View Full Version : Madeleine McCann hunt to continue as police get more funds
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 07:10 AM
https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/428031/kate-mccann-continues-look-lost-daughter-madeleine-pic-reuters.jpg
Scotland Yard is to continue the hunt for Madeleine McCann, the Telegraph can reveal ahead of the 11th anniversary of her disappearance on Thursday.
The Home Office has granted the force an extra £154,000 in funding which will allow detectives to extend the investigation for another six months.
Operation Grange, which was launched by the Metropolitan Police in 2011, is still pursuing several lines of inquiry.
It's now 11 years since Madeleine's disappearance from her family's holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on May 3 2007 when she was abducted.
Her parents said “hope and perseverance remain” on the anniversary of their daughter’s kidnap.
In a posting on the official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page they said: “It gets hard to know what to say or write as each anniversary of Madeleine’s abduction approaches then passes.
“Life is full and busy which helps but Madeleine is still missing and is dearly missed.”
Operation Grange initially had 29 full time officers working on it, who took almost 1,500 statements and collected over 1,000 exhibits.
https://www.christianstogether.net/Images/content/658/576851.JPG
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/02/madeleine-mccann-hunt-continue-police-get-funds-11th-anniversary/
The search continues...
kirklancaster
03-05-2018, 07:21 AM
Has it REALLY been 11 years? Time really does fly.
I'm not sure what this extra funding will achieve but we can still hope.
jaxie
03-05-2018, 07:26 AM
I can't see what they hope to find after all these years. You would think most avenues of enquiry would have been exhausted by now.
Nicky91
03-05-2018, 07:26 AM
UGH :idc: they will never find Madeleine
Kazanne
03-05-2018, 07:37 AM
Money wasted I think,I don't think she will be found sadly LT.
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 07:48 AM
maybe she wont be found but we can still hope we find the abductor and bring him to justice
:fc:
Nicky91
03-05-2018, 07:52 AM
maybe she wont be found but we can still hope we find the abductor and bring him to justice
:fc:
it's her own parents, like with Jonbenet Ramsey i think
that are my thoughts
Oliver_W
03-05-2018, 08:13 AM
If she's alive, the best case scenario would be she'd have been sold on the black market adoption market, and she's living with a loving family, the kind who don't leave her unattended in a strange place while they get drunk. Why would she want to be reunited with her biological "parents"?
chuff me dizzy
03-05-2018, 09:26 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1M_CulIDrQ&lc=z22axx2yztuad3dk3acdp435jryefggxpdps30bt1yxw03c 010c
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 09:34 AM
thank you Chuff
that may Shed some light
LaLaLand
03-05-2018, 09:42 AM
The only ones who should receive funding should be the Portuguese Police who were working on the case who had LEGITIMATE evidence against the parents but were done away with...
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 09:45 AM
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/05/03/06/4BCB7EA100000578-0-image-a-3_1525326189413.jpg
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 09:47 AM
https://scontent.flhr4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/31655417_10156313171154931_6459324929908146176_n.j pg?_nc_cat=0&_nc_eui2=v1%3AAeGLcseXaQauuuREmatCLymYzUWgKwtPqK6J xDmx26J_U_N6LvrBYMAp0iTOGj3tde4dEB9xvQjGMI5t7BnIIn tKiftZW-vcSS-9Ozit9onhnQ&oh=bc7833e2a7e4763e5acdb7938b9051c1&oe=5B8EB9C1
Denver
03-05-2018, 09:48 AM
They either murdered her or sold her they are the worst parents ever
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 09:52 AM
They either murdered her or sold her they are the worst parents ever
motive?
Denver
03-05-2018, 09:53 AM
motive?
Money
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 09:53 AM
Money
ok :/
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 09:54 AM
They either murdered her or sold her they are the worst parents ever
I don't think so, I'd say it was probably an accidental death (as the dogs have indicated she died in the apartment) and a cover up for some reason (maybe she had sedatives in her system)
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 10:02 AM
What people forget is that there is a child abductor out there and he could strike again
arista
03-05-2018, 10:03 AM
UGH :idc: they will never find Madeleine
Buried maybe
in another nation.
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 10:05 AM
What people forget is that there is a child abductor out there and he could strike again
Yes, he's just been bidding his time for the last 11 years :worry:
Glenn.
