UK Justice Forum 🇬🇧
Disappeared and Abducted Children and Young Adults => Madeleine McCann (3) disappeared from her parent's holiday apartment at Ocean Club, Praia da Luz, Portugal on 3 May 2007. No trace of her has ever been found. => Topic started by: John on February 04, 2015, 11:25:16 AM
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Algarve records 'best ever' year
by TPN/ Lusa
04-02-2015
Portugal's Algarve region had 16.4 million overnight stays in 2014, making it the best ever year on that measure, according to provisional figures released on Tuesday by the regional tourist board, the RTA, that also showed Faro airport handling over 6 million passengers for the first time.
(http://www.theportugalnews.com/uploads/news/beach_27.jpg)
Overnight stays have grown every year since 2009, according to the RTA, making this the longest period of continuous growth in the region's history. In 2013, there were 14.7 million n and in 2009, 12.9 million.
At a news conference to unveil the results, the RTA's president, Desidério Silva, said that growth is expected to continue this year, but that national officials can not rest on their laurels or the Algarve could lose competitiveness in relation to other regions in Portugal and abroad.
"It has been an effort by many people, but it must continue to be done," he said, acknowledging that it is more difficult to growth from this high base, but expressing confidence that demand this year will be in line with that seen last year. That, he added, means "more responsibility".
The RTA, which was created 45 years ago this year, is bidding for national and European Union funds to bolster the visibility of the region's brand.
By far the largest single group of foreign visitors to the Algarve last year were the British (5.1 million overnight stays) followed by Germans (1.5 million) and the Dutch (1.3 million).
www.theportugalnews.com/news/algarve-records-best-ever-year/33877
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Is this good news or bad news for McCann "sceptics"? I'm not sure... &%+((£
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Strong pound revives property market
by Brendan de Beer, in News · 29-01-2015 13:59:00 · 0 Comments
Over the past 12 months, the pound has strengthened by 15 percent against the euro, which means potential British buyers can purchase a lot more for the same when it comes to property in Portugal. A number of experts in the field to whom The Portugal News spoke in the past few days have all confirmed an upswing in interest and actual sales. Positive trends in the market have been particularly evident during the month of January, with a dramatic shift in activity.
(http://www.theportugalnews.com/uploads/news/page2_pound_smaller.jpg)
Snip..
"Some areas continue to struggle
José Bernardo, who owns two Remax agencies in the Algarve said his team also noted a sharp increase in interest from potential British buyers in recent months. He admitted this initially left his sales team somewhat perplexed, but has now attributed some of this interest to the stronger pound.
“Requests for additional information soared during the final quarter of the year and have carried on into January”, said Mr Bernardo.
He added that properties in some areas, such as Carvoeiro and parts of Albufeira, have seen growing interest and a rise in sales, while the selling off of the abundant offering of apartments in Portimão and Lagos remains an arduous task."
Read full article... (http://www.theportugalnews.com/news/strong-pound-revives-property-market/33827)
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Is this good news or bad news for McCann "sceptics"? I'm not sure... &%+((£
I think bad news for those who like to portray Portugal as a third world country complete with lawless hinterland and cops who will bang anyone up just for the fun of it.
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I think bad news for those who like to portray Portugal as a third world country complete with lawless hinterland and cops who will bang anyone up just for the fun of it.
It's a mixed blessing for the "sceptics" though isn't it? On the one hand, hooray for Portugal, with its tourist industry doing so well and on the other, oh dear, we'll have to stop blaming the McCanns for the ruination of the country, in particular the Algarve. Though I doubt this news will stop the McCann blame game really...
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I think bad news for those who like to portray Portugal as a third world country complete with lawless hinterland and cops who will bang anyone up just for the fun of it.
Some blamed the global property market, the banking crisis and the effect on the Euro to the McCanns back in 2007-2008. I expect that some of the same people will now attribute the currently cheap Euro to Amaral's imminent win in the libel trial...
There's not much you can do with the terminal conspiranoids of any flavour.
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@ Alfie.
LOL. Similar reflections.
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Bad news for the narrative of the Summers and Swan book I think.
"If only the McCanns had known about the Algarve"! &%&£(+
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Bad news for the narrative of the Summers and Swan book I think.
Why?
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Why?
They were exaggerating. Hugely.
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Yeah, I can just see the Narrative of the Summers and Swann book cursing this latest news "why if it wasn't for those pesky healthy tourism statistics....!" it's saying to itself... *&*%£
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They were exaggerating. Hugely.
For instance...?
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Some blamed the global property market, the banking crisis and the effect on the Euro to the McCanns back in 2007-2008. I expect that some of the same people will now attribute the currently cheap Euro to Amaral's imminent win in the libel trial...
There's not much you can do with the terminal conspiranoids of any flavour.
True! Books are still being written about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln 150 years on. It is odd how Lincoln and Kennedy top the list while Garfield and McKinley are more or less consigned to being footnotes in history.
A bit like the McCann case I suppose.
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It's a mixed blessing for the "sceptics" though isn't it? On the one hand, hooray for Portugal, with its tourist industry doing so well and on the other, oh dear, we'll have to stop blaming the McCanns for the ruination of the country, in particular the Algarve. Though I doubt this news will stop the McCann blame game really...
