Madeleine McCann: The Nanny Suspect, Amaral Policing And Jail
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
SUNDAY EXPRESS front page: “MADELEINE MYSTERY. BRING IT ON.”
The Sunday Express is not the Express, which has form some weeks led with the front-page banner “MADELEINE”. The Sundays Express goes its own way.
“McCanns remain defiant as they face 40 questions from UK police this week”
“Kate and Gerry’s fury as new sighting in Morocco by businessman is ignored”
SUNDAY MIRROR front page: “MADDIE HUNT: THE TRUTH.”
The truth… At last…
“DISGRACE.”
A picture of Madeleine McCann (on the right). A picture of Portuguese copper Goncarlo Amaral (left).
“Police have ignored 250 sightings of her” – and have investigated how many?
“Cop leading police probe works four hours a day” – Amaral’s not overworked and fresh.
“He has three-hour boozy lunches with pals” – Amaral holds lengthy meetings to discuss and masticate over the case with team.
“Puffing on a cigarette and knocking back beers, the man leading the world’s biggest missing child inquiry enjoys yet another long, boozy lunch.”
Good to know that the Mirror is not wasting its time and watching him.
STAR ON SUNDAY: “THREATS TO McCANNS.”
“Friends say the couple are ‘extremely concerned’ by the nature of the threats and are considering hiring extra security.
Last night a spokeswoman for the McCanns, both 39, confirmed that they had been sent what she described as ‘negative letters and fear mail’.”
INDEPENDENT: “Maddie ‘kidnapped by maid’, says email.”
“The McCanns’ spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said they were ‘encouraged’ by the development.”
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Kate McCann will risk jail to find Madeleine
Kate McCann has been told by her legal team that she faces jail sentence if she flouts Portuguese law to discuss details of the four-year-old’s disappearance in a high-profile television interview.
She tells a “close friend”: “I will do what I must. What does any of it matter if it helps find Madeleine?”
“It is what Kate thinks will help,” a close friend tells the paper. “What choice does she have? Unless Kate and Gerry ignore the law and speak out, their chances of finding Madeleine will dwindle further. Better to risk prison if it helps find her.
“Will the Portuguese police really prosecute a mother whose sole aim is to find her daughter or at least, God forbid, discover the whereabouts of her body? Kate, most of all, believes risking a jail sentence is nothing compared to finding Madeleine.”
Who needs an interview with Kate with friends like that?
THE OBSERVER: “This limbo that lasts a lifetime,” writes Carol Sarler.
“The McCanns are said to be devastated by dashed hopes; if so, they must get used to it, for there will be more sightings, more dashing and, to add to their misery, more harassment of more innocent families. I know this because, having investigated the disappearance of Ben Needham on Kos in 1991, the unfolding of the McCann case has felt like one long, wretched, groundhog summer.
“Ben, recapped in a nutshell: his grandparents, Eddie and Chris Needham, moved from Sheffield to Kos with their teenage son Stephen, daughter Kerry and her boyfriend and their son, Ben…
“…The singular difference between the Needhams and the McCanns is, crudely, class. Eddie has homemade tattoos on his knuckles, Chris was a grandmother at 38, Kerry and her boyfriend - a man known, as they say, to the police - lived in a council block. Perhaps this explains why, throughout their ordeal, nobody from the British consulate in Athens once got off their butt or went to Kos to help or support; surgeon Gerry McCann, by contrast, mobilised the world.”
“Arabic adverts aid Madeleine hunt”… “Despite the disappointment of last week’s misleading sighting of a blonde girl in the Moroccan town of Zaio, the McCanns believe that their daughter might be somewhere in the country.”
TIMES: No Madeleine news today.
Posted: 30th, September 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,108) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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September 30th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
223,Jolie
The views were the same as all those published in the papers and by Paulo Reis, etc.,etc. Odd
September 30th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
245 - Dogs find a smell, the handler then has to find the factual evidence to determine what the smell is. What is so hard for you to understand?
No factual evidence - no testimony - no cross examination - no court appearence.
September 30th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
#242 Rory. I read this too about them requesting arguido status because it means they no longer are obliged to answer any questions. However, it really is impossible at this stage to know what/who to believe.
