VINCENT TABAK NEIGHBOUR ARRESTED (updated 20 Jan)LANDLORD ARRESTED IN JOANNA MURDER CASE

Vincent Tabak

Consultant at Buro Happold

Bath, United Kingdom

• Contact Vincent Tabak
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Current

• People flow consultant at Buro Happold

Past

• PhD at Faculty of Architecture, TU Eindhoven
• Part-time research/teaching assistant atEindhoven University of Technology
• Internship at HBG

Education

• Technische Universiteit Eindhoven

Connections

70 connections

Industry

Architecture & Planning

Websites

• Buro Happold
• Personal Website

Vincent Tabak’s Summary

Vincent Tabak’s Specialties:

- People flow analysis
- Software engineering.
- Product and process modelling.
- Data collection & analysis.

Vincent Tabak’s Experience

• People flow consultant

  Buro Happold

  (Educational Institution; Research industry)
  September 2007 — Present (3 years 5 months)

• PhD

  Faculty of Architecture, TU Eindhoven

  (Educational Institution; Architecture & Planning industry)
  2003 — January 2009 (6 years )
  PhD researcher in “User Simulation of Space Utilisation”.
  Design & Decisions Support Systems, Faculty of Architecture, Building, and Planning, Eindhoven University of Technology.
  
  The aim of this research project is to develop an overall model for the simulation of human movement and utilization of space capacity in office buildings. In this model two aspects are essential: the interaction between the building occupants while performing their activities and the way to model these activities in space.
  Promoters: prof.dr.ir. Bauke de Vries and prof. dr. Harry Timmermans
  Expected completion: June 2007
  
  Research expertise:
  - Software engineering.
  - Product and process modelling.
  - Data collection & analysis.
  
  Educational activities:
  - Lecturing Free Form Design, M.Sc. course.
  - Coaching graduate M.Sc. students.

• Part-time research/teaching assistant

  Eindhoven University of Technology

  (Educational Institution; 1001-5000 employees; Research industry)
  1999 — 2003 (4 years )
  Activities (among others):
  - Programming active server pages (ASP) for intranet-site Design Systems.
  - Creating virtual reality model of new building of the faculty of Architecture for among others visualizing the lay-out of employee workplaces.
  - Mentoring students related to several bachelor courses.

• Internship

  HBG

  (Public Company; Construction industry)
  December 2000 — March 2001 (4 months)
  Internship for assistance in designing an internal website to promote 4D CAD.
  Section Technology and Consultancy, former construction company HBG

Vincent Tabak’s Education

• Technische Universiteit Eindhoven

  Msc , Architecture, Building, and Planning , 1996 — 2003

  Graduation project was titled: Interactive urban design using integrated planning requirements control.
  Urban planning and urban design are separated disciplines. To improve the interaction between these two I have developed an Interactive Urban Design tool at the Design Systems group in conjunction with the municipality of Tilburg.

Additional Information

Vincent Tabak’s Websites:

• Buro Happold
• Personal Website

Vincent Tabak’s Interests:

Hiking and travelling (South & North America and Asia), photography and sailing.

A CSI Officer removes yet another bag of evidence from the flat of Jeffries, it is difficult to imagine there could be much left of that flat or its contents.    An appeal this morning for Jo's sock seemed to produce an immediate result as a man walked up and handed one to officers.  Let us hope it does yield further vital clues that may lead to the perpetrator(s) being charged with this terrible crime.  Meanwhile, Mr Jeffries apparently seeks the assistance of a "top London barrister" to claim massive damages for "wrongful arrest".  Like McCann v Amaral, I predict that is one he is destined to lose.    I applaud the police for their painstaking and determined work to bring those responsible to justice and hope the media bear in mind, they are there to assist the police, not attack them! 

Updated 5 Janaury 2011.   Today crime scene investigators were again examining Miss Yeates's flat in the Clifton area of Bristol, using a chemical system to find evidence such as fingerprints.
The machine allows forensic processes that would normally be carried out in the lab to be done at the scene.
There was a sign outside the building saying 'Do not enter, dangerous chemicals'.
Officers wearing white suits came out wearing masks while a number of uniformed officers entered Mr Jefferies' flat on the opposite side of the building.
Police earlier hinted that they believe Miss Yeates's killer may have had an accomplice.




Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1343805/Joanna-Yeates-murder-Desperate-police-turn-Facebook-hunt-killer.html#ixzz1A7ku8QaW

Detailed search: Police forensic officers in breathing apparatus yesterday examined Jo's home using specialist chemical equipment, left, while more items were removed for investigation

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344165/Joanna-Yeates-murder-Did-Jo-tip-killer-shed-home-alone.html#ixzz1A7dFDjC7

Joanna Yeates's landlord had been watched before arrest

Police were keeping close eye on Chris Jefferies before reports surfaced that he saw Yeates on night she vanished

• • Share16
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• Steven Morris and Caroline Davies
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 30 December 2010 19.32 GMT
• Article history

Chris Jefferies, 65, is a retired public school teacher who helped run a local Neighbourhood Watch scheme. Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA

Detectives had been watching Joanna Yeates's landlord for several days before arresting him on suspicion of her murder, it emerged tonight.
Police arrested Chris Jefferies, 65, who lives in the building where Yeates had a flat, after reports that he had seen the Bristol landscape architect on the night she vanished were carried in the media.
But detectives had been keeping a close eye on retired public school teacher Jefferies even before his claims surfaced in public, sources with knowledge of the investigation said.
As police began to question Jefferies a picture of an eccentric but respected member of the community emerged.
Jefferies taught English at the nearby fee-paying Clifton College. He was an active member of the local Liberal Democrats and knew the leader of Bristol city council, Barbara Janke.
He was familiar to police as a leading light of the Neighbourhood Watch scheme and for a while was chairman of a society promoting the continued use of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
White-haired Jefferies, who is unmarried, hit the headlines yesterday when neighbours claimed he had told police he saw 25-year-old Yeates leaving her flat on the night she vanished with two other people. When approached by journalists outside his flat, Jefferies appeared to row back from the claims, saying what he had said to police was vaguer than how it had been reported.
"I definitely cannot say that I saw Joanna Yeates that evening. No," he said.
He added: "Everything I am aware of I have told the police and I don't really want to talk about it."
Shortly after 7am today an unmarked police car pulled up outside Jefferies's flat in the affluent Clifton area of Bristol and he was arrested.
A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police said: "Just after 7am this morning, police attended an address in Canynge Road and arrested a 65-year-old man on suspicion of murder. He has been taken into custody at a police station and detained for questioning. …
"Detectives investigating Joanna's murder are continuing to carry out forensic examinations and are also continuing to appeal for anyone with any information that can help the inquiry to call the Operation Braid incident room."
Police took away two cars – a silver Chrysler Neon parked on the street and a grey Volvo S40 that was on Jefferies's drive. Forensic searches of his flat were being carried out and bags of items were carried out. Uniformed officers carried out house-to-house inquiries in the neighbourhood.
Yeates's family said they were pleased that there appeared to be progress. Her father, David, an IT worker from Ampfield in Hampshire, said: "At this time our focus is still with Jo. We are pleased the police have made an arrest as they have been working very hard to make progress in this case. During the investigation police have not told us everything they have discovered but we understand there are certain things they cannot reveal."
Jefferies, who in his younger days sported blue hair, taught English at the fee-paying Clifton College and former pupils said he was particularly fond of the Pre-Raphaelites. One student called him a "stickler for discipline and very traditional". The college headteacher, Mark Moore, said there were no disciplinary issues recorded against Jefferies. Other pupils have said he was an inspiring, if unconventional, teacher.
In an article in a college magazine, former student Stuart Delves called Jefferies and his colleagues in the English department "paramours of literature". Jefferies, Delves wrote, "pronounced interesting places in interesting ways and illuminated Christina Rossetti for us."
Jefferies retired nine years ago and threw himself into other interests. He became a Lib Dem activist, vice-chairman of his local Neighbourhood Watch, and an active member of Clifton and Hotwells Improvement Society, which campaigns to conserve buildings of historic interest.
Neighbour Ray Lowman, who knew Jefferies through Neighbourhood Watch, said: "He is a pillar of society – one of the well-known familiar locals. A very intelligent man, very sharp."
Yeates was last seen on Friday 17 December at 8.40pm when she bought a pizza from a supermarket close to her home. She was reported missing two days later and her body was found on a roadside verge three miles away on Christmas morning. She had been strangled.

