Manhunt by Colin Sutton. Are there comparisons with Madeleine?

[Venturi Swirl]

There's no way to check if the newspaper was telling ther truth. You have chosen to believe what they said, I haven't. In my opinion you should remember what Rowley said about newspaper reports.

Right, at last.  You believe that the paper is probably lying and that the PJ couldn't be bothered or chose not to investigate sex attacks on the Algarve with a view to a possible link to the MM case.  Fine.  That is your belief.  It makes little sense when you think about it, but if that's what you want to believe then that is your prerogative.

[G-Unit]

Right, at last.  You believe that the paper is probably lying and that the PJ couldn't be bothered or chose not to investigate sex attacks on the Algarve with a view to a possible link to the MM case.  Fine.  That is your belief.  It makes little sense when you think about it, but if that's what you want to believe then that is your prerogative.

You, on the other hand, have chosen to believe the nespaper despite the fact that they were unable to verify their story by offering any details of who told them. In fact the newspaper has printed many stories about the McCann case, and very few of them were correct.

[Venturi Swirl]

You, on the other hand, have chosen to believe the nespaper despite the fact that they were unable to verify their story by offering any details of who told them. In fact the newspaper has printed many stories about the McCann case, and very few of them were correct.

Oh really?  That's rubbish IMO.  Here's a link to the first 20 Madeleine McCann articles on the Publico search facility.  According to you only very few will be correct, therefore the majority will be false according to you - kindly point to the false stories amongst these 20 thanks
https://www.publico.pt/pesquisa?query=madeleine+mccann

[Venturi Swirl]

We're back to the old "if the police source isn't named by the paper we don't have to believe it" excuse.  Pathetic game playing IMO. 

[Venturi Swirl]

From the Guardian:

Scotland Yard also revealed it was looking at 38 "people of interest" in relation to her disappearance, having dismissed 22 others from that category. They were also trying to find out more about 530 known sex offenders – 59 regarded as of high interest – across Europe.


However Portugal's Polícia Judiciária (PJ) claimed that Wednesday's press conference simply confirmed a primary line of investigation which has been investigated by Portuguese police since last October. Suggestions that the information released by the Met had initially been discounted by Portuguese detectives were denied by a source at the PJ's headquarters in Lisbon.

He said that evidence of a string of crimes had been the driving force behind Portuguese officials re-opening the case. "It is all there in the police case files," said the source. "You will see when it is made public."

[Venturi Swirl]

Portugal police re-opened case in October due to "new" evidence presented by Scotland Yard The Portugal News

BY BRENDAN DE BEER · 20-03-2014 14:23:00

Portugal's Polícia Judiciária (PJ) has told The Portugal News that Wednesday's press conference held by the Metropolitan Police simply confirmed a primary line of investigation which has already been extensively probed by Portuguese police.
DCI Andy Redwood

When questioned on Wednesday evening by The Portugal News about suggestions that the information released by the Met had initially been discounted by Portuguese detectives, a source within Portugal's Polícia Judíciaria (PJ) headquarters in Lisbon said that this information was incorrect.

He said that evidence of a string of crimes, including a sexual predator's activities at coastal resorts popular with holidaymakers in the western Algarve, had in fact been the main driving force behind Portuguese officials deciding to re-open the case.

"Looking into the activities of this particular individual was our primary line of investigation", our police source said, adding: "It is all there in the police case files. You will see when it is made public."

"We met with Andy Redwood and Madeleine’s parents last October to inform them of the reasons behind the decision of Portuguese authorities to re-open the case", the police source stressed.

He added that revelations yesterday at the New Scotland Yard do not contain any further information other than what had already been passed on to the Metropolitan Police in the aforementioned meeting.


The source explained the investigation is still ongoing and is steadily proceeding in Portugal, "but with the discretion that has characterised it from the beginning."

To date, three international letters of request have been sent to the Attorney-General's office, but none have contained an official request to accompany field work or questioning of persons of interest by Portuguese detectives.

"Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service have expressed the intention to come over to Portugal and assist in any inquires that might take place.  But this intention has not yet been made official", the source said.

Questioned over what he thought of British police modus operandi or their public venting of frustration yesterday over Portuguese police seemingly dragging their heels, he replied: "All I can say is that the British have an excellent police force."

The Attorney-General's office in Lisbon, which initially ordered the case to be re-opened last Autumn, declined to comment when questioned on Wednesday by The Portugal News , citing Portugal's strict secrecy laws.

