Secret Report reveals British officials hampered search for Madeleine McCann.

[xtina]

Jim Gamble is highly critical of the Portuguese police...

Discussing the investigation Mr Gamble said that the initial Portuguese police response to Madeleine’s disappearance was "haphazard".

“There was chaos, and as it went on it was haphazard which was alien to the more structured police you would expect here in the UK. There was not a sense of order.

“In the first instance the parents should be your Number One suspects. In most cases in the first few golden hours as you collect evidence you can then rule them in or out.

“And that was one of the huge flaws in this, that people didn't focus on clearing the ground beneath their feet in those chaotic first few hours that led into the haphazard first few weeks.

The mccs themselves ....did they not ...let everyone trample round the apartment ...knowing as k mcc said maddie had been abducted......were G.A....is concerned the mccs was ..and still are number one suspects....

Funny ... in fact really strange .. that no mention from gamble these other agencies which, according to  G.A. were all involved - and  were hampering his enquiry  from the early days:

MI5.....Special Branch....Controll risk groups


CEOP's only role appeared to be demanding holidaymakers send their Praia da Luz holiday pics direct to him - apparently without the permission of the Portuguese Police

[Brietta]

So the first question must be, why?   What are they hiding?

The British agencies were not sticking their noses in immediately.

They were not there on the 3rd of May or the following days and hours which are the most crucial in missing child cases.

I think there is a grave underestimating by some of the extent to which Madeleine’s case was harmed in the initial phase of the investigation after it was discovered she was missing. 

I would imagine this would be gone into in some detail in Jim Gamble’s report. 
He is cognisant that adverse publicity at this sensitive time in the ongoing investigation into what happened to Madeleine could well throw a spanner into the works. 

The present Met team and the present PJ team seem to have worked hard at establishing a good working relationship which no-one wishes to jeopardise. 
I would not be surprised if this is why Jim Gamble is so reticent about his report and why the Home Office refuse to comment.



"It was unhelpful. I've no doubt that relationships from the outset with the Portuguese were [affected] by it and I think that had a long-term negative effect on the investigation. To this very day the Met investigation team is still having to manage and massage that relationship and – perhaps to be fair to the Portuguese – mend some fences that were trodden on in the early days," he said.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/former-northern-ireland-police-officer-reveals-madeleine-mccann-hunt-flaws-30553413.html

[Jean-Pierre]

Was Jim Gamble there at the time the events happened ?

'A police chief who heads the leading child protection agency provoked a fierce row yesterday after suggesting that paedophiles convicted of viewing child pornography should not necessarily go to prison.

Jim Gamble, the chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), believes some sex offenders should be encouraged to seek treatment rather than serve jail terms.'

He may have a point in that. 

I would use a term rather stronger than "encouraged", but I am not sure that term in prison, probably on a special wing cooped up with harder core offenders  will do much either to change behaviour or prevent reoffending.   

[pathfinder73]

Jim Gamble BBC 3 counties radio 15th May 2014

"I mean, this is about searching for a child who may well have been abducted....

"but the fact that a child was, you know, has... was... did go missing... is still missing, and that those parents are tortured..."

"These are the parents of a child who is suspected to have been abducted".


Funny how Jim doesn't just say she was abducted, innit.

It's because he knows he's been sold London Bridge.

LP caused damage by not being impartial. Amaral put a man close to Bob Small and no wonder - they should be investigated about the Gaspar statements fiasco and keeping them secret from the initial investigation. What else have they been hiding from other witness statements they received in the early days. It's a question that needs to be addressed.

"In the coming weeks we would meet DCS Bob Small, who we found straight-talking and honest. A lot of hard work went on at home as well, where DS Stuart Prior, the senior investigating officer, was kind enough to show our relatives round the incident room – and Gerry, too, later on."

"It did emerge, however, that Bob had concerns of his own. He explained that the British police regarded the use of sniffer dogs as intelligence rather than evidence, and he was perplexed at the apparent fixation of the PJ on the idea that Madeleine had died in the apartment."

"We’d waited almost four weeks for these interviews and it was obvious they had been hastily arranged once Bob Small notified the PJ that we would be leaving the country."

"Gerry rang DCS Bob Small, who was astounded by this latest development. He promised to make some phone calls. Bob was finally able to get hold of Luís Neves, who was reportedly out of the country."

