Amaral and MI5

[Carana]

This National Criminal Intelligence service was a police unit, not part of MI5 and was disbanded  (merged) in 2006, so not likely that they would still be referring to themselves by an old title.

I didn't say that they would.

I find it feasible that, in a meeting, someone from SOCA might explain what it actually is and does and some of the history as an introduction.

[pegasus]

... the first broadcaster to be contacted was the BBC ...

Yes. I forget now what time it was, but it is possible to find the time of the first phonecall with the friend, it was in the early hours IIRC (and there were a series of further calls). The b.b.c. did not report on the case until a good time after.

[Carana]

Yes. I forget now what time it was, but it is possible to find the time of the first phonecall with the friend, it was in the early hours IIRC (and there were a series of further calls). The b.b.c. did not report on the case until a good time after.

I didn't intend to take the thread off-topic. It was just an analogy of how easily lost-in-confusion can occur.

[pegasus]

"... and I was told there was suspicion too about another government official, Sheree Dodd, who had acted as a PR officer for the McCanns briefly in the early days – had she come out from ... ?"
(Source: Sunday Times 16 Dec 2007 "Beyond The Smears" by David James Smith)

[jassi]

Also interesting that it was identified as MI5, which is the intelligence service - as Madeleine disappeared in a foreign country, one might have expected any intelligence  involvement to be MI6, rather than MI5

[Carana]

Also interesting that it was identified as MI5, which is the intelligence service - as Madeleine disappeared in a foreign country, one might have expected any intelligence  involvement to be MI6, rather than MI5

Was it? Or is it someone who heard "intelligence service" and got mixed up? Who then repeated it to Amaral?

[Carana]

To be fair... did Amaral actually state MI5, or was this what some tabloid understood him to mean?

[jassi]

Maybe, but where did the Times, who also say MI5, get their information from? Surely not Amaral.

[Carana]

Maybe, but where did the Times, who also say MI5, get their information from? Surely not Amaral.

An unnamed "PJ officer".

ETA: Amaral wasn't on the case in Nov 2007, so whoever it was was not him. However, he presumably obtained his information from whoever that officer was.

[Gadfly]

Ravings of a mad man.  Or someone who is willing to say absolutely anything to give the impression that his flawed reading of the evidence stacks up, as opposed to reality.  A reality that his more intelligent counterparts in both the PJ and the equivalent of the Portuguese prosecution service arrived at without the need for a mass conspiracy theory.

See their views on the investigation ran by Amaral here: http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/aug/06/madeleinemccann.portugal

The Portuguese media really is as bad as the British media at times.  They'll publish any old rubbish.  But they keep nutters like [ removed ] entertained at least.

MI5 is the domestic branch of our intelligence services.  That means they spend their time trying to ensure London's underground doesn't see a repeat of 7/7, the peace process in Ireland doesn't collapse, while trying to stop any rogue elements in rivals' diplomatic corps from stealing British industrial, military and intelligence secrets.  The resources of MI5 are stretched to the maximum... So I'm sure when they learned that they had also been given the McCann case (a criminal case) to crack open, they all had a good laugh about that one.

Amaral is absolutely [ moderated ] Thought he could profiteer from a serious crime.  But ultimately, he has had his pants pulled down by his own lies.

[pegasus]

Mr Amaral said: "Don’t forget that the British secret services followed the case right from the beginning " (Source: see top of thread)

KM said: "It transpired that he was a former intelligence officer, now a kidnap negotiator and counsellor. We were told that an anonymous (but evidently very generous) donor had set aside a considerable sum of money for us to put towards the cost of hiring a private investigation if we wished. ....... had been brought in by a firm ... which was primed to help." (Source: "Madeleine")

Who or what might be the "anonymous donor" which if KM's description is correct, apparently selected and primed and sent out a firm to help, before even presenting their kind offer?

[ferryman]

Ravings of a mad man.  Or someone who is willing to say absolutely anything to give the impression that his flawed reading of the evidence stacks up, as opposed to reality.  A reality that his more intelligent counterparts in both the PJ and the equivalent of the Portuguese prosecution service arrived at without the need for a mass conspiracy theory.

See their views on the investigation ran by Amaral here: http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/aug/06/madeleinemccann.portugal

The Portuguese media really is as bad as the British media at times.  They'll publish any old rubbish.  But they keep nutters like [ removed ] entertained at least.

MI5 is the domestic branch of our intelligence services.  That means they spend their time trying to ensure London's underground doesn't see a repeat of 7/7, the peace process in Ireland doesn't collapse, while trying to stop any rogue elements in rivals' diplomatic corps from stealing British industrial, military and intelligence secrets.  The resources of MI5 are stretched to the maximum... So I'm sure when they learned that they had also been given the McCann case (a criminal case) to crack open, they all had a good laugh about that one.

Amaral is absolutely [ moderated ] Thought he could profiteer from a serious crime.  But ultimately, he has had his pants pulled down by his own lies.

Good post!

Welcome to the board, Gadfly.

[Puffin]

Agreed, great post.    Welcome Gadfly.  Puffin

[Carew]

Good post!

Welcome to the board, Gadfly.

A "good post"?............

Hmmmm.....I expect it will be shortly pasted up in triumph somewhere for the flag-waving popcorn chomping set to LOL at.

Actually it is full of gratuitous nastiness........and had a similar tone been adopted against the McCanns, it would have been similarly copied for an "outrage fest" against the h*ters.

Is there a moderator about to ensure we keep the posts informative rather than abusive?

[jassi]

I don't see that any claim about MI5 has any bearing on the other issues.