What happened to Madeleine McCann?
No. 3 - Operation Grange, 2011 to 2016
50 more facts about the case that the British media are not telling you
In this leaflet: Scotland Yard’s Operation Grange under the microscope”
· Why was Operation Grange set up?
· The role of Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks
· What Operation Grange can and cannot investigate
· Who is running Operation Grange?
· Operation Grange: The story to October 2013
· The Crimewatch McCann Special, 14 October 2013: An analysis
· The mystery of Operation Grange, two e-fits, and the Smith family
· The cost of Operation Grange
· The criticisms of Operation Grange
· Recent developments up to August 2016
This
leaflet is the third in our series of ’50 Facts’ leaflets about the
disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The first, titled ‘50 Facts about the
case that the British media are not telling you’, has been read by tens
of thousands and is now on YouTube videos (link at end of leaflet). The
second, ‘Meet the McCann Team’, exposed the series of criminals, ex-MI5
officers and assorted controversial detective agencies employed by the
McCanns, allegedly to look for Madeleine. In this leaflet we reveal 50
more facts - this time about one of the most controversial police
investigations in British history - Operation Grange, the Met Police’s
investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance. We tell you why it was set
up, explain what it can and cannot do, and tell you what it has - and
has not - done.
SECTION A. Why was Operation Grange set up?
101. The McCanns were never cleared - In
July 2008, the Portuguese Police shelved their investigation into the
reported disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The Portuguese
Attorney-General ruled that there were two possibilities as to what
happened to Madeleine: (1) - that she died in the McCanns’ apartment,
and that her parents hid her body to avoid an autopsy, or, (2)- that she
may have been abducted. He ruled that there was insufficient evidence
to charge anyone. The McCanns’ status as ‘formal suspects’ was ended -
but they were not ‘cleared’ as they have claimed. The police said they would consider any ‘new and credible’ evidence of the McCanns’ guilt.
102. Documents made public - At the same time, the Portuguese Police made public some 85% of the police investigation documents in the case. (See: http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/) This
would not happen in Britain, but is part of Portugal’s criminal
investigation procedures. The documents disclosed by the police
suggested Madeleine had died in the McCanns’ apartment and that they had
covered up her death by faking an abduction. The evidence included 17
alerts of two British police sniffer dogs - 12 to the odour of a corpse
and five to blood or body fluids - found in 12 locations or on items
related to the McCanns and their apartment. There was also evidence that
the McCanns and their friends had contradicted themselves and changed
their stories on many occasions.
103. The McCanns tried to see all the police files - The
McCanns had frequently tried to get their hands on the Portuguese
Police files. They claimed this was because the police files might
reveal vital clues as to who had abducted Madeleine. In fact in 2007
they went to the High Court to try to get hold of them. But they lost
their case; The court gave them access to just 11 out of the hundreds of
documents they wanted to see. They also failed in another court
application in 2008 to try to see the files which the Portuguese Police
had not released.
104. The McCanns’ campaign for a review - In
2009, the McCanns began a long campaign to get a British police force
to conduct a ‘review’. They complained that no police force was looking
for Madeleine any more. They badgered then Labour Home Secretary, Alan
Johnson, who agreed to meet them. He told the McCanns he would explore
possibilities. Approaches were made to West Yorkshire and other police
forces. Then Alan Johnson commissioned Jim Gamble, the controversial
head of CEOP ( the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) to
carry out a ‘scoping exercise’ about the practicalities of holding a
review. Labour lost the General Election in May 2010, and the
Conservative MP Theresa May (now Prime Minister) became Home Secretary.
105. A meeting with Theresa May - The
McCanns demanded - and got - a meeting with Theresa May, but she
refused their request for a review. The McCanns, friends with Jim
Gamble, then complained publicly about her refusal. Theresa May decided
to reorganise key police services and put CEOP under the control of a
new, top-level National Crime Agency. Jim Gamble, who had supported the
McCanns from the start, and the McCanns, protested loudly about these
plans. Jim Gamble threatened to resign. and then did. Theresa May
immediately accepted Gamble’s resignation.
106. Rupert Murdoch’s connection with the McCanns - Rupert Murdoch owns the Sun, Times, Sunday Times and SKY News. He used to own the News of the World.
