Truth of the Lie---a response

Goncalo Amaral--the case of Hugo

courtesy of Rosie

The Controversies of Goncalo Amaral Continue - The Case Of Hugo

Goncalo Amaral and His Wife and Lawyer Outside The Court After He Had Been Found Guilty of Concealing Evidence of Torture. behind Him Pierre Paulo Cristovao, another Controversial figure, who is awaiting to hear if the appeal against his acquittal for the torture of Leonor Cipriano is accepted or dismissed!


Hugo is a young man living in Olivais, Lisboa. In October/2005 he received a letter from an Ayamonte court, it was directly addressed to him and did not come through the police or another court! It was accusing him of an attempted homicide back in August/2003. He went to a PSP (Public Safety Police) precinct in Lisbon, where he was sent to the PJ (policia judiciaria), and having got there, they told him to go back home and not to worry about the case. One year later, because he did not attend the court in Spain, he got the visit of PJ inspectors with an arrest warrant. He was so scared, he attempted suicide while in custody/prison that night. The next morning he was presented to a judge who confirmed that he was accused of being co-author of an attempted homicide along with two other people, one of them a former colleague that although lived in the same neighbourhood he had not seen since he left school, this person had already presented himself to the police already implicating himself in the crime. Hugo proclaimed innocence immediately and was able to present a staggering 15 witnesses, as he had been in Mondim de Basto, (his wife's place of birth) at the time of the homicide and said he never had set foot in Spain.

He and his wife were unemployed and had two little children and very poor and totally unable to defend himself.

Dr Barra da Costa Martins former Chief Inspector of the PJ now University Professor of Criminology and Criminal Psychology heard about the case and found a lawyer for Hugo, working pro bono (Free). The Portuguese court did not care to clarify if there was a case of mistaken identity, they didn't even bother to interrogate the other arguido. The same happened with the Supreme Court, on appeal. Basically, the case came back to the Relation (first instance) Court who refused to hear expert witnesses opinions and forensic exams on some photo of grainy video "evidence" that the PJ presented. The court concluded it was it was Hugo by just looking at the video with the 'naked eye'. Hugo's defense lawyer Almado wanted to bring expert witnesses, who could give their expert opinions on facial recognition.

While this case was being investigated by the PJ, the PJ coordinator was one Goncalo Amaral (again) it was up to him to make the diligences and have the video examined to see if this person was Hugo, Goncalo Amaral FAILED to do this and just presented this sloppy "evidence" to the court and the court just accepted it. The "co-author" completely denied Hugo's involvement in the attempted murder and under cross-examination in court he said he named Hugo because he was being *PRESSED* to do so, by the investigating officer *Goncalo Amaral*. A New appeal was heard in Portugal with the same result, a European mandate was issued and Hugo arrested at his home. December 2007, in court in Ayamonte, the victim of the attempted homicide did not recognise Hugo at all, yet Hugo was extradited to Spain to stand trial for attempted murder.

• Hugo had 15 witnesses that put him in another place entirely.


• Hugo did NOT resemble he person on a very grainy video footage which was presented in court by Goncalo Amaral as proof of Hugo's involvement.


• Goncalo Amaral refused to get facial recognition expert to examine the footage of the video.


• Goncalo Amaral refused to allow the forensic examination of the video.


• Goncalo Amaral refused to believe 15 eye witnesses that placed Hugo in his wife's birth place at the time of the crime.


• Goncalo Amaral *PRESSED* (or tortured?) the alleged co-author of Hugo into identifying his accomplice as Hugo.


• His alleged "co-author" later testified in court under oath that he had been pressed into giving this statement.


• The victim of the crime did NOT recognise or identify Hugo as being his assailant.

Fortunately the story finally ended for Hugo in a court in Huelva, Spain, the defendant was acquitted and cleared of all suspicion, when the Spanish court kicked it out.

It appears that the court in Spain wanted the video footage of Hugo to have it forensically examined and for facial recognition experts to examine it, but the Portuguese coordinator one Goncalo Amaral FAILED to send the video in time and many suspected him of "concealing evidence" that could have cleared Hugo in a Portuguese court, but it has to be said that the Portuguese courts were lax in their duty to their citizen too. Goncalo Amaral has since been convicted of concealing evidence of torture in the case of Leonor Cipriano, he received an 18 month suspended prison sentence.

"As Dr Barra da Costa puts it, 'In Portugal, there are far too many Hugos and Joanas. In Portugal there has been a long time since we last had a Gordon Brown, honour to him, capable of publicly risking his capital as statesman, that of the party and of Her Majesty in favour of his own nationals'."

Hugo was wrongly charged and it has been alleged that Hugo was deliberately falsely charged in order to protect "drug traffickers"! Hugo and his family suffered tremendously as a direct result of Goncalo Amaral and his "shoddy and dubious" police work. Of course Goncalo Amaral was at that time in charge of the drug squad!

The result is that if the Portuguese court had the photographic expert findings along with the co-defendant stating again that Hugo had nothing to do with this, and the victims themselves had also not recognised Hugo.

How many times is Goncalo Amaral going to be allowed to get away with this kind of thing?

And now we have him attempting to become a lawyer and being trained by the ex lawyer of Leonor Cipriano, a lawyer that attends Amaral's private functions. A lawyer who was himself caught in possession of class A drugs trying to smuggle them into a prison and who mysteriously was allowed to get off of this charge!

Mysterious that a lawyer who knew he would be searched, attempted drug smuggling and mysterious that he got away with such a serious crime.

Mysterious too that at the time he was representing Leonor Cipriano. Now call me a cynic and tell me that I may have been watching too many movies, but could the story be that drugs were planted on the lawyer, the lawyer was then forced to a dreadful job representing Leonor Cipriano in court, in return for him being cleared of smuggling drugs?

Leonor Cipriano was needed to be found guilty of murdering her daughter to cover up what really happened to her and why? Her uncle being hooked on hard drugs and would do anything for money to buy drugs.

The connection again being made to drugs and who is involved again? Goncalo Amaral.

What is happening in Portugal? How many times is something like this going to happen and the real culprits of murder, drug trafficking and child abduction be protected? how far are the police involved in all of this?

Goncalo Amaral *MUST* be investigated and interrogated, he may know who took Madeleine McCann!