Police have until tomorrow morning to question Jefferies before having to ask a superintendent to extend the time for another 12 hours. After that, they will have to go to a magistrate to ask for a further extension. He could be held for up to 108 hours before being charged or released

GERRY''S SISTER DEMANDS VICTIM STATUS/ CASH FOR THE POOR MCCANNS

I think this is just a bit like the parents of the missing architect, we know the reality, we just do not want to face it.  


But let me tell you this, Trish, political lobbying, dragging a decent charity into this, demanding cash for a couple who have already scammed millions, continue to live in a mortgaged to the hilt property they never could afford, continue to refuse to put hand in pocket to look for their own daughter, let alone co-operate with Pt and English Police so that a proper and free search could take place for Maddie, does not actually score you or them any points at all.


Shame on you lady, wake up and smell the coffee and stop behaving as disgracefully as your evil brother.  


Why do you not trouble to explain to us why they put themselves through all the heartache and agony of going to Portugal, not to look for Madeleine, but to sue the cop who investigated them and thinks just the same as English Police, they are responsible.  Why do you not trouble to explain to us just how much they blew in from Madeleine's Fund to do so in massive legal costs they must now pay for both sides.  Could it be that is because you do not want to face what a grasping evil  ......... your brother actually is? 


Kate and Gerry are not the victims, Madeleine and the twins are, you know that! 


xx


Madeleine McCann's aunt explains why she has joined charity for missing people.. and how search for little girl goes on
Dec 23 2010 Exclusive by Annie Brown

