Has the Madeleine McCann investigation finally run its course?

[Mr Gray]

Has the tax payer being paying for this for a crime in another country, over which they have no jurisdiction ?

Yes

[Alfred R Jones]

An interesting article on the subject here by former Detective Chief Super Neville Blackwood http://www.open.ac.uk/research/main/news/international-co-operation-crucial-for-solving-crimes-against-britons-abroad

There has been an increase in the numbers of UK police who have “taken to the air” to investigate serious crimes committed against British nationals overseas. Globalisation has encouraged British nationals to travel, work and live abroad, and accordingly, they are involved in more overseas crimes: Foreign & Commonwealth Office statistics for 2012/13 show that 310 Britons were sexually assaulted, 710 went missing, 5,435 were arrested and 6,193 died. In many of these circumstances, and particularly in relation to homicide, there will be an investigative role for UK police.

In most murder cases, a state’s sovereignty and territorial integrity will lead to prosecution in that country in relation to homicide committed against a British national. But the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act stipulates that “where any murder or manslaughter shall be committed on land out of the United Kingdom … by any subject of Her Majesty [it] may be dealt with, inquired of, tried, determined, and punished … in England or Ireland”. Overseas, a lack of forensic testing around the cause of death in many parts of the developing world and even the European Union may preclude an adequate police investigation. As a result, leverage from the bereaved family and UK coroners may bring about a UK police investigation conducted abroad.

This is often true of more complex cases, such as the 2008 murders of Ben and Catherine Mullany on their honeymoon in Antigua. Following a lengthy inquiry extensively supported by the Metropolitan and South Wales Police, two Antiguan nationals, Avie Howell and Kaniel Martin, were convicted of their murder. This investigation came about as a result of request for assistance by the Antiguan government for the expertise of British Police and at a significant financial cost to the British taxpayer. It was also complicated by Antigua’s continued use of the death penalty for murder. This meant that before British police officers could set foot on Antiguan soil, the British government needed assurances from the Antiguan government that the death penalty would not be enacted in this case.

[Mr Gray]

if we had to stop one operation.....would it be assange or Maddie...as long as we can spend that sort of money on assange then we can afford op grange

[stephen25000]

if we had to stop one operation.....would it be assange or Maddie...as long as we can spend that sort of money on assange then we can afford op grange

The Assange 'case' and the money spent has been totally down the drain .

Done for political expediency by the UK Government because Assange pissed off the Americans.

Has Assange been charged with anything by the way ?

[ShiningInLuz]

The Mccanns are on record for saying they are in it for the long haul. I don't recall Redwood saying anything  like that, although the Home Office have apparently said time and money are not of the essence.

Closing in? What makes you think this? Four years they have been reviewing/investigating.If there was anything  significant it will have hit our screens by now.

Not that it is important, but I have concluded that SY is nearer the start, not nearer the end.  See my blog if you want details.

Here is the summary.  SY activity in 2014.

March.  Appeal re burglar assaulting white children.

June.  Ground hunt around Luz.

July.  Four arguidos, Sergey plus possible 'group of three'.

Oct.  Trip to Coimbra to check on forensics route.

Dec.  10 people interviewed as witnesses in Faro.  Potential connection covers every possibility going.

That lot is not end-game.  It's 4 years in, but it is still looking like working through the basics.

[jassi]

If what you suggest is true, then they have taken an awful long time to get nowhere.

[Alfred R Jones]

If what you suggest is true, then they have taken an awful long time to get nowhere.

How do you know they are nowhere?

[Brietta]

Not that it is important, but I have concluded that SY is nearer the start, not nearer the end.  See my blog if you want details.

Here is the summary.  SY activity in 2014.

March.  Appeal re burglar assaulting white children.

June.  Ground hunt around Luz.

July.  Four arguidos, Sergey plus possible 'group of three'.

Oct.  Trip to Coimbra to check on forensics route.

Dec.  10 people interviewed as witnesses in Faro.  Potential connection covers every possibility going.

That lot is not end-game.  It's 4 years in, but it is still looking like working through the basics.

The passage of time since Madeleine disappeared must obviously have made the task of the present investigation a very difficult one as well as giving anyone involved over eight years to cover their tracks.

I agree with you that they have had to go right back to basics ... but I think they may have and continue to progress a bit further than you anticipate.
There are huge advantages to the investigation in that the leak 'from sources close to the investigation' has been plugged and if we don't know how far away or close they are neither do the people they are investigating.

I have been following your blog ... very interesting ... particularly regarding the interviewee (?) in SY jurisdiction.

[mercury]

Not that it is important, but I have concluded that SY is nearer the start, not nearer the end.  See my blog if you want details.

Here is the summary.  SY activity in 2014.

March.  Appeal re burglar assaulting white children.

June.  Ground hunt around Luz.

July.  Four arguidos, Sergey plus possible 'group of three'.

Oct.  Trip to Coimbra to check on forensics route.

Dec.  10 people interviewed as witnesses in Faro.  Potential connection covers every possibility going.

That lot is not end-game.  It's 4 years in, but it is still looking like working through the basics.

Thanks, you might be right, still, four years with 37 detectives working on a case year round  and unlimited funds and working in tandem with another national police police force and who knows maybe other elements seems a long time to be at ground zero/basics

[Carana]

Not that it is important, but I have concluded that SY is nearer the start, not nearer the end.  See my blog if you want details.

Here is the summary.  SY activity in 2014.

March.  Appeal re burglar assaulting white children.

June.  Ground hunt around Luz.

July.  Four arguidos, Sergey plus possible 'group of three'.

Oct.  Trip to Coimbra to check on forensics route.

Dec.  10 people interviewed as witnesses in Faro.  Potential connection covers every possibility going.

That lot is not end-game.  It's 4 years in, but it is still looking like working through the basics.

That might be the visible side of a multi-pronged approach though. One searching for immediate red flags (the "investigative component" alluded to during the review), the other going through systematic plod work.

[jassi]

That might be the visible side of a multi-pronged approach though. One searching for immediate red flags (the "investigative component" alluded to during the review), the other going through systematic plod work.

And no doubt hoping the two might meet.

[mercury]

And no doubt hoping the two might meet.

It does seem like there was a lot of bluster and not much else

[Mr Gray]

Thanks, you might be right, still, four years with 37 detectives working on a case year round  and unlimited funds and working in tandem with another national police police force and who knows maybe other elements seems a long time to be at ground zero/basics

the case is taking along time because the PJ will not agree to a joint investigation meaning every line of enquiry need an ILOR which has to go through the slow Portuguese courts...which close for the summer

[pegasus]

the case is taking along time because the PJ will not agree to a joint investigation meaning every line of enquiry need an ILOR which has to go through the slow Portuguese courts...which close for the summer

So when the PJ wished to interview members of the T9 in England, are you saying that if the UK had agreed to a joint investigation, the PJ would not have been delayed by having to use International Letters of Request?

[Brietta]

So when the PJ wished to interview members of the T9 in England, are you saying that if the UK had agreed to a joint investigation, the PJ would not have been delayed by having to use International Letters of Request?

I think that is the point of having a joint investigation, Pegasus, a lot of red tape can be bypassed which saves a lot of time.  Is there any suggestion that the PJ asked for a joint investigation back in 2007 - 2008?