Please bring Madeleine McCann home

Christmas tune for Tony Bennett CARTER RUCK

Bennett better watch out
Bennett better not stalk
Bennett better not shout
I'm telling you why
Santa Ruck is coming to town

Adam's making a list
And he's checking it twice;

Gonna find out Who's naughty and not nice
Carter Ruck is coming to town

He sees Bennett when he's hiding
He knows when he's awake
He knows if he's been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!
O! You better watch out!

he'd better not write
he'd Better not shout
he'd better not defame
I'm telling you why
Carter Ruck is coming to town

Tony Bennett has a history of stalking?

Stood outside the house of the PA of Michael Barrymore

Liar Liar pants on fire Mr Tony Bennett?

In this letter he writes :
We were thus under no obligation to you as we had given you no instructions to act for us; Debbie and I took the view however that as you has rendered assistance and spent time on the matter we would voluntarily offer £500 to you towards your time, which is a big chunk out of the current balance of the Madeleine Foundation.

And here it is, the joint statement, dated September 17th:
We should just like to add this. Any fees incurred for legal advice will be met personally by ourselves and the funds in The Madeleine Foundation’s bank account will not be used.

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

so which one is it Tone, you paid or the Floundation paid?

For the attention of JOANA MORAIS, Portuguese "translator/journo/film maker/jack of all trades master of none"

Joana Morais, why arent you posting the Praca de Alegra interview with Sandra Felgueiras?

Surely it isn't because you dont want your forum members hearing what she really thinks of Amaral and his investigation?

And you talk about censorship...

Stevo from the Foundation aka Steve Marsden

what spooky eyes::

Scotland Yard asked to look at Madeleine case

Anti-McCann group facing fraud probe


pic courtesy of The Sun newspaper



Target ... the Madeleine Foundation blames parents Gerry and Kate McCann for their daughter's disappearance


By NEIL SYSON

Published: Today
FRAUD cops are probing the bank account of a campaign group which says Maddie McCann is dead - and aims to blame her parents.

Controversial lawyer Tony Bennett helped set up the Madeleine Foundation, but its account is now frozen.

Detectives want assurances over tens of thousands of pounds sent in by people supporting his warped aims.

Bennett, 62, ran the account from his home in Harlow, Essex.

Much of the cash came from the sale of �4 books blaming the McCanns after the three-year-old vanished in Portugal in 2007.

The couple think many people may have mistakenly donated believing they were funding the hunt for Maddie.

The account holds �2,700 but Mr Bennett is thought to have �90,000 in private accounts.

A rift had developed between Bennett and foundation chairwoman Debbie Butler. Police stressed the case was still only an investigation and no arrests had been made.

A source close to Gerry and Kate McCann said: "This foundation is now in meltdown. They can't wait to see the end of it."

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2718688/Maddie-latest-Anti-McCann-group-facing-fraud-probe.html#ixzz0WAfav8Lk

The Sun, Sat 7 November 09, Anti-McCann Foundation facing fraud allegations

well well well, Debbie Butler and her bleating has brought it to the attention of the nationals(no fron page pic of her this time thank the Lord!!)

FRAUD cops are probing the bank account of a campaign group which says Maddie McCann is dead - and aims to blame her parents.
Controversial lawyer Tony Bennett helped set up the Madeleine Foundation, but its account is now frozen.

Detectives want assurances over tens of thousands of pounds sent in by people supporting his warped aims.

Bennett, 62, ran the account from his home in Harlow, Essex.

Much of the cash came from the sale of £4 books blaming the McCanns after the three-year-old vanished in Portugal in 2007.

The couple think many people may have mistakenly donated believing they were funding the hunt for Maddie.

The account holds £2,700 but Mr Bennett is thought to have £90,000 in private accounts.

A rift had developed between Bennett and foundation chairwoman Debbie Butler. Police stressed the case was still only an investigation and no arrests had been made.

A source close to Gerry and Kate McCann said: "This foundation is now in meltdown. They can't wait to see the end of it."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/search/searchAction.do?query=tony+bennett&view=internal&pubName=sol&submit=+Search+

a minute for Madeleine

A MINUTE FOR MADELEINE …

HELP SPREAD A NEW ONLINE POLICE MESSAGE



London, 3 November. The UK’s national law enforcement centre for protecting children – the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre – has today issued an online viral message (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yUZBHHYhmQ) aimed at anyone close to the person who was involved in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.



The person we are looking to reach is likely to be a partner, family member, friend or colleague of the person or people who were involved in Madeleine’s disappearance. It is also highly probable that they, or someone close to them, is using the internet to search for any updates that may suggest the police are getting closer to discovering the truth.



“Today we want to deliver a message to that person and we’re asking everyone who goes online to help us. We want the message to become so widespread that it becomes just one click from any Madeleine search as a constant reminder to that person that it is never too late to do the right thing – that it is never too late for that person to redeem themselves.



“So if you are a parent or carer, a student or member of the public who is a social networker, blogger or emailer, or if you run any type of online environment, big or small please look at the film today, link to it, share it with your friends and post it in the online communities you occupy. Do everything you can to spread it around the online world. We want to make it omnipresent so that the person we are trying to reach sees it and is prompted to do the right thing.”



The message is available at ceop.police.uk and is in seven different languages – English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.



Thank you

http://helpingtofindmadeleine.org

http://images.dailyexpress.co.uk/img/covers/257x330front/2009-11-03.jpg

NEW appeal for Madeleine McCann

More on Amaral and his injunction

Judge explains decision of forbidding sale

The decision, by judge Amélia Puna Loupo, analyses the constitutional rights that are at stake and in conflict: those of freedom of expression and freedom of press, and those of physical integrity and personality. The conclusion was that the rights of personality should prevail

by Ana Paula Azevedo

The magistrate concluded that, with the evidence that she was presented – namely the archiving dispatch of the Public Ministry’s inquiry into the child’s disappearance, the editions of the book ‘The Truth about the Lie’ and the television documentary that is based on it -, it had to be evaluated, as determined by law, which should prevail in fairness. And she concluded that the rights of personality should prevail.

Therefore, she considers that the fear that has been alleged by the McCann couple, that the dissemination of the book (which has already been published in eight countries), as well as the statements that Gonçalo Amaral has been making about it, will provoke them new offenses (against them and their children, Sean and Amelie), apart from hampering the continuation of searches for Maddie, is founded.

