Madeleine McCann: ‘Bad Dad’ Gerry McCann, The Psychic Barber And Drugs
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
DAILY EXPRESS front page: “Madeleine was drugged but it was by kidnapper says her grandmother.”
Page 9: “Madeleine’s family: She was drugged…but not by parents.”
Eileen McCann, Gerry’s mother – says: “I really believe they [whoever took her] gave her a drug. There is no way they carried her out of there without her waking. If she was taken when she was sleeping by somebody she did not know, she would have screamed the place down.”
Alternatively, she was taken by someone she did know? Or Mrs McCann is just speculating.
“’BAD DAD’ GERRY” – Carlos Anjos, head of the Portuguese Police Federation, says Gerry, “a heart consultant”, is a “negligent father”. This is his “astonishing rant”.
THE SUN front page: “Mystics hunt for Maddie.”
Around 150 leads provided by mystics have been followed up.
Page 6: “ASK PSYCHIC BARBER TO HELP FIND MADDIE” – Clairvoyant Gordon Smith has been contacted by the family. Smith hosts TV’s Most Haunted show. He says he can tell if Madeleine is alive or dead. Mick is nicknamed “THE PSYCHIC BARBER”.
DAILY MIRROR front page: “McCANNS: SHE WAS DRUGGED.”
Page 5: “‘Madeleine must have been drugged..she would have screamed place down’” – GRANDMOTHER EILEEN McCANN YESTERDAY.”
“Couple call on psychic to help” – Ex-hairdresser Smith is a “wacky medium”.
Says he: “In order for it to work I need to sit with the closest relatives who would be the parents. Then I’d tune in and see what I can pick up. But I would always warn them that there’s a possibility nothing might happen.”
Best to warn them of that first…
DAILY MAIL page 5: “Now police leader mocks ‘negligent’ Gerry McCann over his fears that an abductor was in Maddie’s room.”
“Call for the ‘psychic barber’” – “Despite both being strict Roman Catholics, the couple have already made contact” with Gordon Smith.
DAILY STAR front page: “MADDIE I’LL FIND BODY IN DAYS. Parents call in psychic.”
Page 7: “MADDIE’S PARENTS CALL FOR PSYCHIC BARBER” – “I have offered my help for free,” says Smith. “I never charge for private readings. I have already assured them I will say nothing to the press.” Indeed, not. Best save it for the book.
DAILY TELEGRAPH page 15: “Police chief accuses McCanns of hindering inquiry” – Carlos Anjos accuses McCanns of using “diversion tactics”.
THE TIMES page 27: “McCanns ‘considering psychic help’”
THE GUARDIAN no Maddie new today.
Madeleine McCann: A Life In Headlines
Posted: 2nd, October 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,268) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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October 2nd, 2007 at 6:26 pm
It’s all fine and dandy to talk about whether these dogs are, or are not, reliable, but here’s a more pertinent question: Does anyone on this site have ANY Proof whatsoever that sniffer dogs A) Found a scent of death anywhere; B) Found MADELEINE’s blood anywhere. SO far as I know, both of these pieces of “Evidence” are simply “leaks” to the Portugese press and may or may not be valid. In other words, it’s RUMOR and INNUENDO, so why are we discussing the reliability of the DOGS?
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:26 pm
571 - Moderation
Keep your hair on…I was only making a joke. Some humour is good for your soul sometimes ok?
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:26 pm
557 Jolie
I agree— my faith in family and friends wobbled badly with the post- suspect status Tsunami Attack of PR, and massive team of super rich backers, and rather nasty spin type talking heads for them.
They are, sadly also, TV wise, an extremely unlikeable a couple. Just something about them that got up millions of public noses from get go.Does not make them “guilty” but sure does not help their cause..a cause now obfuscated by disingenuous Team Machinations.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Stevo said:
I think after Tony Bennett revealed who Moderation was yesterday, McModeration has improved. But as fast as that happened, McSunny took her place.
Do what? sounds like a school report. Please note, Tony Bennett didn’t reveal anything that most posters didn’t know already!! IT WASN’T A SECRET!
I
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:25 pm
564 - susanna
Thanks, I appreciate it. I think going back to basics is a good idea. Finding Madeleine isn’t about millions of $s or £s. Spread the word.
I say let’s do it tomorrow - October 3rd. That is 5 months to the day.
