The confusion over the doors didn't help the investigation?

[Benice]

I don't think he lied, Benice, in his first statement, about the door he used.
I think the Oldfield only occurred for the sake of regular checks.
Mr McCann was exhausted, physically and emotionally, yes, hence the incoherence.
The golden and universal rule is that the first statement has more chances to be close to reality than any of the following ones.

I would agree with that Anne if it wasn't for the fact that the language barrier presented the distinct  possibility of genuine misunderstandings occurring between 3 people.      Especially, during the very first interview when everything was unfamiliar and new to everyone involved and GM was still in the first traumatic throes of every parent's worst nightmare - and IMO would have been finding it very difficult to concentrate.

[Carana]

No, this is his first statement, he never said in that he left through the patio doors!

As for mentioning Matt using the patio door, how do you know something didnt click in his mind midstream the statement and say that! It was after all a lengthy process, and he had time to think out implications if he wanted to add in that the patio door was open after all. GMs mind as we all know is faster than his mouth can keep up with.


As for the PJ officer doing a summary and adding use of a key, thats ridiculous, no PJ officer did any summary, witnesses words were translated by translators, recorded, read back to the witnesses in English and then signed. Why on earth would any police officer add anythng just because he thought that is probably what someone meant! listen to yourself. Its barrel scraping time again. lets face it you have no idea whatsoever what is the truth and why GM or anyone else would say what they did say. But do carry on the apologising and blame shifting.

All IMO of course

If the statements had been recorded, what was actually said would be clear. Some people are saying that they were, in which case, why not present verbatim transcriptions?

I just double-checked on a detail, you're right that he didn't specify which door he walked out of in his first statement. However, it was underlined that the patio door was never locked and that there is where Matt entered and left.

If there was no misunderstanding, why does the statement mention a lateral entrance??

[Carana]

The question, the only one, is "why do you include it ?".
You don't admit that two Portuguese speakers, the police officer and the interpreter, designated the south issue as a door-window (signed statement in Portuguese), i.e not a proper door. Curious.
You don't admit that it is a floor length window , the name of it in English being "French window". Curious.
You don't admit that this sort of layout is common in Portugal where the notion of "back door" doesn't exist. Curious.
In big villas and flats, there used to be a "service door", reserved to employees.
Finally you insist that "with his key" could be some "add in translation". 

Whether it's a solid wooden door, or a sliding glass door, they are both entrances. Was the orientation of north-south established in that first interview? If so, and if all the details were clear,  why does the statement mention a lateral entrance without specifying what it was lateral to?

[pegasus]

If the statements had been recorded, what was actually said would be clear. Some people are saying that they were, in which case, why not present verbatim transcriptions?

I just double-checked on a detail, you're right that he didn't specify which door he walked out of in his first statement. However, it was underlined that the patio door was never locked and that there is where Matt entered and left.

If there was no misunderstanding, why does the statement mention a lateral entrance??

Yes, it would be crazy for someone to lie about the door they entered by, to make it seem like the apartment was secure against a child wandering out or an intruder entering, but then in same statement to say oh BTW the lounge patio door was not locked.
IMO these two 4th May statements are likely to be wrongly transcribed.

[Estuarine]

This door lark is becoming like Jim Bowen's famous "Come and have a look at what you would have won".
Which door would Matt and Gerry have gone through had they gone through a door?
Then mistranslations etc. A large number of mainland Europeans speak English. Most Brits don't speak English any too well let alone a foreign language then judge all others by themselves. imo of course.    Err....  f***ing tosser innit.

[Carana]

Yes, it would be crazy for someone to lie about the door they entered by, to make it seem like the apartment was secure against a child wandering out or an intruder entering, but then in same statement to say oh BTW the lounge patio door was not locked.
IMO these two 4th May statements are likely to be wrongly transcribed.

I find it quite plausible that there was a lost-in-comprehension issue in Gerry's 4 May statement. It was the first interview, Gerry had had only a couple of hours rest, the PJ officer would not necessarily have received a report about the layout of the apartment from the officers who were there in the early hours of the morning and there's no reason to suppose that the lady who served as an interpreter had any prior knowledge either.

[pathfinder73]

Yes, it would be crazy for someone to lie about the door they entered by, to make it seem like the apartment was secure against a child wandering out or an intruder entering, but then in same statement to say oh BTW the lounge patio door was not locked.
IMO these two 4th May statements are likely to be wrongly transcribed.