The magistrate recalls that the Public Ministry’s archiving dispatch in the inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann concluded that there is no evidence to accuse the McCanns of any crime. Therefore, the repetition of the former inspector’s thesis always causes serious and hardly repairable damage to the McCann family.

The decision to prohibit the sale of the book and the documentary has immediate effects. Gonçalo Amaral can appeal the decision to the Appeals Court or state his opposition to the decision (which in this case moves the process into a court session, that would be presided over by the same judge) – but such would have no suspension effect.


source: Sol, 09.09.2009

Debbie Deborah Butler, McCann stalker, meets Rober Murat, former suspect in the case

well well well.
Debbie Butler, who is a business woman from Kent looks after CHILDREN and students whilst performing in her role as guide for Garden of England Tours. 4 weeks ago she appeared on the front page of the Sunday Express being branded a stalker after the delivery of leaflets from a skanky foundation intent on harassing the parents of missing toddler Madeleine McCann.

She's been thrown out of Channel Four and Mentorn Productions when she turned up and unfurled a huge petition of stuck together A4 papers from people demanding Channel 4 not show a documentary they were making about 2 years without Madeleine.

She is the chairwoman of the foundation, her partner in crime is disgraced Tony Bennett, who was rumoured recently to have been told off by the SRA for the disgusting parody of Silent Night he penned regarding Madeleine.

The pair are pally with Goncalo Amaral, found guilty a few months back of turning a blind eye to the torture of ANOTHER missing child who disappeared 7 miles away from Madeleine 2 years ago. He was sentenced to 18 months suspended sentence, so should be keeping his nose clean really. He's up on ANOTHER charge, this time of assault and is due at trial.

He wrote a book about the Madeleine case, and has done a European tour of book shops selling his wares. Unfortunately for him, the court in Lisbon has just told him to desist with anymore interviews et with regard to the book and the book must be taken from the shelves and warehouses of Portugal (possibly Europe). If he goes against this, there is a fine of 1000 euros PER DAY.

Disgraced cop Amaral's wife slates Kate McCann--Sunday Express today

Firstly, the disgusting letter Sofia Leal, wife of cop Amaral (who incidentally made an official complaint about him when he refused to return their daughter to her and took the child in the car whilst he was drunk) and secondly the Express article about it today:

Open letter to Mrs Healy, Kate.

-- Dear Madam,

Excuse my audacity, but after learning about your comment in your interview with the newspaper, Expresso, on the subject of Gonçalo Amaral, my husband and father of my daughters, I have to send you these words of thanks. For many years I have been trying to make myself understood with this feeling that unites you and I "....and his behaviour is a disgrace professionally and as a person"...
Consider this:

a) Professionally

-- As coordinator of criminal investigation for the PJ, my husband has always refused to sit comfortably behind his desk, from 9 to 5, which is usual for his rank.

Instead of that, he spent the day (and sometimes the night) on the ground with the investigators, coordinating "on the spot" searches, surveillance, seizures and other duties. What a disgrace! But if this was just about being exposed to the elements, things wouldn't be serious, because as madam Kate knows, the weather here is not bad. The problem is his commitment to the cause which has cost him promotion in his career. I will explain, because this case is contemporary to the search for your daughter. My husband was involved as senior coordinator, and between seizures of drugs, kidnappings and murders, he succeeded in producing a theory about drug trafficking by sea, which he defended before a jury in Lisbon, who congratulated him.

Full of hope, Gonçalo Amaral returned to the Algarve to await the result. It was with astonishment that he learned that he had been passed over by other colleagues (coordinators as it happens, to tell the truth), because he had not managed to get himself into "professonal training" settings. And yes, madam Kate, my husband spent his life working, in the midst of complex investigations. He was the man in Portugal who seized most drugs, but as he didn't have the time to parade himself in the corridors of the PJ's institution, he was not promoted. A disgrace, madam, a disgrace!

As you must know, because you seem very well informed to me, my husband's salary was barely 1.5 times the minimum wage of your country. However, as a wife, mother and Portuguese, I cannot complain, given that Gonçalo Amaral's salary was the equivalent of 4.5 times the minimum wage in Portugal. Pay attention to this, which serves as an example of what I am going to explain: at one time, an individual shot an officer of the PSP and fled into neighbouring Spain. Between the comings and goings of a PJ team, of which my husband was a part, they were there for more than 15 days.
At that time, international expenses were 100€. As madam Kate can imagine, it is not possible on that amount to eat and to lodge in Spain, still less when it is Christmas Eve, and this amount would only be available (with a bit of luck) by Easter. Even with that, Gonçalo Amaral never refused, not even for a day, to search for the evasive murderer, thus increasing our family budget. And this is only one example amongst many. I once suggested to him the creation of a fund, or something else for dealing with these extraordinary expenses, but he never listened to me. While we too had our mortgage to pay...A disgrace, Madam Kate, a disgrace!

b) Also as an individual, his behaviour is a disgrace, because it was never possible to distinguish or to have a private life with the way of working he chose. However, and if my dear friend Madam Kate will allow me, I can give some examples: Five years ago, a child called Joana "disappeared." The mother, just like Madam Kate, tried to project the case into the media, but this was as far as she got...After 8 days, came the confessions and the evidence: During an incestuous act between the mother and the uncle, the child was beaten, later cut into pieces and her body disposed of, no one knows where. The mother and the uncle were imprisoned, with the trial coordinated by Gonçalo Amaral, and bringing each of them nearly 20 years in prison. But going back a bit.

The child died on September 12th. On Christmas Eve, our family were together to begin our prayers, when my husband asked me to prepare a bag with food and warm clothes, because he had not yet carried out his Christmas act of contrition and penitence. Try to imagine, Madam Kate, where Gonçalo Amaral took himself that Christmas night when there was torrential rain and roaring thunder? To the Olhao prison establishment, where João Cipriano, Joana's uncle, was a prisoner; confessed murderer and clinically declared a psychopath. For my husband, giving alms to a beggar did not represent any sacrifice.