I’ve always hated this 50 days, 100 days, 150 days thing - since when did 50 days become a meaningful unit of measurement?
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:25 pm
558. Yes.
Questions for those in the McCann support camp:
Why haven’t they looked for Madeleine except for on the evening of her alleged snatching but they expect strangers to look for her? I’ve watched the cases of other missing children. Their parents would go out day after day following leads to look for their child and they didn’t have a 10th of the resources the McCanns have.
Why do missing parents hire a PR team within a couple of days of their child’s alleged disappearance?
If the McCann’s abduction by paedo/illegal adoption ring theory is true why then would these professionals leave behind the twins? Or if only one abducter did the crime why take Madeleine when they could have had 2 babies?
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:25 pm
So if you say, there is no hair at the first spot - the dog is wrong. The dog hit on the scent of the hair that was still floating in the air. Scent stays in the air and hangs there and sometimes dries out a little, but moisure brings it back. It takes a long time for scent to leave. Especially in an enclosed area - no wind, no heavy rain.
Even outside, scent hangs about in a cirlce where it was deposited. It hangs off trees and hunkers down in the grass, it circles like molecules in the air. It emits from the top of our head and the soles of our feet and flows out like water. Scent study is very interesting. I doubt media people understand it much.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:24 pm
560 - Thanks that demonstrates my point exactly.
People must really consentrate on the real facts, not unsubstantiated speculation which gets people nowhere.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:23 pm
This is hard to believe, even for the PJ. The head of the PJ investigation - Amaral - seems to be saying that the email tipoff about the former Mark Warner maid having taken Madeleine, will not be looked at because they know better.
Is it any wonder the McCanns feel they are being stitched up?
I read that the email came from the Iberian Peninsula and that the maid named does in fact exist. Whats he up to, giving her a chance to dispose of any evidence?
“”The Ocean Club is in Praia da Luz, not London, which means everything said by employees, current or former, has already been investigated by the Policia Judiciaria.
“No email, above all an anonymous one, which is easy to discover where it was sent, is going to distract our line of investigation,” he said.”
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Maria– hear , hear!! Excellent post, and makes the most rational argument I’ve seen on this site in WEEKS. Very, very true. All of this other theorizing requires such a suspension of disbelief, and ONLY this argument — that Madeleine was taken by a pervert — seems particularly reasonable and likely. I would add that the other reasonable argument is actually that Kate (or Gerry) acted alone, or perhaps the two acted together, but once you bring the friends into it, you lose credibility. It makes zero sense to think these friends would risk their own necks to help Kate and Gerry hide a bad deed. So we really only have TWO reasonable hypotheses: Abduction by a pervert, or death/coverup by the PARENTS and only the parents.
Everything else is probably bunk.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:22 pm
560 - Maicen
It’s interesting that you can’t post anything other than compliments or praise directed to the McCanns on findmadeleine.com. I defy anyone to post anything in their forum that is in the slightest bit negative.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:22 pm
554 - Stevo.
I like that idea.
I have an orange candle I will light at that time.
A few moments silence.
May peace be with you.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:21 pm
The scent came from the boot of the car where they also found hair and bodily fluids matching Madeleine.
I certainly do not think Madeleine was holding the keys or wearing Kate’s clothes when she died. Although she could have bee holding Cuddle Cat. All of it is transferrence. unless the hit the burial spot.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:20 pm
558 - Jolie
In some ways, I wish Gerry and Kate had been off some council estate. At least you could relate to them as human beings. This pair are so detached from reality it’s mind numbing to watch or hear them. Either one or both of them are really mentally ill or there’s some very cool, cunning going on here that is trying to fool us. I think it’s like a chain-reaction. The more they do this PR stuff, the less people like them. The PR is obviously fake now they’re suspects and it’s making things worse and having the opposite effect.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:19 pm
I have a trained Walker Hound, like an English Foxhound but about 90 lbs, and he has had four years of intensive S&R training. He is quite good. If I hide 4 stands of hair in one spot, then move the hair to another spot, and ask him to find the hair, he will “hit” on the first spot and then I ask him to look more and he will make a hit on the second spot.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:18 pm
546 Maria
It is traditional that families hang together no matter what. How many times have we read families of some serial killer standing by their family member & saying they do not believe it.. he/she is an angel.etc
And you are reading selcted CV glowing ref from selected friends -that UK press WANT you to read.They had in Mail about 10 days ago , a story of ” Kate’s binge drinking and wild life” … they had to take it down 30 minutes after it went up..Clarence no doubt.I went to read it and there was nothing but a blank page. !!!!!
