PETER VERRAN/ HEWLETT.

@ Tony Bennett.

Tony,I was completely unaware of the Police interest in Verran until last night otherwise I'd have found somewhere to air what I knew about him a lot sooner. I was actually just googling to see if there had been any kind of up-date on the Mirror's story of a few years back and was Gobsmacked to say the very least to see that Pete's name had since been "in the frame". 
I've known a lot of guys like Pete,when things are going well for them they're top dog and full of cockiness and arrogance.When the inevitable happens it's everybody else's fault,they're hurt and shocked that they've been turned over,someone has proved to be untrustworthy or more likely seen through them and they've lost yet another friend or stuffed up yet another relationship. That's exactly what I was thinking when I read his tale of woe from the "Justice" site cut and pasted onto here,"yeah,good old Pete,nothing was your fault and let's share our self-delusion with the world."
To set the record straight I have nothing against Pete Verran,I just want to at least try to put the record straight on the kind of person he is.What he's very definitely not is some regular family man loved and respected by all who know him who has found himself embroiled in something murky.Again,despite his many faults,his long criminal record and less than wonderful personal attributes there's no way in my opinion Pete Verran would have anything to do with harming a child in any way,and god help anyone he suspected of doing so who was within range.
I knew him very well and can prove it,I won't say how here to protect the innocent but I have photographic proof,I'm not just here tto trash the guy.I once did him a massive favour,and several smaller ones.We socialised,he stayed at my flat,I stayed at his.Being a bit of a wild boy myself back then he was good company but I very soon got sick of every evening out turning into a punch up and getting dragged into bad situations of someone else's making. Being "associated" with Pete got me into a couple of situations that disrupted my life for weeks afterwards as I found myself being slowly sucked into various feuds.

My own guess is that knowing Pete he saw the press speculation about Hewlit and saw the chance of making a few quid without thinking things through properly.Being Pete he would probably have thought some journo would write down what he told him,handed over some cash,job done.What he wouldn't have thought through would have been that everyone who's name this case throws up would be of interest to all kinds of people,himself included.Basically a victim of "being Pete". It's possible that he had connections with Hewlit previous to the campsite meeting,those coincidences I mentioned in my first post are stretching credulity massively, and again knowing Pete Hewlit might well have been amazed to have been "dobbed in" by someone he possibly considered a mate.It would be very interesting to find out just when those 2 did meet,personally I've always doubted that it was at that campsite given those "coincidences".If Pete needed a few quid he'd sell his Granny,a mate would be no problem at all,an acquaintance less so.

I recently read a very good book call "Hack" by Graham Johnson,formerly of the News Of the World. If anyone's under any delusions about the gutter level of our popular press it's a very good read and Pete Verran is the exact kind of person they use...yes use.to get a lot of their stories.He also mentions more serious stories planted by our glorious governments of whatever party via military intelligence but that's a whole other kettle of fish.

Right from the start I've been very suspicious of the flak thrown at the Portuguese Police,seemed like a case of "protesting too much". And of course our Cops are so much better,how many high profile cases have we seen where the wrong person has been arrested and usually jailed? Maybe the Portuguese should come here to find who killed Jill Dando.

I'd guess with the time that has elapsed an no further mention of Pete, that I can find at least,inn the media that the Police no longer have an interest in him r.e. Maddie. Knowing the guy I'd say that "possibly" there's a lot more to the Van theft than meets the eye but it would be some kind of "cunning plan" to get money rather than anything darker,insurance claim or something.It's very obvious he's no criminal mastermind or he'd have realized how easy it is these days to track anyone's movements and discover their background.Pete has led a life of crime..and he's been caught.Master Criminals don't tend to end up in prison time after time  for petty offences.Not only wouldn't he,in my opinion,have anything to do with an abduction,but he certainly wouldn't get very far without being caught.Whoever did whatever with Maddie was intelligent enough to cover their tracks,I'd call Pete cunning,but not massively bright.He's a victim in this,albeit it's of his own making and I do feel sorry him.He has however lived a life leaving a trail of battered,bruised,used  and misled people in his wake.He was a good mate to me in his own way but I was lucky enough to see that I'd no doubt end the same way as anyone else who crossed his path and smart enough to distance myself "diplomatically" before the guy disrupted my own life even more than he did.

davro,

your points taken on board, thanks for the further clarfication.

I wonder please if you could confirm any of the following points about Peter Verran:

1. Was he dishonourably discharged fron the Scots Guards?

2. When he was out in Morocco, were any of his family members with him?

3. How well did Peter Verran and Raymond Hewlett know each other?

4. Was Verran fully aware that Hewlett was a convicted and dangerous paedophile?


Thanks if you can help

The more I look at the Mail story the more disgusted I am. The reporters were well aware of the reaction to that story and the possible consequences of it. 
This bit is almost an afterthought having already planted the seeds of doubt into the minds of many readers.