Another issue is if more foreigners start taking advantage of the cheap Euro to buy more property.
Part of the resentment when the Algarve took off way before Madeleine was a twinkle in her parents' eyes, from what I can gather, was that too many foreigners were buying up property that nationals couldn't afford to buy and that they were left with the "over paid and over here" syndrome.
It's not clear to me how much local investment was actually made into these former fishing villages. Nor how much got pocketed via local corruption.
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They were exaggerating. Hugely.
16.4 million overnight stays, but both the book and police apparently are trying to tie a handful of events to PdL May 3 2007.
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True! Books are still being written about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln 150 years on. It is odd how Lincoln and Kennedy top the list while Garfield and McKinley are more or less consigned to being footnotes in history.
A bit like the McCann case I suppose.
Interesting, thanks. I wasn't aware of that. I'll have a rummage on Google sometime.
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Another issue is if more foreigners start taking advantage of the cheap Euro to buy more property.
Part of the resentment when the Algarve took off way before Madeleine was a twinkle in her parents' eyes, from what I can gather, was that too many foreigners were buying up property that nationals couldn't afford to buy and that they were left with the "over paid and over here" syndrome.
It's not clear to me how much local investment was actually made into these former fishing villages. Nor how much got pocketed via local corruption.
I suppose there are T Dan Smiths and John Poulsons everywhere.
There is a former fishing village on the Costa Verde where a local boy made good has pumped a lot of his own money into developing the village.
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16.4 million overnight stays, but both the book and police apparently are trying to tie a handful of events to PdL May 3 2007.
So - where's the exaggeration?
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So - where's the exaggeration?
The numbers Alfred. 16.4 million overnight stays during which nothing happened. 8(0(*
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The numbers Alfred. 16.4 million overnight stays during which nothing happened. 8(0(*
Nope. You've lost me.
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It's a mixed blessing for the "sceptics" though isn't it? On the one hand, hooray for Portugal, with its tourist industry doing so well and on the other, oh dear, we'll have to stop blaming the McCanns for the ruination of the country, in particular the Algarve. Though I doubt this news will stop the McCann blame game really...
On which definition of the word sceptic do you rely in this instance? As you put it within "speechy marky pieces" I presume you mean something other than a person inclined to question or doubt accepted opinions.
If I know that I can answer the question.
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On which definition of the word sceptic do you rely in this instance? As you put it within "speechy marky pieces" I presume you mean something other than a person inclined to question or doubt accepted opinions.
If I know that I can answer the question.
"Sceptic" denotes one whose fave pastime is "questioning" the McCanns' version of events. "Questioning" is another word for a practise which we must never mention. &%&£(+
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"Sceptic" denotes one whose fave pastime is "questioning" the McCanns' version of events. "Questioning" is another word for a practise which we must never mention. &%&£(+
Ah! I see; I think &%+((£
Well those who suggest that the McCanns were responsible for any decline in the economy of the Algarve can be consigned to the same desert island as those who put forward the theory that because the bent cops on the Algarve were covering up a plethora of sexual crimes etc the Algarve was not a safe place to visit.
At least then they are all in one place and we can keep an eye on them.
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Ah! I see; I think &%+((£
Well those who suggest that the McCanns were responsible for any decline in the economy of the Algarve can be consigned to the same desert island as those who put forward the theory that because the bent cops on the Algarve were covering up a plethora of sexual crimes etc the Algarve was not a safe place to visit.
At least then they are all in one place and we can keep an eye on them.
In your opinion, was there never a plethora (to use your word) of sex crimes against children on holiday?
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In your opinion, was there never a plethora (to use your word) of sex crimes against children on holiday?
I don't know but I suspect no more than average. But that wasn't, as you know fine, my point.
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In your opinion, was there never a plethora (to use your word) of sex crimes against children on holiday?
The numbers clearly say there wasn't.
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I don't know but I suspect no more than average. But that wasn't, as you know fine, my point.
Your point seems to be that there was a campaign of misinformation put about to blacken the reputation of the Algarve - I'm just wondering if you actually believe there was any basis to the reports of child sex attacks there. You seem unsure as to whether or not these actually occurred, which in turn suggests you believe there is a possibility that the Met and now the PJ have invented them for reasons unknown, am I wrong?
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The numbers clearly say there wasn't.
Just an ordinary number of child sex attacks, such as you would expect in any holiday resort then?
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Just an ordinary number of child sex attacks, such as you would expect in any holiday resort then?
I'm saying for their own reasons some people seccumb to the temptation to use those incidents (which were actually in many places, not one) to suggest the possibility of something occurring in PdL May 3 2007 was very much greater than it actually was.
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Your point seems to be that there was a campaign of misinformation put about to blacken the reputation of the Algarve - I'm just wondering if you actually believe there was any basis to the reports of child sex attacks there. You seem unsure as to whether or not these actually occurred, which in turn suggests you believe there is a possibility that the Met and now the PJ have invented them for reasons unknown, am I wrong?