#239 Ian. I too have considered this angle and everything seems fine and even understandable - panic, confusion, guilt, fear etc. But where it becomes unstuck is what they did with the child’s body. I just cannot visualise all these freezers etc. Of course they MAY have buried her, or one of the friends did, but why then wait over 3 weeks to transport the body? And to where? The more any of us try to tease out the answer the more questions are raised.
But…..I still am firmly of the belief that they are hiding SOMETHING. May not be Madeleine’s body, but something. Keep wishing it were just all a really elaborate hoax that has gone wrong…..but then where can they go from here? Admit it?
September 30th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Only comedian on this thread is you judge and not a very good one at that,if how what police dogs uncover as evidence is used and explained in court you are thicker than I thought,why am I not surprised.
September 30th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
In the Sky News video mention is made of a child abduction specialist (can’t remember his name) who was requested to assist in Madeleine’s case. He apparently refused as (the way they put it) he didn’t want to tarnish his reputation because he realised that the PJ had already blundered ….. (something along those lines).
MPO on why I think he declined his expertise ….. he didn’t want to get drawn into the web of deceipt that has been spun around this little girl’s disappearance!
September 30th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
218. K-9.
I am in Spain and also find that apart from the occassional item on the news there is very little coverage of (dare I say interest in) this case any longer.
I’m sure that if asked directly most people here would say that it is a shame that Madeleine hasn’t been found but beyond that nobody is following the case closely.
It would also appear that the British tourist’s memory is very short as the number of young children running around without a parent in sight hasn’t changed.
Finally I have to say that I agree with the view you presented of the Portuguese people’s attitude towards this case. “if the girl, the evidence and the witnesses aren’t in Portugal, if the money and the powerful people (Gordon Brown, Branson, the fund) are elsewhere, and if everything the PJ does is incompetent, “hurtful and unhelpful”, why bother proceeding with the investigation?”
September 30th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Batman,it appears that they dont get CSI in Birmingham FSS either.my bet is that the tests have been botched,wither on purpose or otherwise is any ones guess and the evidence rendered useless.To many people with power could have egg on their faces,if the results were not to their liking.Some one mentioned Opus Dei previously,sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction,as this case goes nothing would surprise me.It would help people to make a balanced judgement if we had a list of questions the McCann’s refused to answer,I read in the portugese press that it was the McCanns,who asked for suspect status,that is very strange,have they denied this allegation.
September 30th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
233 firestar, add ter to the end of your user name.
September 30th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
237 Corrections to typos (because usually I can spell better)
right, not write
Tony Bennett, not Tony Bennets
Sorry!
September 30th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Ok, heres a theory which I think is credible.
A mother (who could be, say, a GP?) is staying in a holiday resort with her husband and some close friends. Its a nce place but there are some other people about, for example a local guy who is half Portuguese and a bit ‘in your face’ and keen to associate with ‘other Brits’, who makes her feel an odd uneasyness.
Because of this she didnt really like the idea of leaving her kids with any ‘local baby sitters’ - it was ok in the day but not in the evening. As she was on Holiday she really didnt want to be stuck with the kids 24*7, she needed to relax, thats why she was here after all. Someone in the party had some expertise in the area of sedation, he suggest a mild sedative to keep the kids in bed, suggesting that as long as they popped back occasionaly to check them, it would be fine. It was only a short distance to a local hostelry, you could even see the apartment from it. Everyone agreed, they could see how stressed the mother was and she and her husband didnt seem to be getting on too well. He was a bit of a ‘typical male’.
Unfortunately her misgivings proved to be right. She didnt feel comfortable that the guys checking the kids were doing it properly so she went herself. The child was gone, her worst fears were realised, They had taken her.
To admit that she had been uncomfortable and had misgivings about leaving the children and about the use of sedation would be catastrophic. As a GP she was very well aware of the possibility of a charge of neglect and failing in ones duty of care. To have considered her children at risk and still to have left them would be open to a charge.
Her husband and others were also complicit. All agreed that it would do little good, the child was gone and wrecking careers and risking criminality was really not of any benefit to anyone.
Nobody could ever believe that professional well of people, especially those with high level contacts and media connections could have done anything wrong. Besides - raising awareness quickly and to senior levels, would do more to find the child than any accusations or sharing of any previous unsubstantiated misgivings…wouldnt it?