03-05-2018, 10:13 AM
Regardless of what happened to that child, the pair of them should have been banged up for negligence, not been allowed to rinse the case for all its worth.
It's disgusting.
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 10:17 AM
Yes, he's just been bidding his time for the last 11 years :worry:
i would imagine quite a few children have gone missing in Portugal and Spain in that time period
If she is alive then she is coming to an age where she can make herself known to authorities, it's worth keeping the case alive and in the news for that reason alone. They have no chance of finding her via detective methods
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 10:28 AM
i would imagine quite a few children have gone missing in Portugal and Spain in that time period
A serial child abductor should surely have been caught by now :worry:
user104658
03-05-2018, 10:28 AM
If she is alive then she is coming to an age where she can make herself known to authorities, it's worth keeping the case alive and in the news for that reason alone. They have no chance of finding her via detective methods
She wouldn't remember being taken, or who she is :shrug:.
She wouldn't remember being taken, or who she is :shrug:.
She will have some memories for sure, and she will certainly remember what she looked like as a kid
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 11:12 AM
She will have some memories for sure, and she will certainly remember what she looked like as a kid
I'm pretty sure she isn't alive though so were the dogs........
Nicky91
03-05-2018, 11:12 AM
She will have some memories for sure, and she will certainly remember what she looked like as a kid
imagine her living with a better family now, that isn't so difficult bc her real family are idiots who leave their child alone when going out for dinner
and now Kate ''attention crocodile tears'' McCann wants her kid back, well you should've left her at least with a babysitter, instead of just leaving her all by herself at such a young age
:facepalm: the stupidity of some people
I'm pretty sure she isn't alive though so were the dogs........
yes, if she were alive, she would know all was not right and be able to do something about it ... but i think she is long gone
Oliver_W
03-05-2018, 12:17 PM
Do all missing child cases stay open and get funded this long and constantly? For all I know this could be the norm, and it's only newsworthy because of how shady the McCanns are.
LaLaLand
03-05-2018, 12:21 PM
Do all missing child cases stay open and get funded this long and constantly? For all I know this could be the norm, and it's only newsworthy because of how shady the McCanns are.
No, look at Ben Needham as a totally contrasting example.
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 12:32 PM
No, look at Ben Needham as a totally contrasting example.
Its not a competition
The McCanns should be greatly admired for the way they have fought for their daughter and kept the investigation alive
Especially Kate
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 12:35 PM
Its not a competition
The McCanns should be greatly admired for the way they have fought for their daughter and kept the investigation alive
Especially Kate
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lv94g7oou81qhbr0d.gif
Nicky91
03-05-2018, 12:37 PM
Its not a competition
The McCanns should be greatly admired for the way they have fought for their daughter and kept the investigation alive
Especially Kate
https://media.giphy.com/media/12msOFU8oL1eww/giphy.gif
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 12:38 PM
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lv94g7oou81qhbr0d.gif
https://cdn.images.dailystar.co.uk/dynamic/1/photos/431000/620x/Madeleine_Kate_McCann_Praia_da_Luz_BBC-377012.jpg
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 03:15 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1M_CulIDrQ&lc=z22axx2yztuad3dk3acdp435jryefggxpdps30bt1yxw03c 010c
Watching it at the moment. Its very good
Denver
03-05-2018, 03:21 PM
Its not a competition
The McCanns should be greatly admired for the way they have fought for their daughter and kept the investigation alive
Especially Kate
Ben's mum has done more the they ever will and gets little to no credit she is a true inspiration to parents with missing children
Denver
03-05-2018, 03:21 PM
Surprised Kate has never done CBB
Glenn.
03-05-2018, 03:21 PM
Its not a competition
The McCanns should be greatly admired for the way they have fought for their daughter and kept the investigation alive
Especially Kate
Greatly admired? Is this a joke?
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 03:22 PM
Ben's mum has done more the they ever will and gets little to no credit she is a true inspiration to parents with missing children
Yeah, you can actually see and hear the heart break in that poor woman. :(
user104658
03-05-2018, 03:26 PM
Greatly admired? Is this a joke?
LT has a weird emotional attachment to pictures of Kate McCann looking sad.