You are going down the wrong track old son but if it pleases you carry on and make up your own story but don't hang my name on it.
Hint: you are not considering the group of people to which I referred.
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I'm saying for their own reasons some people seccumb to the temptation to use those incidents (which were actually in many places, not one) to suggest the possibility of something occurring in PdL May 3 2007 was very much greater than it actually was.
No actually you started off claiming Summers and Swann had grossly exaggerated and I'm still not sure what you think they were exaggerating. How many sex attacks were there, who were the victims and where did these attacks take place and when. If you see no relevance to the McCann case perhaps you could explain why you don't?
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No actually you started off claiming Summers and Swann had grossly exaggerated and I'm still not sure what you think they were exaggerating. How many sex attacks were there, who were the victims and where did these attacks take place and when. If you see no relevance to the McCann case perhaps you could explain why you don't?
Well you can never say there's zero relevance, but those incidents really have no more relevance to PdL May 3 2007 than any incident in the same years in Spain or France or UK or rest of Europe.
Unless the police know differently. But I doubt they do.
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Well you can never say there's zero relevance, but those incidents really have no more relevance to PdL May 3 2007 than any incident in the same years in Spain or France or UK or rest of Europe.
Unless the police know differently. But I doubt they do.
Right. So, to hypothesise for a minute: say you were an investigative cop looking into the disappearance of a prostitute in Leeds and there had been a spate of violent attacks on prostitutes in Bradford, Wakefield, Sheffield and other Yorkshire towns and cities, you would conclude, would you, that these attacks would have no more relevance to your missing prostitute in Leeds than say possible other attacks on prostitutes in Spain or France?
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Right. So, to hypothesise for a minute: say you were an investigative cop looking into the disappearance of a prostitute in Leeds and there had been a spate of violent attacks on prostitutes in Bradford, Wakefield, Sheffield and other Yorkshire towns and cities, you would conclude, would you, that these attacks would have no more relevance to your missing prostitute in Leeds than say possible other attacks on prostitutes in Spain or France?
There would be relevance there of course because the crimes are the same.
But none of the incidents they're attempting to link to May 3 2007 are kidnappings or abductions or murder.
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There would be relevance there of course because the crimes are the same.
But none of the incidents they're attempting to link to May 3 2007 are kidnappings or abductions or murder.
I didn't describe similar crimes - one was a disappearance the others were violent attacks, so I ask you again - in the scenario I described would you as a police investigator see no relevance in the attacks to the disappearance you were investigating?
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I didn't describe similar crimes - one was a disappearance the others were violent attacks, so I ask you again - in the scenario I described would you as a police investigator see no relevance in the attacks to the disappearance you were investigating?
I said, yes. But it's not an exact comparison. A better one would be French police attempting to link those British crimes in an appeal when perhaps British police consider them to be random, or at least not all linked together.
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So, at least three incidents of sexual abuse against British girl children in Praia da Luz, and this has nothing to do with the disappearance of a British girl child? In fact, don't even consider it or mention it.
Amazing.
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So, at least three incidents of sexual abuse against British girl children in Praia da Luz, and this has nothing to do with the disappearance of a British girl child? In fact, don't even consider it or mention it.
Amazing.
&%+((£ Who says not to mention anything?
But this is how Gordon Rayner described it, just the other day:
In March 2014 Scotland Yard announced that a lone intruder sexually assaulted five girls aged between seven and 10 in the Algarve between 2004 and 2006. The man, who has never been caught, was said to have a “very, very unhealthy interest” in young white girls.
The four incidents, one of which involved two girls, were among 12 in which men had entered holiday accommodation in the area, including two incidents in Praia da Luz.
Do you have better information? "Two incidents" in PdL, it says. It does not say two - and definitely not three - sexual assaults in PdL.
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&%+((£ Who says not to mention anything?
But this is how Gordon Rayner described it, just the other day:
In March 2014 Scotland Yard announced that a lone intruder sexually assaulted five girls aged between seven and 10 in the Algarve between 2004 and 2006. The man, who has never been caught, was said to have a “very, very unhealthy interest” in young white girls.
The four incidents, one of which involved two girls, were among 12 in which men had entered holiday accommodation in the area, including two incidents in Praia da Luz.
Do you have better information? "Two incidents" in PdL, it says. It does not say two - and definitely not three - sexual assaults in PdL.
Whoops, sorry, only two, or was it four? Apart from the others in the area, of course. Next you will be telling me that The Algarve is a big place.
Personally, I am more concerned with the fact that The PJ covered this up.
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Whoops, sorry, only two, or was it four? Apart from the others in the area, of course. Next you will be telling me that The Algarve is a big place.
Personally, I am more concerned with the fact that The PJ covered this up.
"Two incidents" not 2,3 or 4 assaults.
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"Two incidents" not 2,3 or 4 assaults.
Ah. I see. "Incidents" is it? Nothing nasty then.
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Ah. I see. "Incidents" is it? Nothing nasty then.
We don't know, but accuracy is important. Otherwise you're creating myths, and I know how you feel about them.
What did the police themselves say? I don't remember tbh.
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We don't know, but accuracy is important. Otherwise you're creating myths, and I know how you feel about them.