In 2008, the McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell stopped working for
the McCanns full-time and went part-time. Rupert Murdoch’s son-in-law,
Matthew Freud, then offered him a job in his Freud Communications PR
company. In 2009, Rupert Murdoch met David Cameron on his yacht in the
Mediterranean. Soon after, Murdoch ordered his newspapers to back the
Conservatives instead of Labour. Murdoch asked Cameron to give him
control of BskyB in exchange for helping him win the General Election (
which he did)..
107. David Cameron appoints McCann spokesman to his staff - Cameron immediately made Andy Coulson, former editor of Murdoch’s News of the World,
his Director of Communications. The two men then chose McCanns’
spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, as Coulson’s Deputy. Coulson had been in a
long-term, on-off relationship with Rebekah Brooks, CEO of Murdoch’s
News International empire. Murdoch’s newspapers have, over the years,
published very large numbers of unlikely stories of alleged ‘sightings’
of Madeleine. Each front page story about Madeleine was estimated to
increase readership by tens of thousands.
108. Kate McCann’s book is published - In 2010, Dr Kate McCann decided to write a book. She published it in May 2011 on the 4th anniversary of Madeleine’s reported disappearance. It was serialised in Murdoch’s Sun newspaper for a fee of around £1 million. Still Theresa May refused to set up a police review of the case.
109. Rebekah Brooks becomes involved
- At this stage, Murdoch’s CEO, Rebekah Brooks, became involved.
According to insiders at No. 10 Downing Street, and as reported on BBC’s
Panorama programme at the time, Brooks contacted Cameron and told him
that she would ‘run a week of bad headlines about Theresa May’ if he did
not agree to a review. Cameron was very friendly with Brooks. They
lived near each other in the Cotswolds, and went horse-riding with each
other. They went to each other’s parties. Cameron gave way and agreed.
110. Cameron orders a review - The way this was actually presented to the public happened as follows. The McCanns wrote to the Sun. The next day the Sun
published the letter and begged the Prime Minister to grant a review.
The day after, David Cameron said he would make sure there was a review.
He had told Theresa May to set one up. Theresa May said that she had
decided to do this all by herself. She then told Sir Paul Stephenson
(then the Metropolitan Police Commissioner) to set up a review. In the
next few days he did so, calling it ‘Operation Grange’. It was clear to
many observers that these moves had been carefully choreographed well
in advance The review, it was later said, would ‘for the first time’
comprehensively examine files from the Portuguese Police, from
Leicestershire Police, and from the
controversial Spanish detective agency, Metodo 3, employed by the
McCanns from 2007 to 2009. Metodo 3 investigators who worked on the
Madeleine McCann case were later arrested for crimes unconnected with
Madeleine’s disappearance and after further arrests, the agency was
closed down in 2011.
SECTION C. What Operation Grange can and cannot investigate
111. The review team draws up a ‘remit’ - Every
police review or investigation has an official brief, known as its
‘remit’. Seven months after it was set up, senior Met Police officers
agreed the review’s remit. It was drawn up by Detective Chief
Superintendent (DCS) Hamish Campbell (see Section D). It said: The investigative review is intended to collate, record and analyse what has gone before. It is to examine the case and seek to determine, (as if the abduction occurred in the UK)
what additional, new investigative approaches we would take and which
can assist the Portuguese authorities in progressing the matter…” The
McCanns were delighted with the remit.
112. Only the abduction theory can be investigated
-That remit meant that the 40-odd police who were engaged on the review
team could only investigate an abduction. Their job, then, was to find
who the abductor was. Yet when the case was shelved in Portugal, the
Portuguese Police and Attorney-General said that there were two equally
plausible theories: Madeleine was abducted – or Madeleine had died in
her parents’ apartment and the McCanns had hidden her body. Scotland
Yard’s review, therefore, went against the Portuguese decision. They
said that either theory could be reopened if there was ‘new and credible’ evidence. The decision by D.C.S. Campbell meant that Operation Grange have not been allowed to investigate the parents, or their ‘Tapas 7’ friends.
113. The review is to ‘help the family’ The very day that Prime Minister David Cameron announced the setting-up of a review, his spokesman told the media: “The purpose of the review is to help the McCann family”.
114. ‘The parents and their friends are not suspects’
- Moreover, during his review and investigation, Detective Chief
Inspector (DCI) Andy Redwood (see next section) made this even clearer,
by stating: “Neither her parents nor
any of the members of the group that were with her [the Tapas 7] are
either persons of interest or suspects”.