On the other hand, joining and sharing his Christmas meal with João Cipriano was the sacrifice he offered to God in memory of Joana. And isn't that a disgrace? Know this, Madam Kate, every year, on September 12th, my husband requests a mass for Joana Isabel Cipriano Guerreiro. He says that no one else will remember the poor child. But people remember to accuse him unjustly of acts and crimes which he has never committed. Isn't that a disgrace, Madam Kate?

I will relate one last story, which still costs me to talk about. This year, in May, we started the process of moving our family to Portimao. My husband's holiday was supposed to start the day after your daughter disappeared. "For obvious reasons," that didn't happen. I started a new job, I looked at houses, I made the move and I tried to settle our daughters into new schools with new routines.

All that alone, without any support from my husband, who, for obvious reasons, was looking for your daughter, Madam Kate. In October, on the day of his birthday, a week after our daughters had started the new school year, Gonçalo Amaral was dismissed and returned to Faro. It was supposed to be a time of the family getting together, but in fact it was even more of a separation. Isn't that a disgrace? Our daughters have never understood, and we have never succeeded in explaining to them what the obvious reasons were that justified a father leaving his daughters to look for a child he didn't know and whom the parents neglected. A disgrace that my dear friend Kate was not there at that time. Perhaps you could have helped us explain the "obvious reasons" to our children for their father's being sent back.

To finish, on the intimate subject of Gonçalo Amaral, I can only tell you that he is exactly as the Latinos have a reputation for: a wild one, and my modesty does not allow me to say any more.

I ask my dear friend to forgive these thoughts of a wife and mother, but I am sure you will understand. I will finish this missive by asking you to pass on to your mother my sincere compliments. She seemed very sincere to me when, during an interview, she said she had the urge to slap those who had left her grandchildren alone. She spoke as openly as a true Portuguese grandmother would have done.

My dear friend Madam Kate, without wishing to bother you any further, I would like you to do me a last favour: now that you are starting to let the truth come out, don't stop, go on, and tell the truth the world is waiting to hear.


With my best regards,

Sofia Leal

(Wife and mother of Gonçalo Amaral's children.)

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


MADELEINE SEARCH 'WRECKED OUR LIFE'




The search has been hindered by some comments in Amaral's book according to Gerry McCann

Sunday September 13,2009

By James Murray

THE WIFE of a disgraced Portuguese police chief wrote a “poisonous” letter to Kate McCann in an attempt to defend his handling of the botched Madeleine investigation, the Sunday Express can reveal today.

Sarcastically addressing the heartbroken mother as “Madam Kate”, Sofi a Amaral amazingly sought sympathy from her because of the amount of time her husband had spent away from his family searching for the missing girl.

Goncalo Amaral was head of the regional police at the time Madeleine was snatched from the McCann’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in May 2007.

He was sacked over his poor handling of the case.Mrs Amaral hit out in response to Kate McCann’s remark that the way her husband had run the inquiry was a “disgrace”.

When Madeleine, aged three, vanished the Amarals were in the process of moving to Portimao, 15 miles from Praia da Luz, and Mrs Amaral wrote: “My husband’s holiday was supposed to start the day after your daughter disappeared. For obvious reasons that did not happen.

“I looked at houses, I made the move and I tried to settle our daughters into new schools – all without any support from my husband, who was looking for your daughter, Madam Kate. In October, on the day of his birthday, Goncalo Amaral was dismissed.

“It was supposed to be a time of the family getting together, but in fact it was even more of a separation. Isn’t that a disgrace?”

The letter goes on: “My husband has always refused to sit comfortably behind his desk from nine to five, which is usual for his rank.

“Instead, he spent the day – and sometimes the night – coordinating on-the-spot searches, surveillance, seizures and other duties.

“As you must know, my husband’s salary was barely 1.5 times the minimum wage of your country.”

A friend of the McCanns described Mrs Amaral’s letter as “poisonous”. She added: “It had a very sarcastic tone and implied that Madeleine’s disappearance has wrecked their lives. It showed no sympathy to Kate and Gerry for their loss.

“She had the gall to ask Kate what she had to complain about when the little girl’s disappearance had put intolerable pressure on her and her husband’s lives.”

Amaral and his wife face financial ruin as the McCanns step up their claim for more than £1million damages over claims he made in his book, The Truth of the Lie.

The fortune Amaral amassed from its sales looks likely to be seized and put into the McCanns’ fund that pays private detectives to search for Madeleine.

The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell explained: “Kate is aware of the letter and its contents. It was complete nonsense.”

Madeleine’s father, heart consultant Gerry McCann, 41, said one of his private investigators believed Amaral’s book had hampered the 28-month hunt.

He added: “If people continue to believe she is dead, they will not come forward with information.”

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/126 ... -our-life-

Disgraced cop Amaral to attend the Madeleine Foundation meeting

First of all, extracts from Tony Bennett's emails to and from Goncalo Amaral:


Bennett has just posted this in
http://missingmadeleine.forumotion.net/forum.htm
note the dates - both emails sent and replied to before the recent court injunction:

From: ajsbennett@btinternet.com
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL - Invitation to Snr Goncalo Amaral and Sofia to visit U.K. 27 February 2010
Date: Tuesday, 4 August, 2009, 3:23 PM

Dear Snr Amaral

First of all this letter brings with it sincere greetings from members of The Madeleine Foundation and thousands of others in the United Kingdom who wish you and your family well.

The main purpose of my letter is to ask if you might be able to visit England on Saturday 27 February 2010. That is a weekend when The Madeleine Foundation will be holding a meeting to discuss Madeleine McCann. We expect it to be in the English Midlands area). It will probably be a two-day event.

We would like you to speak to our meeting about your knowledge of the case. We would also be very grateful if you could respond to questions from people on the day. We would also like to perhaps show your documentary film on Madeleine McCann, with English sub-titles…

[part of e-mail snipped]

In addition, we would love to see at our meeting people like Joana Morais who have done so much to bring this matter to our attention, and all the translators and others in Portugal who have supported you so well during the past two years (I’m sorry, I don’t know all their names).

We have been following the events surrounding your trial in Portugal closely. We know you are not guilty of any offence towards Leonor Cipriano and we wish you early success in your appeal against conviction. It must have been a very difficult time for you. You have the warm wishes of thousands in the U.K. and across Europe in this respect.

Well, we wish you and all members of your family well, and we look forward to a positive response from you.

