Mark Warner Holidays and Ocean Club Resorts had a duty of care towards their guests.

[jassi]

Whatever happened, they weren't doing the best for their children.

[Brietta]

I have always said that Mark Warner Company got off the hook too easily on the occasion of Madeleine's perceived abduction.  Had I been a guest and later found out that the management knew about these intruders and did nada about it, I would have been furious.

I agree John.  Although hindsight is an exact science I think Mark Warner got off very lightly in this whole affair.

However I don't think MW could have carried out proper risk assessments or if they did they didn't implement them as far as security of the apartments was concerned.
Margaret Hall's statement makes it clear that management had been made aware of the man she saw lurking in the darkness outside Apartment 5A five months before the event while she was baby sitting.

I noticed from her statement that the patio doors were referred to as the front door. 

-quote -"She said that the front door was the main door to enter the apartment, situated at the back." -end quote

She also mentioned motion sensitive lights being activated when she went outside at 00.30.
 -quote - "She left by the front door and in the darkness, by the movement sensitive lights, she saw something move and thought its was a rat." - end quote 

I have read the statement before but that didn't register with me ... were the Drs McCann relying on seeing these lights going on from the Tapas as an additional safeguard to the checks?

Also she was able to give a good description ... I can recall one efit which I think would match that ... does anyone know if she was asked to help compose an efit?

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/MARGARET_HALL.htm

[pegasus]

I wouldn't have wanted to cart three sleeping children back from the night creche with only two parents to do it.

An in-apartment child-sitting service was available at Mark Warner PDL.
And not some member of staff you and your kid don't know.
The same nannies who you trusted your kid to in the day were available for in-apartment child-sitting.
It was about 15 euros an hour IIRC ?

[Montclair]

These stories of break-ins and a crime wave in the area is just BS made up to justify the McCanns story. I live in the Algarve, have always worked in tourism and I can assure you that no one I know has any idea about this so-called crime wave. Things like that don't go unnoticed and everyone in the Algarve would have been talking about it.

[John]

These stories of break-ins and a crime wave in the area is just BS made up to justify the McCanns story. I live in the Algarve, have always worked in tourism and I can assure you that no one I know has any idea about this so-called crime wave. Things like that don't go unnoticed and everyone in the Algarve would have been talking about it.

That's because the burglars target holiday makers and not residents.  The former is an easy target and more than often don't want to make a fuss.

Someone commented earlier that surely the PJ knew about these minor robberies.  They might not have done as the local GNR might have dealt with them and filed them away in BIN01.

[Alfred R Jones]

These stories of break-ins and a crime wave in the area is just BS made up to justify the McCanns story. I live in the Algarve, have always worked in tourism and I can assure you that no one I know has any idea about this so-called crime wave. Things like that don't go unnoticed and everyone in the Algarve would have been talking about it.

SY made these sex attacks up did they?  I see.

[Martina]

SY made these sex attacks up did they?  I see.

Provide any formal SY statement mentioning these attacks.

[Montclair]

That's because the burglars target holiday makers and not residents.  The former is an easy target and more than often don't want to make a fuss.

Someone commented earlier that surely the PJ knew about these minor robberies.  They might not have done as the local GNR might have dealt with them and filed them away in BIN01.

Don't insult the GNR. I always had to accompany holiday makers and house owners to the GNR when there were break-ins so that they could obtain police affidavits so that they could make insurance claims. And they always came when there was a problem and did not ignore calls. I remember them even investigating some white powder someone put around the apartments.

Also, why would a holiday maker ignore and brush aside a break-in or an attempted assault on their children? Do you believe that anyone would continue their holiday knowing that someone had broken in their accommodation? Don't be silly. This is such a ridiculous idea. Unbelievable.

[pegasus]

" There is also a babysitting service, which runs from 19H30 to 01H00, and is carried out in the apartment of the requesting guests "
(Source: C.Baker statement 6 May 2007)
What was the guests' excuse for not using that?

[Alfred R Jones]

Provide any formal SY statement mentioning these attacks.

from the Telegraph.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer said his team had received around 500 calls following last month’s appeal.
He said: "As a result of those 500 calls, we have now identified a further five sexual assaults and one near miss. None of those six matters we were aware of prior to our appeal.
"In this new tranche of information we have got one crime which is very clearly in the heart of Praia da Luz in 2005, on a young, white, 10-year-old girl.
"Clearly the fact that we've now got an assault that is in the heart of Praia da Luz, very close to where a previous matter had been reported, means that we are even more interested in this as part of the inquiry."

[pegasus]

Imagine you pay a friend or relative to babysit your toddlers while you go out for a meal
Then you discover babysitter is sitting down the local cafe drinking tea and yacking and just popping back every 10 minutes to check ----
?

[John]

Don't insult the GNR. I always had to accompany holiday makers and house owners to the GNR when there were break-ins so that they could obtain police affidavits so that they could make insurance claims. And they always came when there was a problem and did not ignore calls. I remember them even investigating some white powder someone put around the apartments.

Also, why would a holiday maker ignore and brush aside a break-in or an attempted assault on their children? Do you believe that anyone would continue their holiday knowing that someone had broken in their accommodation? Don't be silly. This is such a ridiculous idea. Unbelievable.

Happens all the time, hotels don't want to see cops clambering over their premises, its bad publicity.  Tourists don't want the hassle of having to go and sit in a police station for hours while they could be on the beach.  Who's going to waste all those rays for a few quid?  Its all a matter of degrees!

In any event, back to my main point, the PJ may not be aware of the minor robberies like the one which allegedly occurred in Odiáxere on the night that Madeleine disappeared as they don't need to know...the GNR deal with them.

[pegasus]

IMO a notice stuck on wall inside every apartment like this would have been good:

"Please check that the lock button is pressed on windows before leaving apartment"

Why? Because not doing it allows window and shutter to be opened without force from outside.

For guests unaware (prior to disappearance) of this, see statements of RO, KM, GM.

[VIXTE]

Do you go on holiday to a foreign country and leave your windows and doors open?

Or would you be more cautious as it's not an area you're used to?

Do you go out for the evening where you currently live and leave your windows and doors open or do you close and lock them to prevent burglaries?

If I was in their other resorts before and it all felt safe and if my friends and friends of friends etc also went to their resorts worldwide and it was always safe ( I am seeing this daily on Facebook, people go to different holidays worldwide and have a good time) nobody thinks about the security. They assume this is organised by the hotel people.
Now, if Mark Warner knew the resort had so many break ins and attacks they should make their guests aware of this.
People would be more careful.
Instead, they give them brochures presenting it as a heaven on earth and keep quiet about the crime events.
This is wrong!
Well, now the whole world knows about the attacks and about the break ins anyway....

[Benice]

An in-apartment child-sitting service was available at Mark Warner PDL.
And not some member of staff you and your kid don't know.
The same nannies who you trusted your kid to in the day were available for in-apartment child-sitting.
It was about 15 euros an hour IIRC ?

I wouldn't dream of allowing someone who was a total stranger to my family  until I had met them that day  -  to spend hours alone in my apartment with my children - no matter how nice they seemed to be or what their job was.   

A creche environment is a completely different scenario - there's no comparison IMO.