What did the police themselves say? I don't remember tbh.
This is no Myth. Girl children were sexually assaulted.
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This is no Myth. Girl children were sexually assaulted.
Not in PdL.
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Not in PdL.
Really? You know that for a fact? This pervert just assaulted children up the road a bit.
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Really? You know that for a fact? This pervert just assaulted children up the road a bit.
You're the one asserting assaults happened in PdL, when the Telegraph article indicates otherwise.
Where are you getting it from?
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You're the one asserting assaults happened in PdL, when the Telegraph article indicates otherwise.
Where are you getting it from?
Good question. 8((()*/ 8@??)( 8@??)(
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You're the one asserting assaults happened in PdL, when the Telegraph article indicates otherwise.
Where are you getting it from?
Where everyone else is getting it from. It's On Record. The PJ even have a Semen Sample.
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Where everyone else is getting it from. It's On Record. The PJ even have a Semen Sample.
Not from PdL they don't.
Have a look at what the Met themselves said. Not what "everyone else" is saying.
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Seems to have disappeared from their website &%+((£
(yep, both the March appeal and April update. Gone!)
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I said, yes. But it's not an exact comparison. A better one would be French police attempting to link those British crimes in an appeal when perhaps British police consider them to be random, or at least not all linked together.
So we agree that there were sex crimes against children in the Algarve, as many as twelve separate incidents according to the Guardian between 2004 and 2010 http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/19/madeleine-mccann-police-intruder-girls-algarve however any mention of these is deemed to be either irrelevant or a gross exaggeration and just the normal number of sex attacks you'd expect to find against small children in the Algarve, and what we mustn't do is make any attempt at investigating a possible link between these attacks and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann less we adversely affect Portuguese tourism. I get it. 8((()*/
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So we agree that there were sex crimes against children in the Algarve, as many as twelve separate incidents according to the Guardian between 2004 and 2010 http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/19/madeleine-mccann-police-intruder-girls-algarve however any mention of these is deemed to be either irrelevant or a gross exaggeration and just the normal number of sex attacks you'd expect to find against small children in the Algarve, and what we mustn't do is make any attempt at investigating a possible link between these attacks and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann less we adversely affect Portuguese tourism. I get it. 8((()*/
No. What you mustn't do is suggest all of the incidents were sexual assaults.
At least not based on the evidence of the Telegraph and Guardian articles.
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No. What you mustn't do is suggest all of the incidents were sexual assaults.
At least not based on the evidence of the Telegraph and Guardian articles.
Oh really? So what were these incidents involving strange men intruding into little girls bedrooms? Were they just there to do some balloon modelling?
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there may well have been other assaults that were suppressed or not properly recorded by they local police.
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So we agree that there were sex crimes against children in the Algarve, as many as twelve separate incidents according to the Guardian between 2004 and 2010 http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/19/madeleine-mccann-police-intruder-girls-algarve however any mention of these is deemed to be either irrelevant or a gross exaggeration and just the normal number of sex attacks you'd expect to find against small children in the Algarve, and what we mustn't do is make any attempt at investigating a possible link between these attacks and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann less we adversely affect Portuguese tourism. I get it. 8((()*/
You and your fellows are desperate for a link.
None found.
No evidence of abduction either.
Tough. 8)-)))
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Oh really? So what were these incidents involving strange men intruding into little girls bedrooms? Were they just there to do some balloon modelling?
Read the articles, and what the Met actually said themselves (though as I say it's now gone from their website).
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Read the articles, and what the Met actually said themselves (though as I say it's now gone from their website).
yes listen to what the Met say...McCanns not suspects
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Read the articles, and what the Met actually said themselves (though as I say it's now gone from their website).
So, how many sexually motivated attacks were there in the Algarve over a six year period, and was this just the usual amount of attacks that one could expect to be perpetrated on young girls on holiday there?
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yes listen to what the Met say...McCanns not suspects
They've found nothing.
ENOUGH SAID.
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Six million passengers through Faro airport for the first time. Clearly they didn't take too much notice of the pundits on here.
Or maybe some did and it could have been seven million were it not for adverse publicity from a few members of this forum *&*%£
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The police in the Algarve for some reason seemed to have had a bit of a mental block regarding proper investigation of cases of missing children and murdered children in their jurisdiction.
It also seems they are not too fussy about who they nail for it as long as their crime sheets are cleared. Perhaps failure to catch the actual perpetrators may explain why there was a proliferation as the perpetrator/s were free to continue doing whatever it was they were doing while someone else was behind bars serving time for their crime.
**snip
Thirty miles east of Praia da Luz lies the resort of Albufeira, where a collection of clifftop villas known as Val Novio was once a thriving development, favoured by British expats.
Now largely abandoned, it was there, on November 19, 1990, that Rachel Charles, aged nine, went missing.
Neil McKay, a Bafta-winning TV scriptwriter who has specialised in factual dramas about crime, was on holiday nearby with his father at the time.
"We were sitting in a bar having a beer one evening," he recalled.