Yours sincerely

Tony Bennett
Secretary
The Madeleine Foundation

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Reply from Goncalo Amaral and Sofia, 26 August 2009

Dear Mr. Bennett and Ms. Butler,

Once again, thank you for all your support and efforts. Regarding your invitation to participate in the meeting next February, we will be glad be be there whenever and wherever, but I think that are some developments and we probably will meet soon, very soon… [Rest of e-mail snipped]

Hope to meet you soon,

Sofia and Gonçalol


Disgraced cop to be key speaker at Madeleine McCann conference

Sep 13 2009 by Vicky Farncombe, Sunday Mercury

THE disgraced cop who led the search for missing Madeleine McCann before pointing the finger at her parents is to be the key speaker at a Midland conference about her disappearance.

Chief Inspector Gonçalo Amaral was booted off the case after blasting the British police’s handling of the inquiry.

But he made a reported £1 million from a book claiming Maddie was dead, and that Kate and Gerry McCann had concealed her body.
Last week a Portuguese judge banned Maddie: The Truth About The Lie from bookshelves because of its unfounded allegations. The fallen cop also faces a lawsuit from the McCanns.

But the Sunday Mercury can reveal that Amaral will not be silenced.

He has agreed to give the keynote speech at a conference organised by the Madeleine McCann Foundation, a group also claiming that the Rothley, Leicestershire girl’s death was covered up.

As many as 150 people are expected to attend the conference in Castle Donington, just 16 miles from Maddy’s home.

Organisers are refusing to divulge the exact whereabouts of the venue until three days before it begins.

Last night they said it was for “confirmed McCann-sceptics who do not believe that Madeleine McCann was abducted”.
Secretary Anthony Bennett said: “We have a venue for the conference, booked and arranged.

“We dare not give out the venue publicly because of threats of disruption we have had from supporters of the McCann family.
“However, I am able to share one piece of news with you.

Gonçalo Amaral, the author of Maddie: A Verdada da Mentira (Maddie: The Truth About The Lie’) has agreed to be the key guest speaker at our conference.”

Amaral, 49, worked on the original investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve coast of Portugal in May 2007.

He claimed that Gerry and Kate McCann, both 41, covered up their daughter´s death, even though there was no evidence to support his theory.
In July 2008 the McCanns were cleared of any wrongdoing in a formal report by Portugal´s Attorney General Jose Pinto Monteiro. They are suing Amaral for £1 million for defamation, and for breaching their human rights.

They also plan to take action against the Madeleine McCann Foundation for distributing a leaflet blaming them for Maddie’s disappearance.
The sickening leaflets were received by 10,000 people in the McCanns’ home village of Rothley.

A source close to the couple said they were “totally horrified” by the four-page publication. which said that if she died in the family’s holiday flat those “This is an evil, despicable act,” she said. “These people are self-obsessed, self-absorbed individuals.”
McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “We do not wish to dignify the actions of the so-called Madeleine Foundation in any way.”
http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/sundaymercuryexclusives/2009/09/13/disgraced-cop-to-be-key-speaker-at-madeleine-mccann-conference-66331-24672906/

Transcript of Amaral talking about the injunction

Wed Sep 09, 2009 11:21 pm

Gonçalo Amaral: 'I Will Not be Silenced"
Transcipt:

Fátima Felgueiras (voice over) – The judge’s decision on a request for an injunction of secret character that had been filed by the McCanns arrived this morning. Starting at the moment when Gonçalo Amaral’s editor is notified, the sale of any books and videos that are still in stores will be forbidden. The editor has not been informed about this decision yet, but from what can be read, it is impeded from performing any new editions, and Gonçalo Amaral is strictly forbidden from making any comments that correspond with the parts of the book that defend the thesis that Madeleine died.

Gonçalo Amaral – What makes this worse is that they are trying to shut us up, but they won’t shut us up, that is for sure, and the book will be published in English, even more so because the conclusions that are in the book are in the process.

FF (voice over) – What is certain is that if Gonçalo Amaral and the editor do not obey the order, the court can condemn them to pay a fine of 1000 euro per day.

GA – It’s a very dangerous decision. It’s a decision that places the freedom of expression at stake. Let’s see what the political parties will say. They will certainly have to say something.

FF (voice over) – In Rothley, Kate and Gerry McCann rejoiced over the decision, even more so because it paves the way for a satisfactory outcome in the other civil action that they have filed in June against the former inspector, who was removed from the case and later abandoned the Polícia Judiciária. Over alleged moral damages, they demand compensation in the amount of one million and two thousand euro.

GA – What they want is to make money in order to pay for their house in Rothley, which is what they have been doing.

FF (voice over) – Gerry and Kate have not heard Gonçalo Amaral yet, but from England they assert that the most serious part is that the former inspector’s book damaged the search for Madeleine.

Influenced by this piece of news or not, the truth is that ‘The Truth about the Lie’ sold out in many Lisbon bookshops, this afternoon. This is almost a unique copy of a non-fiction book that became the most sold book during the entire year of 2008. 175 000 copies have been sold, and that is not counting with the editions that were translated for Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany. The adaptation of this book into a television documentary was watched by 2 209 000 people and became the single most watched television programme in Portugal, apart from football matches.

But is it the truth or a lie? This thesis from Gonçalo Amaral about the Madeleine McCann case has never been proved, and now, until an order to the contrary, it will have to be silenced.


by Joana Morais

Civil COurt in Lisbon gives injunction regarding Amaral book--UPDATE

Gonçalo Amaral’s book prohibited from sale

by Ana Paula Azevedo

The 13th Section of the Civil Court of Lisbon has today conceded the injunction that had been presented by the McCann couple, the parents of Maddie – who disappeared in Praia da Luz in May 2007 – in the sense of prohibiting the sale of the book by Gonçalo Amaral, the former Polícia Judiciária inspector who defends the thesis that the parents were responsible over the disappearance and death of the child.

The book, Maddie – The Truth about the Lie – cannot be sold as of today, and all copies that are in shops or in storage must be collected.

The court has further decided to sustain the McCann couple’s request to prohibit the distribution of the movie that is based on the same book, and was broadcast by TVI.

The court demands Valentim de Carvalho and Guerra e Paz to collect all of the books that are still on sale in bookshops, forbidding them of ceding the rights of exhibition of the video and of sale of the book into other countries.

