UK police guilty of flawed tunnel vision in hunt for Maddie McCann

[stephen25000]

Since about 2013 I believe

"The McCanns have been prominent in the Hacked Off group which campaigns for press accountability following the News of the World phone-hacking scandal".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29470599

More here:

http://hackinginquiry.org/mediareleases/leveson-without-the-law-is-no-change-gerry-mccann/

But yeah, the press was really, really kind to the McCanns.

Oh come off it Alfie, that was early on,and you know it.

Since then, with one exception they have followed the McCann lead.

...and of course, the McCann's were never hacked, were they.

As to 'hacked off', IMO, they used it to try and steal the limelight.

 

Not for the first time either.

[Mr Gray]

By his own admission he doesn't seem to know much about the case at all so I doubt it.

I wonder how information he got from his time on cmomm

[G-Unit]

By his own admission he doesn't seem to know much about the case at all so I doubt it.

And unlike some, he admits it rather than writing ludicrous articles full of mistakes.

[Alfie]

And unlike some, he admits it rather than writing ludicrous articles full of mistakes.

And what worth does an article written by someone who doesn't know much about the case, who was never there when Madeleine first disappeared and who makes assumptions about the current investigation have in your view?

[Alfie]

Oh come off it Alfie, that was early on,and you know it.

Since then, with one exception they have followed the McCann lead.

...and of course, the McCann's were never hacked, were they.

As to 'hacked off', IMO, they used it to try and steal the limelight.

 

Not for the first time either.

Of course it was early on, but so what?  The McCanns were treated abysmally by the press then and IMO have been on the receiving end of some pretty nasty press recently too (albeit couched in faux sympathy).  IMO the media are very happy to exploit the McCanns and Madeleine as it suits them and don't actually give two hoots about them as human beings, as long as they can continue churning out articles about them being clever to not write anything actionable they will continue to do so, I don't perceive the MSM as being on their side at all. 

[John]

The timeline is impossible to verify exactly, no amount of "reconstitutions" would achieve that, it's a nonsense to suggest otherwise.  The Met have however conducted a "forensic examination" of the timeline and are (presumably) working to the most plausible and logical version of it, taking into account all the comings and goings they know about and cross referencing them with each other using all the various witness statements.

Not so Alfie.  A reconstruction is an important tool for any police force and is used often in missing person enquiries.  The fact that the McCanns friends ultimately refused to take part in a reconstruction should have been picked up by Operation Grange, they and the parents and any other persons of interest should have be compelled to go back to Praia da Luz and take part in a full reconstruction.  The fact that this did not happen serves only to undermine the credibility of Op Grange and goes some way to supporting Colin Sutton's claim.

[jassi]

Not so Alfie.  A reconstruction is an important tool for any police force and is used often in missing person enquiries.  The fact that the McCanns friends ultimately refused to take part in a reconstruction should have been picked up by Operation Grange, they and the parents and any other persons of interest should have be compelled to go back to Praia da Luz and take part in a full reconstruction.  The fact that this did not happen serves only to undermine the credibility of Op Grange and goes some way to supporting Colin Sutton's claim.

How could they be compelled? OG has no power to insist on such a thing.

[John]

How could they be compelled? OG has no power to insist on such a thing.

The Portuguese could have compelled them to attend and SY would have had to enforce it.

[Brietta]

Oh come off it Alfie, that was early on,and you know it.

Since then, with one exception they have followed the McCann lead.

...and of course, the McCann's were never hacked, were they.

As to 'hacked off', IMO, they used it to try and steal the limelight.

 

Not for the first time either.

You've got it right that the McCann family were given an absolutely horrendous press in the early days.  As were Robert Murat and the so called tapas seven.

It is a matter of record that the release of the PJ files caused a lot of consternation among journalists, editors and proprietors.


News Review: The Maddie files: A tide of words that say little The Scotsman
 
By Stephen McGinty
Last Updated: 08 August 2008 8:32 PM

At up to 40,000 pages, the Portuguese police’s Madeleine McCann case files raise more questions than they answer, writes STEPHEN McGINTY

    ****    ****    ****    ****    ****


Yet last night a former senior detective said the material was “a gold mine” for the detectives hired by the family.

He explained: “The first thing I would be doing is looking for a policy file or master index. In British investigations these files detail all the lines of inquires and the reasons why some have fallen off or been abandoned.

“I would also examine all the forensic evidence and reports. Then you would do a detailed structured review. The benefit is that they can now take a cool, detached look.

“The case is very cold. The golden period is the first 12-24 hours. Yet the files are an absolute gold mine of possibilities.”
http://madeleinemccann.org/blog/2014/04/20/case-files-released-press-comments/


Out of the myriad of media comment concerning reaction to the release of the files the above caught my eye; although it was by no means the only recognition that the released files indicated remaining avenues still unworked it raised in my mind the process which had been used.
Was there one?


I think it is arrant nonsense to assert that Kate and Gerry McCann are being given an easy ride by the press.

The difference between now and 2007/08 when lies were written daily about them is that since the release of the files the lies were laid bare.

What is now happening is not special treatment for the McCanns ... they are being given nothing more than their right not to be libelled.

[Mr Gray]

Not so Alfie.  A reconstruction is an important tool for any police force and is used often in missing person enquiries.  The fact that the McCanns friends ultimately refused to take part in a reconstruction should have been picked up by Operation Grange, they and the parents and any other persons of interest should have be compelled to go back to Praia da Luz and take part in a full reconstruction.  The fact that this did not happen serves only to undermine the credibility of Op Grange and goes some way to supporting Colin Sutton's claim.

I don't think it undermines OGs credibility at all
It may well be grange thinks its totally unnecessary
Its just your opinion John

[jassi]

The Portuguese could have compelled them to attend and SY would have had to enforce it.

How could the Portuguese authorities compel the Tapas to attend? They have no authority in UK. Some sort of application would need to be made to the Home Office/Foreign Office and approved before OG could act.

[Alfie]

Not so Alfie.  A reconstruction is an important tool for any police force and is used often in missing person enquiries.  The fact that the McCanns friends ultimately refused to take part in a reconstruction should have been picked up by Operation Grange, they and the parents and any other persons of interest should have be compelled to go back to Praia da Luz and take part in a full reconstruction.  The fact that this did not happen serves only to undermine the credibility of Op Grange and goes some way to supporting Colin Sutton's claim.

so whose version of events would they have used to reconstruct the timeline then?

[John]

How could the Portuguese authorities compel the Tapas to attend? They have no authority in UK. Some sort of application would need to be made to the Home Office/Foreign Office and approved before OG could act.

This is a joint-enquiry. Clearly if witnesses refused to cooperate in what could well be a murder investigation they could face prosecution for defeating the ends of justice under English Law.

[John]

so whose version of events would they have used to reconstruct the timeline then?

Everyone who was there of course, staff and tourists.

[ferryman]

This is a joint-enquiry. Clearly if witnesses refused to cooperate in what could well be a murder investigation they could face prosecution for defeating the ends oif justice.

Could, could, could ....

We are still (just about!) part of the European Union and the Portuguese have the powers of the European Arrest Warrant they could exercise.

Or could they?

Perhaps the Portuguese themselves have concluded that there is simply no justification, possibly not even grounds, for doing so.