IN the window of Patricia Cameron's porch is a photo of her niece Madeleine McCann with the caption, "Still missing, still missed, still looking."
Another Christmas is about to pass, the fourth since Madeleine disappeared in May 2007, leaving only pain and longing behind.
Patricia said: "Christmas is one of the toughest times. But every family occasion is marred because there is a little person who is not there.
"It doesn't get any easier. If anything, it gets harder."
This week, Patricia became a family representative for the charity Missing People, who help with searches and support those left behind.
She wanted to take on the role to highlight the plight of the many left with a void in their life - the parents, the children, the sisters, the brothers, the uncles and the aunts of the missing.
The organisation are asking the Government to give families of missing people the same rights as victims of crime, access to legal and financial assistance and emotional support.
It hurts Patricia deeply to watch her little brother Gerry and his wife Kate grow emotionally and physically weaker because of the loss and endless searching for Madeleine.
Patricia said: "Gerry is the baby of the family. I feel very protective and it hurts me to see him looking so tired. They are both just exhausted. They have so much on their plate.
"They are overwhelmed by trying to be breadwinners, investigators and parents. That's why I support the Missing Rights campaign. People need all the help they can get."
Madeleine was snatched from the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007, as Gerry and Kate dined nearby.
For the McCanns, there was a desperate need for funds to pay for legal advice and a worldwide search.
Patricia said: "It is so hard to watch Kate and Gerry push themselves constantly. When Madeleine first went missing, family and friends had to step in to help them pay the mortgage.
"Money is constantly tight but they have to keep going. They will never give up looking and that costs money. Families of the missing still need to pay bills while they search but there is no right to any financial help."
After Madeleine disappeared, Patricia took on the role of babysitter for Kate and Gerry's twins, Sean and Amelie, now five, while their parents searched.
As a result, there is a close bond between Patricia and the children.
She bathes the twins when she visits the McCanns and chats to them about Madeleine and her memories of her.
Patricia said: "Kate listens sometimes. It is always nice for her to hear someone else's memories of Madeleine, something more of her little girl."
There are treasured photos of Madeleine as a toddler, with her aunt holding her in her arms. Patricia was Madeleine's godmother and there was a special bond between them.
When Patricia and her mum, Eileen, visited her son, Paul, who was studying medicine at Cambridge, she would pick Madeleine up from the nearby McCann family home and take her on a special day out.
Patricia said: "She would say to the twins they were too little to come and so it was just her. That made her feel grown-up. We would have lunch and feed ducks in the park. Not expensive things, just precious memories.
"There were times she had my mum and I in stitches. She was so sharp and funny."
And Patricia remembers vividly a holiday in Ireland with 46 extended family and friends, and playing rounders on the beach.
Patricia said: "Madeleine was a little daredevil. She was the only one who would go in the water. It was the Atlantic and it was freezing. She was a determined little thing."
Madeleine's grandparents suffer terribly. Eileen and Kate's parents, Susan and Brian Healy, fear they'll never see her again.
Patricia said: "My mum and Kate's parents have become very close. They understand each other and what they are going through.
"It is hard for them. They think about Madeleine all the time and have some terrible days. A friend of my mum's died recently. When she was sick, she told my mum she would send her a sign from heaven to let her know if Madeleine was there."
Eileen calls the twins her bonny lassie and bonny laddie, and carries one under each arm.
Patricia added: "They are crazy about their granny."
Christmas cards from the McCanns are still signed with the names of all three children.
And there are still Christmas presents in Madeleine's room ready for her to come home.
In the meantime, Kate is exhausted juggling family life with writing a book she hopes will help finance the continued search for her daughter.
It is expected to be in shops next April, to coincide with the fourth anniversary of her disappearance.
Patricia is a nurse and the hands-on carer in the family.
Perhaps that's why it is unusual for her to take on a task like this for Missing People. The lobbying and the campaigning have always been roles for Gerry and Kate.
But they are just too busy. Patricia spent a few days with them last week to give them a break before Christmas.
She said: "Gerry has changed. He is more serious and is always exhausted. It breaks my heart to see him like that.
"Kate has always been thin but they have just had the cold and she looks even thinner now.
"They are both drained emotionally, psychologically and physically.
"They are on a treadmill. They are trying to do their best for their wee daughter who is missing and they are trying to do their best for the wee twins in front of them.
"That's why organisations like Missing People are vital. I wish at the beginning we had used the kind of support they offer."
Patricia will never give up hope that Madeleine will be found.
She said: "There are cases of people being hidden and kept for years and those cases give you hope. You have to think like that.
"She could be alive. We just haven't found her."
There were over 40,000 incidents of people going missing in Scotland last year.
Missing People have caring, highly skilled staff and volunteers working around the clock all over the UK.
The role of Family Representative is the first of several planned new volunteer opportunities available in Scotland, and involves acting as a spokesperson to the media and local community.
See www.missingpeople.org.uk
Three years of heartbreak
TIMELINE
May 3, 2007 Madeleine disappears from Praia da Luz, days before her fourth birthday.
May 7, 2007 Police release a description of the kidnapper.
May 10, 2007 Police question Kate and Gerry about why their kids were alone in the apartment.
May 11, 2007 Search of local area called off.
May 12, 2007 Madeleine's fourth birthday.
May 15, 2007 Local resident Robert Murat is named as an official suspect.
Late May 2007 McCanns enlist help of private investigators.
May 30, 2007 McCanns meet the Pope in Rome.
June 17, 2007 Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa claims vital clues may have been destroyed.
September 7, 2007 Gerry and Kate named as suspects.
September 9, 2007 Gerry and Kate return home.
September 16, 2007 Sir Richard Branson donates £100,000 for McCanns' legal bill.
October 2, 2007 Policeman in charge of inquiry is removed from case and demoted.
November 1, 2007 Gerry returns to work as surgeon.
July 21, 2008 Robert Murat and Kate and Gerry McCann have official suspect status lifted.
July 21, 2008 Portuguese attorney general archives the case. It can be reopened if new evidence comes to light.
May 1, 2009 A projected photo of Madeleine aged six is released.
May 22, 2009 Convicted paedophile Raymond Hewlett denies anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance.
December 21, 2009 Facebook page claiming to be created by Madeleine's kidnapper is removed.
January 28, 2010 On 1000th day since disappearance, McCanns host a £150-a-head fundraising dinner.
November 2, 2010 McCanns launch online petition calling for joint review of the case by Portuguese and UK governments.
November 3, 2010 McCanns appeal for cash as Find Madeleine Fund, which once topped £2million, runs dry.

MCCANN RISE TO WIKILEAKS BAIT

Amid their unarguable desire to defend themselves at all costs

 (and they can be high) the McCanns do what they are

 now extremely good at (as opposed to their parenting skills)

 as they find it within their hearts to publically deny the undeniable.