According to the same decision, the editors are not allowed to publish this or other books or videos that defend the same thesis.

Finally, it forbids Gonçalo Amaral to make any statements about the contents of the book or the video.

source: Sol, 09.09.2009
.............................................................................

and there's the details of Bren for when you get round to suing the internet cesspits:
Registrant:
Bren Ryan
46 Beech Road
Strood
Rochester, Kent ME2 2LR
United Kingdom

Registered through: WebsitePalace.com
Domain Name: BRENCARDI.COM
Created on: 03-Sep-09
Expires on: 03-Sep-10
Last Updated on: 03-Sep-09

Administrative Contact:
Ryan, Bren @gmail.com
46 Beech Road
Strood
Rochester, Kent ME2 2LR
United Kingdom
+44.01634290845 Fax --

Parliamentary Under Secretary and the Madeleine Foundation

http://justice4mccannfam.5forum.biz/madeleine-mccann-new-f27/the-madeleine-foundation-the-government-speaks-t1804.htm


So, in summary then bennett and 3a's posters, whichever rock you are now lurking under, the Government is aware of your existance, and they consider you 'Despicable' and they are putting together a plan to stamp you out. Your attempts to libel, intimidate, harrass, and incite hatred and violence against innocent and law abiding citizens have now come to their last days. I have written back to Chris Mole MP, thanking him profusely for his help, and asking him to please keep me informed as to the progress of this Hate Crime Action Plan, and I will study it closely, and keep everyone informed.

A final word from me to bennett. I am nought but an ordinary working class greasemonkey, with nothing more than an average secondary modern education. But I was brought up to know the diference between right and wrong, I have an acute sense of justice and fair play, and I make you this promise. I will not allow your cynical exploitation of Madeleine and her family, in order to get your picture in the paper, and garner fame and glory for yourself to continue. I will seek every legal means to bring you and your foundation of disinformation and lies down. I am sure I will not be alone.

Rosiepops socks it to the Debbie Butler( McCann stalker)'s friend Tony Bennett

Rosie writes in red



Tony Bennett wrote:

Rosiepops wrote:I am so glad to see you admit this at last Mr Bennett, yes human beings do make mistakes. Now you have at last acknowledged this...

Good evening Rosiepops, I think you will find that I often acknowledge I have made mistakes, so I don't know why you used the term 'at last'.

I will be happy to acknowledge and reply in full to your somewhat aggressive and emotionally charged posting, but would you please first of all supply your real name. I do not hide behind a 'forum name'/username on the internet and whenever posting about the Madeleine McCann mystery I post in my real name.

No I will not supply my real name and you have no right to ask me to do so. How many times are we all warned about giving out our personal information the internet? You should never ask someone to do something as dangerous as that! How many people on this forum are posting under an ID? Have you asked them to provide their real name?

I am sorry you find me somewhat aggressive and emotionally charged, can't think why, I am quite cool, calm and collected. If you think I am emotionally charged, because I question what you have done and what you are doing to two people, who lets be very honest here are innocent in the eyes of the law, then I think you need to look inwards of yourself for the answer as to why, you think I find your behaviour irrational, unfounded and uncalled for.

Now I am sure you are neither a coward nor have anything to be ashamed of, so before we debate further, let's all see your real name so that we know exactly who we're debating with.

What so you can spoof a website for me? Nah.I'll pass if you don't mind.

Secondly, I note that you described the '10 Reasons' leaflet as 'a pack of half baked innuendos'.

I take it that when you refer to 'a pack of half baked innuendos', you are including here:

* The 10 places at which according to Martin Grime's report on the PJ files Eddie alerted to the scent of a corpse,

Now now, is this 10 places by Eddie, or 10 places by Eddie and Keela? How do you actually know what the dogs alerted to? Do you know what the dogs were trained to alert to? I don't, I wish I did know, but Mr Grimes refuses to say. Martin Grimes quite categorically states in his report, that the dog alerts are nothing, if they are not backed up by corroborating evidence.

Now care to give us those 100 cases where the dogs have indicated the presence of a corpse at least three months before and those corpses have been found, or the murderers found, tried and convicted? I am being generous here, I could ask for the entire 200 you keep bandying about.

* The refusal of Dr Kate McCann to answer any of 48 questions put to her by the PJ about her child whom she claimed had been abducted,

No actually Kate McCann did answer some questions, until it became clear that where that questioning was leading and I believe her brief advised her not to answer.

have you ever advised one of your previous clients not to answer police questions? Kate McCann was exercising her rights under Portuguese law of arguida, in not answering the questions. If Amaral really wanted her to answer his questions, why did he not make Kate a witness instead of an arguida? Then under Portuguese law Kate would have been legally obliged to answer the questions, or face contempt.

* The various changes of story by the McCanns and their 'Tapas 9' friends, starting with: 'The abductor broke in by jemmying open the shutters' to 'Ah! No! He walked in through the unlocked patio door',

You have only the word of press for this. That was a highly emotional and terrifying situation, I have no idea what was said and neither do you, we were not there. You are going on what other people say they said and that is hearsay, gossip and you know this is inadmissible in a court of law.

* Dr Kate McCann leaving the twins in the apartment as she rushed down to tell her friends that Madeleine had been abducted,

So in her panic she rushed down to say that Madeleine was abducted? She did not do that, you are listening to gossip again, Kate McCann actually went on to the balcony and screamed. What you are doing by repeating gossip is spreading disinformation, how helpful is that? Even if the McCanns were guilty, how do you think spreading gossip will bring them to justice?

* Dr Gerald McCann stating one month after Madeleine was reported missing: "We want a big event to raise awareness that she is still missing. It won't be a one-year anniversary, it will be sooner than that",

Yes odd thing to say, but then Gerry McCann is a pragmatist, it goes with his job. It wasn't a month after Madeleine went missing though was it? Come on help me out here, I can't remember, but I can and will look it up. But I will say this, it is easy for other people to say what they would and would not do, but I suspect none of actually know what that would feel like and how we would react.