...but yes, mostly it is a several-year-long mild trolling. At this point I honestly admire his commitment, though :clap1:
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 03:39 PM
i would imagine quite a few children have gone missing in Portugal and Spain in that time period
Ha, just finished watching the video Chuff posted and the last question the reporter asked the Portuguese Police was how many children have gone missing in the last 10 years.......his answer..............None :hee:
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 03:43 PM
Greatly admired? Is this a joke?
The only joke would be if one thought that their opinion was the only one that was correct
:thumbs:
meanwhile I will stick with that of Scotland Yard and not you tube
Parmy
03-05-2018, 03:46 PM
It will be that famous bloke who lived nearby.
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 03:47 PM
Ha, just finished watching the video Chuff posted and the last question the reporter asked the Portuguese Police was how many children have gone missing in the last 10 years.......his answer..............None :hee:
do you know how many went missing the 10 years prior to the Mccann abduction?
or the failed child snatches in Portugal and Spain in the last 10?
Probably the high profile Mccann case has saved countless young lives in both countries and in the UK and beyond
http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=3542.0
the above link discusses this
Nicky91
03-05-2018, 03:47 PM
It will be that famous bloke who lived nearby.
yep, he saw parents going away for dinner then he broke in and took madeleine
Parmy
03-05-2018, 03:49 PM
yep, he saw parents going away for dinner then he broke in and took madeleine
Probably paid someone to provide him with a child.
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 03:51 PM
LT has a weird emotional attachment to pictures of Kate McCann looking sad.
...but yes, mostly it is a several-year-long mild trolling. At this point I honestly admire his commitment, though :clap1:
Another member who loves to think they can read minds
I take it that it gives a feeling of superiority to bolster an inner crisis of confidence?
Then again not being a mind reader
i just dont know :shrug:
Nicky91
03-05-2018, 03:53 PM
Probably paid someone to provide him with a child.
yeah we now have the same sort of story here in holland, a rich indian guy paid someone to kidnap his daughter from his ex wife and take her back to india
and now he has ordered the police to arrest his ex wife if she sets foot in india
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 04:04 PM
It will be that famous bloke who lived nearby.
Clement Freud mmmm that connection is very odd
The Slim Reaper
03-05-2018, 04:04 PM
I always believed the McCanns version of events until I saw this statement analysis. The bloke asking the questions is an insane conspiracy nut, but Peter Hyatt is more than credible. He gets some things wrong because of certain vocal differences in the slang British people use, but definitely worth a watch.
uS6ucYudNAo
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 04:08 PM
I always believed the McCanns version of events until I saw this statement analysis. The bloke asking the questions is an insane conspiracy nut, but Peter Hyatt is more than credible. He gets some things wrong because of certain vocal differences in the slang British people use, but definitely worth a watch.
uS6ucYudNAo
Yes that's a really interesting watch. Some thing often pointed out as well is how the McCanns never ever talk about how Madeline might be feeling ie scared, lonely, sad etc even in Kates book she only describes how she might look and when they're talking about her from before she "disappeared" they always seemed to focus on what she looked like aswell which is really weird I think
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 04:10 PM
Yes that's a really interesting watch. Some thing often pointed out as well is how the McCanns never ever talk about how Madeline might be feeling ie scared, lonely, sad etc even in Kates book she only describes how she might look and when they're talking about her from before she "disappeared" they always seemed to focus on what she looked like aswell which is really weird I think
I expect that is on the advice of police
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 04:13 PM
I expect that is on the advice of police
They were advised by Police just after she "disappeared" not to focus on her eye defect as it might endanger her life and they ignored that advice and got posters made up completely focusing on the eye defect..........
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 04:17 PM
They were advised by Police just after she "disappeared" not to focus on her eye defect as it might endanger her life and they ignored that advice and got posters made up completely focusing on the eye defect..........
there were many things done in desperation after the abduction as i am sure as a parent you can understand
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 04:20 PM
there were many things done in desperation after the abduction as i am sure as a parent you can understand
Not that no, if Police tell you that doing a particular thing may endanger your child's life, I would not be doing it. i can say that with certainty
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 04:21 PM
Not that no, if Police tell you that doing a particular thing may endanger your child's life, I would not be doing it. i can say that with certainty
i am afraid you cant as you have never been in that situation. Do you have evidence that the UK police advised that specifically, I am sure you do.
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 04:27 PM
i am afraid you cant as you have never been in that situation. Do you have evidence that the UK police advised that specifically, I am sure you do.