Wikileaks have done no more than accurately report a cable between
 Ambassadors where the British Ambassador quite simply states British 
Police are building a case against them.  

Last week this story was running about fourth on The Guardian
 website in terms of popularity,  and was also in many other papers. 
 In short it had dealt the McCanns a body blow as they continue to
 insist they had nothing to do with the disappearance of their little girl
(aside from continuing to leave her alone after she complained about 
it that is, at least they left the door open for her).  

So, the media mad McCanns have an agonising choice in their
 desire to favourably manipulate public opinion, Clarence Mitchell
 having done his best, "it is purely a historical document"
 (as though that somehow diminishes the force of what is stated? 
  
"" Who  thought it appropriate to speak out on top of Mitchell utters on 
their behalf.  I would hazard a guess it was the less intelligent one, who 
is so well endowed in terms of angry mood swings and aggression, 
not to mention the overwhelming desire to bully and control.  Oh, and 
on his own admission likes to pursue high risk strategies, even if 
that apparently means "abductors doing something to her eye"

So putting this denial of the undeniable in the Sunday press so that it 
runs on for another week?  Nice one Gerry!  Please keep, like the true 
blunderbuss that you are, "Leaving No Stone Unturned" in educating 
the public as to what you are really like.  (I still really enjoy the video 
of you bullying the diminutive Ms Filgeuiras outside the court in Portugal, so 
informative)

Oh and by the way, have the Daily Express asked for their money 
back yet or are they waiting until you are convicted ( that would be 
the best idea), as they did with dear old "Lord" Archer.  

I am sure being locked in yet another bitter civil dispute will help to 
bring Maddie back, well to the McCanns and their entirely perverse 
form of logic anyway.  

Of course we have not forgotten the McCanns also sued the Chief 
Constable of Leicester Police for having the audacity to refuse 
to hand over his criminal investigation files upon them, and they 
lost.   Then they sued Goncalo and they lost, whoever said crime 
pays?  They will never get the chance to enjoy the Maddie blood 
money they have "earned" they will always be too busy defending 
themselves, even after Gerry is placed in a cell as a convicted prisoner.  

So shut up Kate and Gerry, you are your own worst enemies...

Even David Payne told Gerry to shut up on that fateful holiday bus 
"fu$% off, I am not here to enjoy myself" he sweetly mouthed with 
all the wives and babes sitting by.  Nice chap!  (I am here to get rid
of my daughter and have some good copies of 6 x 4 pictures of her, ready 
to hand to those dopy Portuguese cops as soon as she gets "abducted 
by lurking predators"  - the one of her in her Everton top should net me a
small fortune...and the one of her aged two will make sure no bugger has
a clue what she really looked like.) 

As for the Win a Luxury Cruise stuck in the middle, priceless!    
I have always enjoyed the Daily Express sense of humour 

MCCANNS REJECT WIKILEAKS CLAIMS

VANISHED: Madeleine McCann.

Sunday December 19,2010

By James Murray

KATE and Gerry McCann have reacted angrily to revelations by WikiLeaks that alleged British police had been helping to build a case against them over the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.

In a statement on their Find Madeleine website, they said: “The WikiLeaks ‘news’ this week has led to the repetition of many unfounded smears. This has been seized on as an opportunity by those who wish to compound our suffering and hamper our efforts, including the very person who was entrusted with finding our daughter.”

The couple are locked in a bitter civil dispute with former ­Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral over claims he made in his book, Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie.

Earlier this year the McCanns met Home Secretary Theresa May and were hoping to persuade her to order a review of all the known evidence but the attempt was unsuccessful.

WIN A LUXURY CRUISE TRIP FOR TWO WORTH £2,500!

Their statement adds: “Those who could help Madeleine but choose to do nothing are also complicit in this injustice.

“Madeleine is the person who suffers most from all of this injustice. It is that fact alone which causes us the most distress. It is absolutely heart-breaking.”

Last week newspapers published information from Wiki­Leaks about a meeting between US ambassador to Portugal Al Hoffman and the British ambassador Alexander Wykeham Ellis in September 2007, four months after Madeleine disappeared from an Algarve holiday apartment. In a diplomatic cable the US ambassador reported: “Without delving into the details of the case, Ellis admitted the British police had developed the current evidence against the McCann parents, and he stressed that authorities from both countries were working cooperatively.”