* Dr Gerald McCann stating on 28 June 2007: "I have no doubt we will be able to sustain a high profile for Madeleine's disappearance in the long-term", and

Why does this matter? I heard Gerry say something like that, but so what? It was clear they would be able to keep a high profile for a time, but I remember him saying that they would be able to maintain a high profile in the 'short' term, but it would be harder in the longer term, now I do not play on his every word like you obviously do, but I am pretty certain I heard something along those lines. Also don't forget Gerry McCann may be a confident chap, but he was not used to handling the entire worlds media camped out and following him everywhere, so he can be forgiven fr making a few mistakes.

* Dr Gerald McCann describing a representation of Madeleine's eye defect as a 'valuable marketing ploy'.

I ask you, are those all 'a pack of half-baked innuendos?'

He did not do that at all, a discussion and a decision was made, to include her coloboma, because this was an identifying mark that could single her out. His daughter was abducted, he wanted her back and that way we do things in the UK is entirely different to Portugal.
And I think that Amaral evoking that secrecy law when he did not have to, is very odd. A child was missing believed abducted and he sent police out looking for her, and they did not even know what she looked like? how utterly futile and ridiculous.

The booklet I wrote has '60 Reasons' which suggest that Madeleine McCann was not abducted, which you and your associates frequently dismiss as 'lies'.

I don't dismiss your booklet Mr Bennett to do that would make it insignificant, and it is far from that. Your booklet I do believe is filled with poorly researched material which any half decent lawyer will be able to drive a coach and horses through, as I fervently hope will happen one day. Your booklet s dangerous, I and a great many other people think you and Debbie Butler are dangerous and are impeding the search for a missing child - shame on you!

It's quite a busy Bank Holiday weekend for us; we have a wedding in London to attend tomorrow, then we'll be spending 24 hours with my mother on the south coast, then back to Harlow where we've been invited to spend the afternoon with friends. Consequently I'll have little time for posting here or elsewhere.

That will give you the whole weekend to post here a detailed rebuttal of each of the '60 Reasons', something neither the McCanns nor their advisers nor their supporters have yet managed to do - like I said, they just usually shout 'Lies, lies, lies'.

I hope it's a litte more erudite than 'Eddie and Keela are search-and-rescue dogs who are useless at alerting to the lingering scent of human corpses', and perhaps you would explain how the abductor managed to remove Madeleine from Apartment 5A in Praia da Luz between Dr Gerald McCann leaving his apartment at around 9.12pm and Jane Tanner seeing a man walking purposefully with a child away from 5A at 9.15pm? Or was it a woman? - I think you'll find that the McCanns' current chief detective, former Detective Inspector Dave Edgar, a worthy successor to Metodo 3 if I may be permitted to say so, says Jane might have seen a woman. not a man. If it was a woman, we would then need a 15th artists' impression of an abductor to add to the fascinating collection of 14 that we've already seen and to which there have been some notable additions in the past few months.

And perhaps you could also explain how the abductor managed to remove Madeleine in the dark, without apaprently being seen to enter or leave the flat, without apparently waking any of the three children, and most significantly without leaving any forensic trace whatsoever as he scrambled through a 2ft x 2ft window with her, 3ft above the ground.

Once I'm back, I will have a look at your detailed rebuttal and will give you the courtesy of a point-by-point reply.

Provided you are no longer posting your diatribes hiding underneath your cloak of anonymity, that is.

I have no time to answer the rest of this, now but I will have no fear, I will. I work in facts not hearsay, I like to know that there is at the very least a little substance to what I am writing, while you on the other hand appear to be full of hot air and you do get so upset when people give you back a little of what you yourself dish out every single day!
Why is it when someone replies to your long winded nonsense it is a diatribe, bit it is perfectly OK for you to do and say as you wish, without so much as a fact to back your scurrilous actions up?

And stop harassing me for my name. I am not scared of you, and you will not bully or intimidate me, like you do to others.

Pick up the phone and bring Madeleine home

Wednesday, 19 August 2009

The police hunt for Madeleine was a Shambles from the outset

The police hunt for Madeleine was a shambles from the outset.

Evidence was contaminated, Portugal's borders left wide open and the investigation fatally compromised in virtually every conceivable way by a local force ill-equipped to handle it.

It was bad enough for the McCanns that their child was snatched. It was worse luck still for it to happen in a backwater policed by incompetents.

In Britain and America, such an abduction would have triggered an almost instant police dragnet - sniffer dogs and helicopters would have scoured the area while the child's picture would have been handed to the Press and TV to make public as fast as possible.

Cops in Maddie suspect blunder

None of this happened. The Portuguese police decided an almost total LACK of publicity was the best option, to keep suspects in the dark about the investigation's progress. In the first and possibly most elementary blunder, police failed to seal off the crime scene - the McCanns' apartment - until 10am the morning after Madeleine went missing. Before then family, friends and a wide variety of police officers and "helpers" traipsed through the property, rendering any DNA clues found there as good as useless.

A friend of the McCanns said: "On the night Madeleine was taken there were loads of people in and out. Once it was obvious she had not wandered off it should have been immediately sealed.

"Then there were police officers smoking and dropping ash and butt ends."


Even one of the first officers to arrive admitted the area was "totally contaminated" within an hour because his bosses failed to secure it. The apartment was trampled "by the world and his dog", the cop, speaking anonymously, told The Sun.

"By the time we got there it was chaos," he said. "When we arrive and see our superiors on the scene we expect the situation to be under control. It was like they weren't even there.

"Family, friends, neighbours, staff, people off the street - everyone was in and out of the bedroom to check under the bed. The damage had been done."

His partner added: "Any disappearance should be treated as a potential crime. It's not brain surgery."

Leaks, smears ... now plane lies


Portugal's top forensic expert Jose Anes later said he doubted anyone would ever stand trial because the evidence was too contaminated for any safe prosecution.

One of the cops leading the search blamed the McCanns. Police chief Olegario Sousa said more than 20 people entered the apartment early on, touching furniture and opening and closing doors and windows.

He added: "The presence of so many people - especially in the room where the little girl slept with her brother and sister - could have at least complicated the work of the forensic team.

"At the very worst they would have destroyed all the evidence. This could prove to be fatal for the investigation."

The McCanns hit back via a friend, who said: "Of course the family are going to search the apartment. If your child goes missing, you search under beds, in wardrobes, behind doors - everywhere."