Maybe he got confused if both northside and southside (bedroom window door) entrances were used. Only one door uses a key to enter i.e. the northside front door not the southside back patio door.

[AnneGuedes]

I find it quite plausible that there was a lost-in-comprehension issue in Gerry's 4 May statement. It was the first interview, Gerry had had only a couple of hours rest, the PJ officer would not necessarily have received a report about the layout of the apartment from the officers who were there in the early hours of the morning and there's no reason to suppose that the lady who served as an interpreter had any prior knowledge either.

And the sceptics who believe that signed statements are genuine are part of the conspiracy...
ROFL !

[Carana]

The question, the only one, is "why do you include it ?".
You don't admit that two Portuguese speakers, the police officer and the interpreter, designated the south issue as a door-window (signed statement in Portuguese), i.e not a proper door. Curious.
You don't admit that it is a floor length window , the name of it in English being "French window". Curious.
You don't admit that this sort of layout is common in Portugal where the notion of "back door" doesn't exist. Curious.
In big villas and flats, there used to be a "service door", reserved to employees.
Finally you insist that "with his key" could be some "add in translation". 

door
noun, often attributive \ˈdȯr\

: a movable piece of wood, glass, or metal that swings or slides open and shut so that people can enter or leave a room, building, vehicle, etc.

: a part of an object (such as piece of furniture or an appliance) that swings or slides open and shut

: the opening for a door : the entrance to a room or building
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/door

[AnneGuedes]

IMO these two 4th May statements are likely to be wrongly transcribed.

Like Mrs Fenn's !
Like all the elements that led the MP to ask for a reconstitution... instead of just erasing them for being faulty !
ROFL !

[AnneGuedes]

door
noun, often attributive \ˈdȯr\

: a movable piece of wood, glass, or metal that swings or slides open and shut so that people can enter or leave a room, building, vehicle, etc.

: a part of an object (such as piece of furniture or an appliance) that swings or slides open and shut

: the opening for a door : the entrance to a room or building
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/door

How do people enter when the French window is shut ?

[AnneGuedes]

Whether it's a solid wooden door, or a sliding glass door, they are both entrances.

No, and it has nothing to do with the material.
Why did they (say) they left it open ? What would happen if they had shut it ?

[pegasus]

There are 3 external doors (openings you can walk through).
- in the hall, the lounge, and the south bedroom.

There are 4 external windows (openings you can not walk through).
- in the north bedroom, the kitchen, and two in the living area

[Redblossom]

This door lark is becoming like Jim Bowen's famous "Come and have a look at what you would have won".
Which door would Matt and Gerry have gone through had they gone through a door?
Then mistranslations etc. A large number of mainland Europeans speak English. Most Brits don't speak English any too well let alone a foreign language then judge all others by themselves. imo of course.    Err....  f***ing tosser innit.

 

This is gotten sooo ridiculous.....instead of people answering the question why Gerry said he used A KEY, (not forgettitng saying his wife did too) which only opens ONE DOOR, and a point many are avoiding, we have reams of posts about him not having much sleep, PJ deciding  to add to his statements to clarify "what  they thought he meant", dictionary definitions of what the word door means, clarifications about what doors or windows you can and cant walk through, imaginations and presumptions about local police needing a sketch of the flat before they understood any word being spoken, police and interpreters being "confused", much ado about northside, southside, side aways , things lost in translation etc etc etc

End of the day statement was signed after being read back to him in English


Wheres the Hedex?



Im out of this little Shakespearean debacle of much ado about nothing and protesting too much

 

[Mr Gray]

This is gotten sooo ridiculous.....instead of people answering the question why Gerry said he used A KEY, (not forgettitng saying his wife did too) which only opens ONE DOOR, and a point many are avoiding, we have reams of posts about him not having much sleep, PJ deciding  to add to his statements to clarify "what  they thought he meant", dictionary definitions of what the word door means, clarifications about what doors or windows you can and cant walk through, imaginations and presumptions about local police needing a sketch of the flat before they understood any word being spoken, police and interpreters being "confused", much ado about northside, southside, side aways , things lost in translation etc etc etc

End of the day statement was signed after being read back to him in English


Wheres the Hedex?



Im out of this little Shakespearean debacle of much ado about nothing and protesting too much

 

 But Gerry doesn't know what was then written down in Portuguese...he only has the translators word for it