Madeleine McCann: 38 ‘suspects’, parents ruled out and new theories
MADELEINE McCANN: Anorak’s look at the missing child dubbed ‘Our Maddie’ in the news:
BBC: “Madeleine McCann: New leads spark Met formal inquiry”
Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood, who is heading what has been called Operation Grange, said: “The review has given us new thinking, new theories, new evidence and new witnesses.”
What new theories? That she wandered off? It’s taken as fact that she was abducted.
Sky News: “Madeleine McCann’s parents have welcomed the launch of a new UK police investigation into their daughter’s disappearance.”
A Met Police review has identified 38 “persons of interest” who detectives want to speak to in relation to the suspected abduction in 2007 – almost twice as many as previously thought.
Officers say they are moving from the case review to an “investigative stage of the inquiry” and now intend to pursue more information about those individuals – 12 of whom are UK nationals
Interesting stuff. It looks like progress.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is heading up the inquiry, states:
“We have been in a unique position over the last two years in drawing together three strands – Portuguese, UK and private investigators’ material. From that vast quantity of material analysed we have identified 38 persons of interest and 12 who are UK nationals, and it is from that position that we are able to move from review to investigation.”
British and Portuguese police are working well together.
DCI Redwood feels a need to add:
“There is no clear, definitive proof that Madeleine McCann is dead.”
He’s right.
“On that basis I genuinely believe there is a possibility she is still alive. And so I would like to ask the public to continue to look for her.”
Does the word”genuinely” make us think that he thinks the opposite?
This is what he said in 2012:
“From the outset we have approached this review with a completely open mind, placing Madeleine McCann at the heart of everything we do. We are working on the basis of two possibilities here. One is that Madeleine is still alive; and the second that she is sadly dead.”
A spokesman for the McCanns replies:
“Kate and Gerry warmly welcome the shift in the Met’s emphasis from review to investigation. It is clearly a big step forward in establishing what happened and, hopefully, towards bringing whoever is responsible for Madeleine’s abduction to justice.”
Daily Telegraph (front page): “Police: every chance Madeleine is alive”
Every chance she’s alive? Or a possibility she’s alive?
DCI Redwood adds:
“Whether we will be able to solve it is a different issue, but I hope that we will be able to have the ability to move the investigation on.”
Daily Star (front page): “Maddie is still alive”
FACT!
The Daily Express is less certain on its front page: “British police think she’s alive.”
Well, no. They think she could be alive. Genuinely.
And the Daily Mirror focuses on the British “persons of interest” by branding them suspects. No evidence. No new evidence. But some how we’ve got 12 “suspects”.
The Metro goes with “Maddie” over the Mirror’s “Maddy” and says that there is no news:
The Telegraph then looks at legal matters:
While the British police are obviously free to investigate lines of inquiry and suspects in this country, they have no jurisdiction to operate overseas. However thanks to Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties they can request that their counterparts in other countries carry out investigative work on their behalf.
The British police would have to submit International Letters of Request to the appropriate foreign body, which in the case of Portugal is the judiciary rather than the police…
The Metropolitan Police has already formally requested that the Crown Prosecution Service submit an International Letter of Request to the Portuguese Authorities seeking assistance in obtaining evidence relating to lines of enquiry they wish to pursue…While it would be the home police force that carried out such activities, the Met has already requested that a small team of British officers are on the ground to observe and assist in that process. In preparation for today’s announcement, senior officers from Operation Grange made 16 visits to Portugal in order to ensure that any potential difficulties were ironed out.
If a British suspect is ever charged with abduction or murder in the case, the law allows them to be tried at the Old Bailey in London, even if the alleged crime took place overseas.
ITV:
They [police] have ruled out any involvement of Kate and Gerry McCann or the seven friends who were holidaying with them.
And:
Scotland Yard has confirmed that Kate and Gerry McCann are not among the 38 people identified as “persons of interest”.
And what of Robert Murat, the innocent man libelled by the British media?
In an interview with Channel 5 News, former Madeleine McCann suspect Robert Murat has spoken about the difficulty he faced in moving on from the accusations.
Such are the facts…
Posted: 5th, July 2013 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews Comments (6) | TrackBack | Permalink
