The child gate located at the top of the steps.

[Brietta]

Using science to formulate the correct detailed questions is important. IMO each checker if asked today would remember whether or not they operated the blue lever on the stairgate.

I would not rely on such a specific memory many years after the event.

Different if it had been asked at the time and refreshed later that is different ... and who knows it may well have been if statements were written down as is police practice even when not in formal interview ... not everything is documented in the files.

[Benice]

If you look at what was said he describes opening the locked front door with the key. There was no lock and key on the patio door, so speculating about a mistake regarding 'front' and 'back' doors has no relevance .

The officer writing the summary describes what he believed Gerry had said.   It is not verbatim.

Gerry had already said that Matt had used the patio door.

So in view of that  - why didn't the police officer ask Gerry the very obvious question:  i.e.

'' Why did you decide to go all the way round to the front door when access via the patio door was only a couple of yards away from you?''

[G-Unit]

The officer writing the summary describes what he believed Gerry had said.   It is not verbatim.

Gerry had already said that Matt had used the patio door.

So in view of that  - why didn't the police officer ask Gerry the very obvious question:  i.e.

'' Why did you decide to go all the way round to the front door when access via the patio door was only a couple of yards away from you?''

So now it's not a mix-up between which door was the 'front' door, it's a policeman writing it down wrong? Gerald McCann signed every page of his statements so if they're incorrect he should have said so at the time.

[Mr Gray]

So now it's not a mix-up between which door was the 'front' door, it's a policeman writing it down wrong? Gerald McCann signed every page of his statements so if they're incorrect he should have said so at the time.

they were in Portuguese......he had no idea if they were correct

[G-Unit]

they were in Portuguese......he had no idea if they were correct

They would have been read back to him of course. No intelligent educated professional signs something unless it's checked surely?

[Mr Gray]

They would have been read back to him of course. No intelligent educated professional signs something unless it's checked surely?

They were read back in English...he had no idea what was written down.....he would have assumed they were correct.....what options did he have but to sign...

[G-Unit]

They were read back in English...he had no idea what was written down.....he would have assumed they were correct.....what options did he have but to sign...

They were correct. if you think differently then prove it.

[pathfinder73]

The McCanns paid 100K to have them translated but haven't released them. If there were translation errors you bet we would know about it.

[ShiningInLuz]

IMO the first interview was rife for misunderstandings.   Gerry had had no sleep and was still in massive shock.    Any idea that he was cool calm and collected is absurd IMO.     There would be delays because of the necessity for translations -- and IIRC his replies were then typed out by the Police officer at the time.      AT that early point and in those circumstances then  IMO Gerry would find concentration very difficult and he would still be hoping and praying that news that Madeleine had been found would come at any minute.   


There is no credible reason that I can think of why anyone would lie about which doors they used.  What would they have to gain by doing that?   

On the other hand we know for definite that different people had different opinions on which door constituted the front door and which door they regarded as the back door.    It seem obvious to me that until they sorted that out then major confusion was inevitable during interviews.

IMO that was sorted out at Gerry's second interview.

First statement by Gerry is that he used a key.  Then he asserted that Kate used a key.  The guests were given but one key per couple, so said key had to pass from Gerry to Kate, somehow.  Unless, of course, Kate did not use a key, or Gerry did not use a key or neither used a key.  Confused?

First statement by Gerry also says Matthew went via the open patio doors.  It seems the McCanns avoided the short route of the open patio doors and went the long route and used a key.

In Gerry's second statement he confirmed that his first statement was accurate.  Then he changed the account to everyone going in through open patio doors, no key required.

I believe he did a video about a year after the incident, in which he returned to 5A.  And in which the key was on a table in the apartment and the reason for using the patio doors had become 'the noise of the front door might wake the children'.  Not so the other 2 couples on the ground floor.

I am neither pro-McCann or anti-McCann, but Gerry's first statement has hallmarks of someone trying to cover over a pile of poo, and doing a very bad job of it.

There is a credible reason why this might have arisen.  It has nothing to do with fatigue, stress or disorientation.  And no, I do NOT know this credible reason is what actually was the driver.

[G-Unit]

The McCanns paid 100K to have them translated but haven't released them. If there were translation errors you bet we would know about it.

We sure would. If only to show that the 'vile trolls' are reading files full of errors.

[jassi]

So we can assume that they are accurate - good.

[Mr Gray]

They were correct. if you think differently then prove it.

what a pathetic response...your idea of evidence is laughable making your conclusions laughable...you have no idea how accurate those police statements are but you state they are correct....pathetic

[Mr Gray]

First statement by Gerry is that he used a key.  Then he asserted that Kate used a key.  The guests were given but one key per couple, so said key had to pass from Gerry to Kate, somehow.  Unless, of course, Kate did not use a key, or Gerry did not use a key or neither used a key.  Confused?

First statement by Gerry also says Matthew went via the open patio doors.  It seems the McCanns avoided the short route of the open patio doors and went the long route and used a key.

In Gerry's second statement he confirmed that his first statement was accurate.  Then he changed the account to everyone going in through open patio doors, no key required.

I believe he did a video about a year after the incident, in which he returned to 5A.  And in which the key was on a table in the apartment and the reason for using the patio doors had become 'the noise of the front door might wake the children'.  Not so the other 2 couples on the ground floor.

I am neither pro-McCann or anti-McCann, but Gerry's first statement has hallmarks of someone trying to cover over a pile of poo, and doing a very bad job of it.

There is a credible reason why this might have arisen.  It has nothing to do with fatigue, stress or disorientation.  And no, I do NOT know this credible reason is what actually was the driver.

A schoolboy error...neither statement is made by Gerry...they are not verbatim...they are made by the translator...

[Mr Gray]

We sure would. If only to show that the 'vile trolls' are reading files full of errors.

you made a post from the archiving report containing the phrase "prove their innocence". The archiving report does not say that ..it is a poor translation

[jassi]

Of course it is, Davel, of course it is