115. Outcome of the review ‘a secret’
- The Metropolitan Police answered a Freedom of Information Act request
about whether the outcome of the review would be published. The
Metropolitan Police said ‘No, it will be secret’.
SECTION D. Who is running Operation Grange?
116. A review set up at the request of Rebekah Brooks
- Operation Grange, as we’ve seen, was set up by the Prime Minister at
the request of Rebekah Brooks, CEO of Murdoch’s News International
empire. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, ordered the Met Police
Commissioner to set up Operation Grange. This is therefore like no other
police investigation - ever. It is controlled from the top by those at
the heart of our political establishment.
117. Jill Dando blunder cop put in charge -
The man put in charge of Operation Grange was DCS Hamish Campbell. He
was answerable to Commander Simon Foy. Campbell was a very strange
choice, due to his blunders during his investigation of the murder of
Jill Dando. Campbell was in charge of that investigation, responsible
only to Brian Moore, the Senior Investigating Officer. Moore had been
sharply criticised by three Appeal Court judges in the case of another
man, clearly ‘fitted up’ for a shooting offence. In that case, judges
suggested that on Moore’s instructions, gun residue matching the crime
weapon had been placed in the wrongfully convicted man’s pocket.
118. Why was Campbell chosen?
- It was exactly the same forensic evidence that sent Barry Bulsara,
better known as Barry George, to prison for 8 years for murdering Jill
Dando. Soon after Campbell took over the Dando investigation, he made
public statements that her killer was probably ‘a loner’ - yet all the
evidence suggested that the killer of Dando was a professional. Later,
shotgun residue was ‘found’ in Bulsara’s coat pocket and a jury declared
him guilty of murdering Dando. Three Appeal Court judges later freed
him. So, we must ask, why was the senior detective, whose main claim to
fame was prosecuting the wrong man, put in charge of Operation Grange?
119. 38 officers appointed
- Campbell’s second-in-command was DCI Andy Redwood. He was within 3
years of retirement. His deputy was Detective Inspector Tim Dobson. They
appointed a team of 38 officers, based in Belgravia Police Station,
London. The weekly cost of Operation Grange has been about £50,000 a
week, including many trips by Operation Grange officers to Portugal. The
overall cost up to August 2016 was around £13 million. It is not known
if that includes charges to be made by the Portuguese for helping
Grange’s officers in their 2014 search (see below).
120. Wall replaces Redwood
- During its 4-year-long investigation, there have been several changes
at the top. DCI Andy Redwood was replaced in December 2014 by DCI
Nicola Wall. DCS Hamish Campbell left in May 2013. Deputy Assistant Met
Police Commissioner Martin Hewitt now appears to be overseeing Operation
Grange.
SECTION E. Operation Grange: The story to October 2013
121. The first 2½ years...two e-fits handed over
- Below we list the main events during the first 2½ years of Operation
Grange. Early on, just weeks after Operation Grange was set up, the
McCanns visited DCI Redwood and handed over two e-fits of a possible
suspect, allegedly seen by an Irish family. These two strange e-fits
formed the centrepiece of a BBC Crimewatch Special on Madeleine McCann
in October 2013 (see Section F).
122. Files collected from a discredited detective agency
- On14 December 2011, the Met very publicly collected 30 boxes of
documents from the discredited Barcelona detective agency, Metodo 3.
Photographers were tipped off to record the scene for the British
mainstream press. It was very unlikely that their material would help
any genuine police enquiry. Their boss, Francisco Marco, had publicly
lied by claiming, in December 2007, that his men knew where Madeleine
was being held and that she would be ‘home by Christmas’. Despite this
outrageous boast, ther McCanns’ PR agent announced that the McCanns
would continue to employ Metodo 3 and still had complete confidence in
them. In February 2008, his top detective, Antonio Gimenez Raso, former
inspector in the Catalonian Drugs Squad, was arrested on suspicion of
helping a 27-strong gang to steal millions of pounds worth of cocaine
from a boat in Barcelona harbour. Antonio Giminez Razo was also caught
paying bribes to people in Morocco to falsely claim that they had seen
Madeleine there - and then contacting journalists to report the
sightings.
