If there was no burglary, as Mrs Fenn claimed in her written statement of 20 August 2007, then we must cast doubt on all the rest of her statements. The claim that she heard Madeleine, or another child, crying for 75 minutes, was always highly improbable, as MMRG and others have explained in other articles her on CMOMM,
MMRG has revised and updated this article - MMRG, 17 May 2019.
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WAS THERE AN ATTEMPTED BURGLARY OF MRS PAMELA FENN’S FLAT IN THE WEEKS BEFORE MADELEINE WAS REPORTED MISSING?
The flat – Mrs Pamela Fenn on her flat balcony
The flat – Mrs Pamela Fenn’s flat, from below
Showing the position of Mrs Fenn's flat - 'G' on this photograph, above the McCanns
THE EVIDENCE WE HAVE
From the written Statement of Mrs Fenn, 20 August 2007
She claims however, that a week previously she was the victim of an attempted robbery, which was not successful and neither was anything taken, thinking that the crying of the child could be linked to another attempted robbery in the residence.
The News Reports
‘Sun’, 18 August 2007
Expat Pamela Fenn, 73, told them she disturbed a burglar at her apartment about three weeks before Maddie vanished. She is now to give a formal statement to Portuguese officers.
A friend said: "She was surprised that neither the police nor the McCanns had approached her before”.
‘Mirror’, 18 August 2007
In a new development, a British expat has come forward with dramatic new evidence.
Pamela Fenn said a man broke into her flat above the McCanns' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, on the Algarve, just weeks before Madeleine disappeared.
There was no sign of a break-in and it is thought the intruder may have had a key. Mrs Fenn, who is in her 70s, found the man scrambling out of the window and tried to grab his ankle. But he escaped.
She reported the incident to Portuguese police but they did not question her again. The information only resurfaced after British police reviewed the case two weeks ago. Mrs Fenn will now be formally interviewed for the first time on Monday.
‘Express’, 18 August 2007
In the weeks before Madeleine disappeared Mrs Fenn scared off an intruder who had apparently let himself into her apartment with a key.
It was one of a series of similar crimes reported to Portuguese police. A police source told the Daily Express: “Next week we will be taking statements from several witnesses. We want to clarify details which may be relevant to the new line of inquiry in the light of the facts we have found”.
Mrs Fenn has told police how she scared off an intruder she found in her apartment in the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz in the weeks leading up to Madeleine's disappearance.
There was no sign of a break-in and police believe he may have used a key to get in through the front door.
The terrified mother was watching TV in the evening and went to investigate a noise coming from her bedroom.
Mrs Fenn, who has lived in Praia da Luz for a number of years, discovered a man scrambling out of the window.
She tried to grab his ankle but he escaped. She reported the incident to police but did not believe anything was taken.
A friend of Mrs Fenn told the Daily Express last night: "She is an elderly lady who is quite nervous and was very shaken up after the break-in.
"She was surprised that neither the police nor the McCanns had approached her for information before.
"Even though she lives in the apartment directly upstairs the police had never tried to get in touch with her to ask her if she saw or heard anything the night Madeleine disappeared.
"The first time a police officer spoke to her was when the British officers with sniffer dogs knocked on her door and searched her apartment.
"She told an officer what she knew and now she has been asked to make a formal statement.
"Portuguese officers have told her they will pick her up at 10am on Monday and drive her to police headquarters in Portimao.
"On the night she found an intruder she was sitting at home watching TV when she heard a noise in her bedroom.
"She went to investigate. The man must have heard her coming and was scrambling out of the window. She just saw the back of his head and arm and she tried to push him out of the window.
"She was shaking with fear and called the police. There was no sign of a break in and she thought he must have somehow come in through the front door.
"She now thinks the information may prove significant in the investigation.
"Her niece who lives in England was staying with her when the McCanns were on holiday.
‘Mail on Sunday’, 19 August
‘The under-fire Portuguese police are preparing to take a fresh look at reports of two earlier break-ins in the apartment block where Madeleine McCann and her family stayed. Both burglaries, one in the apartment directly above the McCanns’ flat, are understood to have happened two weeks before the McCanns arrived in Praia da Luz.
Mrs Fenn scared him off. She has told friends she heard a noise as she watched television and found a man escaping through her bedroom window. Her niece, who was staying with her, also saw the man.
It is also understood that the description given by two witnesses of a man spotted on the night of one of the burglaries is similar to the description given by a friend of the McCanns who said she saw a man carrying a child in his arms the night Madeleine went missing.
The police are now set to re-interview a number of witnesses from the Ocean Club, a source close to the Policia Judiciaria said, in order to “clarify details that may be relevant to the new line of inquiry, in the light of facts we have found”.
The alleged break-in is said to have happened within days of a second burglary in the same block.
A Scottish holidaymaker said that on the first night of her stay, she and a friend returned to the flat to find their belongings and £500 worth of foreign money had been taken.
But there was no sign of forced entry at the second floor apartment and police called to the scene told the middle-aged book-keeper that they believed someone with a key was the most likely suspect, sparking concerns about security at the complex.
Among them will be ex-pat Pamela Fenn, a widow in her 70s. She claims she "scared off" an intruder who had broken into her apartment in the days before the McCanns arrived to stay in the holiday flat directly below her.
