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

[Lace]

On that basis they could have finished their mains by 9:30.

All seated at 8:35 (or 8:45), order food, mains ready 25 (or 30) mins later. Mains finished 15 mins later.

So if the order was simple then the whole meal could have been finished by 9:15 or 9:25

You need to add on the time it took for the waiter to get the wine.   Then take their orders.

Then they would wait for the starter to come.

Then it would take half an hour to eat the starter.

Then they would come and clear the table.

Then they would wait for the main meal.

Then the main meal would take roughly fifteen minutes.

[Lace]

Dianne Webster says they were late sitting down for the meal  -

 Reply    ”Well we arrived about, I don’t know, ten to nine, five to nine, which was very late. Err and the thing that I didn’t mention at the original err interview in Portugal was that I do vaguely remember seeing Matt, he was coming up because I think he made some joke about coming up to see where we were because we were so late, but he was actually on his way to check err check the children.”

[jassi]

Dianne Webster says they were late sitting down for the meal  -

 Reply    ”Well we arrived about, I don’t know, ten to nine, five to nine, which was very late. Err and the thing that I didn’t mention at the original err interview in Portugal was that I do vaguely remember seeing Matt, he was coming up because I think he made some joke about coming up to see where we were because we were so late, but he was actually on his way to check err check the children.”

Maybe doing her an injustice, but her statement sounds as if it is being adjusted to fit more closely with that of others.

[Lace]

Maybe doing her an injustice, but her statement sounds as if it is being adjusted to fit more closely with that of others.

Dianne Webster police statement 4.5.2007  -

 They left the apartment at around 8.45 and accompanied by her son-in-law and her daughter, they went to join the rest of the group at the "TAPAS" restaurant. The McCann couple were amongst the other friends at dinner. To our question, the informant told us that given that her daughter had an intercom allowing them to hear if the children were shouting or crying, no one went to check on the spot. However, she reported that Kate and Gerald as well as other couples went a few times, on a regular basis, to make sure their children were OK.

[jassi]

Do you think she means that Kate & Gerry went a few times, as that is untrue -they only went once each, by their own admission. Or is she meaning that in total people, went a few times ? The latter may be what she means, but isn't what she says.

[Cariad]

Sort of.

MICHAEL SPERREY
CLARE SPERREY
 
------ In the main reception (open 24h) of the Ocean Club, the signatory [undersigned] was able to observe a person with long hair, curly, blonde in colour, with camouflage shorts and green sweat-shirt, which fit the description of the suspect of the "Rastas", it being that I questioned the receptionist about him, who said that this individual and his wife are guests in the hotel and he has been tireless, since yesterday, in search of the missing girl. Attached are photocopies of their passports as well as the hotel registration form. ----------

[The very last paragraph of my translation of pages 121-125 in /PJ/TAPAS-EMPLOYEES.htm states that they are passport copies of the person identified as the man with 'Rasta' hairstyle, camouflage shorts and green sweat-shirt (taken to be the person seen by Jez Wilkins per his witness statement), and his wife. They were resort guests. I have no reference to a formal witness statement from them on file, merely the above identification to eliminate them from the inquiry.]

Signature of official: Duarte F**** - Inspector


And thats ya lot! I wonder why it was in this list?

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/TAPAS-EMPLOYEES.htm#sperrey

Thank you DCI. I wonder why they weren't questioned about who was in the tapas bar?

[Cariad]

Dianne Webster says they were late sitting down for the meal  -

 Reply    ”Well we arrived about, I don’t know, ten to nine, five to nine, which was very late. Err and the thing that I didn’t mention at the original err interview in Portugal was that I do vaguely remember seeing Matt, he was coming up because I think he made some joke about coming up to see where we were because we were so late, but he was actually on his way to check err check the children.”

she also said this:

 Asked, she adds that she went to the restaurant in the company of her daughter and son-in-law.
- Asked directly if someone had gone to her apartment to call them (herself and the PAYNE couple) for dinner the witness said no.
- Asked if there was the possibility of having crossed paths with someone during the journey between her apartment and restaurant, the witness said no.
- That night she judges to have arrived at the restaurant close to 21:00, in the company of the PAYNE couple.