"A source very close to the probe said,"There is almost certainly an innocent explanation behind the theft of Mr Verran's van and his journeys through Portugal and Morocco" "

So where's the story? It's the McCann's motley crew who want to know where he was when Maddie disappeared,not the Police,so just another distraction.The McCann's investigators are not the Police,who are they to consult,ask or otherwise get involved in a Police investigation?
Being a "person of interest" is not the same as being a suspect,as the article states just before making an implication. Pete met Hewlet,I'd guess that was the sole area of their interest and like many people they'd want to know when they first met and a whole lot more.The Police don't tend to like "coincidences" any more than I do.
As well as the Hewlet connection they want to know about the van,I'm guessing that was unconnected with the Maddie case,possibly an investigation of a different nature involving a van that was stolen then turns up on a campsite in Spain "unstolen".Again supposition, a reason why an organisation that had helped someone claiming such a thing would sever all links with that person suspected of doing such a thing.In short a typical "cunning plan" of the type that gets the less able criminal caught time after time.

To balance things a bit and to prevent this becoming a hatchet job. Despite his often violent nature,his drinking,involvement in the drugs scene etc Pete Verran in his younger days at least was very charismatic,charming even,and great fun to be with.Life hasn't been kind it appears as he was also a good-looking guy and had no trouble with the ladies.If he'd set his mind to it and was able to lead a more normal life he could have been very successful.Sadly the flip side always emerged and he couldn't do things the way they had to be done,he'd cut corners,pull a stroke or just get bored and walk away.He loved the "streets" which was his downfall,he had the tools to do well in a "straight " job but it was ducking and diving,making deals and the buzz of competition with other like-minded souls that kept him going.He'd bully and intimidate people living on that level but he never,ever preyed on the innocent or anyone who didn't pick a fight with him first or behave aggressively or disrespectfully towards him.If you knocked his drink over and apologized it wouldn't be a big deal and you'd even get a smile and a "don't worry about it",a drug dealer looking at him the wrong way would start the fists flying.He never fought dirty either,it was always strictly fists and he was very handy indeed.Unlike too many he wouldn't go looking for someone to hit after a few pints and he preferred bigger guys or more than one.
I'm not sure why anything I've read about him or by him never mentions Plymouth as that was where he spent a good part of his younger life and where he was in his element.
The "13th step" part where he claims to have been bedded almost by coercion is quite funny as well,Pete didn't need seducing by anybody. Besides that he was with the mother of his daughter when he did rehab prior to going to Dartmoor,as he says earlier in his diatribe,so the Rehab where he met his first wife must have been a further one,so much for abstinence after coming out of prison.Also there's no way he wouldn't have known her history,not least if they'd done Rehab together.
He's not a monster,not public enemy number 1,just some guy who has ducked and dived,made bad choices,mixed with bad people and not always been very nice himself.He's not evil,not a man to upset in his day but not evil and probably his own worst enemy.
The Mail and the McCann mob have disgracefully used him to make a story out of nothing and cast aspersions worldwide given the interest in the case. Is a story about possibly iffy  goings on over a van really national news? Is the McCanns cowboys wanting to know where he was news either? Talk about clutching at straws,though of course serving both,Maddies story no matter how tenuous to feed the masses for the Mail and another distraction for the McCann crew to deflect attention,try to justify all that money they collect and not least be seen to be actually doing something,even it is just "wishing to speak to someone",I'd love that job,I'd wish to speak to loads of people for the money they're on.
Basically,Verran,former small time hood,someone a bit "different",seemingly enough to condemn anybody these days,and someone who's shot himself in the foot trying to be smart.yep,that's Pete.Abductor,associate or even knowingly a friend of same,no way.He's a victim of the snakes that invent our news and vested interests trying to justify their cushy jobs,having said that he has brought all this on himself.

Just found this online,hopefully not upsetting anyone by using it but it was on a forum where the last post on the matter was in 2009.
Given more recent events since posted it raises a very good point,most of the "facts" about Hewlett come from one source.That one source since having been shown to have been not quite what he first appeared.I wonder if the "friends of the McCanns" or the Summers book point out that the information on Hewlett comes from someone who failed to mention his own less than lily-white background and whose own movements and actions at the relevant  time have been of interest to the Police. Someone whose background was also seen of interest. Or,do they turn a blind eye and keep peddling what a very unreliable source has told them as fact?
I'd guess "anonymous" knew Pete as anyone who didn't wouldn't have any reason to highlight the "serious spinal injury sustained in the Army" thing,last time I saw him he was cheerful,told me life was good and strode briskly down the road as he was on his way to an appointment,when I was knocking around with him in earlier years he was a lot fitter and stronger than most,if he was in the Army for 6 years as he says that would been at least 5 years after he left.



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Anonymous said...

I think it is very important to look carefully at the Hewlett saga. Pay careful attention to the former Scots Guard, Peter Verran. He is the ONLY source for the following claims about Hewlett:

Hewlett owned a white Mercedes van - like the one seen in PdL (untrue)
Hewlett was approached by gipsies wanting to pay good money for his blonde daughter (Hewlett said it was rubbish)
Hewlett had been to the "holiday flat" in PdL many times and had parked near the complex (NO proof and denied by Hewlett)
Hewlett left Portugal "within 30 minutes" after Maddie "vanished"

Verran allegedly contacted the *MADDY TEAM* after seeing reports in the Mirror about Hewlett.

The PJ visited the Hewletts at least twice - he gave them a DNA swab and fingerprints. 

Peter Verran served with the Scots Guard in Northern Ireland and suffered a "serious spinal injury".

I think there are serious questions to be asked about Peter Verran's veracity. I think it is entirely possible that Halligen & Company had a hand in these false allegations.