"This English guy came in, saying a little girl had disappeared two days earlier but the police were refusing to mount a proper search. He said her family wanted every British tourist or expat to meet on the beach at seven next morning to try to find her.
"so we went. There must have been more than 200 of us. Tragically, it didn't take long to find her body, hidden among some pines."
Len Port, now an Algarve publisher who covered the case for The Portugal News, said: "The police search was highly inefficient, as, frankly, was everything else about the case. The way the police handled it was desperately amateurish - and ultimately, a travesty of justice."
Just as they would later do with the McCanns, the PJ soon hit on a suspect who knew the victim and her family.
But according to Port, who attended his trial, it had "no real evidence. It was an unjust trial".
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-560696/Madeleine-The-damning-case-police-Britains-investigative-reporter.html#ixzz3QpND0vPf
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The police in the Algarve for some reason seemed to have had a bit of a mental block regarding proper investigation of cases of missing children and murdered children in their jurisdiction.
It also seems they are not too fussy about who they nail for it as long as their crime sheets are cleared. Perhaps failure to catch the actual perpetrators may explain why there was a proliferation as the perpetrator/s were free to continue doing whatever it was they were doing while someone else was behind bars serving time for their crime.
**snip
Len Port, now an Algarve publisher who covered the case for The Portugal News, said: "The police search was highly inefficient, as, frankly, was everything else about the case. The way the police handled it was desperately amateurish - and ultimately, a travesty of justice."
Just as they would later do with the McCanns, the PJ soon hit on a suspect who knew the victim and her family.
But according to Port, who attended his trial, it had "no real evidence. It was an unjust trial".
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-560696/Madeleine-The-damning-case-police-Britains-investigative-reporter.html#ixzz3QpND0vPf
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-560696/Madeleine-The-damning-case-police-Britains-investigative-reporter.html
-snip-
Just as they would later do with the McCanns, the PJ soon hit on a suspect who knew the victim and her family. But according to Port, who attended his trial, it had "no real evidence. It was an unjust trial".
The defendant was Michael Cook, a British expat businessman who had taken part in the search, and in 1992 he was convicted and sentenced to 19 years. Having protested his innocence, he was released in 2002. Last week, he told of his ordeal for the first time.
"This has ruined my life," he said. "I still carry the scars from the six times I was stabbed in prison; as for the times I had the s*** kicked out of me, I long ago lost count."
Following Cook's conviction, his then-Labour MP, Bob Spink, became involved in his campaign. In a Commons debate in 1992, he said: "The only hard evidence linking Cook to the murder was bogus" - a claim by an elderly gardener that he had seen Cook bundling Rachel into his car.
However, Spink said, the police had hidden the fact that tyre tracks left by Rachel's abductor "were of an entirely different type" from those that would have been made by Cook's vehicle.
The PJ, Spink told the Commons, claimed Cook confessed - something he has always denied - and that they had tortured him: "Cook appeared in court, with black eyes and a missing tooth, and he was deeply bruised.
"It is claimed that Cook was hung from an upstairs window by his feet, that his feet were beaten until he could not stand, that he was tied to a chair and beaten, that he was deprived of sleep and that a revolver was forced into his mouth and the trigger pulled in a mock execution."
The PJ also claimed Cook had a record as a paedophile, Spink went on. This, too, was "entirely bogus'. The trial judge had asked a PJ witness how he knew this: "The officer replied that someone, unnamed, had told him. The judge accepted that so-called 'evidence' as clear and unequivocal."
It emerged at the trial that while there was no forensic link between Rachel or her clothes and Cook's car, blood had been found under her fingernails - presumably that of her attacker. But when Cook's lawyers tried to obtain it to test it for DNA, they were told the samples had been "lost".
Cook told The Mail on Sunday: "I was with the PJ four days and they gave me no food nor let me go to the lavatory - I literally s*** myself and p****d myself. I was in that state when they first brought me to court.
"What I learnt about Portugal is that once convicted, you never get the chance to get it reversed, because they destroyed the evidence."
Spink, who is still MP for Castle Point, Essex, said yesterday that as the Madeleine case had unfolded, he had become increasingly concerned by the "disturbing parallels' between the way the PJ had dealt with Maddie and the murder of Rachel Charles.
"In both cases, there was incompetence at the outset. And then, having become convinced they had the right suspects, the police seem to have ignored other avenues of investigation - especially the possibility that both were abducted by a stranger."
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The police in the Algarve for some reason seemed to have had a bit of a mental block regarding proper investigation of cases of missing children and murdered children in their jurisdiction.
It also seems they are not too fussy about who they nail for it as long as their crime sheets are cleared. Perhaps failure to catch the actual perpetrators may explain why there was a proliferation as the perpetrator/s were free to continue doing whatever it was they were doing while someone else was behind bars serving time for their crime.
**snip
Thirty miles east of Praia da Luz lies the resort of Albufeira, where a collection of clifftop villas known as Val Novio was once a thriving development, favoured by British expats.
Now largely abandoned, it was there, on November 19, 1990, that Rachel Charles, aged nine, went missing.
Neil McKay, a Bafta-winning TV scriptwriter who has specialised in factual dramas about crime, was on holiday nearby with his father at the time.
