I think it is a bit unfair to say she is unreliable. She had been caught up in the most shattering of events which must have knocked her for six both at the time and subsequently.
She just told it truthfully and as she saw it.
I think it is terribly unfair that so many years after the event people are still forensically dissecting these witness statements as if they mean anything other than a snapshot of the time and pivotal events in 2007.
Everything else rhas moved so far beyond that now and anyone who says it hasn't is going to have to explain exactly why not and what they think Scotland Yard and the Judicial police have been investigating for the past few years.
The parents own PIs called Tanner unreliable. From the McCanns and the Conman.
rator: The public has never been told how the investigation was conducted but the files reveal that one of the key witnesses was secretly recorded - Jane Tanner, the woman who had seen a man carrying a child away on the night of the 3rd of May.
Tim Craig-Harvey: We had a device in the room which would pick up what she was saying, and then that conversation was recorded in another room.
Narrator: Kevin Halligen and a colleague conducted the interview. They began by checking details of one of her witness statements.
(Recording of Tanner Interview)
Tim Craig-Harvey: She was then presented with a photograph of this guy George in the market at which point she broke down and said “That is the guy that I saw carrying the child”. This was a pretty strong indication that the guy who had been seen in Portugal, had an integral role in the disappearance of Madeleine. It was extraordinary to be in the room next door on my own, listening to the conversation, and to be part of her reaction.
Narrator: In the search for Madeleine this was possibly the biggest breakthrough anyone had made. …… But when voice analyst Richard Parton heard the recording, doubts crept in.
Richard Parton: Everyone wants to find this guy - don't get me wrong. Everyone wants to find him, but the more she had to describe him, the more inaccurate she became. From the witness statements I had processed before, there was nothing indicating that he was involved - nothing at all. I think the most exciting thing about finding him was that we could finally rule it out.
Narrator: Despite the serious doubts, the files revealed surveillance was continued on the market trader for the next three months, but he was eventually eliminated from all enquiries.
Tim Craig-Harvey: My understanding is that it was felt that she wasn't as credible a witness as we had hoped. Witnesses will give evidence thinking that that is what they saw or understood at the time which is quite often inaccurate. And so Jane Tanner having said “This is the guy that I saw”, it may just have been that she so wanted to help that she fooled herself.