123. A new pic of what Madeleine might look like
- On 25 April 2012, DCI Andy Redwood unveiled an ‘age-progressed’
picture of Madeleine as she might look aged 9 or 10. It was done by a
forensic artist in close collaboration with Kate McCann. At the same
time, Redwood said: “We genuinely believe there is a possibility Madeleine is alive. Evidence to support that view stems from the forensic view of the timeline.
There were opportunities for Madeleine to have been taken as part of a
criminal act”. Some 18 months later (see below), DCI Redwood would
announce that he had shifted the time frame when Madeleine was abducted
from 9.10- 9.15pm to 9.10-10.00pm. So he cleverly widened the time frame
for Madeleine’s alleged abduction from 5 minutes to 50.
124. Police following 195 lines of enquiry -
It was at this time that DCI Redwood began a practice of blinding the
public with endless statistics. He spoke of his ‘team of 35’. He had
made 7 visits to Portugal. He was pursuing 195 lines of enquiry. His
team was ‘analysing every single scrap of paper’. TV journalists were
very impressed.
125. DCI Redwood talks to an Irishman, Martin Smith -
Sometime during 2012, DCI Redwood met a Mr Martin Smith from Drogheda,
Ireland. He and several other members of his family had claimed they had
seen a man carrying a child through the streets of Praia da Luz at
about 10.00pm the night Madeleine was reported missing. There are
numerous good reasons (see Section G) for believing that the Smiths
fabricated their claimed sighting. The Smiths had been working closely
with members of the McCann Team since December 2007. Redwood met Smith
again in 2013 as the Met and the BBC planned their Crimewatch Special on
Madeleine.
126. A ‘soothing couple’ sought - On 13 May 2013, the Express
reported that Operation Grange were trying to trace a middle-aged
couple who ‘soothed’ Madeleine on the night she was reported missing.
There was no reference to this anywhere in the Portuguese Police files.
The Express relied on ‘a source’ for this unlikely claim.
127. The review becomes an investigation -
In July 2013, over two years after the review was set up, the Met
Police announced that Operation Grange had now become a formal
‘investigation’. The Met also announced it had set up an office in Faro,
Portugal, staffed by a team of six detectives. But British Police have
no jurisdiction in Portugal - and they later said that they were merely
‘assisting’ the Portuguese investigation.
128. A blizzard of new statistics -
On 4 October 2013, just 10 days before the BBC Crimewatch McCann
Special, the British mainstream press was filled with a blizzard of new
statistics supplied by DCI Redwood. He told the media that he and his
detectives had decided to call for ‘tens of thousands’ of mobile ’phone
records from 30 countries to be examined. In addition, he boasted that
Operation Grange had:
· identified 41 ‘persons of interest’ from 5 countries (previously it was 38), of whom 15 were ‘UK nationals’
· ‘processed’ 21,614 of the 39,148 documents from the various police and private investigations, and
· completed 2,123 of a total of 4,920 ‘actions’ which had been identified as being necessary.
129. ‘Peeling back layers from an onion’
- On this occasion DCI Redwood made one of his many memorable and
bizarre statements about his investigation: “We are working backwards
from the moment Madeleine went missing to understand what happened to
her. It's like peeling back the layers from an onion”.
SECTION F. The Crimewatch McCann Special, 14 October 2013: An analysis
130. 7 million people watch Crimewatch -
On 14 October 2013, at 9pm, the BBC screened a much-publicised
‘Crimewatch Special’ on Madeleine McCann. The BBC and the Met conceded
that they had worked on this for at least six months, probably longer.
The BBC said the programme, which included a reconstruction of the
events of 3 May 2007 (the day Madeleine was reported missing), cost them
over £1 million. Audience figures suggested that 7 million people
watched it. It had been hugely hyped in the mainstream press, with
extravagant promises of ‘dramatic revelations’ and ‘imminent arrests’.
The programme identified a new chief suspect, a man said to have been
seen by an Irish family, the Smiths, around 10pm the night Madeleine was
reported missing (see next section).
131. A biased reconstruction -
The programme included a reconstruction of the evening Madeleine was
reported missing. It was based entirely on the McCanns’ account of
events. Hence it was not neutral. It failed, for example, to mention any
of the following: (a) the McCanns’ changes of story about their
apartment being broken into by an abductor (b) their changes of story
about which doors they used to access their apartment that night(c)
whether or not they locked all their doors (d) the 20 contradictions
about an alleged visit by Dr David Payne to the McCanns’ apartment at
around 6.30pm the evening Madeleine was reported missing and (e) similar
contradictions about whether or not Madeleine had had ‘high tea’ with
her parents and a creche ‘nanny’ at about 5.30pm that evening.