September 30th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Mods and Admin
Re the Armada.
We kicked their butts and sent them for an early bath
————————–
Mods and Admin
I know, so we should ,we are English (British)
any PC comments from anyone about that comment, shutup, I don’t care!
September 30th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
113 The Real Stig
Although I disagree with many of your postings, I would have to say you may be write in this instance. At heart, I am a cynic, though. Tony Bennets could be working for justice in earnest, but I would suggest that people be skeptical and think twice before donating money to him. At the very least, wait until the PJs finish their work and see what the result is.
That said, I think Tony’s postings have a lot of merit to them and I’ve appreciated his taking the time to write them.
September 30th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
to 85, Taybie the Saxon - “a few Hail Marys” ?
In general, several opinions on this board here seem to be based totally in superstition; some lean to anti-Catholicism.
September 30th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
218,
The biggest blunder was the reported failure to secure the crime scene.
If the parents believed straight away that Madeleine had been abducted, they would have been aware how important preserving DNA evidence was, being doctors, and they should have insisted that the apartment was secured and prevented strangers from entering and touching things. Perhaps they did. We know hardly anything about what really happened.
September 30th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
#233 should have stuck to twiglets
September 30th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
199
mods and admin
no idea what you’re aguing about, but the answer to your question is
we sank it.
shit my toast is on fire by the smell of it.
—————–
Mods and admin
Someone had muddled ‘Spain and Portugal’ (Iberia) and thought the Armada was Portuguese, then somebody else picked up on my reply that it was infact Spanish as is the question over the Rock. We have no quarrel with the Portuguese.
September 30th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
I got out my brontosaurus thingy and looked up “slur”… surely even the tabs can come up with more interesting writing. To their credit, sometimes they talk about “smears.” That’s two words out of the possibilities below:
accusation
affront
animadversion
aspersion
bar sinister*
black eye*
blemish
blot
blur
brand
brickbat*
calumny
dirty dig*
discredit
disgrace
dump
expose
hit
innuendo
insinuation
insult
knock
obloquy
odium
onus
put-down*
rap*
reflection
reproach
slam
smear*
stain
stigma
stricture
zinger*
Has anyone heard “animadversion” below? It sounds like hostility towards Japanese comics to me…
September 30th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
thanks moderation, ill do the same for you come the 18th i think you said.
September 30th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
#218 K-9. ‘The McCanns insist that all focus should be shifted to Morocco and Spain’.
But they themselves are staying in the UK
And the recently cancelled trip was to the USA (which on my atlas in in the opposite direction.)
And these people want us to take them seriously!!!!
By the way, anyone any news on how Rambo, Arnie, Dolph and the gang are getting on?
September 30th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
221 Judge Dread
Personally, I wouldn’t be seen dead in a Renault.
September 30th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
213 - You should be a comedian.
It is not my opinion, it is legal fact.
A dog finding a smell, cannot be questioned. The dog handler cannot say what the dog smelled without evidence to confirm what the dog found so could not answer questions.
Who would call the dog handler as a witness when he cannot answer a single question?
September 30th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
A couple of posts have mentioned that the Portuguese are sick of all this and want the whole mess off their hands-who could blame them?
However, I heard that bookings are up if anything and interest in the resort has been boosted by all the publicity.
Many people made a point of visiting Soham and Dunblane after the tragic events there.
September 30th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Hey all, shall we pool our funds and buy the car?
September 30th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
The infamous fund is set up as a limited company, and many have observed (and I think Team McCann has stated) that the accounts will be exposed at the end of the fiscal year.
I would like to observe that the amount of information that is required to be filed at Companies House for a privately held limited company is, to put it mildly, minimal. I’m sure that they will file something, and I’m equally sure that everyone who thinks that they will be able to read detailed accounts of where the money has gone will be disappointed.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, there are three kinds of lies in this world: lies, damn lies and accounting.
September 30th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
66 Rosemary
The owners of that villa responded to my query of early last week regarding the apartment’s bedroom door. IT IS NOT THE SAME APARTMENT that Madeleine’s family stayed in–there are two apartments numbered 5A in different sections of the resort. Here are their exact words:
“Hi
Sorry, but there are 2 apartment 5A’s in the Ocean Club at Luz, the one the McCann’s stayed at was 5A Garden Phase, Ocean Club, ours is 5A Club Phase, Ocean Club.”
