In 2013 Ian Horrocks considered the police conduct of Madeleine's case and concluded that the myopic view of Madeleine's parents by an investigation which left no straw unchewed as far as belief in their involvement was concerned obstructed what should have been the real inquiry.
They became so fixated on the premise of parental guilt that despite there being no evidence to support it they allowed it to take over the investigation to the exclusion of other valid lines of inquiry.
Indeed it is a legacy still laboured under by some who call themselves sceptics even today.
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One of the main problems as I see it was that quite early on in the investigation, as well as looking at the offence as possibly being committed by a paedophile; the police clearly suspected that Mr and Mrs McCann were in some way involved. This was obviously an initial valid and correct line of enquiry, however, even though there was absolutely no evidence to support this, it clearly became of significance and the focus of much of their time and resources.
This was undoubtedly reinforced by the comments made by a member of the British Police team ***, who regardless of the fact that there was absolutely nothing to point to either Mr or Mrs McCann being involved, still stated that their involvement ‘deserves as much attention as the criminal and sexual motivations that has been previously prioritised’. This in my view misguided analysis also disregards the sighting by Jane Tanner.
This may have supported and gave credence to the views of some in the Portuguese Police and diverted investigative resources away from more realistic and obvious lines of enquiry.
Such thinking would potentially have closed the minds of the police to other lines of investigation and avenues of enquiry, thereby missing many opportunities to gather evidence, interview witnesses and identify potential suspects. In such cases as has been seen all too often before, both in the UK and elsewhere, the investigator often, albeit subconsciously will try to make the evidence fit his theory. This can be extremely dangerous. Although theories are of course a significant part of detective work, they should be based on evidence and not simply that you think you know what happened. The vital point is to keep an open mind and to go where the evidence leads, not where you think you want it to go.
The reality is that in such cases it is fundamental that the investigators keep an open mind and work to the evidence not what they think may have happened. Also, their belief should be that they are looking for a live child and not confirmation of death. This mindset is fundamental to the way an investigation progresses and how the people working on it respond to information.
http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=3247.msg92507#msg92507*** Lee Rainbow is quoted here
Scotland Yard statements on Madeleine McCann fail to erase the question marks Allvoices
BY NIGEL MOORE
Jul 09, 2013 at 6:11 PM PDT [Jul 10, 2013 at 02:11 AM BST]
http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/Nigel/id447.htm
