By Nick Britten and Caroline Gammell
Last Updated: 2:14AM BST 30/04/2008
The parents of Madeleine McCann have told how it was only a last-minute change of plan that led them to leave their children alone on the night their daughter disappeared.
Kate and Gerry McCann said that they had planned to take the family to The Millennium, a restaurant half a mile away. But because Madeleine and their twins, Sean and Amelie, were tired they decided to put them to bed and eat at the tapas restaurant near their apartment.
They sat down at 9pm and within an hour Madeleine had vanished.
The couple speak about their change of heart during a two-hour documentary, Madeleine, One Year On, Campaign for Change to be televised tonight.
Mrs McCann’s mother, Susan Healy, 62, from Liverpool, said she wanted to “shake” them both for leaving her granddaughter alone.
“I could shake all of them, every single one of them,” she said. “You find yourself over and over again in your head thinking: 'Why did they think it would be all right?’”
The documentary, filmed over four months, focuses on how the McCanns have coped and their campaign for the introduction of a Europe-wide Amber Alert early warning system for missing children used successfully in the US.
They talk frankly about their feelings, with Mrs McCann regularly breaking down.
On Madeleine’s disappearance
Mr McCann said that, as the search of the Mark Warner holiday complex in Praia da Luz began, he was gripped by “absolute devastation and total, just total emotion”.
He said: “Everyone knows the fear, fear for your daughter, fear for yourself, fear for your family, fear for everything and that horrible kind of adrenalin: fight, flight.”
Mrs McCann stayed in a bedroom praying. She said: “It was really cold. I knew what pyjamas she had on and I just thought she’s going to be freezing. And it was just dark and dark and every minute seemed like an hour.
“Obviously, we were up all night and just waited for the first bit of light at six o’clock.”
Mr McCann added: “And then we went out searching, the two of us. We were saying over and over again just let her be found, let her be found.”
With no sign of Madeleine, police suspicions soon turned on the couple and the theory they had killed Madeleine by accident and hid her body. In August, they were declared arguidos or persons of interest to the inquiry.
On being made suspects
Mrs McCann said the initial reaction was fury that the focus had been taken away from the hunt for Madeleine.
She said: “As soon as I realised the theory that Madeleine was dead and that we’d been involved, it just hit home: they haven’t been looking for Madeleine. I just felt yet again my daughter has had such a disservice.
“I started thinking 'if they’re saying about us being involved with Madeleine, you know it’s not too long before they say what about Sean and Amelie?’”
She said she thought of herself as a “lioness and her cubs”, saying: “I’d do whatever it took to protect them.”
It emerged yesterday that their status as arguidos will remain in place for a further three months.
On hate mail
The McCanns have boxes marked “nutty” and “nasty” in which to file hate mail. One was a Christmas card which read in part: “Gerry and Kate, how can you use the money given by poor people in good faith to pay your mortgage on your mansion. You ******* thieving bastards. Your brat is dead because of your drunken arrogance. Shame on you. I curse you and your family to suffer forever. You are scum.”
On the Amber Alert system
Mr McCann said they felt a “moral obligation” to improve the “haphazard and disorganised” response to missing children in Europe.
He said: “If you find yourself in that horrible situation we did, you want to know a photograph’s gone out, a description, borders are being alerted and there is the best possible chance of finding that child quickly.”
On the future
Mrs McCann said they will be forever driven in their search for Madeleine until they had proof she was dead.
She said: “We’re never going to get to a day where you think OK we’ve tried everything now, (that) we’re exhausted and need to start living. I can’t imagine ever getting to that day.
“I just think we need to know because the thought of living like this for another 40 years isn’t exactly a happy prospect.”
Madeleine, One Year On, Campaign for Change is on ITV1 on Wednesday, April 30 at 8pm.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1908158/Madeleine-McCann-left-alone-as-%27last-minute-decision%27.html
115 comments:
As promised.
Will be up there soon and then we'll see.
Christabel - send an e-mail with train times. Plat 13.
Sass,
Are you around, check text msg.
Tinks
OMG!!! Thanks for letting me know - that's amazing!
Morning Sass and Tinks,
Already done Sass,
watch for added times! 12 and 2.30.
Tinks
Did you enjoy the day off?
Hi Girls,
Anything new....?
The hate mail is sick - these people are just "bad" and obviously Maddie or children do not matter to them.
Sass...
I thought it was plat 12? Could you please advise a.s.a.p Ta!
Where did Tinks go?
Mandz,
could be 12,but may change later.
Need to go out about 4pm ?, so will be in touch later on.
Well apart from some minor hitches, it went rather well.
Mandz
Don't worry it has worked out very well.
Sorry Mandz
You're right. Tinks had to do something "important" ;-)
Christabel
Look forward to hearing from you!
Rosie
That's a relief, so it'll all go ahead then!
Sass
no stopping it now, even if we wanted to, as we know, it is joint so carries a hell of a lot more weight!
I see to the bitter end the Portuguese police are adamant they are going to cause this couple as much grief as possible. There is absolutely no reason that they should be kept as suspects for another three months, just to appease the Portuguese tourist industry it stinks and so does the Portuguese government.
Something has to be done about this. These people's human rights have been trampled on enough and because of the disgusting bungling by the PJ, Madeleine is still missing and her abductors are free to carry out their sickening perverted crimes. What is it going to take? Another abduction?
I see that the tourist numbers from from Britain to Portugal are well down this year, this means that those with little children do not trust going to Portugal and who can blame them?
I knew that numbers would be down as I have already said, I know of three families that have holidayed int eh Algarve for years, this year as a direct result of what happened to Madeleine and their fear for their own children and their total lack of trust in the Portuguese police, they have booked to go to Croatia, how many times has this been played out across Britain? Many times it seems, as many British people with families stay away from the Algarve in their droves.