September 30th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randi#The_.241_million_challenge
September 30th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
209 - Sold at auction.
How much the final bid given the fact it’s linked to Madeleine McCann. There are plenty of sicko who would want it for that reason alone.
Hope the hire company donate any profits to a missing childrens fund.
September 30th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Will the case ever be solved……McCann hire car to be sold
Crucial forensic tests still outstanding
The Renault Scenic car at the centre of the forensic case against Kate and Gerry McCann is sitting in a parking lot near the Portuguese capital and is up for sale, reveal the Portuguese press.
Despite crucial DNA tests which reportedly revealed Madeleine’s hair and a ’smell of death’ in the boot discovered by a sniffer dog, the car is neither in the hands of the McCanns or the Portuguese police.
A family friend of the McCanns, who said they wanted to carry out their own forensic tests on the car, returned the car to an agency in the Algarve. It is now parked in Setubal, 40km south of the capital
Lisbon.
The car wasn’t returned on the due date, September 20, and it is not known the reason for the delay, says Correio da Manha
September 30th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Anyone else finding it difficult to post today?
Another PJ blunder was not seizing Cuddle Cat and not closing the apartment down and maintaining it as an on-going crime scene. They must not get CSI in Portugal.
September 30th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Ade (188):
In general, the Portuguese have lost interest. “Serious” papers barely devote any lines to the case, “serious” tv stations pretty much ignore it as well (the exception was the recent “Moroccan” sighting, which merited a live interview with the Spanish lady who took the photo and who - oddly enough - pretty much contradicted everything that was quoted to her in the British Press).
The Portuguese public is offended by the anti-PJ attitude by the British Media. Moreover, by the fact that the British Media have for 150 days persistently refused to make an effort to understand Portuguese Law, and instead parrot whatever the McCanns feed them as fact:
Examples:
* The “deal”. Impossible under Portuguese Law. But reported first, checked later.
* The Babs interview. Nobody can be prosecuted for giving an interview. Look back: how many times have the McCanns given interviews so far? Have they been prosecuted?
* The utter inability to understand what the Secrecy Law entails.
* It’s also incomprehensible how the British Media haven’t yet realized that “sources close to the investigation” aren’t detectives or even police officers working on the case, but rather civil servant clerks who take peeks at the dossiers.
There is also a certain offense felt regarding the fact that never in Portuguese criminal history have so many resources been allocated to a case, so much money invested in it, when all efforts are met with derision or plain insult by the British Press. For a brief overlook of the points the British Press’ has put forth, in chronological order:
* Portuguese investigation: inapt.
* British investigators: gargantuan intellects.
* British-led investigation in Portugal: inapt.
* Portuguese sniffer dogs: inapt.
* British sniffer dogs: magnificent, infallible beasts.
* Portuguese use of sniffer dogs: inapt.
* Birmingham lab: best forensics lab in the world.
* Portuguese use of lab results: inapt.
A comment was made by a criminology on a debate, recently, to the effect: “the Portuguese police were considered incompetent by Day 3 because they hadn’t found a child who was missing from an unlocked apartment with no visible clues, where evidence had been trampled by a dozen onlookers, with no credible witnesses and where contradictory statements had been provided by all involved. And yet, the British Police, who have not solved a simple crime for which they have a body (Rhys Jones), the bullets, the ID of the gun and two reliable witnesses to the shooting, are considered infallible.”
Basically, the feeling is:
1. The McCanns insist that Madeleine is not in Portugal (and, as per Philomena, hasn’t been since the night of the disappearance).
2. The McCanns insist that the “evidence” isn’t evidence at all, and there’s a logical innocent explanation for everything.
3. All “witnesses” (McCanns and friends) are no longer in Portugal.
4. The McCanns insist that all focus should be shifted to Morocco and Spain.
5. The McCanns declare that Madeleine will by found by using a couple of million pounds, going on press tours, and hiring private dicks.
Therefore, if the girl, the evidence and the witnesses aren’t in Portugal, if the money and the powerful people (Gordon Brown, Branson, the fund) are elsewhere, and if everything the PJ does is incompetent, “hurtful and unhelpful”, why bother proceeding with the investigation?