This news follows a press conference given on Wednesday morning at the New Scotland Yard by officers from Operation Grange investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, during which they issued a further appeal for information.

During the course of their enquiries, officers reportedly identified a potential linked series of twelve crimes which occurred between 2004 and 2010, mostly in low season, whereby a male intruder gained access to mainly holiday villas occupied by UK families on holiday in the Western Algarve.

In four cases between 2004 and 2006 the man sexually assaulted five white girls, aged between seven and 10 years, whilst in their beds. On one of these occasions, he assaulted two girls in the same villa.

Whilst the Metropolitan Police Service admits they are not identical, there are many similar aspects to each of the incidents in that in most cases there were no signs of forced entry to the property, nothing was taken, and the intruder appeared in the early hours of the morning between 2am and 5am.

The suspect may have been in the villa or looking round the villa for some time before committing the offences or being disturbed either by a parent, or the child waking up.

He remained calm, even when disturbed.

On two occasions the noise of a bin collection lorry could be heard nearby.

Of the twelve offences, there were four in Carvoeiro, six in the Vale da Parra, Praia da Galé district and two in Praia da Luz.

Witnesses describe the man as having dark (as in tanned) skin with short dark unkempt hair. He spoke in English with a foreign accent, his voice was described as slow, or possibly slurred.

He was sometimes bare-chested, some describe him as having a pot belly, and three victims said that he had a noticeable odour.

On two occasions in Vale de Parra and Praia da Galé he was wearing a distinctive burgundy long sleeve top, on one of those occasions it was described as having a white circle on the back.

DCI Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer said on Wednesday, "We need to establish the identity of this man.

"These offences are very serious and no one has been charged in connection with them. We also need to eliminate this man from our enquiries and ascertain whether these offences are linked to Madeleine’s disappearance.

"If you have been a victim of a similar crime please come forward even if you reported the incident to police in Portugal, or anywhere else, please do not assume we have been made aware of it.

"While some of these offences have been in the public domain before, following our appeal in October three more were reported to us as a direct result of that appeal. One of those reports we believe is the first in the potential series.

"Please call us on 0800 0961011 if you are within the UK. The number for non-UK residents is +44 207 1580 126. Alternatively if you do not want to speak to us directly you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

"Our appeal last year was very successful and we had over 5,000 calls which generated new information for us and which we continue to investigate", DCI Redwood said, adding: "We still need to establish the identity of a man seen by three witnesses, carrying a child fitting Madeleine's description towards the beach or town areas at about 10pm on the night Madeleine disappeared. The witnesses have described the man in the e-fits as being white, aged in his 30s, with short brown hair, of medium build, medium height and clean shaven."

The Metropolitan Police Service is offering a reward of up to £20,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and prosecution of the person(s) responsible for the abduction of Madeleine McCann from Praia da Luz, Portugal on 3 May 2007.

Figures made available from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's British Behaviour reports from three years in the period 2005 to 2010, point to 10 incidents of rape involving Britons in Portugal and 11 incidents of sexual assault. These figures do not stipulate the age of victims.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So there you go - Brendan De Beer put his name to an article in which he claimed he or his newspaper spoke to the police source first hand, can it get much clearer than that?

[G-Unit]

How many more? It's obvious they were all copying the same story. Or do you think all the journalists found the same source at PJ headquarters and he told them all the same story one after the other?

[Venturi Swirl]

How many more? It's obvious they were all copying the same story. Or do you think all the journalists found the same source at PJ headquarters and he told them all the same story one after the other?

It’s obvious to me (if not to you) that the Portugal News story by Brendan de Beer is the source of the story.  He claims his paper spoke to the PJ source, so are you telling me he made it up?  If so, to what end?