I believe the panic has set in within Portugal and the Portuguese government and everything the PJ say and do now is aimed at getting past this stage where people are still booking their holidays.
I understand that the Portuguese tourist board are pinning their hopes on "Late Bookings" coming in, so the last thing they want is more upset at this time, removing the arguido status would provide that as Kate and Gerry may decide to return to Portugal for the anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance.
I think this is yet another huge error, this is going to blow right up in their faces and far from going to keep the lid on this, it will now blow right open and all the lurid details of how badly the PJ have treated the McCann's and how badly this investigation has been handled will just resurface yet again!
This will ensure that next year's holiday bookings to the Algarve will be down too! Well done PJ, one day when they retract their heads from up their rear orifices, they may just see that actually, as a police force they are pretty damned useless.
As for the numbskull's brains of Clawd and Arsabliar/Marla/Ana, well they have been proven to be liars again, they actually stated that tourist bookings were up, when they they were down LIARS. Does it surprise me that they have lied? Of course not Arsabliar/Marla/Ana has been proven to be nothing but a cheap liar countless of times now as for Clawd, well she is just 'cheap' and a hanger on (usually to the PJs trousers, trying to get them off).
This whole thing is just a shambles and the PJ are responsible for it all.
What I want to know is what is laying hidden beneath the surface in Portugal? Who is being protected and why?
Perhaps Portugal should have taken into consideration that the British make up the vast majority of their £2.8 billion tourist industry before they the likes of Claudia, Alsabella (and aliases) Marga, Nancy and Athena etc insult us repeatedly on the internet! because us so called pros apparently, are not the only ones to have read their constant diatribe and offensive anti British remarks and posts!
Also the only reason why bookings are up next month is because of all the journalists their spending their expense accounts, they have said they want PDL to get back to normal, thing is when it does and the journalists leave, who is going to be staying in PDL?
Ghouls? yes probably. Rubberneckers? For sure. Paedophiles? Absolutely, they must still see Portugal as their haven, as still and despite all that has happened this year the Portuguese government has still NOT implemented a DNA based sex offenders register, why?
Is the Portuguese government scared about who will land up on such a register?
Atfernoon Rosie,
I posted this on supertrolls yesterday after seeing the discussion about it on our blog.
Just to let you all know about that photo Pratonthebeam and vile find so provocative, and they say was done by a professional photographer WAS NOT.
I have emailed Paul Grover this morning and his reply came back
Hello ************,
yes I did copy it from the family in Glasgow but i dont
know why it has my name on it I work for the Telegraph so it might
have someting to do with that i hope this helps you.
Paul
Oh dear, wrong again no homework done.
I have forewarded the blog address and the posts to him.
See how he feels about being called a pervert!
Hi Girls!
Excellent so it was a success! Well done everyone! I suppose it was bound to because we know that little bit more than most!
The impact on the village has been immense and even now they struggle to understand how something so terrible could happen in such a peaceful and idyllic spot.
Since Maddie went missing, most of the posters have been taken down — not out of disrespect but because the locals need to move on and concentrate on the new tourist season.
A Praia da Luz car-hire firm operator, who did not want to be named, said yesterday: "It’s not like it normally is. This time last year I had loads more clients.
"I’ve lost about 60,000 euros (£47,000) over this past year. The management companies are all deeply concerned about it, they normally have June, July and August fully booked by now and they’re not even half-booked."
Most are reluctant to come forward and speak of the effect the missing four-year-old has had on the village for fear that even fewer people will come.
*********************************
SHOVE YOUR TOURIST INDUSTRY AND POLICE there a BETTER SAFER places to go to than Portugal..
Well done Christabel..!
Hi Mandz,
My 11 yr old grandson could have done it,nothing hard finding that info lol.
Christabel
Well done! That was better than the so called sensational scoop that wasn't on the 3 A's and the pervert Vile's sites!
How POTB (Rat), Vile, Notdoc etc have exposed themselves as being sewer minded perverts over this photograph, and some serves them right.
My inbox this morning says that many people who read the Vile Viv's post and the others like Marga and Rat (Prat On The Beam) says they have gone too far and people have been shocked and sickened at what they have read on those sites about the above mentioned and that photo.
From a personal point of view, I have to say that I was shocked to at the filth these people read into a child's photograph, a child they say they want justice for?
No they don't, God knows what they want, however, it isn't justice!
A SMALL shaft of light pierced the heavy grey clouds and danced on the ground below the single small poster urging remembrance of Madeleine McCann.
In the aftermath of her disappearance a year ago on Saturday, the war memorial in her home village of Rothley, Leicestershire, became a sea of yellow and green ribbons.
Toys and teddy bears sent by well-wishers piled up in the village centre and a single candle glowed in a glass lantern.
Now the ribbons are gone, the cuddly toys have long since been donated to children in Belarus, the "eternal flame" candle has gone out.
The war memorial is pretty much as undecorated as it was on this day exactly one year ago, when three-year-old Maddie was just a child playing happily beside the sea on holiday in Portugal.
Only the poster, attached to the fencing, today reminds the casual onlooker of the disaster which befell that holiday and plunged her family into the darkness of despair.
But the light of hope still flickers in the village. Kate and Gerry McCann will not let it die, and nor will the people of Rothley.
In Praia da Luz, the posters may have been removed in part as a backlash against the couple who are regarded there as suspects in their daughter’s disappearance, in part because the resort does not want to be forever remembered as the place where children are snatched.