" Meanwhile, Bob Small paid us a call. We were pleased to see him: he is one of the good guys. While he always remained completely professional, we knew that he cared about us, about Madeleine and about justice."

[stephen25000]

He may have a point in that. 

I would use a term rather stronger than "encouraged", but I am not sure that term in prison, probably on a special wing cooped up with harder core offenders  will do much either to change behaviour or prevent reoffending.

Where do you draw the line Jean-Pierre ?

[xtina]

Ever since Operation Grange has overseen the Maddie investigation... most of the details about random suspects and so called sightings have always been made public.

On the other hand, anything negative about the parents of the missing child has completely been disregarded...

.
Anytime SY officials have been able to name a person or interest or potential suspect in this case.... their names have gone public immediately --

and as previously reported... some of those suspects have long been deceased... and are unable to defend themselves.
 
Now suddenly this letter sent from SY to Portugal is confidential ...even though it's concerning potential suspects in the search for the missing child. Why the sudden secrecy... could the potential suspects be people with money or stature

Could the potential suspects be people that investigators don't want to alarm for some reason

who leaked it to sky news...

[Lace]

LP caused damage by not being impartial. Amaral put a man close to Bob Small and no wonder - they should be investigated about the Gaspar statements fiasco and keeping them secret from the initial investigation. What else have they been hiding from other witness statements they received in the early days. It's a question that needs to be addressed.

"In the coming weeks we would meet DCS Bob Small, who we found straight-talking and honest. A lot of hard work went on at home as well, where DS Stuart Prior, the senior investigating officer, was kind enough to show our relatives round the incident room – and Gerry, too, later on."

"It did emerge, however, that Bob had concerns of his own. He explained that the British police regarded the use of sniffer dogs as intelligence rather than evidence, and he was perplexed at the apparent fixation of the PJ on the idea that Madeleine had died in the apartment."

"We’d waited almost four weeks for these interviews and it was obvious they had been hastily arranged once Bob Small notified the PJ that we would be leaving the country."

"Gerry rang DCS Bob Small, who was astounded by this latest development. He promised to make some phone calls. Bob was finally able to get hold of Luís Neves, who was reportedly out of the country."

" Meanwhile, Bob Small paid us a call. We were pleased to see him: he is one of the good guys. While he always remained completely professional, we knew that he cared about us, about Madeleine and about justice."

Why do you say they should be investigated about the Gaspar statement?    They obviously thought it was unimportant.

Do you honestly think if DP was a paedophile he would talk openly to Gerry about such activities with Mrs. Gaspar sat between them?

Mr. Gaspar said he thought nothing of it.

It also seems strange to me,  that she says DP  said something on the lines of 'would she do this'  she says she thinks he meant Madeleine.     So he says would SHE do this,    asking Gerry if Madeleine did whatever he was talking about,   in other words,  meaning did Madeleine do whatever with Gerry????    yet she only condemned DP.    That I find very odd.

[John]

As far as I am aware Dr Amaral never mentioned the confusion or the frustration which the various British organisations are claimed to have caused.  One would have thought that if things were as bad as Jim Gamble suggests that Amaral would have had a field day in apportioning blame elsewhere.

Could it be that this is merely a British perception by the author of a report who as head of CEOP was himself competing with other organisations?

[Jean-Pierre]

Where do you draw the line Jean-Pierre ?

Thankfully it is not my problem, because the punishment / deterrent regime is a very difficult issue. 

Prison clearly does not work for many, as the level of reoffending shows.  As a general principle, if there is an alternative to locking people up in institutions with other, ofter more extreme offenders then that should be taken.

What often happens is that a first time or relatively low level offender is committed to prison, and whilst there is influenced by fellow inmates, coming out worse than they went in. 

I am not arguing for a soft touch or lenient regime of rehabilitation - just a more workable alternative to the easy "lock em up" reflex.     

[Brietta]

Jim Gamble’s report was incremental in the reopening of Madeleine McCann’s case; the only reference I can see to anything about it at the time is in the now defunct News of the World; however it can still be read on one or two blogs who copied it at the time and I can see why the Home Office haven’t released it.

I have snipped one or two comments which are self explanatory.
   
