The evidence places Gerry McCann in the tapas bar at 10pm

[Jean-Pierre]

You may be a touch out of date there Anne.  Under UK law the relevant legislation is PACE S80

Commentary:  A spouse or civil partner of a defendant is almost always considered a competent witness for either side, and may choose to testify for or against their spouse. A defendant may, when relevant, compel their spouse or civil partner to testify on their behalf. The prosecution however, may only compel the testimony of the defendant's spouse or civil partner in cases of domestic abuse or violence or sexual offences towards persons under 16. When the spouse or civil partner is a co-defendant to the charges, they may not be compelled to testify.

Note that while this gives special recognition to spousal relationships and civil partnerships, the law does not provide for a privilege and it is never possible to exclude evidence solely on the basis that it was a private conversation between a married couple.

[Mrs. B]

Thanks Jean Pierre, where does the law stand on "friends & acquaintances" in their capacity as witnesses, any thoughts?

[Jean-Pierre]

friends, acquaintances, relatives of course all have capacity to act as witnesses, and can be completted to testify if required.

They would be subject to the usual rules of cross examination, and so it would be up to the prosection or defence to convince the court as to their reliability.

[ferryman]

Sequence of events as I can piece them together from the file:

John Elliot Manager

With regard to the facts of the investigation. Statements show that he knew of these facts by means of a phone call from Lindsay, head of the child care service, who told him about a female child staying at the resort who had disappeared. This phone call was made to the deponent's mobile phone at about 22.28

Lindsay Johnson

She indicates that on May 3rd 2007, at around 10.20pm, she was informed by her colleague Amy T. that Madeleine McCann had disappeared.

Amy T.


The witness confirms that the girl's father went to the reception to call the police as soon as her disappearance was noticed and that twenty minutes had passed. The GNR took 30 – 35 minutes to arrive.


Helger receptionist

He knows about the situation that happened at the Ocean Club concerning the disappearance of a little given that on the day in question (03/05/2007) he was on duty and was contacted by a member of staff from the Tapas Restaurant between 09.30 and 22.00 who informed him that the daughter of some guests who were dining there had disappeared.

[Mrs. B]

friends, acquaintances, relatives of course all have capacity to act as witnesses, and can be completted to testify if required.

They would be subject to the usual rules of cross examination, and so it would be up to the prosection or defence to convince the court as to their reliability.

Thanks 

[AnneGuedes]

You may be a touch out of date there Anne.  Under UK law the relevant legislation is PACE S80

Commentary:  A spouse or civil partner of a defendant is almost always considered a competent witness for either side, and may choose to testify for or against their spouse. A defendant may, when relevant, compel their spouse or civil partner to testify on their behalf. The prosecution however, may only compel the testimony of the defendant's spouse or civil partner in cases of domestic abuse or violence or sexual offences towards persons under 16. When the spouse or civil partner is a co-defendant to the charges, they may not be compelled to testify.

Note that while this gives special recognition to spousal relationships and civil partnerships, the law does not provide for a privilege and it is never possible to exclude evidence solely on the basis that it was a private conversation between a married couple.

With women acquiring an independent juridical statute Common Law had to evolve. But the institution of marriage ("for the best and the worse") had also to be protected and the dialectic isn't so easy, since the qualities of spouse and part in the process aren't compatible.

[Mrs. B]

Sequence of events as I can piece them together from the file:

John Elliot Manager

With regard to the facts of the investigation. Statements show that he knew of these facts by means of a phone call from Lindsay, head of the child care service, who told him about a female child staying at the resort who had disappeared. This phone call was made to the deponent's mobile phone at about 22.28

Lindsay Johnson

She indicates that on May 3rd 2007, at around 10.20pm, she was informed by her colleague Amy T. that Madeleine McCann had disappeared.

Amy T.


The witness confirms that the girl's father went to the reception to call the police as soon as her disappearance was noticed and that twenty minutes had passed. The GNR took 30 – 35 minutes to arrive.


Helger receptionist

He knows about the situation that happened at the Ocean Club concerning the disappearance of a little given that on the day in question (03/05/2007) he was on duty and was contacted by a member of staff from the Tapas Restaurant between 09.30 and 22.00 who informed him that the daughter of some guests who were dining there had disappeared.

And Added to that -
Jeronimo Tomas Rodigues Salcedo, Tapas bar waiter
"On the night Madeleine disappeared, everything appeared normal. I remember that when I took notice of the disappearance, I had been in the restaurant speaking with my two colleagues?Ze and Ricardo who were on break. I returned to the restaurant and noticed that the table of nine was empty with the exception of the older woman. I went over to the table and joked with her: ?They've left you alone?? She responded more of less with these words: ?No, they went to see if the little girl was there.? I responded that I hoped they would find her somewhere in the apartment. At saying this, I saw the man. Who I knew later to be Madeleines father, running to the pool and to the childrens play area in the Tapas zone as if looking for someone. It immediately hit me that after talking to the older woman, that the little girl had not been found. I offered to alert the workers at the Milenium Restaurant and the man agreed. He then left again running to continue searching. I believe that this was between 21H30 and 22H00 but do not remember with certainty."
 