Mrs Fenn has told friends she heard a noise as she watched television and found a man escaping through her bedroom window. Her niece, [Carol Tranmer] who was staying with her, also saw the man.
[Carol Tranmer's statement to the police did not mention anything about being present when a man entered the flat of her aunt Pamela Fenn - MMRG].
The widow reported the incident to police but claims no one contacted her after Madeleine vanished - until two weeks ago, when British detectives called on her.
‘Daily Telegraph’, 20 August 2007
Mrs Fenn has said that in the weeks leading up to Madeleine's disappearance she scared off an intruder in her apartment.
There was no apparent sign of a break-in and it is thought the man may have had a key to let himself into the flat. She will be making a formal statement today at police headquarters in the city of Portimao. There was also another burglary in the complex a few weeks before in which police also suspected the intruder had a key.
‘Evening Standard’ report, 21 August 2007
Headline: Burglar was on loose at Maddy resort
‘Express’ 23 August 2007
Mrs Fenn has also told police about an attempted burglary at her apartment several weeks earlier.
She said a man broke in through the first-floor window but she disturbed him and he jumped out of it.
The source said: “She did not think it was significant. She has lived in Luz for some time and at her previous address was the victim of burglaries on a regular basis.
“There are lots of drug addicts in the area who prey on tourist apartments. Nothing was taken so she did not initially report it to the police”.
The report of an intruder echoes the experience of a Scottish holidaymaker at the Ocean Club resort just three weeks before Madeleine went missing.
Pamela Fenn says: It’s all rubbish”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFHbkbBh5BM
The analysis
When did it happen?
‘Previous week’ – Mrs Fenn
‘Two weeks before’ – Mail on Sunday
‘Three weeks before’ – Sun
‘Weeks before’ (unspecified) – Mirror
The ‘weeks before (unspecified) Madeline disappeared’ – Express, 18/8
The weeks (unspecified) leading up to Madeleine’s disappearance – Telegraph
Who was there?
‘Niece [Carole Tranmer] was there, and saw the man’ - Mail on Sunday
All other reports – no mention of her
How did the burglar get in?
The man ‘broke in’ - Mirror
‘broke in through the first-floor window' - Express, 23/8
‘No sign of a break in’ – Mirror
‘No sign of a break in’ – Express, 10/8
‘May have had a key’ Mirror
‘Let himself in with a key’ Express 18/8
‘May have used a key to the front door’ – Express, 18/8
‘Must have somehow come in through the front door’ – Express, 18/8
‘There was no apparent sign of a break-in and it is thought the man may have had a key to let himself into the flat’ – Telegraph
What was Mrs Fenn doing at the time?
‘Watching TV in the evening’ – Express, 18/8
What exactly happened?
Mrs Fenn ‘found him in her apartment’ – Express ,18/8
Mrs Fenn ‘heard a noise in her bedroom and went to investigate’ – Express, 18/8
Mrs Fenn ‘heard a noise as she watched television and found a man escaping through her bedroom window’ – Mail on Sunday
‘The man must have heard her coming and was scrambling out of the window’ – Express, 18/8
‘Disturbed him and he ‘jumped’ out of the window’ – Express, 23/8
Mrs Fenn ‘discovered a man scrambling out of the window’ – Express, 18/8
Mrs Fenn ‘disturbed him’ – Sun
Mrs Fenn ‘scared him off’ – Express, 18/8
Mrs Fenn ‘ scared him off’ – Mail on Sunday
Mrs Fenn ‘scared off the intruder’ - Telegraph
Mrs Fenn ‘found the man scrambling out of the window’ – Mirror
Mrs Fenn ‘tried to grab his ankle’ – Mirror
Mrs Henn ‘tried to grab his ankle’ - Express, 18/8
Mrs Fenn ‘was ‘terrified’' – Express, 18/8
Mrs Fenn ‘shaken up after the break-in’ – Express, 18/8
Mrs Fenn ‘just saw the back of his head and arm’- Express, 18/8
Mrs Fenn ‘tried to push him out of the window' – Express, 18/8
Did Mrs Fenn report it?
‘Yes’ (but they didn’t question her ‘again’) – Mirror
‘Yes’ - ‘shaking with fear and called the police’ – Express, 18/8
‘Reported to police’ – Express, 18/8
‘She did not think it significant’ – Express, 23/8
‘She did not initially report it to the police’ – Express, 23/8
The contradictions and questions
1 When? One week before? Two weeks? Three weeks? Several weeks?
2 Carole Tranmer there – or not there?
3 How did the burglar get in? With a key? Through the window?
4 Where was Mrs Fenn watching TV? How did he get to the bedroom without disturbing her? – via the front door, climbed through the window, or did he sneak past her whilst she was engrossed with the TV?
5 ’Phoned the police – or didn’t report it?
6 Found him already escaping?
7 Jumped out of the window, or was ‘scrambling out of the window’?
8 Tried to push him, or grab his ankle?
9 What was Carole Tranmer doing (if she was there)? We only learnt that she ‘saw’ the man
10 If he entered or left by a window, which was it? How far would he have had to jump?
11 Did he land safely? What happened next? Did anyone else hear him?
Poll Question [See article on the main CMOMM forum - MMRG]
Did any such burglary actually take place?
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For discussion, please visit this thread: https://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t11905-was-there-an-attempted-burglary-of-mrs-pamela-fenns-flat-in-the-weeks-before-madeleine-was-reported-missing