132. A suspicious find - For
6 years, the McCanns and the British police had asked the public to
identify a man that the McCanns’ friend Jane Tanner claimed to have seen
carrying a child at around 9.15pm the night Madeleine was reported
missing. There were numerous indications that this so-called ‘sighting’
was fabricated. Yet on the Crimewatch programme, DCI Redwood claimed
that a man had now come forward - after 6 years - to say that he was the
man seen by Jane Tanner. There were several reasons for doubting
Redwood’s word, including:
a) The man was not named; only a blurry ‘photograph’ of the man was shown,
b) He was claimed to have been wearing clothes on holiday uncannily similar to those described by Jane Tanner,
c) Had he really kept these items of clothing, including his child’s pyjamas, for a whole six years?
d)
He was said to have put his child in the ‘night creche’ at the Ocean
Club, but there was no explanation as to where the child’s mother was,
why he was carrying the child instead of using one of the buggies
available at the Ocean Club, nor why she was uncovered, dressed only in
pyjamas, at 9.15pm on a cold early May night (13 deg C),
e)
If he was walking in the direction claimed by Jane Tanner, then he was
clearly not using the shortest way back from the night crèche to his
home/apartment, as a map of the route he is supposed to have used, makes
clear.
SECTION G. The mystery of Operation Grange, two e-fits, and the Smith family
133 Doubts about the e-fits -
At the heart of the BBC Crimewatch Special were two e-fits of a man -
said to have been seen carrying a child on the night Madeleine was
reported missing - by members of the Smiths family, from Drogheda, who
were in Praia da Luz at the time. There are several reasons for
doubting the authenticity of these e-fits:
a)
The BBC Crimewatch team used a clever, but evasive, form of words,
saying that the e-fits were produced by ‘two of the witnesses’. Why did
they not simply say ‘by two members of an Irish family’?
b)
The two e-fits are of very different-looking men. The shape of their
faces, the style of hair, the size of their chins, the length of their
noses and several other features differ. It is highly unusual for the
police to show two quite different faces of suspects when they really
want the public’s help to trace someone.
c)
The Smiths admitted they did not get a clear sight of the man they say
that they saw. It was dark, there was only ‘weak’ street lighting, they
only saw him for a few seconds, and didn’t see his face properly because
his head was down and the child was said to be covering his face. In
addition, all the three Smith family members - Martin Smith, his son and
his daughter - who made statements said they would never be able to
recognise him again.
d) The Smiths did not report their sighting until 13 days after it - despite the international media storm.
e)
If the e-fits were drawn up by the Smiths (which is doubtful), they
were not drawn up until at least a year after they say they saw the man -
by which time any recollections they might have had of the man would
have faded
f) The e-fits were drawn up on the instructions of men employed by the McCanns.
g)
The man who drew up the e-fits was Henri Exton, formerly the Head of
MI5’s Covert Intelligence Unit, and later employed for several months by
the McCanns. He was sacked by MI5 after being caught stealing a bottle
of perfume from Manchester Airport. That raises questions about whether
his word on this matter can be trusted.
h)
The e-fits were given to the McCanns in summer, 2008. They say they
delivered these to Leicestershire Police and the Portuguese Police ‘by
October 2009’, but don’t say why they didn’t do this before. Neither
police force took any action about them. The McCanns handed the e-fits
to Operation Grange in spring, 2011. Yet they were not used by
Operation Grange until the BBC programme in October 2013. DCI Redwood
said on Crimewatch that these two e-fits were now ‘the centre of our
focus’. Why had they been kept under wraps by everyone for 5½ years?
134. Strange actions of the Smith family - The actions of the Smiths in this matter are baffling. For example:
*
The Smiths only reported their sighting the day after Robert Murat was
made the first suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance. Martin Smith
admitted he knew Murat for two years already and told the police that
the only thing he could be sure of was that the man whom he said he had
seen was not Robert Murat.
*
Martin Smith made evasive statements about how well he knew Murat,
firstly saying that he’d only met him twice, but later admitting that
he’d seen him ‘several times’ over a ‘period of two years’.