[faithlilly]

Sequence of events as I can piece them together from the file:

John Elliot Manager

With regard to the facts of the investigation. Statements show that he knew of these facts by means of a phone call from Lindsay, head of the child care service, who told him about a female child staying at the resort who had disappeared. This phone call was made to the deponent's mobile phone at about 22.28

Lindsay Johnson

She indicates that on May 3rd 2007, at around 10.20pm, she was informed by her colleague Amy T. that Madeleine McCann had disappeared.

Amy T.


The witness confirms that the girl's father went to the reception to call the police as soon as her disappearance was noticed and that twenty minutes had passed. The GNR took 30 – 35 minutes to arrive.


Helger receptionist

He knows about the situation that happened at the Ocean Club concerning the disappearance of a little given that on the day in question (03/05/2007) he was on duty and was contacted by a member of staff from the Tapas Restaurant between 09.30 and 22.00 who informed him that the daughter of some guests who were dining there had disappeared.

I'm afraid that's rather cherry picking from the statements. I think there is enough disparity in timings between witnesses to make almost anything possible between 8.30 and 10.30 on the night of Madeleine's disappearance..

[Mrs. B]

Especially if we are to assume that they're all lying, yes, I suppose so....

[ferryman]

Sequence of events as I can piece them together from the file:

John Elliot Manager

With regard to the facts of the investigation. Statements show that he knew of these facts by means of a phone call from Lindsay, head of the child care service, who told him about a female child staying at the resort who had disappeared. This phone call was made to the deponent's mobile phone at about 22.28

Lindsay Johnson

She indicates that on May 3rd 2007, at around 10.20pm, she was informed by her colleague Amy T. that Madeleine McCann had disappeared.

Amy T.


The witness confirms that the girl's father went to the reception to call the police as soon as her disappearance was noticed and that twenty minutes had passed. The GNR took 30 – 35 minutes to arrive.


Helger receptionist

He knows about the situation that happened at the Ocean Club concerning the disappearance of a little given that on the day in question (03/05/2007) he was on duty and was contacted by a member of staff from the Tapas Restaurant between 09.30 and 22.00 who informed him that the daughter of some guests who were dining there had disappeared.

I'm afraid that's rather cherry picking from the statements. I think there is enough disparity in timings between witnesses to make almost anything possible between 8.30 and 10.30 on the night of Madeleine's disappearance..

Cherry-picking?

I'm picking up literally every statement I can find.  Here's another from the manager of the Tapas restaurant:

That he became aware of the situation that occurred at the OC with respect to the disappearance of a child when he arrived at the Tapas around 22H00/22H30. He was immediately informed at arriving by work colleagues.

[ferryman]

What I'm having trouble picking up is the statement from the employee at the tapas restaurant who contacted Helger the receptionist.

Anyone better clued up than me?

[ferryman]

An off-topic aside, I know, but one fact I find utterly remarkable is that off-duty employees of both the Tapas and Millennium Restaurants were interviewed weeks or months before Mrs Fenn.

What was that all about?

[Benice]

An off-topic aside, I know, but one fact I find utterly remarkable is that off-duty employees of both the Tapas and Millennium Restaurants were interviewed weeks or months before Mrs Fenn.

What was that all about?

Yes I've always found that to be incredible too.   Being the 'next door neighbour' who was at home at the time, Mrs Fenn should have been interviewed as a matter of urgency.   

[ferryman]

An off-topic aside, I know, but one fact I find utterly remarkable is that off-duty employees of both the Tapas and Millennium Restaurants were interviewed weeks or months before Mrs Fenn.

What was that all about?

Yes I've always found that to be incredible too.   Being the 'next door neighbour' who was at home at the time, Mrs Fenn should have been interviewed as a matter of urgency.

Exactly!

I'm afraid there is one way I can square that particular circle ...

[Mrs. B]

What I'm having trouble picking up is the statement from the employee at the tapas restaurant who contacted Helger the receptionist.

Anyone better clued up than me?

Ricardo Alexandre da Luz Oliveira

Questioned if he was the person who called the reception to tell them that a child had gone missing, he states that he cannot definitively remember if he did or not. He admits that he could have been the one to call.

Mmmm

ETA Continued

At that moment his colleague, Joe, met up with him and asked the witness to call the police, and that a child has gone missing and could not be found. Immediately afterwards, Joe left toward the street. He does not know who gave this information to Joe but the witness (or his colleague who believes the witness did so) called the reception asking them to inform the police.