You see UK press are not” permitted ” any longer to print the negative sides, so you only imagine you have good CV from ALL ,when it is not all but the selected good ones.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:17 pm
554 - Anonymous
I agree. There’s too much involvement high up for it to be just coincidental. Freemasons or for Political reasons I guess.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:16 pm
532 Stevo
I read all of Gerry McCann’s blog entry archives that were available on someone else’s blog linked by a poster here on Anorak’s forum earlier this week).
He definitely approaches this campaign like a business operation and not a personal endeavor. Perhaps he chooses to keep it impersonal and keep people updated with minor trivia and the status of the campaign , which he truly may feel (or have felt was) the best way to find Madeleine. Theoretically, he may have chosen to pocket or ignore his personal suffering and grief and not expose it in his blog. Notice I say, theoretically, because it is possible. It is also possible he has never felt particularly bonded to his children and does not feel deep emotion about his loss. Either way, his lack of displayed emotion does not necessarily mean that he is complicit in Madeleine’s disappearance/death.
It is the massive PR campaign after they were made suspects, designed to defend the parents at all costs, to mislead the public and to denigrate the PJ, IN ADDITION TO the parents’ behavioral clues, that leads me to believe there is a cover-up.
I think an innocent couple would not need to hire FOUR top-notch lawyers and a high-salaried mouthpiece before being formally charged. I think they would be concentrating on the business of raising their twins and continuing to look for Madeleine, and maybe going back to work??
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:15 pm
I think its time for an unbias fact.
My uncle was head dog warden at Durham High Security Prison. He purchased and trained the dogs for over 20 years. Each dog is given to a handler immediately, and they become part of the handlers family. (Yes they do go home with them).
One of my uncles dogs Max, was brilliant. On the job he was formidable. At home he was as soft as they come.
However good the dog, they do make mistakes. However, no handler would ever admit to it because its a slur on their handling ability.
That is fact.
When dogs are trained to smell, and the prison had drug dogs, they turned up many things that were nothing to do with drugs. The reason is simple, someone who had touched drugs had touched the item.
Tranference of scent is common, and it also applies to death and blood. As I have said, but certain people don’t seem able to grasp, without the factual evidence, they could be smelling a transferred scent.
If you take the smell of death that everyone is so keyed up about, the car could have been hired by an undertaker, or a friend of an undertaker who gave the undertaker a lift, prior to the McCanns hiring it. The smell of death would therefore be there legitimately.
Without evidence to prove where the smell came from, there is no evidence of a crime. Its as simple as that.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Only one thing I’m sure of, the Mccanns must have sedated the childen or they couldnt have gone out ‘dining’ (AKA drinking and eating).
Neglect should be the focus - no good leaving that until Maddie is found or they will never get around to it - thats why the Mccanns are desperate to redirect attention from the real cause of the fact that Maddie is missing - neglect.
Thats why they can’t afford for anyone to say they were nervous about Murat or others before that night. If they admmitted any feelings of risk, then a englect charge can be made (at least thats in the UK, which GP’s are well aware of).
I believe Maddie was abducted - but this was because the Mccanns were negligent and failed in their duty of care.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:15 pm
And to all pro-McCanns out there that call me a fruitcake or think I’m bashing the parents all the time, I have a proposal to go out to all interested parties.
It’s been so easy to forget that this is really all about Madeleine - the tiny tot that isn’t here anymore.
What I propose is what people did before stupid gargantuan media bandwagons came along. What I propose is a simple MINUTE’S SILENCE out of respect for Madeleine.
Remember those? Where you keep quiet for a minute and remember someone?
OK…interested parties let’s organise one through this Anorak forum. It doesn’t cost anything and it might galvanise some people instead of them wanting to call others fruitcakes.
Ideas of when?
