CITES continued
I was asked for a cite for Martin Smith describing 'a disturbing encounter' with the man he claimed to have seen
REPLY: It was in the Daily Mail report, 3 January 2008, as follows:
“AN IRISH holidaymaker has spoken publicly for the first time of his disturbing encounter with a man carrying a child wrapped in a blanket on the night Madeleine McCann disappeared.
=====
I was also asked for a cite for Martin Smith/members of the Irish family having met with DCI Andy Redwood/Operation Grange twice, once in 2012 and once in 2013
Regrettably I cannot locate the reference yet - but I drew it from a media report which was the basis for my asking a specific Freedom of Information Act question about that - and related 'Smithman' matters - in September 2014.
Here is the list of questions I asked at the time:
QUOTE
Dear Metropolitan Police Service (MPS),
Questions about two e-fits of a suspect issued by Operation Grange
On 14 October 2013, on a special edition of BBC's Crimewatch programme seen by an estimated 6.7 million people, DCI Andy Redwood of Operation Grange displayed two e-fits, said to be of a man who, according to presenter Matthew Amroliwala, 'could now be the key to the entire mystery'. DCI Redwood added later in the programme: "[We have] two e-fits that have never been in the public domain of this one individual – [it's] really important for us to understand who he is".
It was suggested by the programme that this 'sighting' was by 'members of an Irish family'. However, most people who have seen these two images have said that they look like two very different people. One is clearly younger-looking than the other, has a thinnish, triangular-shaped face, thin lips, a long nose, a much smaller chin, and has a quite different hairstyle from the other.
Matthew Amroliwala said: "An Irish family witnessed a man carrying a child. Could this have been Madeleine, and her abductor?"
Then DCI Redwood said: "He was a white man, in his 30s, with brown hair..."
Matthew Amroliwala then said: "Two of the witnesses helped create e-fits of the man they saw. Today, for the first time, we can reveal the true significance of these images".
However, he did not say explicitly that these e-fits were drawn up from the Irish family's recollections.
Further concerns about these two e-fits have been expressed because, according to information in the public domain, these e-fits were created in October 2008, 17 months after Madeleine was reported missing, and statements on the public record by members of the Irish family admit that they only saw this man for a few seconds at the most, in the dark, with 'weak' street lighting.
It has also been stated on the public record that a member or members of this Irish family spoke to DCI Andy Redwood and/or members of his team 'once in 2012 and once in 2013'.
In the light of the above concerns, please provide the following information:
1. On what date were these two e-fits created?
2. Did members of the Irish family create these e-fits, or were the 'two witnesses' mentioned by Matthew Amroliwala who drew up the e-fits actually other witnesses? If so, please state who they were.
3. Are the e-fits of the same man, or not?
4. On what date were these two e-fits first shown to members of Operation Grange?
5. On what dates in 2012 and 2013, or otherwise in 2011 and 2014, did members of Operation Grange (a) meet with members of the Irish family or (b) have contact with the Irish family, whether by telephone, e-mail, letter or otherwise?
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Bennett
UNQUOTE
I will keep looking for the original reference
