and when they couldn't immediately find him, referred it up as an abduction.
Sound familiar ?

Good point Peter. I dont know is the answer. If there were works going nearby at the time I would have thought this be considered, witness or no witness.

Were all the building works in and around PdL checked? I don't know where they were specifically but there must have been some.

Nina wrote:Were all the building works in and around PdL checked? I don't know where they were specifically but there must have been some.

From what I read in the files they were, at least the ones in immediate vicinity. I can find the links if you want but tomorrow as I have to go. Dont forget the cadaver dog was taken around the streets of PDL and smelt nothing too. He did in 5a though!!

Kerry doesn't believe her son is dead, so she must still believe he was abducted and is alive and well.................



Thursday, May 24, 2012

#McCann #Leveson : Kerry Needham -"It was a shock to my system when I saw the newspaper report this morning"

The mother of a boy who went missing in Greece 21 years ago has dismissed a report that the toddler died at the time in a building site accident.


Ben Needham, of Sheffield, went missing during a family visit to the island of Kos in 1991 when he was 21 months old.

A Daily Mirror report says Greek police believe he may have been buried under rubble near his family's farmhouse.

Kerry Needham said: "I was horrified when I saw that. I know my son is alive and well and out there somewhere."

The newspaper said Greek police wanted to excavate the now-overgrown mound of earth and rubble on a property neighbouring the farmhouse which Mrs Needham's father was renovating at the time of her son's disappearance.

However, Mrs Needham told BBC Radio Sheffield: "That mound of rubble was already there when Ben was still there.

"I find it very, very unlikely that Ben is there, unless he buried himself.

“Start Quote
Once it is proved that Ben is not dead... then maybe the Greek police will continue in their efforts to try and find him”
Kerry Needham Ben's mother

"It was a shock to my system when I saw the newspaper report this morning. It is obviously an awful thought for myself and my family to have to deal with."

Police support

She said South Yorkshire Police, who have been supporting her during her search for Ben, could not confirm the report that Greek investigators now think a full excavation should be carried out.

"If that is what the Greek police want to do, then fine. Once it is proved that Ben is not dead, as I know, then maybe the Greek police will continue in their efforts to try and find him," she said.
Mrs Needham said she was continuing to receive support "24 hours a day, seven days a week".

A South Yorkshire Police statement said: "The investigation into the disappearance of Ben Needham remains with the Greek authorities.

"Should they request any help or support from South Yorkshire Police we will look to support them where we can and within our resources.

"The force's role is primarily to provide ongoing support to Ben's family, in particular his mum Kerry.

"South Yorkshire Police continues to undertake a review of material gathered locally during the past 20 years with officers also working with other agencies to examine any material held by them that might further the review."


Source: BBC

http://steelmagnolia-steelmagnolia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/mccann-leveson-kerry-needham-it-was.html?spref=tw

some snipets

when Madeleine McCann disappeared, the press remembered Kerry and bombarded her with calls. The attention brought a rush of emotions.

"I was devastated for the McCanns," she told me last July, "but it wiped me out to the point where I needed tablets again. One day I did 27 interviews. Watching them on television took me back - living that day again. And it made me bitter and angry because the official help that they got was unbelievable: the British ambassador gave a statement at a press conference, British police officers flying over, a visit with the Pope, phone calls from Gordon Brown..."

Gordon Brown was reported to have intervened when the McCanns were frustrated by lack of progress in the investigation. Encouraged by this, Kerry wrote to Gordon Brown. It took him three months to respond and his reply, when it came, gave her no hope. "He told me what the British authorities had done in all these years, but nothing about what could be done. I know what's been done and it's not enough. He wrote that the Greek authorities would reopen the case if there was a promising new line of enquiry."

In January 2008 Kerry was contacted by a television director, who was making a documentary about the McCanns. As Kerry remembers it, she was asked if she would like to meet Kate McCann; she said yes, as long as there were no cameras, no reporters, that they could meet as one bereft mother with another. But the meeting never took place. When I spoke to Clarence Mitchell in November 2008, he said that the film director hadn't asked Kerry if she wanted to meet Kate McCann, but whether she would appear in the documentary as the mother of a lost child. "Kate finds the idea of meeting a parent in that position quite daunting," he told me then.