"We were sitting in a bar having a beer one evening," he recalled.
"This English guy came in, saying a little girl had disappeared two days earlier but the police were refusing to mount a proper search. He said her family wanted every British tourist or expat to meet on the beach at seven next morning to try to find her.
"so we went. There must have been more than 200 of us. Tragically, it didn't take long to find her body, hidden among some pines."
Len Port, now an Algarve publisher who covered the case for The Portugal News, said: "The police search was highly inefficient, as, frankly, was everything else about the case. The way the police handled it was desperately amateurish - and ultimately, a travesty of justice."
Just as they would later do with the McCanns, the PJ soon hit on a suspect who knew the victim and her family.
But according to Port, who attended his trial, it had "no real evidence. It was an unjust trial".
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-560696/Madeleine-The-damning-case-police-Britains-investigative-reporter.html#ixzz3QpND0vPf
25 years ago!
Get over it!
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The Exchange Rate has been affecting tourism throughout Europe for at least six years, if not longer. The bookings on the Holiday House that I manage here in France have fallen by a third. But no one seems much interested in that, preferring to blame The McCanns for something that is happening everywhere.
But things affected by The Euro and The Pound are on the up, so it will be interesting to see what happens this year.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-560696/Madeleine-The-damning-case-police-Britains-investigative-reporter.html
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Just as they would later do with the McCanns, the PJ soon hit on a suspect who knew the victim and her family. But according to Port, who attended his trial, it had "no real evidence. It was an unjust trial".
The defendant was Michael Cook, a British expat businessman who had taken part in the search, and in 1992 he was convicted and sentenced to 19 years. Having protested his innocence, he was released in 2002. Last week, he told of his ordeal for the first time.
"This has ruined my life," he said. "I still carry the scars from the six times I was stabbed in prison; as for the times I had the s*** kicked out of me, I long ago lost count."
Following Cook's conviction, his then-Labour MP, Bob Spink, became involved in his campaign. In a Commons debate in 1992, he said: "The only hard evidence linking Cook to the murder was bogus" - a claim by an elderly gardener that he had seen Cook bundling Rachel into his car.
However, Spink said, the police had hidden the fact that tyre tracks left by Rachel's abductor "were of an entirely different type" from those that would have been made by Cook's vehicle.
The PJ, Spink told the Commons, claimed Cook confessed - something he has always denied - and that they had tortured him: "Cook appeared in court, with black eyes and a missing tooth, and he was deeply bruised.
"It is claimed that Cook was hung from an upstairs window by his feet, that his feet were beaten until he could not stand, that he was tied to a chair and beaten, that he was deprived of sleep and that a revolver was forced into his mouth and the trigger pulled in a mock execution."
The PJ also claimed Cook had a record as a paedophile, Spink went on. This, too, was "entirely bogus'. The trial judge had asked a PJ witness how he knew this: "The officer replied that someone, unnamed, had told him. The judge accepted that so-called 'evidence' as clear and unequivocal."
It emerged at the trial that while there was no forensic link between Rachel or her clothes and Cook's car, blood had been found under her fingernails - presumably that of her attacker. But when Cook's lawyers tried to obtain it to test it for DNA, they were told the samples had been "lost".
Cook told The Mail on Sunday: "I was with the PJ four days and they gave me no food nor let me go to the lavatory - I literally s*** myself and p****d myself. I was in that state when they first brought me to court.
"What I learnt about Portugal is that once convicted, you never get the chance to get it reversed, because they destroyed the evidence."
Spink, who is still MP for Castle Point, Essex, said yesterday that as the Madeleine case had unfolded, he had become increasingly concerned by the "disturbing parallels' between the way the PJ had dealt with Maddie and the murder of Rachel Charles.
"In both cases, there was incompetence at the outset. And then, having become convinced they had the right suspects, the police seem to have ignored other avenues of investigation - especially the possibility that both were abducted by a stranger."
That was in 1990, 16 1/2 years before Madeleine.
1990 Rachel Charles, as out lined by Brietta, aged 9
!996 Rene Hassee on the western atlantic Algarve, about 18 miles away from Pdl, a little blond and very cute 6 year old boy...
2004 Joana Cipriano, aged 7/8 ... Just about 7 miles away from PdL at Figueira
2006 Carolina Santos, aged 3 .... from nearby Silves about 18 miles away from PdL
2007 Madeleine Mccann, aged 3 .. from PdL
25 years ago!
Get over it![/b]
Get over it !!!
5 children in 16+ years in a moderately lightly populated area
Do you not care about children Wspam?[/size]
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25 years ago!
Get over it!
I'm afraid it shows the poverty of Brietta's argument when she is unable to find a more recent case to illustrate it.
I wonder how many miscarriages of justice have been perpetrated by individual police forces in this country in the same timescale ?
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That was in 1990, 16 1/2 years before Madeleine.
1990 Rachel Charles, as out lined by Brietta, aged 9
!996 Rene Hassee on the western atlantic Algarve, about 18 miles away from Pdl, a little blond and very cute 6 year old boy...