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:14 pm
http://ben-fairhall.blogspot.com/
Quite why suspects in a murder inquiry require a PR team at all is a question which seems to have been forgotten amidst the unprecedented scale of the media circus. Conservative MP for Wokingham, John Redwood, asked as much; and was shot down for his efforts. Yet, despite protestations from David Taylor, Labour member for North West Leicestershire, about the foolishness of politicians intervening in criminal investigations, there have been many who have seen fit to do so; provoking considerable speculation about their motives. Reports in the Portuguese tabloid 24 Horas have alleged that Gerry is a former Labour member and fundraiser. (He is certainly a current member of COMARE, a medical panel that advises the government on the effects of radiation in the environment.) It is a matter of record that the McCanns were in regular telephone contact with Gordon Brown; and that, on September 13th, very shortly after their return to Britain, both he and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith attended an engagement in Leicester, a few miles from the McCanns’ home in Rothley.
But perhaps the most significant figure circling the McCanns is Clarence Mitchell, the former senior advisor to the government seconded to the Foreign Office to replace Sheree Dodd. He was with the family for a month, overseeing the five-nation tour of Europe and Morocco; and was instrumental in facilitating the meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in St Peter’s Square. On September 17th he left his post at the Central Office of Information- for which he was reportedly paid £70,000 a year- to re-join the McCanns on a full-time basis. According to The Times, he has been employed not by the family, but by ‘one of their wealthy backers.’ In a statement outside the couple’s home on September 18th, he said: ‘Given the inter-governmental sensitivies surrounding Kate and Gerry’s case, my position as an impartial civil servant working for the British government became untenable from the moment I accepted their proposal. To speak freely on their behalf, therefore, I have resigned my position as Director of the Central Office of Information’s Media Monitoring Unit based within the Cabinet Office in Whitehall… I wish to stress most definitely that from now on I in no way speak on behalf of the British government.’
Sources within the PR industry have suggested that Mitchell was responsible for tipping off the McCanns to the fact that their apartment- and Renault Scenic hire car- had been bugged by the Portuguese police: an interference which resulted in his instant dismissal from the COI. However, until the veil of secrecy which enshrouds so much of this case is lifted- and the identity of the mystery donor revealed- there are many who will doubt the sincerity of Mitchell’s Whitehall divorce. As the Lewington surge gathers apace, and the likelihood of a whitewash increases, so too do signs of the government stepping in to protect its own. Contortions that will only fuel the baroque conspiracy theories which have already surfaced on the back of this regrettable affair.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Vera - death scent like other scents can be transferred. I also have my worries over the death scent though.
We may never know the truth of what happened, and if K&G were or are responsible, the timeline and other aspects are very odd. I am not certain of anything about this - not even the truth of the so-called quasi evidence.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Keela - from Yorkshire Ploice Site:
“Keela could be described as ‘top dog’ in her field of expertise. The trained Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) dog has skills like no other and it has left forces worldwide hankering after an insight into her special training.
At the tender age of 16 months, the spaniel has already travelled to Ireland, Cornwall, Wiltshire, Surrey and Thames Valley to assist with enquires and has made quite an impression.
Keela’s trusty handler Martin Grime is responsible for all training that she has received, together with the National Search Adviser, Mark Harrison.
At present the Force has two victim recovery dogs, Frankie and Eddie. Martin also handles Eddie and has been working with him since he joined up around four years ago.
Keela is trained to locate minute samples of blood and can assist not only in murder investigation but also with scenes of crime teams to identify and recover evidence more efficiently.
Martin explained the reasons for training a CSI dog: “Although South Yorkshire Police have two victim recovery dogs that can detect blood and human remains we felt the need to separate the two search areas. We wanted to create a more specific working dog that could accurately detect very small samples of human blood.
“We had to change the way the dog is trained to alert its handler about a ‘find’. Normal recovery dogs will bark to signal this. In this case it is not appropriate, as the dog would be trained to sniff out blood that is often too small for the human eye to see. Instead, the dog will locate the contaminated area by pointing its nose at the spot where the blood is situated. This is much more accurate.”
This idea has been put forward to senior crime managers and forensic scientists and the response has been very enthusiastic.
In June 2004 Keela was assigned to Martin. The eight-week-old puppy, bred by West Midlands Police, then became the centre of an experiment evaluated by Mark to see whether a dog could be trained to work as part of the team.
Unlike other dogs in the department Keela never participated in the usual six-week course. Martin trained her bit by bit everyday.
Keela followed a programme training her to ignore decomposing body materials other than human blood. She is also trained to have a ‘passive’ alert- where she freezes with her nose as near to the subject matter as possible without touching, to enable scientists to recover the sample quickly and efficiently.