*
In September 2007, 4 months after his alleged sighting of the man,
Martin Smith told the Irish Police he thought the man could be Gerry
McCann. He said he’d seen Gerry McCann on a TV news bulletin, carrying
his son Sean down the steps of a plane, and said ‘the way he carried his
son reminded me of the man I’d seen in Praia da Luz’. But Gerry McCann
was merely carrying Sean on his left shoulder, as nearly all
right-handed men do with a tired or sleeping child. Later Martin Smith
changed his mind and now agrees that Madeleine was abducted by a stranger.
*
Once again, Martin Smith did not report his claim about the man looking
like Gerry McCann immediately. It took him 11 days after seeing the
broadcast to make the ’phone call to the Irish Police.
*
In his police statement he gave the age of the man he said he’d seen as
‘about 40’, then changed it to ’35 to 40’. But he changed this again to ’34 to 35’ when the McCanns added his claims to their website in early 2009
SECTION H. The cost of Operation Grange
135. An open chequebook -
Operation Grange has given out information from time to time on its
overall cost, sometimes in response to Freedom of Information Act
questions. At the date of publishing this leaflet (August 2016), the
cost was estimated at around £13 million - averaging over £6,500 a day,
or £50,000 a week.
SECTION I. The criticisms of Operation Grange
136. Lord Harris’s criticism -
The decision to set up Operation Grange in the first place, and the
decision to give it an unlimited budget and unlimited time were
critcised at the outset. Labour’s Lord Toby Harris was on the
Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) when Operation Grange was first
announced. He said: “What we are looking at is a case where the Met has
no direct responsibility. There is clearly an issue about the resources
being used. It's not just a question of direct costs - it's a question
of opportunity costs too”. Later, the Daily Telegraph ran a headline:
‘David Cameron is accused of meddling in the Madeleine McCann
investigation’. It included further strong comments from Lord Harris,
who said, correctly: “The Prime Minister has driven a coach and horses
through operational independence and had forced the Metropolitan Police
to work outside its jurisdiction”. (See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madeleinemccann/8513574/David-Cameron-is-accused-of-meddling-over-Madeleine-McCann.html)
137. Liberal Democrat and Green Party criticisms
- The Green Party member of the Authority, Jennie Jones, also
commented: “As a member of the MPA, I have to look at how resources are
responsibly used. There are many serious crimes in London, and it is the
job of the Met Police to investigate crimes on a fair and impartial
basis. Tying up vast amounts of police time and resources on one case
does not instil confidence that each crime will be investigated on its
own merits. For example, the forensic service unit has been closed. Many
will wonder what the Prime Minister's motives were, and whether he
understands how difficult policing is in this economic climate. I
believe that the Prime Minister was wrong to allocate Met Police
resources to [the Madeleine McCann] investigation. He appears to have
been swayed by the Sun newspaper, and it is wholly wrong to capitalise
in this way and try to win popular support for what is fundamentally a
Portuguese investigation”. Liberal Democrat peer Lord Bradshaw added:
“The decision is a PR exercise. Chief Constables are desperately worried
that their operational independence will be compromised”.SECTION J. Recent developments
138. Man who died in 2010 tractor accident becomes lead suspect -
In early November 2013, just three weeks after the BBC Crimewatch
programme, stories surfaced in the British mainstream press that the
Portuguese Police’s main suspect was Euclides Monteiro, a 40-year-old
black African from the Cape Verde Islands, who was said to have killed
Madeleine. However, he had died in tractor accident in 2010. His widow
was furious at suggestions he might have been involved in Madeleine’s
abduction or death. This suspect, of course, looked nothing like the two
e-fits of ‘Smithman’ and nothing like the 4 white men whom Redwood had
earlier (on the BBC Crimewatch Special) claimed had been hanging around
near the McCanns’ apartment the week before Madeleine was reported
missing.