[Brietta]

This story arose because OG turned it's attention to this line of enquiry. The UK media took the opportunity to criticise the PJ (again) for not telling OG about it earlier;

Wednesday 19th March 2014

Redwood appeals for information about the man who  allegedly attacked children in the Algarve. A burgandly top was mentioned. It was said that there were 12 incidents, nine of which were reported to the Portuguese police. UK news said that the Portuguese police didn't pass on the information about these crimes to OG; they only found out about it when three families responded to an appeal for information in 2013.
 https://www.channel4.com/news/madeleine-mccann-police-appeal-sex-attacker

Well that's wrong for a start. Kate McCann wrote  about it in her book in 2011. She said she found the information in some files. However;

The Portuguese have been accused once more of incompetence, so anything they say is going to be defensive. Amongst other things, they said that OG was told about it in October 2013 by the PJ, but OG decloned to comment;

Contacted by PÚBLICO, one of the spokesmen of the Metropolitan Police of London declined to comment on the clarifications made by the PJ, refusing to confirm or deny that British investigators were informed months ago by the Portuguese about this line of investigation. It remains to be explained why Scotland Yard decided to announce on Wednesday that it is looking for a sex offender.
https://www.publico.pt/2014/03/19/sociedade/noticia/pj-reabriu-inquerito-maddie-ha-meses-por-causa-de-suspeito-procurado-agora-pelos-ingleses-1628961

In my opinion it's by no means clear where the information came from or who knew about it and when. There were rumours but nothing concrete was said by any identifiable source.

Kate McCann did not get her information from "some files".  In her book she clearly states that the information was given to her by the British consul for the Algarve, Bill Henderson.

[Brietta]

I don't know what was said to the press or who said it. Therefore I don't know whether it's true or not.  I do know that Pedro do Carmo said in 2017 that the PJ didn't know what crime was committed, so whatever lines of inquiry they have followed they have reached no conclusions.

Please provide a cite for Pedro do Carmo's statement, thank you.

[Sunny]

Please provide a cite for Pedro do Carmo's statement, thank you.

He said

First because there was a deliberate and legitimate effort on the part of the child's parents in keeping the issue on the agenda of the media. But there are also other elements, such as the circumstances of the disappearance. Ten years later we still do not know what happened, which makes it possible to say, at least in relation to Portugal, that this is a unique case. We had never had one, and we did not have a similar case again. There were other cases of disappearances of children where it was not possible to bring the perpetrators to justice. But in those cases we either caught someone or it was possible for the police to understand what had happened. In this case we are not yet in a position to say what is behind the disappearance. This makes it a unique case. And maybe an extremely rare case worldwide.


Link (it was one of your posts Brietta) http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=8172.15

[Brietta]

He said

First because there was a deliberate and legitimate effort on the part of the child's parents in keeping the issue on the agenda of the media. But there are also other elements, such as the circumstances of the disappearance. Ten years later we still do not know what happened, which makes it possible to say, at least in relation to Portugal, that this is a unique case. We had never had one, and we did not have a similar case again. There were other cases of disappearances of children where it was not possible to bring the perpetrators to justice. But in those cases we either caught someone or it was possible for the police to understand what had happened. In this case we are not yet in a position to say what is behind the disappearance. This makes it a unique case. And maybe an extremely rare case worldwide.


Link (it was one of your posts Brietta) http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=8172.15

Not only is it polite ... it is protocol to supply a link particularly when putting words into another person's mouth.

The link you have very kindly provided is well worth a read to take note of what was said in the fuller picture ...

Snip
Do you think it was a mistake to have the McCann couple constituted as arguidos in September 2007?

Obviously, I will not answer that question. But what I can say, just as I did back in 2011 and 2013, is that Maddie's parents are not suspects. That statement remains: the parents are not suspects. Period.

http://expresso.sapo.pt/dossies/diario/2017-05-02-Pedro-do-Carmo-Os-pais-de-Maddie-nao-sao-suspeitos.-Ponto

[G-Unit]

Kate McCann did not get her information from "some files".  In her book she clearly states that the information was given to her by the British consul for the Algarve, Bill Henderson.

Did he write to her?

August 2008

She read of 'five cases of British children on holiday being sexually abused in their beds while their parents slept in
another room'.
[madeleine]

[G-Unit]

Please provide a cite for Pedro do Carmo's statement, thank you.

Martin Brunt "Do you accept that she was abducted?"
Pedro do Carmo "We don't know what happened and we have to be prepared tp deal with different scenarios"

Searching for Madeleine 29:34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX3u2Hp42ic

[Brietta]

Did he write to her?

August 2008

She read of 'five cases of British children on holiday being sexually abused in their beds while their parents slept in
another room'.
[madeleine]

No he did not write to her ... he spoke to her directly.  It was quite sometime later when she had access to the files of which that was obviously part which was not published on the internet about which Kate wrote in her book:
Snip
I guessed these were the reports that Bill Henderson, the British consul at the time of Madeleine’s abduction, had told me about.  MADELEINE

But of course you already know that.