In Rothley, the ribbons have gone because life had to carry on. But Madeleine is far from forgotten.
**********************************
Maddie is not forgotten nor have we written her off.
Brilliant Christabel....lol!
I can't wait for it to hit! Knowing more gives us more power! Bye for now.
Before I go! That is why the allegedly Portuguese posters never mention this - because they don’t know!
Hi Mandz re post 12.30
amazing isn't it? The PJ have cocked this up, bungled at every twist and turn, this 4 year old child is still missing and all Portugal can talk about is their tourist industry and their vanishing euros?
They would do better putting pressure on the Portuguese government to hold an inquiry into this abysmal mess and them force the PJ into line and do their job, which is 'detecting' criminals and not implicating innocent people.
Until they do this, they will not move on and they will not be able to because they will be unable to, Madeleine and the bungled investigation will hang over Praia da Luz and Portugal like the sword of Damocles!
Just what is being hidden in Portugal? i know something is, so what is it? No matter what it is and how hard they try to conceal it ,it will come out.
Portuguese Tourist Industry? Shove it!
Mandz Said:
"Maddie is not forgotten nor have we written her off."
No Mandz she isn't, we will NEVER allow her to be forgotten and we will NEVER allow the disgustingly inept PJ to write her off!
This is just what the PJ want and they should not hold their breath because it 'aint gonna' happen!
And I hope Gonc gets a lot more than he bargained for when he tries to publish his book in an attempt to make money out of Madeleine, a child HE (Goncalo Amaral) failed miserably.
he has to live with what he has done and what he is trying to do now, I think the man is a disgrace to his former occupation and a disgrace to his country.
Fancy trying to make money out of an innocent missing child? It is truly sick!
Enjoy your money Gonc, I hear that where you are going, you don't need that much!
I have read the open letter to Mrs Healy composed by Marga off of the vile perverted Viv's site.
For those of you that want to read it, you can email me and I will send you a copy, I refuse to give it room on this blog, it is so spiteful, cruel and malicious.
Apart from that though it actually shows the author (Marga) in a very bad light and just reiterates that the British that are staying away from Portugal this year in preference to holidaying elsewhere, have got ti exactly right.
No one can possibly entrust their children to a country and holiday there when it is obvious what the Portuguese people like Marga think of the British, they obviously hate us, so we wont bother going on holiday there, we will choose a safer more friendly environment to spend our hard hard money in.
Hi All,
Got lost! I bet you gathered that, lol.
Rosie, if Claws, Arse, Marga et al are representative of the Portuguese people, then I'm afraid change will be a long time coming!
This police force has failed to carry out a proper investigation into the disappearance of a little girl from her bed. The whole investigation has been flawed and as soon as these archaic secrecy laws are lifted it will be exposed for the shambles we have always known it was.
See you soon.
Lol Vile blog is pathetic.
They actually believe they have the evidence against the McCann’s however the McCann’s lawyers are still waiting on this so how do they know the McCann’s are involved?
Even if this “evidence” is in the “newspapers” then it wont go to Count because they would not receive a fair trial so what the heck are they on about – wannabe armchair detectives who play around with newspapers who report different versions of the “same story” however pick the one that suits their sick theory ….lol…lol…lol…Oh and as for tampering with photos to suit their theory is going a bit too far surely!!!!!!!!!! Desperado….reminds me of the PJ and eevvvvidddeennccceeee!!!!!!!!!!!
Ha, I can just see them…..this newspaper says she/he "stated" this however forget the other papers which contradicts that (don’t mention it) - stick with the one that suits! Lol....lol..lol..
Tee.hee bye….
Kate and Gerry Big Hugs ((((())))))- we know you are innocent and love all of your children. God Bless xxx
Mandz,
Hi just popping in, probably missed you now.
Lol, let them keep on embarrassing themselves on the Vile ones blog, they have nothing, zero, zilch.
All will be revealed in time!.
They have lost all sense of logic and reasoning over at Viles (it was always in short supply anyway). Every poster has now more or less been brainwashed, its sad to see the demise of some.
The long and short of it is, these parents made a mistake with tragic circumstances and a police force so knee deep in corruption failed to help them. While Kate and Gerry have done everything to try and find their daughter, the PJ have done everything in their power to hinder them.
Everybody agrees they shouldnt have left the children (but dining 89 steps away did not deserve the punishment of Madeleine being abducted) People have made greater mistakes than that for less punishment.
They will now have to live a lifetime, of regret, uncertainty and guilt as a result.
Everything that has followed since has been orchestrated by some clever propaganda coming out of PDL. People need to see through this vendetta and hate campaigns that have raised their ugly heads as a result and show some compassion for 2 people that must be going through absolute hell.
Madeleine Resort Hit By Fall In Trade "GOOD"
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1314464,00.html
Hi there
Just got back.
Re: Marga's letter - as you know I have no time for that woman. She doesn't seem to have an original thought in her tiny brain and I don't reckon she's working with a full deck anyway.
As far as that photo of Madeleine is concerned, I had to laugh when Diane pointed something out that the posters on the two blogs were too thick to notice. She said how many professional photographers have a skirting board as their background!!!
The armchair detectives are an absolute hoot. They take pictures and stick someone's name on them, choose the most ghoulish newspaper stories, start a blog that is meant to show pride in a police force that has been accused of police brutality and incompetence! And they do all that and pull apart a grieving couple about 20 hours a day! How much help must they need???
Tinks,
It seems Portugal are prepared to let everyone suffer for the incompetence of Gonc and his gang WHY, whats he got on the twits higher up?
Is he in for one big shock very very soon and it can't come soon enough.
Sass,
never mind Paul Grover has the info needed regarding his name on photo.