'At worst, we were naive'

Yet another gaffe within hours of the abduction only emerged months later.

Police allowed Robert Murat, who later became their first suspect, to sit in as translator at the first witness interviews. They never checked his background or his alibi - they used him simply because he spoke Portuguese. Regardless of Murat's innocence, the information he heard would have been like gold-dust for anyone constructing a cover story.

One of those quizzed was holidaymaker Bridget O'Donnell, an ex-BBC producer who worked on Crimewatch and was horrified by the amateurish investigation.

She was questioned the day after the kidnapping in her apartment near the McCanns'. Bridget said: "Murat was breathless, perhaps a little excited. He reminded me of a boy in my class at school who was bullied.

"Through Murat we answered a few questions and gave our details, which the policeman wrote down on the back of a bit of paper. No notebook.

"Then he pointed to the photocopied picture of Madeleine on the table. 'Is this your daughter?' he asked. 'Er, no,' we said. 'That's the girl you are meant to be searching for.' My heart sank for the McCanns."


BRITISH kids could be at risk from paedophiles at hotels abroad.
Nine days after Maddie McCann vanished from a Portuguese resort, a Sun investigation has found that UK holiday firms don’t insist that foreign resorts ensure their staff have criminal record checks.

Worse was to come. It emerged that police failed to send Madeleine's bedding for forensic tests. By the time they revisited the apartment 24 hours after she was taken, cleaners had washed the sheets, blankets and pillowcase. Vital fibres from the abductor's clothing, or even their fingerprints, may have been lost.

Only hair samples were sent for testing at a Portuguese forensic lab. An insider there said half the evidence needed to find out what happened was not tested.

He said: "It is obvious it would have been good if they had sent sheets, blankets, pillows and even the mattress. Some important clue could have been found."

It took 48 hours for police to take witnesses' fingerprints. Some were carried out so shoddily they had to be redone.

To their horror the McCanns discovered another glaring error. The frontier with Spain is almost 100 miles from Praia da Luz, about 1 hour 45 minutes' drive. But border guards were only alerted to Madeleine's disappearance 12 HOURS later, giving her abductor ample time to flee with her to Spain and beyond.

Even more disgracefully it was 48 hours before police got round to searching vehicles at the border. Incredibly, weeks later the border was closed almost immediately after reports of a CAR being stolen.


Further errors eroded the McCanns' confidence in the investigation. With police keeping silent about any leads to avoid alerting suspects, Kate and Gerry were forced of their own accord to invite TV crews to their apartment to broadcast an appeal for information.

It was THEY, not police, who decided to release details of the pink and white Eeyore pyjamas Madeleine was wearing.

The mistakes went on and on.


A police description of Madeleine's suspected kidnapper was released, based on Jane Tanner's sighting of the man carrying a child outside the apartment.

Cops said he was 5ft 10in. But Tanner saw a man of about 5ft 7in - they had simply given out the wrong height in the description. It might have been crucial.

British crime experts remain convinced Portuguese police were simply not up to such a major investigation.

Retired Det Chief Supt Chris Stevenson - who nailed Ian Huntley for murdering Soham girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman - conducted a three-day review of the Madeleine probe alongside other British crime experts for a TV documentary.



He insisted: "The intention was never to do a hatchet job on the Portuguese police - but the inescapable conclusion was that they were totally ill-equipped for the job.

Will Portuguese Police???????? | Buy Structured Settlement

"If you don't immediately realise what you are dealing with, you can get caught and make major forensic errors.

"That's what appears to have happened in the Maddie case. This was a child missing from home but they didn't seem to have thought anything suspicious might have happened at first.

"In Britain we refer to this period immediately after a child vanishes as the 'golden hours'."

On Friday, May 4, the day after Madeleine's disappearance, police brought in sniffer dogs and finally alerted border authorities and the Spanish police.



'The guilt will never leave us'

Gerry and Kate, clearly distraught but maintaining their dignity, faced the Press outside apartment 5a. They realised right away that their most valuable aid in finding Madeleine was publicity. Kate was clutching Cuddle Cat for comfort.

Gerry said: "Words cannot describe the anguish and despair we are feeling as the parents of a beautiful daughter.

"We request anyone with any information relating to Madeleine's disappearance should please contact Portuguese police to help us get her back to safety.

"Please, if you have Madeleine, please let her come home to her mummy, daddy, brother and sister. Everyone can understand how distressing this current situation is."

Portuguese police, however - in a taste of what was to come - announced that under the country's secrecy laws they could not reveal any details of the investigation.

This vacuum of information was to result in unsubstantiated police theories and claims being leaked daily to the Portuguese Press and re-reported in Britain.

RELATIVES of missing Madeleine McCann said they were “heartened” by all the support they have received from the British Government.


Relatives including Madeleine's grandparents flew to Portugal. Britain's Ambassador to the country, John Stephen Buck, went to the resort, as did Craig Mayhew, director of Mark Warner UK Operations.

By Saturday, May 5, the McCanns' family were already expressing misgivings about the police. Madeleine's aunt Philomena McCann claimed they were playing down her disappearance and being "uncommunicative".

Gerry, by contrast, issued a new appeal and diplomatically thanked police for their efforts.


A smile that melts hearts

Despite their initial reluctance to face reality, detectives announced that they DID now believe Madeleine was abducted.

“It’s a great shame that people still want to make money out of Madeleine’s situation.”

They further revealed that they believed she was still alive, in Portugal and may have been kidnapped to be abused by paedophiles. They revealed they had a sketch of a "suspect".

It was one of a host of bold and unsubstantiated announcements they were to make.

The same day British holidaymaker Amanda Mills revealed that she saw a prowler tampering with bedroom window shutters yards from Madeleine's holiday flat days before she was abducted. The "weird" man, middle-aged, dark-skinned and unshaven, tried to grab a child's buggy but ran off when confronted.

Criticised ... police took hours to seal the crime scene

What seemed the first real breakthrough came on May 9. CCTV footage from a petrol station near Praia da Luz appeared to show a woman with a girl resembling Madeleine. Police were investigating the possibility she was snatched by two men and a woman. The CCTV footage, they said, was "the key".

The police hunt for Madeleine was a shambles from the outset. For several crucial days detectives failed even to take seriously the idea she had been abducted - a stance that infected every aspect of the probe.