                                                        ::::      ::::      ::::      ::::      ::::

“He told ministers there were huge holes in the original inquiry that need to be revisited if they want to ‘come close’ to reaching UK standards. It will come as a bitter pill for Portuguese investigators who have fended off criticism since Maddie disappeared in 2007.

“Failures in the original investigation are said to be ‘so gaping’ that British authorities feel it is their duty to look at it again. This time police will review all the leads using technology and standards expected in a homicide or kidnap case in the UK.

“Mr Gamble, head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, found a basic failure to collate information and join up links that should have been made.

“Telephone records were not properly analysed, missing early opportunities for leads.

“And Kate and Gerry McCann were named as ‘arguidos’, or formal suspects, by Portuguese police – something that the review says would not have happened if the probe had been carried out in the UK.
Mr Gamble found no evidence sufficient to make them suspects. His findings have now been formally submitted to the Home Office with recommendations to re-investigate.

The source added: “It will be extremely costly and sadly is unlikely to result in a positive outcome. As much as we would all like this to end with good news for the McCanns, the fact is there have been a lot of missed opportunities and no-one will ever be able to reclaim the time and evidence lost”.

Two thousand pages of evidence released earlier claimed Portuguese detectives failed to follow up leads. Home Secretary Alan Johnson ordered officials to examine the ‘feasibility’ of British detectives having a fresh look at all the evidence back in March.   
http://steelmagnolia-steelmagnolia.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/hoax-this-rubbish-from-gamble-as-voting.html

[Alice Purjorick]

As far as I am aware Dr Amaral never mentioned the confusion or the frustration which the various British organisations are claimed to have caused.  One would have thought that if things were as bad as Jim Gamble suggests that Amaral would have had a field day in apportioning blame elsewhere.

Could it be that this is merely a British perception by the author of a report who as head of CEOP was himself competing with other organisations?

Well dear Forum Owner sire, Big Jim certainly had a severe mardy in 2010 when CEOP became part of the National Crime Agency; so severe he took his ball home. As to why the Home Office will not release the report, it is maybe not in the national interest that we proles are allowed to see how those who purportedly act on our behalf stand on their dignity and squabble like kids in a play ground about who sits next to teacher.
"It is amazing what can be accomplished if you do not care who gets the credit"

[jassi]

I think you might well be right, there.

[stephen25000]

Well after the recent revelations, perhaps the UK forces and Gamble should compete in a show called........


 'It's a Co#k -Up'

 %£&)**# %£&)**# %£&)**#

[John]

Well dear Forum Owner sire, Big Jim certainly had a severe mardy in 2010 when CEOP became part of the National Crime Agency; so severe he took his ball home. As to why the Home Office will not release the report, it is maybe not in the national interest that we proles are allowed to see how those who purportedly act on our behalf stand on their dignity and squabble like kids in a play ground about who sits next to teacher.
"It is amazing what can be accomplished if you do not care who gets the credit"

Very observant of you Alice.  ...and no need to call me sire.   

[pegasus]

As far as I am aware Dr Amaral never mentioned the confusion or the frustration which the various British organisations are claimed to have caused.  One would have thought that if things were as bad as Jim Gamble suggests that Amaral would have had a field day in apportioning blame elsewhere.

Could it be that this is merely a British perception by the author of a report who as head of CEOP was himself competing with other organisations?

The one guy who would have been great at co-ordinating the multitude of English police agencies was Glen Power, He was the first UK police officer to arrive. But then, to Mr Amaral's great disappointment, Mr Power was almost immediately pulled off the case.

Source: Truth Of The Lie chapter 6 "The Arrival Of The English Police"

"After Madeleine's disappearance, the first English police officer whom we welcome to the Portimão Department of Criminal Investigation, on May 5th, is Glen Power, liaison officer to Portugal. The brief of this police official attached to his country's embassy is to facilitate communication between police forces. This is one of a number of pivots on which international police collaboration relies.
I have known Glen Power for a long time. Martin Cox, who had held the job in Portugal for some years, came to the Algarve with Glen when the latter replaced him. I had worked with Glen on several cases of violent crime or linked to organised crime; I was aware of his skills, his great capacity for work, his kindness and his modesty. Our relationship went beyond that of a simple professional connection. I was a bit worried when he told me that he wouldn't be around a few days later. He had a lot to do. He wanted to reassure me by telling me that the language of investigation was universal and that his colleagues would have no difficulty in integrating into the ongoing
investigation."