General discussion about the latest news (not search related)

[Benice]

So he got it wrong about when he arrived?
He says;

"When I arrived at about 11.45am I was firstly able to walk into the apartment, where I introduced myself to the McCanns and told them I would do everything I could to help."

Perhaps his watch was still on Spanish time, so he left Spain at 6.45 am, not 7.45 am and arrived at 10.45 am not 11.45 am? As the PJ arrived at 10 am to take the McCanns to Portimao he still missed them, I'm afraid. He's wrong about being able to enter 5A too, and even if he had, the McCanns weren't in there, the forensic people were.

So do you think David Payne was lying when he said a journalist arrived.

Yvonne Mitchell seemed to think there was no reason why they could not go into 5A at that time.

Quote
Because she found it strange that Kate told her that her daughter had been taken by a couple, she tried to separate her from the other two individuals so that she could speak to her with more privacy, suggesting to Kate that they (Y and K) should enter the apartment, Kate aggressively rejected this idea and told her that they could speak on the street.
Unquote

No mention of Kate saying they couldn't go into 5a because the forensic bods were in there.

[slartibartfast]

As is that.

No it isn't, agreeing with someone post isn't goading, over effusive commendations of their post and their supposed intellectual prowess is.

[G-Unit]

What, so because he misremembered the time he arrived the whole article can be dismissed as a piece of crap is that what you're saying?

No. All the mistakes I highlighted, not just one. Opinions abound in this case ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. Should we just accept them all unquestioningly?

[Eleanor]

No it isn't, agreeing with someone post isn't goading, over effusive commendations of their post and their supposed intellectual prowess is.

No it isn't.

[slartibartfast]

No it isn't.

Yes it is. I suggest we stop there.

[Alfie]

No. All the mistakes I highlighted, not just one. Opinions abound in this case ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. Should we just accept them all unquestioningly?

What is ridiculous about Jon Clarke's opinion? 

ALL the mistakes?  They are piffling and do not in any way compromise his opinion.

[Alfie]

No it isn't, agreeing with someone post isn't goading, over effusive commendations of their post and their supposed intellectual prowess is.

OK, well you tell me what level of commendation I may be permitted then.  Also, in my opinion G-Unit is desperate to denigrate Jon Clarke and his article, that is not a slur on her (undoubtedly huge) intellectual prowess.

[Eleanor]

Yes it is. I suggest we stop there.

You might as well try to shut down discussion altogether.  This isn't going to happen.

[G-Unit]

So do you think David Payne was lying when he said a journalist arrived.

Yvonne Mitchell seemed to think there was no reason why they could not go into 5A at that time.

Quote
Because she found it strange that Kate told her that her daughter had been taken by a couple, she tried to separate her from the other two individuals so that she could speak to her with more privacy, suggesting to Kate that they (Y and K) should enter the apartment, Kate aggressively rejected this idea and told her that they could speak on the street.
Unquote
No mention of Kate saying they couldn't go into 5a because the forensic bods were in there.

I expect it was Len Port, he arrived very early;

The only other people in sight were two women in conversation close to a corner ground floor apartment, 5A. As I approached, I noticed that one of them was clearly distressed, so much so I guessed she must be the missing girl's mother, Kate McCann. Later I learned that the other woman was a senior social worker on holiday from England. I overheard Mrs McCann tell her the police were "doing nothing" to find her daughter. She complained that they had not even questioned people staying in the same block of apartments. I understood the social worker to suggest that a description of the missing child should be circulated more widely. That prompted me to introduce myself as an Algarve-based reporter and say that I could use contacts to arrange alerts to be broadcast on an Algarve bilingual radio station. It had flashed through my mind that such alerts had been broadcast when Rachel Charles was reported missing in the Algarve 17 years earlier. The social worker then mentioned the British Consulate. I said I could help there too as I knew the staff at the Consulate and had just spoken to one of them on the phone. Perhaps my offer sounded disingenuous coming from a total stranger and a reporter to boot. Anyway, it was ignored.
http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/press/86june14/LenPort_June2014.htm

The apartment was secured and guarded, apparently, no matter what people thought;

The witness carried out finger print testing on the inside of the bedroom window, where the girl had been sleeping, leaving other examinations for the following day given that on that occasion these tests could not be carried out in the best technical conditions. For this reason, the apartments and the surrounding area were sealed off, watched over by the GNR officers who remained on site.
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/JOAO_BARREIRAS.htm

[G-Unit]

Do you have a cite for the PJ leaving on the dot of 10am?  Kate wasn't interviewed until 2pm - the journey to the station is less than half an hour so what was the poor woman doing for 3 and a half hours at the station prior to the interview? 

You (who was not there) know better than the man himself (who was) that he did not meet the parents on the morning of the 4th - quite incredible!

I find it quite incredible that he claimed to have met them when it was clearly impossible. He couldn't get to Luz before 10.45 am at the earliest. By 10.45 am the parents were not in any apartment, they were in Portimao or well on their way there. The facts recorded by Kate are below.

She says the PJ arrived at 10 am to take them for questioning. They spent time waiting then;

[Madeleine]
After an hour or so, Gerry, Matt and Jane were taken off for questioning.

Gerry's interview took place at 11.15 am, Matt and Jane's at 11.30 am. It wasn't an hour they waited because even if they left Luz at 10 am sharp they were only there for 45 minutes before Gerry's interview.

[Alfie]

I find it quite incredible that he claimed to have met them when it was clearly impossible. He couldn't get to Luz before 10.45 am at the earliest. By 10.45 am the parents were not in any apartment, they were in Portimao or well on their way there. The facts recorded by Kate are below.

She says the PJ arrived at 10 am to take them for questioning. They spent time waiting then;

[Madeleine]
After an hour or so, Gerry, Matt and Jane were taken off for questioning.

Gerry's interview took place at 11.15 am, Matt and Jane's at 11.30 am. It wasn't an hour they waited because even if they left Luz at 10 am sharp they were only there for 45 minutes before Gerry's interview.

If Jon Clarke's account is "impossible" then you're basically calling the author a liar.  Thanks for confirming, I will now take this up with the journo himself.

[G-Unit]

If Jon Clarke's account is "impossible" then you're basically calling the author a liar.  Thanks for confirming, I will now take this up with the journo himself.

I will be interested to hear his explanation.

[Alfie]

I will be interested to hear his explanation.

a) you won't accept it b) you won't believe it

[ShiningInLuz]

a) you won't accept it b) you won't believe it

Some of us might.

[G-Unit]

a) you won't accept it b) you won't believe it

Who knows? He was called out at 7.15 am. by the Daily Mail. He set off at 7.45 am. It takes four and a half hours from Ronda to Luz. His arrival time of 11.15 am appears correct, allowing for the time difference. Gerry was beginning his interview at Portimao police station and Kate was in the waiting room.