Hiya Chris
Just watching a press conference about the Amstetten case - nothing really new about the family, but a rape and a murder are now being investigated as they think he may be the criminal in these cases too.
Hi Christabel,
I have been saying this for ages, imo the man is a liability, a dangerous loose cannon. He constantly flouts the secrecy laws, he is standing trial for a serious offence but what does he do, write a book!
Something is seriously wrong here, imo, for him to be so brazen, he has to have a hold over someone!.
Bye for now.
Well sass that is all they do all day cut and paste photos. Let’s take someone’s head and paste it onto Gerry’s body. Brilliant intelligent (not) mature adult thing to do! As well as talk s**** 24/7. As for back slapping child abductor/s..who really is posting on that site?
As for child neglect because some people like to go on and on and on about this…… Social services “work with families” to rectify “problems” it is rare they take children away unless they are in “great danger” and research has shown that children who are taken away from their families do not do well in life therefore they usually try and keep children with their parents – not storm in and taken them away so for all you people who cannot get over the word neglect get a life and concentrate on your cutting and pasting it makes me laugh..
Hiya Mandz
Agree totally. They range from the vicious to the downright gullible on that site. The vicious do the stirring and the gullible believe every piece of rubbish they write.
Glad I have more of a life than that.
http://extras.thesun.co.uk/madeleine/1_year_on/
Don't know if you have seen this?
Mandz
It is just gobsmacking what they say - revenge not justice. I love the way they demand an apology from the McCanns. The McCanns can apologise to Madeleine and the twins - they're the ones who deserve the apologies - certainly not Vile's bunch of insane cronies.
"It emerged that Portuguese police (PJ) FAILED to send Madeleine's bedding for forensic tests. By the time the PJ revisited the apartment 24 hours, after Madeleine was taken, cleaners had washed the sheets, blankets and pillow cases! Vital fibres from the abductors clothing or the abductors fingerprints, may have been lost"
As I have said all along the Portuguese police are useless, a 6 year old could have conducted a better investigation than this.
Has anyone got any ideas why it was that cleaners actually entered the McCann apartment and removed these items of bedding?
Who gave them permission to enter a crime scene and remove such vital evidence as this? This was where this poor child was last known to have been and the PJ allow cleaners to go inside the flat and take these items away?
Not only this, the cleaners themselves would have been entering a crime scene, leaving their DNA all over the place.
Was this just bad luck or judgement?
I know to me this is absolutely shocking, it doesn't matter that PDL is a little backwater place and the PJ apparently inexperienced to cope with this, so I have been 'officially' told.
1) This is basic police work and it is simply too shocking for words.
2) Why am I being told that the PJ are inexperienced when on the other hand I am being told that the PJ all go to university and they are the third best police force in the world?
Yet more complete and utter rubbish.
Personally, I think that this looks a deliberate act, who by? The PJ? The staff? Both? Who?
Smell a big stinking rat here, does anyone else?
Hiya Christabel
Certainly a good summary - pictures were somewhat fast though!
Actually thinking about it, where did MW fit into this?
Did MW send the cleaners in? Surely someone would have had to be consulted, the cleaners could not just turn up the next day after a little child vanished from her bed and just merrily enter the crime scene and change all the blankets etc?
The McCann's personal things would still have been all over the place.
The more I am thinking about this, the odder it is appearing.
Something not right in PDL? Something is so very wrong there.
Rosie
Hiya - I just think that noone was thinking. The PJ should have secured the scene, but didn't. They may have said it was OK to clean the room. I think initially their pride got in the way of them getting help from outside and when they realised they had made a pig's ear of it all, they decided to try and arrest some Brits - not Portuguese for tourist industry reasons.
Rosie it was reported on the news at the very beginning of this that the PJ gave the cleaners the go ahead.
As for lack of experience why did the inexperienced “police” not allow SCOTLAND YARD OR FBI IN??????????????
I hope the public servants apologise to Maddie and her parents and extended family.
Rosie common sense says keep everything as it is until forensic get here and cleaners NOWAY but the police decided to allow cleaners to clean the flat because they had everything they needed. Eh hello….
sass
I just cannot get my head around how anyone would think it OK to go in and clean a room, removed sheets, blankets, pillow cases and wash them.
I actually think this is something that needs further investigation, because it really does seem extremely odd.
The PJ failed to seal off this apartment as a crime scene.
They then allow cleaners in to clean it and take vital evidence out of a crime scene, a day after a major crime is said to have taken place?
Why did the cleaners even turn up there to do this?
Who sent the cleaners? MW? The PJ?
Why?
Anyone here in charge of the Ocean, would you send in cleaners to remove vital evidence and wash it? Would you send in cleaners to clean a crime scene and trample their own DNA all over the place?
ODD....ODD....ODD
And in view of this, why did the PJ then turn around and accuse the McCann's of contaminating a crime scene?
Really stupid, if you go into a room where a child is supposed to be and they are not there, the first thing you will do is look in all cupboards, under the beds behind furniture INCLUDING THE SOFA!
Yet that is another ridiculous and stupid accusation, the PJ bizarrely leaked that Madeleine's body was hidden behind the sofa and that the sniffer dogs picked up scent there.
Why didn't all these people that were busily trashing the crime scene looking behind furniture, in cupboards, under beds, find Madeleine behind the sofa then?
What a complete bloody shambles.
PJ YOU ARE A DISGRACE YOU BUNGLING FOOLS!
Doesn't make sense to me,
How about we open a blog for people to enter exactly what they think of the bungling Keystone Kops Portuguese prats oops sorry police?
Great idea....Any photos of them for cutting and pasting?!!