139. False claims of ‘imminent arrests‘ - On
29 January 2014, the British mainstream press reported that four
Operation Grange detectives had flown to Portugal ‘to arrest three
suspects’. Newspapers reported that ‘mobile phone evidence has revealed
that the suspects repeatedly called each other in the hours after
Madeleine was reported missing’. Operation Grange officers met with Luís
Mota Carmo, Co-ordinator of the Portuguese Police investigation. It was
claimed that he ‘heads up a team of six Faro detectives who have been
carrying out work on behalf of Scotland Yard’. Eventually seven ‘persons
of interest’ were interviewed on a voluntary basis. The article was
inaccurate. No-one was arrested. On 24 April 2014, the Daily Star
promised ‘new arrests within weeks’. This didn’t happen. Many other
press reports also promised ‘imminent arrests’
140. ‘Five British flat-owners wanted for questioning’ - On 19 April 2014, the Daily Mirror
front-page story told its readers that Grange officers wanted to
question ‘5 British holiday flat-owners’, said to have been in their
flats at the time Madeleine was reported missing. The newspaper alleged
that all 5 were ‘refusing to co-operate’. This was one of many stories
probably leaked by Operation Grange to the press. Nothing has come of
this.
141. The search for a smelly, pot-bellied intruder’ -
On 23 April 2014, Operation Grange updated their appeals for
information. They were now focusing on a 'smelly, pot-bellied' intruder
(now known as ‘smelly bin-man’). They had had ‘500 calls’ and claimed
to have heard of a 'new sexual assault’- on a 10-year-old British girl -
which allegedly took place in Praia da Luz in 2005. This case had not
previously been reported to police.. Grange officers also claimed to
have information about ‘18 break-ins’, of which ‘9 involved sexual
assaults on British girls aged 6 to 12’. These were said to have taken
place at various locations along the Algarve: 3 in Praia da Luz, 9 in
Albufeira, 5 in Carvoeiro, and one in Vilamoura. Martin Hewitt, the
Met’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner, said that suspect was ‘tanned, with
dark hair, spoke English slowly with a foreign accent, had a pot belly,
was sometimes bare-chested, may have worn a burgundy-coloured top with a
white circle on the back, tended to smell badly and carried out his
attacks around dawn, suggesting he might be doing early morning rubbish
collections’. The Portuguese Police never confirmed these claims.
142. A lack of police co-operation –
On the same day (23 April), news emerged that the Portuguese Police had refused Operation Grange’s request to set up a ‘joint investigation team’ This confirmed earlier reports that suggested a complete lack of co-operation between the two police forces. One report said they were ‘at war’.
143. ‘Police closing in on a man with a burgundy top’
- On 28 April 2014, the Daily Express reported that former Scotland
Yard detective Peter Bleksley had been to the Algarve and discovered
that the burgundy-coloured top, said to be worn by ‘smelly bin-man’, was
‘a rare design produced by beer company Super Bock, given away free to
loyal customers’. He claimed that police could trace who was given one.
Again, nothing came of this, although some time later, the Daily Star,
sister paper to the Express, made the sensational - but, once again,
false - claim that ‘Police are closing in on the prime suspect in
Madeleine McCann's disappearance’.On the same day (23 April), news emerged that the Portuguese Police had refused Operation Grange’s request to set up a ‘joint investigation team’ This confirmed earlier reports that suggested a complete lack of co-operation between the two police forces. One report said they were ‘at war’.
144. A search in Portugal with helicopters, sniffer dogs and pickaxes -
On 6 May 2014 the British mainstream press announced that the Portuguese Police had given permission for a team from Operation Grange to carry out search operations in Praia da Luz. Later that month, a large team of Met Police officers and support staff conducted, over a period of weeks, in conjunction with some Portuguese Police officers, two highly publicised searches of two areas of waste ground in Praia da Luz. Journalists and camera crews from around the world sent back reports, pictures and live broadcasts. During these searches, which lasted two weeks, the world witnessed the following:
· Met Police, Portuguese Police and Portuguese military officers flying in a top Portuguese military helicopter, a Mark III Alouette, over various patches of waste ground in Praia da Luz
· Met Police officers using sniffer dogs from Wales - they were said to be using four of them
· Met Police support staff using spades, pock-axes, shovels and augers to dig out parts of the search areas
· Met Police support staff placing bones and soil samples in plastic bags, for later forensic analysis.
After the second week-long search, in June, DCI Redwood reported that during these searches they had found a few rabbit bones, but nothing else of interest. As far as we know today, this search was waste of time and money.
145. DCI Redwood resigns -
On 5 December 2014 it was reported that DCI Redwood had resigned. As
many top police officers pointed out, no senior police officer would
resign if there was a reasonable prospect in view of a person or persons
being charged with the offence he was investigating. DCI Nicola Wall
replaced him.