This happened in Portugal LT not the UK, clearly I meant the Portuguese Police but you knew that didn't you. The UK Police seem completely incompetent with their input, atleast the PJ had a couple of suspects
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 04:42 PM
This happened in Portugal LT not the UK, clearly I meant the Portuguese Police but you knew that didn't you. The UK Police seem completely incompetent with their input, atleast the PJ had a couple of suspects
Then I expect the McCanns did not trust the bungling Portuguese Police, dont blame them tbh.
Glenn.
03-05-2018, 04:46 PM
You’d think they’d be grateful for any help they could get considering it was their fault their child went ‘missing’.
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 05:02 PM
Then I expect the McCanns did not trust the bungling Portuguese Police, dont blame them tbh.So in one breath you scoff at those questioning one set of Police while simultaneously scoffing at another set of Police. Hilarious.
Withano
03-05-2018, 05:03 PM
Meanwhile, we all know the McCanns did it and there’s never been enough evidence for it.
Crimson Dynamo
03-05-2018, 05:11 PM
So in one breath you scoff at those questioning one set of Police while simultaneously scoffing at another set of Police. Hilarious.
well if all police forces were the same I could see your point
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 05:15 PM
well if all police forces were the same I could see your pointAnd you decide which Police forces are good and which are bad? Got it [emoji6]
Niamh.
03-05-2018, 05:15 PM
Meanwhile, we all know the McCanns did it and there’s never been enough evidence for it.Which is the exact conclusion the Portuguese police arrived at
user104658
03-05-2018, 06:25 PM
Another member who loves to think they can read minds
I take it that it gives a feeling of superiority to bolster an inner crisis of confidence?
I see you used your time away to study some pop psychology textbooks LT. Time well spent :hehe:.
Marsh.
03-05-2018, 06:51 PM
there were many things done in desperation after the abduction as i am sure as a parent you can understand
As a parent... when you're told something could endanger your child's life, you do it anyway?
Greg!
03-05-2018, 06:51 PM
Hopefully this extra money is going towards gathering evidence against the parents but I doubt it
Crimson Dynamo
04-05-2018, 08:53 AM
'I cannot hold you, yet I do': Kate McCann reads heart-breaking poem at vigil marking 11 years since her daughter Maddie disappeared
Parents of Madeleine McCann mark the 11th anniversary of their daughter's disappearance from Portugal
Brave Kate and Gerry cling to a glimmer of hope Maddie could still be alive despite no trace of her being found
At vigil in their home town of Rothley, Leicestershire, Kate read a poem that began: 'I cannot hold you, yet I do'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/05/03/22/4BD0D7D900000578-5685683-Kate_McCann_at_the_ceremony_for_her_missing_daught er_in_her_home-a-14_1525384735319.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/05/03/22/4BD0DA3800000578-5685683-Kate_and_Gerry_McCann_attend_an_outdoor_gathering_ in_their_home_-a-15_1525384745302.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/05/03/23/4BD0C8CE00000578-5685683-A_computerised_image_of_what_police_believe_Madeli ne_McCann_will-a-17_1525384956974.jpg
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5685683/Madeleine-McCanns-parents-insist-hope-perseverance-remain.html
Nicky91
04-05-2018, 09:03 AM
that grin on Kate her face, sorry but smiling at something serious like this :suspect:
Niamh.
04-05-2018, 10:13 AM
Maddie: Did the BBC bend the truth?
On the night Madeleine McCann disappeared, an Irish tourist saw a man with a child matching her description near the McCann apartment. His testimony could prove vital to the world’s most famous missing person case, especially since the man he saw that night has never come forward
On a cold May night in 2007, Martin Smith and his family were walking home after an evening out in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz. A retired businessman from Drogheda, Co Louth, he co-owned an apartment there and was a regular visitor to the Algarve town.
The crowds of summer had yet to arrive and the normally bustling streets of the old quarter lay quiet. It was approaching 10pm when some members of the family of nine were suddenly struck by the sight of a man walking quickly towards them holding a small child uncomfortably in his arms.
As he passed close by them on the narrow street, the child appeared to be in a deep sleep, her head placed over his shoulder and arms suspended down her body.
She was blonde, aged around four and wearing pyjamas. Despite the chill in the air, her feet were bare. Martin and his daughter Aoife noted that her skin was very white. The man carrying the girl was middle-aged and more formally dressed than the average tourist, in beige trousers and a dark blazer-like top.