2004 Joana Cipriano, aged 7/8 ... Just about 7 miles away from PdL at Figueira
2006 Carolina Santos, aged 3 .... from nearby Silves about 18 miles away from PdL
2007 Madeleine Mccann, aged 3 .. from PdL
Get over it !!!
5 children in 16+ years in a moderately lightly populated area
Do you not care about children Wspam?
Joana Cipriano is dead.
She was murdered by her mother and uncle.
Get over it.
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This is not a thread about Michael Cook or Joana Cipriano.
It's about tourism on The Algarve. Please stick to The Topic.
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I'm afraid it shows the poverty of Brietta's argument when she is unable to find a more recent case to illustrate it.
That was in 1990, 16 1/2 years before Madeleine.
1990 Rachel Charles, as out lined by Brietta, aged 9
!996 Rene Hassee on the western atlantic Algarve, about 18 miles away from Pdl, a little blond and very cute 6 year old boy...
2004 Joana Cipriano, aged 7/8 ... Just about 7 miles away from PdL at Figueira
2006 Carolina Santos, aged 3 .... from nearby Silves about 18 miles away from PdL
2007 Madeleine Mccann, aged 3 .. from PdL
Get over it !!!
5 children in 16+ years in a moderately lightly populated area
5 Children in 16+ years. That equates to one every 3+ years. No wonder that no-one wnated to come after they learned about that.
But now eight years have passed and no abductions since 2007. No wonder they are coming back. They are feeling that it is safer now
Also it is dirt cheap in comparison to many other sunny places, and a lovely place to holiday.
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5 Children in 16+ years. That equates to one every 3+ years. No wonder that no-one wnated to come after they learned about that.
But now eight years have passed and no abductions since 2007. No wonder they are coming back. They are feeling that it is safer now
Also it is dirt cheap in comparison to many other sunny places, and a lovely place to holiday.
Considering no one was banged up for the 5,6,7, 12 or whatever alleged sexual offences and the operation of a sophisticated paedophile ring in the area (allegedly) about which I have read no success stories of how this ring was busted, I wonder what we should conclude?
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Considering no one was banged up for the 5,6,7, 12 or whatever alleged sexual offences and the operation of a sophisticated paedophile ring in the area (allegedly) about which I have read no success stories of how this ring was busted, I wonder what we should conclude?
The point may well be that no-one was 'banged up' for sexual offences against children leaving them free to continue with nefarious practices unimpeded.
I hope the reported recovery in Portugal is one that is sustained ... but as far as the family holiday business is concerned hiding such offences as opposed to throwing everything at finding whoever was responsible ... wouldn't sit too well with me if I were considering a holiday venue with young children in tow.
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The point may well be that no-one was 'banged up' for sexual offences against children leaving them free to continue with nefarious practices unimpeded.
I hope the reported recovery in Portugal is one that is sustained ... but as far as the family holiday business is concerned hiding such offences as opposed to throwing everything at finding whoever was responsible ... wouldn't sit too well with me if I were considering a holiday venue with young children in tow.
I think that was my point! that being the case the statement that visitors are returning because the place is now safer is somewhat wishful. They are returning for other reasons. Or maybe Brits are staying away yet and the void has been more than adequately filled by Dutch, French and German visitors who have not been subjected to xenophobic propaganda?
It's a thought.
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I think that was my point! that being the case the statement that visitors are returning because the place is now safer is somewhat wishful. They are returning for other reasons. Or maybe Brits are staying away yet and the void has been more than adequately filled by Dutch, French and German visitors who have not been subjected to xenophobic propaganda?
It's a thought.
Is there a record of Dutch, French and German little girls being assaulted in their beds while their parents slept?
There certainly are too many examples of it happening to British children so where exactly does your use of the phrase "xenophobic propaganda" comment fit in?
Are you suggesting holiday makers' children of all nationalities were being assaulted but only the British were being racist in their criticism?
If it is a thought ... it is a particularly stupid and mean spirited one considering the nature of the offences.
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Is there a record of Dutch, French and German little girls being assaulted in their beds while their parents slept?
There certainly are too many examples of it happening to British children so where exactly does your use of the phrase "xenophobic propaganda" comment fit in?
Are you suggesting holiday makers' children of all nationalities were being assaulted but only the British were being racist in their criticism?
If it is a thought ... it is a particularly stupid and mean spirited one considering the nature of the offences.
Summers and Swan in the Telegraph: If only the McCanns had known about the Algarve.
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Is there a record of Dutch, French and German little girls being assaulted in their beds while their parents slept?
There certainly are too many examples of it happening to British children so where exactly does your use of the phrase "xenophobic propaganda" comment fit in?
Are you suggesting holiday makers' children of all nationalities were being assaulted but only the British were being racist in their criticism?
If it is a thought ... it is a particularly stupid and mean spirited one considering the nature of the offences.
IFFFFFF there is a connection, whoever it was may have had a preference for British children. However, this may not be the case at all as each country will decide on what information can be divulged.
There is no way of knowing, for the moment, whether families of other nationalities had also been targets and have reported incidents which the UK aren't authorised to divulge.
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Is there a record of Dutch, French and German little girls being assaulted in their beds while their parents slept?