The springer spaniel has now been fully trained and licensed. She works nationally and is deployed by the National Crime and Operations Faculty (NCOF) to high profile murders, missing persons and abductions. She is deployed within South Yorkshire on the directions of Detective Superintendent Kevin Morton to murders and serious assaults etc.
Martin is continuing to develop Keela but his methods are being kept a closely guarded secret until the experiment has been given approval of the ACPO committee.
Keela can search any area including houses, cars, boats, both indoors and outdoors. On duty she will lead Martin to spots of blood so small that humans can’t see them.
She screens textiles and can pick out clothing with blood on even after it has been washed many times in biological washing powder. Offenders can’t even trick her by trying to clean their weapons, as Keela would still smell blood after attempts have been made to wash away the evidence.
Meredydd Hughes, Chief Constable said: ” Keela’s training gives the force an edge when it comes to forensic investigation, which we should recognise and use more often. Martin has developed this capability through innovation and experience, and we are now considering how best to develop the training further. We know other forces are interested, both here and abroad, and we must see what opportunities we can develop. We know we have an operationally excellent dog section, and our specialist dogs are being developed in a unique way.”
Even in the early stages of her career Keela has been more successful than her trainers hoped. She has had a number of operational finds recovering murder weapons, identifying the blood of a victim in a suspect’s car and screening numerous amounts of clothing belonging to suspects.
Keela has made huge efficiency savings for the force in just eight months of work. Nationally since 1 April 2005 she has made savings of approximately £200,000.
A particular example where Keela has proven her efficiency was during a job in Wiltshire. Martin explained: “As a result of this incident 350 items of clothing had been recovered which all needed testing for evidence. To have the items examined at the forensic lab would have cost £200 for each item.
Keela managed to help in just one day which resulted in eight pieces of clothing being detected with blood stains on them.”
The future definitely looks bright for the fun- loving dog wanted to work with the FBI in America. Luckily she has a full pet passport to enable her to jet off to the States where she will assist with two murder enquires at the beginning of next year.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:10 pm
545. Is there a word for your condition? Why do you feel the need to tell us your every mundane move? Incredible!
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:10 pm
518.Judge Dread Says: .“and his owner said dogs cant lie”
No but they do make mistakes
..yes most dogs probably would make mistakes but I don’t believe these particular dogs and their handlers have made the number of mistakes indicated by the number of locations where they sensed the ‘death’ smell. I just can’t believe it. I am open minded enough to be swayed either way by all the other theories I have read …but I can’t accept that the dogs made so many mistakes!!
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:10 pm
529 - Batman
I know what you mean. All non-abduction theories are thwarted because of a lack of a body. Suffocation would be an accident.
I don’t think it’s a deal-breaker though. I think the police in Portugal know she’s dead from the physical evidence and are just playing with the McCanns until they’re charged. I think because they are so outward in their use of the media, perhaps more clues will emerge because of stupidity by Team McCann.
I also think that if there was no DNA evidence, the McCanns would be 100% in the clear. We shouldn’t forget that the DNA evidence is what has made them arguidos - not opinions about other ways Madeleine went missing.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:09 pm
526. No but they do make mistakes.
Less so than doctors though.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:09 pm
521 Jolie
You are right that we cannot know for certain that Kate was a normal loving mother BUT it would be strange for ALL her friends, made at different times in her life, to say she was a wonderful, calm mother if there was absolutely no truth in it, wouldn’t it? I thought this was one of the reasons they are so totally loyal and so convinced of her innocence.
None of her in-laws has hinted at anything other than her being a good mother!
I take absolutely no notice of the leaks from the diary. They are probably lies and even if true, they say nothing incriminating at all, as you point out. People often use the word “hysterical” about a person or situation when they mean “very funny”. This could be how KM used the word about the children, IF she did use it. By the way, who in the police, with an ounce of credibility or decency, would actually leak extracts from a suspect’s diary when that diary might constitute crucial evidence? Whoever leaked the supposed extracts?
If there was any relevant medical history concerning KM, we can be sure the police would have it by now. (Well, we can’t be sure because they don’t seem to have been very thorough at times, but I would imagine they looked into that on pretty early on, regarding both parents. If they didn’t, they should have.)
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:08 pm
But I am off again. I forgot something. Peace!