A member of Martin’s family made a comment towards him that the child was sleeping but he did not respond or make eye contact, keeping his head down as he hurriedly headed in the direction of the coast.
At the time, Martin did not realise the sighting had the potential to change the course of the world’s most high-profile missing-person case.
The following morning, he got a text from his daughter in Ireland to tell him that a three-year old girl had gone missing in the resort. The approximate time frame and location he had witnessed the man and child appeared to match.
By now, the mystery of what happened to Madeleine McCann was beginning to grip the world. Martin brought his mind back to the evening before and wondered if the child he saw could have been her. The girl certainly matched Madeleine’s description and the sighting had taken place at Rua da Escola Primaria, just 500 yards from the McCanns’ apartment. In time, Martin would become convinced he was correct.
Over a decade has passed since Madeleine McCann went missing on May 3, 2007 yet the case of the British three-year-old remains mired in more questions than answers. The mainstream media, who have by and large backed Gerry and Kate McCann’s version of events with the support of several A-list celebrities and politicians, appear to have lost interest in a story they once could not get enough of.
The very opposite is true on social media. The internet swirls with allegations and theories that the McCann story is littered with holes and does not stack up. Countless videos have been posted on YouTube by armchair detectives challenging the parents’ seemingly at times bizarre behaviour, in particular their reactions in certain interviews when the finger of blame shifts towards them.
Some are compelling to watch and have highlighted what appear to be discrepancies and confusion in certain accounts given by the McCanns and some of their friends about what happened in the period before and after Madeleine disappeared.
“It was like watching an action replay”
Gerry McCann, a consultant cardiologist from Scotland, and his Liverpool wife Kate, a GP and anaesthetist, said they had put their daughter and two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie to bed at around 7pm, had drinks together for almost an hour and then left the children alone to go to a tapas bar 50 yards from their apartment. There they met seven friends with whom they were on holiday. They told police that they and their friends checked on the children every half hour.
Gerry said he went to the apartment at 9.05pm and all the children were sleeping soundly. He said Madeleine was lying on her left-hand side in exactly the same position she was in when they had left her.
At 9.25pm, his friend, Dr Matthew Oldfield told police he went to check on the McCann children. He said afterwards he could not be certain that he saw Madeleine on that check.
Kate McCann said she went back to the apartment at around 10pm, entering through the patio doors that they had left unlocked. She said she noticed that the door of the children’s bedroom was “completely open” and that the window was also open and the shutters raised. She said she scoured the apartment, then left the twins asleep in their beds before running back to her friends in the tapas bar and claiming Madeleine had been taken. At 10.41pm, her disappearance from Apartment 5A of the Ocean Club resort was reported to police by hotel staff.
Overnight the story made headlines around the world. Several days after Madeleine disappeared, the Smith family flew back home, but the sighting remained at the back of Martin’s mind. He discussed it with his wife Mary, son Peter and daughter Aoife who were with him that night.
When they tallied the time and location, and the fact that the man they had seen had come from the direction of the Ocean Club complex where the McCanns were staying, they were convinced that it could have been Madeleine they had seen.
They decided to inform investigating police, and at the end of May 2007, Martin, Aoife and Peter flew back out to Portugal to make statements. They gave similar accounts of the man they had witnessed: average build, short brown hair, beige trousers; and the child: blonde, around four, and wearing pyjamas.
As the summer passed, the mystery of what happened to Madeleine McCann continued to perplex the world but life returned to normal for the Smiths. Then one Sunday evening in September, it came back to haunt Martin again. He was sitting at home watching TV when a report came on the BBC ‘News at Ten’ about the McCanns’ return to Britain. As he watched Gerry coming down the steps of the plane, carrying his two-year-old son in his arms, Martin was gripped by what he had just seen and described the experience as watching “an action replay” in his mind.
He was instantly brought back to the night of May 3 in Praia da Luz. Something about the way Gerry was holding the child in his arms and the way he put his head down seemed shockingly similar to the man he had seen in Portugal the night Madeleine went missing. He said it hit him like a “bolt from the blue”. He watched the clip again on different news channels reinforcing his belief that he was not mistaken.
During this period, Martin had difficulty sleeping and felt sick with anxiety. He contacted the Garda and informed them of what had happened.
He told them he was 60-80% sure the man he saw carrying the child that night was Gerry McCann. His wife Mary felt the same way.
Irish officers found him credible. A local garda who interviewed him on behalf of the Portuguese authorities described him as a genuine, decent man who did not want to court the press or seek publicity.
But while Martin’s evidence seemed compelling, independent and without motivation, much to his frustration, it was not given the attention it seemed to deserve.
Almost a year after he made his initial statement to police, he was approached by private detectives working for the McCanns and asked to make e-fits (electronic facial identification images), of the man he had seen the night Madeleine disappeared.
The McCanns say they gave these pictures to the police at the time but chose not to publicise them. Instead they remained focused on another sighting by their friend Jane Tanner, one of the so-called Tapas Seven group of friends who had been on holiday with the couple and who dined with them the evening Madeleine disappeared.
She claimed to have seen a man carrying a child away from their apartment complex at around 9.20pm, but in the opposite direction to the man allegedly seen by the Smiths.
https://i0.wp.com/www.villagemagazine.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IMG_4581.jpg?resize=350%2C330&ssl=1
However, more than six years later, in 2013, the Metropolitan police announced that a British tourist had come forward to say he could have been the man she had seen as he carried his daughter home from the Ocean Club late night creche.
The Tanner sighting was about to be dismissed. The Met would switch their attention to the man seen by the Smiths. The e-fit images were finally released and the then chief investigating officer Andy Redwood said the timeline leading up to Madeleine’s disappearance was being rewritten, especially the 90 minutes between 8.30pm, when the McCanns left their children to go to the restaurant and 10pm, when they discovered their daughter missing.
A reward of £20,000 was offered to anyone who could assist with the investigation. But then the story of the Smith sighting took another bizarre twist as allegations emerged in the media that the family had retracted their statements. The public were being told that this potentially critical development was just another red herring.
The BBC even went as far as to make this claim. In a ‘Panorama’ programme broadcast in May 2017 to mark the tenth anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance, presenter Richard Bilton told viewers that the Smiths had changed their mind about seeing Gerry McCann and now believed they had seen someone else.
In recent weeks, I have spoken to Martin Smith at his home in Drogheda. He told me he continues to stand by everything he said to police in 2007. At no point did he withdraw his statement or change his mind about the sighting.
https://i2.wp.com/www.villagemagazine.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/efit.jpg?resize=350%2C351&ssl=1
He is frustrated by media claims that he now says he was mistaken; and remains “60-80 per cent” convinced that the man he saw that night was Gerry McCann.
After the BBC programme was broadcast, Martin contacted ‘Panorama’ and informed them of their inaccuracy. But the broadcaster failed to correct the record despite its public service remit.
Last month, I asked the BBC why they had wrongly suggested the Smith sighting had been withdrawn and if they were willing to correct their error at this late stage.
I received a reply acknowledging that they had indeed broadcast an inaccuracy. They agreed to update the ‘Panorama’ programme on their iPlayer to reflect the correction. They say the mistake was made in good faith but they have failed to explain how they came to make such a fundamental error and why they did not check if their story about the Smiths was correct before they aired the programme.
Former Scotland Yard murder detective Colin Sutton is one of a number of experienced officers who believe the Smith sighting is one of the most important pieces of evidence available to the investigation.
According to media reports, Sutton had been tipped to head up the new probe by British police in 2010. He claims he received a call shortly after these reports from a high-ranking friend in the Met who warned him not to take on the job as he would not be happy being told what he could and could not look at.
Several aspects of the new investigation perplex him including the apparent decision by Operation Grange not to question Gerry and Kate McCann or their friends again.
“Looking at the background to the whole case again, inconvenient suggestions like the Smith sightings, have been dismissed on a number of occasions”, he says:
“When someone comes forward like that, it must be taken very seriously. It wasn’t just a throwaway phone call. It was something quite specific. The fact that Mr Smith’s memory was triggered by seeing Gerry Mc Cann carrying the child down the steps of the plane is quite relevant because I think that is how the mind works. It is a trigger I would take quite seriously.”
“I can see no reason why Martin Smith would make up these claims. He has nothing to gain from doing so”.
https://villagemagazine.ie/index.php/2018/02/maddie-did-the-bbc-bend-the-truth/
Crimson Dynamo
04-05-2018, 10:18 AM
Top comment for that "article" says it all
I find this implausible. Eye witness testimony is notoriously unreliable. To suddenly 'remember' the appearance of someone you passed in the dark days after the event when the couple had been plastered all over the TV. Not buying it. The Smiths are likely in thrall to false memories. If the parents had done something to the child I doubt they could have disposed of the body so completely. And I doubt they would have endevoured to stay in the public eye so long. They have suffered enough and these articles are little more than casual cruelty.
thesheriff443
04-05-2018, 10:24 AM
Top comment for that "article" says it all
I find this implausible. Eye witness testimony is notoriously unreliable. To suddenly 'remember' the appearance of someone you passed in the dark days after the event when the couple had been plastered all over the TV. Not buying it. The Smiths are likely in thrall to false memories. If the parents had done something to the child I doubt they could have disposed of the body so completely. And I doubt they would have endevoured to stay in the public eye so long. They have suffered enough and these articles are little more than casual cruelty.
They where searching for Madeline at one point and found a man that been missing dead in a well a long time after he went missing
thesheriff443
04-05-2018, 10:26 AM
In this country the person who reports a murder is a suspect.
The Slim Reaper
04-05-2018, 01:53 PM
In this country the person who reports a murder is a suspect.
You make it sound like that's a crazy idea, but it depends on the situation. Statistically people being harmed (whatever form of violence) are harmed by people they know or are related to. It would be negligent for anyone investigating a crime to not start at the beginning and work with the information they've got.
If I reported my gf missing, I would fully expect to be their initial suspect. Investigations have to start somewhere, and starting with the last person to see or speak to the missing person is exactly where I'd want the police to start looking.
thesheriff443
04-05-2018, 02:00 PM
You make it sound like that's a crazy idea, but it depends on the situation. Statistically people being harmed (whatever form of violence) are harmed by people they know or are related to. It would be negligent for anyone investigating a crime to not start at the beginning and work with the information they've got.
If I reported my gf missing, I would fully expect to be their initial suspect. Investigations have to start somewhere, and starting with the last person to see or speak to the missing person is exactly where I'd want the police to start looking.
No it's the right idea to look at those reporting the crime, why has the uk police not looked st the parents as suspects.
The Slim Reaper
04-05-2018, 02:01 PM
No it's the right idea to look at those reporting the crime, why has the uk police not looked st the parents as suspects.
Ahh sorry my mistake. I misunderstood what you meant.
Marsh.
04-05-2018, 02:05 PM
In this country the person who reports a murder is a suspect.What a facetious comment.
They didn't report a crime, a tragedy occurred because of their own criminal neglectful actions.
All we know with certainty is that it is a case of a missing child. There is no evidence of abduction, so why are the parents always excluded as being potential killers or at a minimum complicit in obstruction of justice. If a case is being reviewed, all aspects should be included in the review. Starting the review with .... the parents didn't do it, is not respecting the missing child.
thesheriff443
04-05-2018, 02:38 PM
What a facetious comment.
They didn't report a crime, a tragedy occurred because of their own criminal neglectful actions.
Go troll lt, stop trying to knock me as a person.
Marsh.
04-05-2018, 02:51 PM
Go troll lt, stop trying to knock me as a person.Are you Gerry McCann?
If not, what the hell are you on about?
If you only want people agreeing with you you're in the wrong place.
Niamh.
04-05-2018, 03:00 PM
All we know with certainty is that it is a case of a missing child. There is no evidence of abduction, so why are the parents always excluded as being potential killers or at a minimum complicit in obstruction of justice. If a case is being reviewed, all aspects should be included in the review. Starting the review with .... the parents didn't do it, is not respecting the missing child.
Exactly
Nicky91
04-05-2018, 03:17 PM
Are you Gerry McCann?
If not, what the hell are you on about?
If you only want people agreeing with you you're in the wrong place.
true, we can all have our own opinion :hee:
thesheriff443
04-05-2018, 05:14 PM
true, we can all have our own opinion :hee:
You can do one as well. You flip flop.
Jamie89
04-05-2018, 05:22 PM
Uq0pURPuQsk
Niamh.
04-05-2018, 05:53 PM
Uq0pURPuQskWhy not Kate? Hhhmmm
vBulletin® v3.8.11, Copyright ©2000-2026, vBulletin Solutions Inc.