Hi folks,
I think even the darker side would admit that the PJ made huge mistakes in the beginning of this investigation. To deny it is simply not credible. It is the first time I have heard about the cleaners being allowed in. The Mccann's lawyers will have a field day with this type of sloppy investigative work. Unfortunately their 'sloppiness' allowed vital information to be lost in the hunt for Madeleine.
A disgrace.
We've not been rumbled yet.
Tinks,
If you are looking in, good luck this evening. Hope you don't have to chew too many nails!
A reminder:
The police hunt for Madeleine was a shambles from the outset. For several crucial days detectives failed even to take seriously the idea she had been abducted — a stance that infected every aspect of the probe.
Evidence was contaminated, Portugal’s borders left wide open and the investigation fatally compromised in virtually every conceivable way by a local force ill-equipped to handle it.
It was bad enough for the McCanns that their child was snatched. It was worse luck still for it to happen in a backwater policed by incompetents.
None of this happened. The Portuguese police decided an almost total LACK of publicity was the best option, to keep suspects in the dark about the investigation’s progress. In the first and possibly most elementary blunder, police failed to seal off the crime scene — the McCanns’ apartment — until 10am the morning after Madeleine went missing. Before then family, friends and a wide variety of police officers and �helpers� traipsed through the property, rendering any DNA clues found there as good as useless.
A friend of the McCanns said: �On the night Madeleine was taken there were loads of people in and out. Once it was obvious she had not wandered off it should have been immediately sealed.
�Then there were police officers smoking and dropping ash and butt ends.�
Even one of the first officers to arrive admitted the area was �totally contaminated� within an hour because his bosses failed to secure it. The apartment was trampled �by the world and his dog
By the time we got there it was chaos,� he said. �When we arrive and see our superiors on the scene we expect the situation to be under control. It was like they weren’t even there.
His partner added: �Any disappearance should be treated as a potential crime. It’s not brain surgery.�
Portugal’s top forensic expert Jose Anes later said he doubted anyone would ever stand trial because the evidence was too contaminated for any safe prosecution.
The McCanns hit back via a friend, who said: �Of course the family are going to search the apartment. If your child goes missing, you search under beds, in wardrobes, behind doors — everywhere.�
Yet another gaffe within hours of the abduction only emerged months later.
Police allowed Robert Murat, who later became their first suspect, to sit in as translator at the first witness interviews. They never checked his background or his alibi — they used him simply because he spoke Portuguese. Regardless of Murat’s innocence, the information he heard would have been like gold-dust for anyone constructing a cover story.
One of those quizzed was holidaymaker Bridget O’Donnell, an ex-BBC producer who worked on Crimewatch and was horrified by the amateurish investigation.
It took 48 hours for police to take witnesses’ fingerprints. Some were carried out so shoddily they had to be redone.
To their horror the McCanns discovered another glaring error. The frontier with Spain is almost 100 miles from Praia da Luz, about 1 hour 45 minutes’ drive. But border guards were only alerted to Madeleine’s disappearance 12 HOURS later, giving her abductor ample time to flee with her to Spain and beyond.
Even more disgracefully it was 48 hours before police got round to searching vehicles at the border. Incredibly, weeks later the border was closed almost immediately after reports of a CAR being stolen.
The mistakes went on and on.
A police description of Madeleine’s suspected kidnapper was released, based on Jane Tanner’s sighting of the man carrying a child outside the apartment.
Cops said he was 5ft 10in. But Tanner saw a man of about 5ft 7in — they had simply given out the wrong height in the description. It might have been crucial.
British crime experts remain convinced Portuguese police were simply not up to such a major investigation.
Retired Det Chief Supt Chris Stevenson — who nailed Ian Huntley for murdering Soham girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman — conducted a three-day review of the Madeleine probe alongside other British crime experts for a TV documentary.
He insisted: �The intention was never to do a hatchet job on the Portuguese police — but the inescapable conclusion was that they were totally ill-equipped for the job.
�If you don’t immediately realise what you are dealing with, you can get caught and make major forensic errors.
�That’s what appears to have happened in the Maddie case. This was a child missing from home but they didn’t seem to have thought anything suspicious might have happened at first.
Thanks for the reminder Mandz. Not that we needed reminding that the PJ failed in their duty of care towards Madeleine. Police officers smoking on duty!!! beggars belief. See GNR regularly standing by the side of the road in traffic checks doing exactly that. How unprofessional.
Hi Helen!
No we don't but some do!!
Lets go girls.
Who's got the button tonight?
Evening All,
Not posting for now, just keeping eye while dinners on the go.
See you all soon x
As gonc is orf,I will bid him fair well, P**s off Gonc!
I came across a man today
he said his name was Gonc
he looked so very sad.
I said what is the matter Gonc
is it cos you've been so bad.
I have to leave my job real soon
I was hoping to go higher
but now I know this will not happen
cos I'm such a bloody liar.
I really tried to stitch em up
real good and proper
the only problem stopping that
I'm such a rotten copper.
I cannot eat, I cannot drink
I said I want to write a book
it will be full of lies
the only thing that's stopping me
is the price of bloody pies.
If I can leak a story just like I did before
if only to make ends meet
it pays so well and keeps me off the streets
Off now everyone,
will try and get back on later.
Rosie xxx
Christabel
You nutter pmsl
ROTFLMAO
There are many people who are in denial of the problem of paedophiles and child trafficking. It is a reality but if politicians and the police are involved then nothing will be done. It is easy for the people to turn a blind eye.
Ha lol Christabel - brilliant!!
AW Rosie,
don't call me a nutter, you know I'm not well.
My skyfiretrist said keep taking the tablets that vile takes an I'll be ok.