146. The smelly bin-man might have broken in ‘28 times’ - On 2 May 2015, the Daily Telegraph
reported that writers Summers and Swan had written an update to their
book ‘Looking for Madeleine’. The book included a sensational new
‘revelation’ that there were now 10 more reports of a burglar/child
molestor/intruder along the Algarve coast, making the total number of
alleged break-ins 28, not 18. It appeared, once again in their careers,
that Summers and Swan had been given privileged information by official
sources, to cover up the truth, rather than to reveal it. This
confidential privileged information was probably provided to Summers and
Swan with the deliberate intent of helping sales of their book, which
promoted the idea that an intruder might have abducted and murdered
Madeleine. Summers and Swan wrote that ‘a source’ had told them: “The
offences are not all the same. Some involve not little children but
teenagers or young women…But there are similarities. We’re seeing a sort
of consistent theme. Perhaps there is a burglar, a thief, who’s also
got a weakness for this sort of thing. We don’t know. We’re not saying
all these offences are definitely linked, but there’s potential here. If
we dig down into those incidents and find out who’s responsible, if we
find that a single person is responsible for a number, if not all, of
the events…Who knows, that same person may have been responsible for
Madeleine McCann’s disappearance”. This news came well over a year after
Operation Grange had suggested that ‘smelly bin-man’ had committed
several break-ins with a sexual motive. The Telegraph suggested
the police were no nearer finding out if all these reported incidents
were the same man and, if so, who it was. Over a year later, there is
no indication that Summers and Swans’ theories were correct.
147. Operation Grange team cut to 4 officers - On
28 October 2015, the Met announced that the team of officers working
on Operation Grange had been cut from 29 to 4, adding: “The
vast majority of our work into Madeleine's disappearance has been
completed”. In addition: “No conclusion has been reached, but we are
following a small number of focused lines of inquiry”. The McCanns said:
“We are reassured that the investigation to find Madeleine has been
significantly progressed and the Met has a much clearer picture of the
events in Praia da Luz leading up to Madeleine's abduction in 2007.
Given that the review phase of the investigation is essentially
completed, we fully understand the reasons why the team is being
reduced”. Their PR spokesman, Mitchell, said “The investigation into her
disappearance is not drawing to a close. Kate and Gerry are far from
disillusioned. This is no way the end of Operation Grange. If anything
it will now continue on a newly-focused, smaller yes, but focused basis
that will hopefully lead to Madeleine being found somewhere in the near
future”. The Met’s Assistant Commissioner, Mark Rowley, said: "The Met
was asked to take on this exceptional case as one of national interest.
We were happy to bring our expertise to bear only on the basis that it
would not detract from the policing of London; and the Home Office have
additionally funded the investigation above normal grants to the Met.
That will continue at the reduced level”.
148. More statistics from the Met
- The following statistical details were also given by the Met in
October:: 1,338 statements taken; 1,027 exhibits collected; 60 persons
of interest investigated; 8,685 potential sightings considered; 560
lines of inquiry identified, and 30 requests made to other countries
asking for work to be carried out.
149. Operation Grange extended for a ‘final’ 6 months - On 3 April 2016, the then Home Secretary Theresa May announced that she had allocated a further £94,592 to Operation Grange ‘until October’. This was said to be for ‘a further 6 months’ work. The Daily Mirror, commenting on the report, said: “When the money runs out, the Yard will then be poised to ditch the five-year inquiry which has yet to unearth any new clues”.
150. McCanns’ friend, the late Sir Clement Freud, investigated by Operation Grange - Just as Operation Grange was coming to a close, there was a spate of media reports that the late Sir Clement Freud, who twice (at least) entertained the McCanns in his Praia da Luz villa, was a serial paedophile, having abused or raped girls as young as 10 years old. Acting surprised by this news, Operation Grange said they would ‘look into’ the close relationship between Clement Freud and the McCanns.
Related links:
50 facts about the case that the British media are not telling you: https://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t16016-50-facts-about-the-case-that-the-british-media-are-not-telling-you
50 more facts about the case that the British media are not telling you: https://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t16141-50-more-facts-about-the-case-that-the-british-media-are-not-telling-you
>> The work of the Madeleine McCann Research Group features on the ‘Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann’
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Published by The Madeleine McCann Research Group - 1 August 2016 SEE: https://jillhavern.forumotion.net/>> The work of the Madeleine McCann Research Group features on the ‘Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann’