The high speed return to Portimão police station incident.

[ShiningInLuz]

It is life threatening
It's a stupid speed on town roads

The A22 is a motorway.  It is not 'town roads'.  The limit is 120kph, just over 70mph, pretty much as per UK.

[Alfie]

Your child has been missing for 24 hours
You haven't slept for the best part of 48 hours
You're driven to the police station at high speed for reasons that are completely unclear
When you get there the urgency seems to have been for nothing as you're left in the dark for 10 minutes
When you're finally told the reason for the return visit it's to be shown a photo of someone else's child

This is how you should react....(sceptics please fill in the blanks for inclusion in the 2017 edition of "The Manual Of Correct Behaviour When Your Child Goes Missing")

[Alfie]

The A22 is a motorway.  It is not 'town roads'.  The limit is 120kph, just over 70mph, pretty much as per UK.

So you can do U turns on motorways in Portugal?  Interesting.

[faithlilly]

Your child has been missing for 24 hours
You haven't slept for the best part of 48 hours
You're driven to the police station at high speed for reasons that are completely unclear
When you get there the urgency seems to have been for nothing as you're left in the dark for 10 minutes
When you're finally told the reason for the return visit it's to be shown a photo of someone else's child

This is how you should react....(sceptics please fill in the blanks for inclusion in the 2017 edition of "The Manual Of Correct Behaviour When Your Child Goes Missing")

Relieved that it wasn't news that she had been found dead.

I'd be commending the driver's actions to get me back to the police station as quickly as possible.

What I wouldn't be doing would be trying to make myself into the victim, again.

[ShiningInLuz]

So you can do U turns on motorways in Portugal?  Interesting.

Thank you for pointing out another error in Kate's book. 

The A22 has a concrete middle barrier, for safety.

One changes direction by exactly the same mechanism as in the UK.  Get off at a junction, go round a roundabout, get back on in the opposite direction at the same junction.

Life-threatening?  Nope.

Scary?  Nope.

For some reason, supporters appear unable to subject Kate's writing to a simple reality check.

[Mr Gray]

Thank you for pointing out another error in Kate's book. 

The A22 has a concrete middle barrier, for safety.

One changes direction by exactly the same mechanism as in the UK.  Get off at a junction, go round a roundabout, get back on in the opposite direction at the same junction.

Life-threatening?  Nope.

Scary?  Nope.

For some reason, supporters appear unable to subject Kate's writing to a simple reality check.

All your opinion
Yes
What you have described is not a u turn
But I suppose you think kate was mistaken again

[Alfie]

Relieved that it wasn't news that she had been found dead.

I'd be commending the driver's actions to get me back to the police station as quickly as possible.

What I wouldn't be doing would be trying to make myself into the victim, again.

Of course you would dear. 

[Alfie]

Thank you for pointing out another error in Kate's book. 

The A22 has a concrete middle barrier, for safety.

One changes direction by exactly the same mechanism as in the UK.  Get off at a junction, go round a roundabout, get back on in the opposite direction at the same junction.

Life-threatening?  Nope.

Scary?  Nope.

For some reason, supporters appear unable to subject Kate's writing to a simple reality check.

So in your opinion Kate was mistaken when she said the journey back to the police station was scary and the officer was driving at life threatening speed, having performed a U turn?  And you know this because you were there in the back of the car I guess!

[Robittybob1]

So in your opinion Kate was mistaken when she said the journey back to the police station was scary and the officer was driving at life threatening speed, having performed a U turn?  And you know this because you were there in the back of the car I guess!

I believe her, I've been there, done that.

[Alfie]

Why should Kate McCann be relieved that the little girl shown alive and kicking in the photo was not Madeleine McCann?  Surely any normal mother would be utterly devastated that this tiny vestige of hope had just been dashed?

[G-Unit]

That must have been terrifying not only for you but anyone else on the road at the time.  It is also highly dangerous and therefore illegal.

I wasn't terrified because I've been driven at high speeds previously in Germany when their autobahns had no limit. I was a little surprised when they jumped a red light and I mentioned that. The answer? I was being driven by one of the best advanced police drivers in my county. I assume it was legal or they wouldn't have done it.

[Benice]

Here is Amarals version of what happened - complete with errors.


FIRST EYE WITNESS STATEMENTS; KATE HEALY'S SURPRISING REACTION

Madeleine's parents are already back in Vila da Luz when we receive photos taken on an area of the motorway: you can make out the figure of a little girl, who looks like Madeleine, accompanied by a couple. These images come from a CCTV camera on the motorway linking Lagos to the Spanish border. The McCanns are asked to come to Portimão in order to proceed to an identification. It's the end of the day. Kate Healy seems annoyed at coming back and made uncomfortable by the speed of the police car taking her. We are somewhat astonished by her reaction, as if she was not expecting to get her daughter back. The identification turns out negative.
END

It's less than 24 hrs since Madeleine disappeared and he is already suggesting to his readers that Kate is not expecting to get her daughter back!   

By the use of the word 'WE'  any reader who didn't know better could be forgiven for wrongly believing that he was there personally  witnessing all this.   

How anyone can read his version and not see how biased Amaral was against the McCanns -  and in particular against Kate -  right from the get go -  is beyond my comprehension.

[Mr Gray]

Thank you for pointing out another error in Kate's book. 

The A22 has a concrete middle barrier, for safety.

One changes direction by exactly the same mechanism as in the UK.  Get off at a junction, go round a roundabout, get back on in the opposite direction at the same junction.

Life-threatening?  Nope.

Scary?  Nope.

For some reason, supporters appear unable to subject Kate's writing to a simple reality check.

what makes you sure that they were on the  A 22...more assumptions

[Alfie]

I wasn't terrified because I've been driven at high speeds previously in Germany when their autobahns had no limit. I was a little surprised when they jumped a red light and I mentioned that. The answer? I was being driven by one of the best advanced police drivers in my county. I assume it was legal or they wouldn't have done it.

More assumptions by you, that the police never break the laws of their land. 

[Alfie]

I was once driven cross-country by an off-duty policeman in his Mini - his thing was driving fast down country lanes and not stopping or even slowing down at crossroads - at night.  Needless to say I only accepted a lift from him the once, and if he is still alive today I'd be very much surprised.