I'm not a granny vigilante you know!
See ya Rosie!
x
HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN???? SPANISH REPORTER LIFTING DATA FROM A FICTIONAL BOOK ABOUT THE MCCANNS, THEN PUBLISHING IT IN EL MUNDO NEWSPAPER, USING QUOTES FROM FICTIONAL PORTUGUESE POLICE OFFICERS
THEN THE STORY IS FED TO BRITISH AND OVERSEAS PRESS AS FACTS OF THE MADELEINE MCCANN DISAPPEARANCE.
AnÃbal Malvar says that his article in "El Mundo" was misunderstood
The author of the devastating article published in "El Mundo" says there is a misunderstanding... But he apologises
The journalist that wrote an article in "El Mundo" about the PJ inspectors, namely about Gonçalo Amaral, apologises.
"It was never my intention to offend the Portuguese police or Gonçalo Amaral. If I did it, I apologise". These were the words of AnÃbal Malvar to the 24 Horas yesterday.
The journalist that will be sued for what he wrote said that he tried to speak with Gonçalo Amaral to clarify any misunderstanding but was not able to.
AnÃbal Malvar says he is surprised with the repercussion that his article published last Sunday is having in Portugal. "The article is a literary one and has several sarcasms and it's perhaps because of that that was misunderstood", he claims.
Malvar says that he made critics but to the British police. "What I wanted to denounce was that the PJ of Portimão could not do their work because the British colleagues did not allowed. The influences were several and at a high level", he said to 24 Horas.
"Removed by political reasons"
The Spanish journalist says that the former coordinator of Maddie's case was a person with clear ideas about the disappearance of the little girl". His conviction was that the McCanns were involved", assumes the journalist.
Malvar claims that Amaral, with whom he talked once during more than three hours in September, last year, in Algarve "was removed from the police by political reasons".
In the article it is attributed to Gonçalo Amaral the following sentence about Kate: "You did not see the mother (of Madeleine). You don't know the mother. She is cold. She is cunning. She is an actress". Gonçalo Amaral said that he is going to sue.
_______________________
Quoted by Paulo Pereira Cristovão - AUTHOR of the "A Estrela de Madeleine" (a fictional book)
“This happens for the despair of bringing something new”
ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE ANY MEASURES REGARDING EL MUNDO?
”I thought what happened to be an unbelievable thing. But there is no judicial material that can prevent and punish the silliness. I must say that what shocks me most is if the journalist had infact that conversation with Gonçalo Amaral he decided to reveal it. It is completely dishonest. It is like if I, while a police officer, had an informer and after stopping being a police officer I decided to denounce the informant. That is simply not acceptable.”
HOW DO YOU INTERPRET WHAT OCCURRED?
”We reached a determined point where there is little of new to say about this case and it seems that now everything is allowed. In the despair of bringing something innovative, situations like this one happen, especially at this phase in which everyone thinks that they have to talk about the subject and feel that they have to devise something new.”
Hi Christabel,
Do you think this is ones guilty pleasure?
Show me the way to go home…….(burp)
I'm tired and I want to go to bed…..(burp)
I had a little drink about an hour ago….. (or so but Ssssssss don’t ssaay a wwoord.. burp)
And it went right to my head (finding it hhaarrd to concentrate)
Where ever I may roam
On land or sea or foam
You will always hear me singing this song
Show me the way to go home (cos a don’t care much, burp)
Mandz,
you nutter as Rosie would say, but I'm looking after her keyboard so I can say it lol.
She is my friend and I hope she doesn't mind me using her computer, don't tell her will you ?
I've read that somewhere before, have you ?
Hello Light a Candle
Nice to see you. Just had a look at your site, but you don't have anything yet. What will be the topic of your blog?
Mandz and Christabel
Youre both nutters!
Christabel
You look after that keyboard well. Just don't cry because you have let Rosie down!
Sass,
who moi!
only spilt a couple of teas on it, she won't notice lol.
Christabel
No, when she's splashing around on her keyboard, she'll never know it was the person looking after it who did that!
Hope the documentary is interesting. Wish I could watch it too.
Remember lots of details to pass on!
Sass,
It's haunting really haunting and Kate looks so heartbroken.
I bet. Will try and watch it online at some point. Wonder what Vile's horrible punch are finding to say about it all. Won't be looking - they make me want to throw up´. Couldn't meet more disgusting people than there.
Mandz and Sass,
its bloody heartbreaking watching it.
How can any stupid B***** think the McCanns have done this.
The PJ want stringing up !
Gonc you waste of bloody space !
Chris
Let's hope he reads our blog!!! Like yeah right! Maybe Claws can pass it on!
Sass,
I couldn't give a sh*t what that cretin Claws does.
Friggin sue me.
Can you see fat twat Gonc reading blogs much less posting.
Be supper time for him now.
They want him at weightwatchers for the before pictures. Yuk the slimey swine makes me feel sick.
Christabel
A bloody disgrace the police...
It’s obvious the police were too slow so they took it upon themselves to do something which was to call on the media and get her high profile and visit certain Countries in Europe. As Gerry said who else was going to do it? Gerry said people were shouting what they should do like shut down borders however DID THE POLICE? They did NOT unbelievable, unforgivable and another bloody error. It was their daughter after all. It gave them the strength to get out of bed and function for their daughter who has always been the main focus. Kate said when she was made (person of interest to the inquiry which is “suspect”) it dawned on her that they were NOT looking for their daughter. What a nightmare. There is no way this couple are involved in their daughters disappearance and my heart goes out to them and Thank You McCann’s for trying to make Europe a safer place for MY CHILDREN.