There certainly are too many examples of it happening to British children so where exactly does your use of the phrase "xenophobic propaganda" comment fit in?
Are you suggesting holiday makers' children of all nationalities were being assaulted but only the British were being racist in their criticism?
If it is a thought ... it is a particularly stupid and mean spirited one considering the nature of the offences.
Well you are entitled to your opinion. I doubt I'll lose sleep over it.
Does it not strike you as odd that in an tourist area that caters for more than just British only British children were targeted (allegedly)?
The xenophobic bit comes in because scarcely a day goes by on here without some half a***d comment to the detriment of the Portuguese and our MSM is pretty much as p**y.
That argument is wearing pretty thin and did not have much going for it the first place.
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There could well be children of other nationalities that just haven't been reported.
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IFFFFFF there is a connection, whoever it was may have had a preference for British children. However, this may not be the case at all as each country will decide on what information can be divulged.
There is no way of knowing, for the moment, whether families of other nationalities had also been targets and have reported incidents which the UK aren't authorised to divulge.
I agree.
The fact that we know about British victims arises as result of Madeleine McCann's disappearance and just as the British diplomats were aware of the attacks on British children it is possible consulates of other nations were aware of assaults on their Nationals.
If British children were the only victims it raises the supposition that there was a British connection (or preference) somewhere in the picture, perhaps an ex pat employee of the agency which arranged holiday lets, an ex pat paedophile or someone working in supply of services be it catering or car hire?
Whatever, someone with a British connection which may be a tenuous one.
There are risks associated with taking children on holiday; swimming pools and balconies immediately spring to mind but venues where children may be subject to assault or disappearance might be considered a risk too far for some parents.
The Algarve with its climate, people and proximity is the perfect choice for holiday makers but as well as welcoming the income arising from tourism the authorities must pay much more than lip service to their security.
Funnily enough I think that rather than damaging the tourist economy the renewed and determined investigation to discover what happened to Madeleine McCann reflects well on present day Portugal.
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I just did a sanity check with someone more plugged into Luz businesses than I am.
It seems those running businesses last year voice the opinion that Luz was exceptionally quiet in 2014. Not just quiet, but exceptionally quiet.
As to the other incidents on the Algarve, surely SY must be in contact with Portuguese, Dutch and German authorities to build up a complete and detailed understanding of what links, if any, there are to the disappearance of Madeleine.
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There could well be children of other nationalities that just haven't been reported.
The same meat but different gravy.
Does it not strike you as being odd that only events concerning British children should have been reported?
Us Brits being a mish mash do not have a typical "look" cf Celtic (squat and dark) & Nordic (raw boned and fair). I would find it odd and worthy of looking into.
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The same meat but different gravy.
Does it not strike you as being odd that only events concerning British children should have been reported?
Us Brits being a mish mash do not have a typical "look" cf Celtic (squat and dark) & Nordic (raw boned and fair). I would find it odd and worthy of looking into.
Reported to The Media, I meant. Would you want it in the papers if it was your daughter?
The rest of your post makes no sense to me.
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Is there a record of Dutch, French and German little girls being assaulted in their beds while their parents slept?
There certainly are too many examples of it happening to British children so where exactly does your use of the phrase "xenophobic propaganda" comment fit in?
Are you suggesting holiday makers' children of all nationalities were being assaulted but only the British were being racist in their criticism?
If it is a thought ... it is a particularly stupid and mean spirited one considering the nature of the offences.
Maybe British children were targeted by the perpetrator because he spoke/understood English but not French, Dutch or German. It would appear that he did speak to his victims IIRC.
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Maybe British children were targeted by the perpetrator because he spoke/understood English but not French, Dutch or German. It would appear that he did speak to his victims IIRC.
Are you truly suggesting he picked British children so he could have a nice chat with them ?
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Are you truly suggesting he picked British children so he could have a nice chat with them ?
Perhaps he preferred to tell them what to do, rather than forcing them manually ? As he assaulted them.
Perhaps he got a thrill out of frightening them verbally. We dont know, do we? But we do know that he chose a lot of British children .... and there had to be a reason.
There always is a reason.
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Reported to The Media, I meant. Would you want it in the papers if it was your daughter?
The rest of your post makes no sense to me.
Normally there are reporting restrictions of names of minors so the first is a pointless question. I would answer truthfully but fear a torrent of abuse from the lunatic fringe that would not be moderated 8(0(*
The rest of the post relates to how the guy only manage to pick Brits? There is no typically visual "British" characteristic. We must assume therefore he went around listening to them then followed them to see where they lived and attacked them later. Well it is plausible as they say.
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Perhaps he preferred to tell them what to do, rather than forcing them manually ? As he assaulted them.
Perhaps he got a thrill out of frightening them verbally. We dont know, do we? But we do know that he chose a lot of British children .... and there had to be a reason.
There always is a reason.
Fundamentally we know virtually nothing about the incidents.
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Maybe British children were targeted by the perpetrator because he spoke/understood English but not French, Dutch or German. It would appear that he did speak to his victims IIRC.
Or maybe he had a specific grudge against / hatred of the British rather than a predilection for them.