[jassi]

Could it simply be that they left much earlier and so didn't have any information to offer.
I imagine that statements were only taken from those with relevant information, though the police would have spoken to many others.

[AnneGuedes]

she also said this:

 Asked, she adds that she went to the restaurant in the company of her daughter and son-in-law.
- Asked directly if someone had gone to her apartment to call them (herself and the PAYNE couple) for dinner the witness said no.
- Asked if there was the possibility of having crossed paths with someone during the journey between her apartment and restaurant, the witness said no.
- That night she judges to have arrived at the restaurant close to 21:00, in the company of the PAYNE couple.

Yes, Mrs Webster's memory changed between her 2 statements to the PJ and the rogatory interview almost one year after.

[Benice]

Do you think she means that Kate & Gerry went a few times, as that is untrue -they only went once each, by their own admission. Or is she meaning that in total people, went a few times ? The latter may be what she means, but isn't what she says.

They were only away for a total of one and half hours - some of them even less than that  - so there wasn't time to go that often.   The McCann children were checked every half an hour, and I believe JT's children's checks were nearer to l5 mins apart. 

[jassi]

They were only away for a total of one and half hours - some of them even less than that  - so there wasn't time to go that often.   The McCann children were checked every half an hour, and I believe JT's children's checks were nearer to l5 mins apart.

I know when the checks were. I was querying what Webster actually meant in her statement - who went several times ? She seems to imply McCanns, but we know they only went twice, not several times.

[Benice]

I know when the checks were. I was querying what Webster actually meant in her statement - who went several times ? She seems to imply McCanns, but we know they only went twice, not several times.

IIRC Diane Webster says a couple of times in her statements that she wasn't there to keep note of what others were doing - so she wasn't taking that much notice.    IMO I presume she was aware  people were checking, and it was simply her impression that people came and went several times.   Why do you ask Jassi?   (Just curious) 

[DCI]

I know when the checks were. I was querying what Webster actually meant in her statement - who went several times ? She seems to imply McCanns, but we know they only went twice, not several times.

Kate's would have been the third. They were still checked in between Gerry and Kate, by Mathew!

[jassi]

IIRC Diane Webster says a couple of times in her statements that she wasn't there to keep note of what others were doing - so she wasn't taking that much notice.    IMO I presume she was aware  people were checking, and it was simply her impression that people came and went several times.   Why do you ask Jassi?   (Just curious)

I just found that sentence in her statement (reproduced higher up this page) ambiguous and wondered what others thought she meant.

I recognise it might just be a translation thing as this was her statement to the PJ.

[Lace]

  quote Lace     That is why Andy Redwood is saying that Kate probably missed the abductor by minutes.   Or are they wrong?


 I read this in the media..I never once heard Redwood say this.

Apologies,   yes your right Andy Redwood didn't say it,   I read it in the news.

It was in reply to C. Edwards who was questioning the time of the Smith's sighting,   Andy Redwood does say the Smith's sighting was at 10 o'clock,   meaning that Kate would have just missed the abductor by minutes when she did her check   -

But this has been found not to involve Madeleine.

The revelation has shifted detectives' focus on to a later sighting at 10pm when an Irish family reported seeing a man walking towards the beach carrying a blonde girl in pyjamas.

She appeared to be in an uncomfortable position with her head slumped against him.

DCI Redwood said: 'Our focus in terms of understanding what happened on the night of May 3 has now given us a shift of emphasis. We are almost certain that the man seen by Jane Tanner is not Madeleine's abductor.

'It takes us through to a position at 10pm when we see another man who is walking towards the ocean, close by to the apartment, with a young child in his arms.'

Today it was revealed the police may have made a major breakthrough in the hunt for Madeleine after more than 1,000 people came forward with fresh information and several named the same man as the prime suspect.

The three-year-old's disappearance was reconstructed in a dramatic BBC Crimewatch appeal last night and Scotland Yard has today hailed a 'truly unprecedented' response.

Detectives believe a suspect seen carrying a child 500 yards from the McCanns' holiday apartment was the kidnapper who struck just before her mother went to check on her children.