Christabel.....hahahah lol....You're on form tonight!!!
Tell you what it is clear to all sane people what has happened here and what is still going ON...
Mandz,
the PJ did NOTHING.
Why should the friends have to tell the sloppy bints about the borders, and Why did they leave it so long to do this.
There is something there not right an its not just Gonc !
Blah IMHO!
Exactly Christabel why should the friends think of this and NOT THE POLICE??
Well said Kate the Judicial Secrecy should apply to everybody..
It's just absolutely heartbreaking and I want someone in the EU to look into their human rights.
SHOVE YOUR TOURIST INDUSTRY AND POLICE......
Alipio Ribeiro,
what a bloody wimp he is.
apologised to the union.
He's supposed to be the Policia Judiciaria's national director.
How can Gonc manipulate these high ranking twonks.
This bloody stinks to high heaven, from The PJ dog to the top of the tree. Bent!
Mandz I am using your
SHOVE YOUR TOURIST INDUSTRY AND POLICE......
Hi my old friends,
Have just watched the McCann documentary. It just convinced me more of their innocence.
Not staying on but will come on again soon.
What an incredibly sad insight into this familys journey over the past 12 months.
They were just left to their own devices in a system they didnt know or understand.
Every step of the way they have been let down and kicked in the teeth, and I'm so glad Kate didnt allow them to railroad her.
For anyone that said Kate is surpressed and Gerry is a control freak, (yoo hoo Vile vv) YOU were way off the mark, Kate is very much an equal partner in this relationship.
One things for sure, they are not going away and they are not giving up. I hope they expose the PJ BIG time.
HELLO Oldhippy, I honestly was only thinking about you earlier wondering what your views today would be. So lovely to see you, please come by again.
I miss you telling people to go chew on a hedgehog!
I hope you have been keeping well.
Rosie will be so pleased to know you have been on. x
What was interesting about the documentary was the raw emotion that was evident in the early days. Much was made of Kate not showing emotion but its not until you look back you see the pain quite evidently etched on her face.
You can also see in her first few televised appeals, she is not comfortable not being herself, you can almost hear her reciting the words of the profilers, Do not show any emotion.
Poor woman was/is going through hell, this is not a woman guilty of harming her daughter.
Hi Everyone !
What a Incredible Journey of Emotion they have Endured. Like Many of you I feel I have Travelled with them and Will Continue to Do so Until Their Darling Madeleine is Found.
The Torment on Kates Face Nearly a Year on Evident. How can Anyone Not Feel Her pain?
Kate & Gerry Your Phenomenal.
Hello Old Hippy My Friend
I am so gutted to have missed you. I do hope that you will come back very very soon.
I only saw small parts of the documentary, I have it recorded so will watch it when my time isn't so stretched.
I was only thinking about you this morning abd wondering how you were, I have really missed you.
I agree with you, the more days that pass the more people are beginning to say that these two parents have suffered appallingly at the hands of the PJ.
The PJ appear to be trying to cover up for someone, they are protecting someone, this is becoming obvious, it sickens me to the pit of my stomach to see this gross injustice taking place.
The PJ gave uplooking for Madeleine on a disgraced ex detective's whim, they know it, the Potuguese judiciary knows it, the Portuguese government know it, we all know it and it is an absolute travesty of justice to see Madeleine let down by these thugs that think they are elite detectives, "defectives" more like.
Come and call again soon Old Hippy.
Rosie xxx
Assassin,
IMO, one thing that did come over loud and clear, there parents have been nothing but open and honest.
It also appears, the PJ went public before even presenting the McCs with any evidence. It absolutely stinks!
Hi Everyone
I wish that I could see the doco as well. We might get to see it about this time next year.
As I posted, I only say the Panorama doco on the weekend, it was screened here on Pay TV on April 20th.
Of course Kate & Gerry come across as innocent, they are. It is their determination to continue that gives a few silly people the wrong idea. But how could one ever give up??? It is their daughter that is missing and they will never stop looking for her, until they find her, one way or another. I would do no less.
As Assassin has said, 'a***hole PJ'.
My message to the PJ,
SHAME, SHAME, SHAME.
Hi Janet,
I agree with you, I only caught little bits of the programme, I intend to watch it when I have the time, but the bits I did snatch you could see and almost feel Kate and Gerry's distress, it waspalpable, the pain and suffering these teo are going through and still they want to do something to help other children.
You are right they are phenomenal.
Hang on Kate and Gerry, keep strong, keep faith always remember faith CAN move mountains.
Forget those people so nasty and evile, they are eaten with their own issues we can't change them.
Just remember you have good on your side and more people than you may think willing to support you.
Just keep believing and we are here with you every step of the way. xxx
Rosie
With any luck, a disgraced detective who is about to get his just rewards.
I truly believe that what goes around, comes around. And for Gonc, it is about to come his way.
Sorry everyone, I thought I was here alone.
What came over the documentary from thelittle I saw is something I have believed for a very long time, me and many others.
The McCann's are sincere and honest and in indescribable pain and they have told the truth.
The PJ ought to be ashamed of themselves, I wounder what the PJ will leak tomorrow?
Or did they get nervous and jump too early and play what they thought was their trump card.
I think the PJ are a disgraced, deliberately leaking like that to try and ruin what the McCann's were doing.
I am beginning to wonder just what it is that is so bad, so desperate that the Pj will go to any lengths to conceal!
Must be something huge!
DianeH,
I cannot tell you what an inspirational couple they are. They are determined and very much united.
They will never ever give up on Madeleine. They are convinced she is still out there somewhere.
It is truly heartbreaking to relive what they have endured over the past 12 months but sadly it would appear they have no strong leads. Unfortunately, the leads are probably still laying around in an office somewhere in PDL!!!