"[Kerry] has been living with it for 18 years and the idea of facing it as long and stoically as Kerry has is a bit daunting. It's not that she doesn't want to meet her, she's sure she's a lovely person and maybe one day she will feel like it. But she doesn't want to face a lifetime without finding Madeleine."

So when a letter arrived out of the blue on 24 January from Kate McCann, Kerry was amazed.

"I thought it was sweet of her. I didn't think she'd ever get in contact with me. I was really moved, it's a really heartfelt letter. She'd wanted to be in touch with me, but had been scared of having to admit that Madeleine's disappearance might end up like Ben's. Nobody wants to think a child could be missing for years and years. If the boot had been on the other foot I wouldn't have wanted to get in touch with somebody whose child had been missing for all these years because it would give you no hope. You'd think, is that me in 18 years?"

Stephen was the last of the family to see Ben. "He said: 'Bike, bike,' and I said, 'No chance, go to Grandad.'" Then Stephen got on his bike and didn't look back.

Because of this, when he was questioned by the police he was singled out. They said that his moped looked as if it had been involved in an accident. Stephen told them about a minor crash a few days before, when he'd swerved to avoid some tourists on quad bikes, which explained the lack of indicators and a smashed fairing. But they weren't satisfied. "You fall off, kill the child, bury him?" the policeman said. The questioning had gone on like this for days. "They tried to break him," was how Eddie had put it, "but there was nothing to break."

Ever since the police questioned Stephen, their idea that he might have had a hand in Ben's disappearance has haunted him. "Did I take him, did I pick him up and put him on my bike, did I drive down that lane? I was questioning my own sanity. It was always there. How could a child disappear, how could he just vanish? Did I forget him somewhere or have an accident? Did I run over him or fall off my bike? I've asked myself that again and again."

aquila wrote:Kerry Needham was also flashed up on the programme this morning - and imo whisked off. The look of long term grief on her face will stay with me forever. I just hope her son is alive.

eta. she (Kerry) didn't have her bottom parked on a tv sofa. She possibly wasn't invited. She probably doesn't have a PR person and a pile of funded dosh. jmo

Totally agree , how humble she is , and to think or even try to imagine her pain all these years , spent alone with her grief , cannot get my head around that

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/papercolumnists/lorrainekelly/4339233/Are-Ben-police-as-useless-as-Maddies.html#1xzz1vwBCuMJw

Never let it be said that Lorraine misses an opportunity to knock the Portuguese police. I suppose that it would be a waste of time recommending that she reads their report.

As for Ben, I have felt for a long time that, as with so many missing children, someone in the family knows what happened to him. I hope that there is closure soon one way or the other.

Jean wrote:http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/papercolumnists/lorrainekelly/4339233/Are-Ben-police-as-useless-as-Maddies.html#1xzz1vwBCuMJw

Never let it be said that Lorraine misses an opportunity to knock the Portuguese police. I suppose that it would be a waste of time recommending that she reads their report.

As for Ben, I have felt for a long time that, as with so many missing children, someone in the family knows what happened to him. I hope that there is closure soon one way or the other.

Lorraine should stick to talking about recipes and makeup. The only reason she remains popular is that she is not an arch bi tch like some female and male for that matter presenters and is genuinely just a wee banal and bubbly. PT police were bufoons? Well it takes one to know one. ow Greek police are buffoons too. How about Spanish police, Maltese, Swedish, any other country, all buffoons, the Brits cant be. The former never solve crimes the latter always do? Xenophobic old cow.

Re Ben Needham, I dont understand the 20 yr delay in this new theory from a witness, truck driver at the time. I also dont understand how Kerry says she KNOWS Ben is alive and well. Is that parental instinct or surefire sightings?

As for Kate Ms and others interaction with her, awful, just awful but no surprise there.


I guess she felt uncomfortable meeting Kerry for some reason but wrote some long letter to claudia lawrences mother for some reason on top of USING little spanish murdered girls face in a missing poster withmadeleine without permission and when her parents complained clarence the coffin as blacksmith calls him slagged off the parents of a murdered child. Disgusting old fart.