Rosie/Janet
I have never doubted the pain that Kate & Gerry were/are feeling. I could see it every time they were on the news. There was nothing duplicitous in what they were saying. It was only their words that were controlled, not the pain on their faces.
And they are not good actors. That pain is there, it is real. the only people who cant see it, are those that refuse to look. They are not capable (not good enough actors) to have killed Madeleine (accidentally or otherwise) and the cold bloodedly disposed of her body. It would have showed, they would have slipped, and one thing for certain, their friends would not have covered for them. The friends saw the pain and grief first hand, as they tried to comfort K & G in those early days.
Diane perhaps Sky may get it?
Tink
I believe that you may be right, that the answer may be laying around the office of the PJ somewhere.
The day may come, very very soon, when the files are open, and another force is allowed to review the investigation, and with full access to the files, fresh eyes and brains, and the files of M3, maybe, just maybe, the lead they need will show itself.
I continue to pray that the McCanns and Madeleine are not left separated for the rest of their lives. Madeleine will be missing them,as well. She will also need to know what happened to her parents, it for her is also a mystery, a tragic mystery.
Tinks,
this is why it is imperative that thir arguido status is lifted and they are allowed acess to their file, so they can return to Portugal with their private investigators and try to discover exactly what happened to Madeleine.
However, it appears that the PJ are tryingt o stop them looking for their little girl,by throwing everything they can find in their path, this is why they weremade arguidos and this is why they remain arguidos, the PJ know perfectly well they did not harm their daughter, now the PJ are delaying them for another 3 months, it is acrueland sick and twisted joke and the PJ ought to be tried for perverting the course of justice, witholding evidence and I hope the McCann's take them to court.
Rosie
I dont know. But the BBC wouldnt even show the Panorama story here, as they replaced it with a regional story, even though they had previously advertised it was on. And this was when it first came out. And we only got it last week, on CI channel.
Sky might, but only if Sky owns it. On our Sky news, we get mostly Aust news, with 20/20 from the US and the prime time news from UK, US and NZ.
But I think I will write Foxtel/Austar an email. I might also send one to ABC and see if they can get their hands on it. ABC does very good current affairs and puts on stuff that the other networks wont touch.
Diane
Every time the PJ refuse to tell the McCann's anythiung, everytime they stop them seein their file, evrytime the PJ ignore a piece of evidence that comes in, they are hurting Madelene more than her parents. They should think about this, they are preventing her parents from finding her and it an absolute abomination.
Someone somewhere must do something.
It appears the the EU think more about foot and mouth disease than they do about missing innocent little children and the hell their parents are being forced to suffer at the hands of a hick police force!
Diane,
Sky may be abloe to get it as it was on ITV not the BBC,would this make any difference?
I have to go and take little girl to Pre-school.
If I dont catch you later, will try to get on a bit earler tomorrow.
Rosie
I will email Sky and request it. Cant hurt???
Rosie
I want to answer you last comment but dont have time. Will do it later on, so come back and read it.
Really gone now. Am late.
Talking about leads. What is the real damage to the investigation caused by these leaks and smears. As Kate said, Key information is in PDL, if the opinion has been given that they were involved or Madeleine was dead then how much information didnt come forward as a result!
This PJ/Gonc have so much to answer for.
To anyone still about, I'm off now, so much to talk about but it will have to wait until tomorrow, I'm cream crackered.
Nite all x
Hi Diane
You may find the link for the documentary here.
Search For Madeleine-One Year On
Hey Rosie have you seen this Shamefull report yet ?
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jac9wBwp3-F0qQfTE-P-I2fdfqcw
If Madeleine McCann and her twin siblings had been left in a LOCKED, rather than an UNLOCKED room, would it still be "Mark Warner's" fault if Madeleine had drunk toilet cleaner and died?? Would it be Mark Warner's fault for not warning the parents that "small children can come to serious harm when left unsupervised for half an hour"?
It only takes seconds, literally seconds, for a child to drink poison or put a pin in their mouths and die. Furthermore, this can happen in a LOCKED or an UNLOCKED room - it makes no difference. So the point is that these children were left alone plenty long enough for a serious tragedy to happen, whether the doors were locked OR unlocked, and it is their parents who orchestrated the circumstances under which such a tragedy could easily have occurred.
The fact that the doors were in fact left UNLOCKED only shows an added element of the parental negligence, not a lessened one! Furthermore, this aspect of the circumstances does not now mean that the tragedy involving Madeleine McCann occurred due to anything to do with Mark Warner's policies!
No abductor could have entered that room if the doors were simply locked!! So easy!! However, a variety of tragedies could potentially have befallen Madeleine and her siblings, simply because their PARENTS WERE NOT THERE! Pins, coins, blocks, glue, cleaning products, can all be put into a toddlers mouth in matter of seconds. Who would have saved Madeleine from chocking if she'd put a marble in her mouth during one of her parent's half hour absences? Who would have smashed her in the back to get the object out, or called an ambulance if necessary? Who would even have KNOWN the child was choking? After all, the parents could neither see nor hear her for prolonged periods of time.
If Madeleine had choked, or drunk poison, or wandered out through the unlocked door and into the swimming pool and drowned, which abductor or police force would you have blamed then?
Even the best police forces on the planet can not guarantee that they will find every missing child. Even if the PJ had done all of the things they were supposed to do (that you seem to think they did not do), there is STILL NO GUARANTEE that they would have found Madeleine. Therefore, the buck begins and ends with her parents. Parents are supposed to be full-time guardians and protectors - not "shift workers" who have half an hour off, half an hour on!
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