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/218281/McCanns-reject-WikiLeaks-claimsMcCanns-reject-WikiLeaks-claims#ixzz3qB0PMX68

MARTIN SMITH COURTED BRITISH PRESS DURING 2008

Drogheda family  hit out over Madeleine case clue coverage, 08 August 2007

Drogheda family hit out over Madeleine case clue coverage Drogheda Independent   Wednesday August 08 2007   A DROGHEDA family who may hold vital clues as to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have hit out at media distortion of evidence that they have given to Portuguese police.   Maple Drive man Martin Smith, his wife and his children had just left the Kelly bar, which is located approximately 400 metres from the McCanns' apartment at the Ocean Club between 9.50-10pm on the night Madeleine disappeared.   They returned to Ireland the next day, and because the reported abduction times didn't originally match, they never had cause to examine their journey that night.   As it emerged that Madeleine was abducted around the same time, one of the family members had a flashback of the moment some time later and encouraged the others to jog their memory.   They remembered passing a man walking towards the beach with a child in his arms.   Other than his approximate height and the fact that he was wearing beige clothes they cannot be more specific than that. 'We are annoyed at how vague our description is,' said the family member.   The family contacted the Portuguese police and flew back over to give evidence.   However, contrary to media reports, Mr Smith had not seen chief suspect Robert Murat in a bar the evening that Madeleine was abducted. 'He definitely didn't see him on the night in question,' said a family member.   The family are also mystified at reports that he knows Mr Murat. 'They met once in a bar about two years ago. My dad would only know Mr Murat by sight,' said the family member. 'However, from what he knows, he can say that the man who was carrying the child was not Robert Murat.'

Irish family's Maddie quiz, 03 January 2008

Irish family's Maddie quiz The Sun   From: VERONICA LORRAINE in Praia da Luz Published: 03 Jan 2008   PRIVATE detectives hunting for Madeleine McCann are to quiz an Irish family who may have been the last to see her alive.   Martin Smith, his wife and children told cops they saw a man carrying a little blonde girl in Praia da Luz on the night Maddie vanished.   Investigators from the Metodo 3 agency hired by Maddie's parents Gerry and Kate are preparing to travel to Ireland to interview them.   The family, from Drogheda, Co Louth, believe they saw the man taking the sleeping tot down to the beach at the Portuguese resort.   The Smiths were leaving Kelly's Bar — 400 metres from the McCanns' apartment — between 9.50 and 10pm on May 3 last year.   They flew home to Ireland the next day, but when the times of Maddie's abduction were revealed, the family remembered seeing a man, 5ft 7in to 5ft 9in tall and dressed in beige, carrying the child.   Significantly the description matches that given by Jane Tanner, 37, a friend of the McCanns.   Mr Smith, who has already spoken to Portuguese cops over the sighting, said yesterday: "I'd talk to anyone to move this investigation on. I think about Maddie every day."   He added: "I found the Portuguese cops not to be the most efficient bunch."   His wife Mary, 59, said: "We saw a man carrying a blonde child. It was just such a normal thing to see in a holiday resort — we didn't think anything of it at the time."   The Sun reported on Monday how Metodo 3 — which is costing the Find Madeleine Fund £300,000 — plan to blitz Morocco after several leads pointed to the country.

Maddy: We saw abduction, 03 January 2008

Maddy: We saw abduction Daily Mirror   Paul Byrne in Praia da Luz 3/01/2008   A family who may have seen Madeleine McCann being abducted could provide vital evidence in the search for the missing four-year-old.   The group saw a man walking towards the beach in Praia da Luz while carrying a child at the time Madeleine vanished, exactly eight months ago.   Portuguese police have taken statements from the family, who live in Drogheda, Ireland.   Now detectives hired by Madeleine's parents want to speak to Martin Smith and his family. The Smiths were leaving Kelly's Bar just before 10pm when they saw a man carrying a child 500 yards from the McCanns' apartment.   Kate McCann, 39, raised the alarm about her missing daughter at around 10pm.   The Smiths are thought to have described the man as white and 5ft 7in to 5ft 9in tall. His top clothing was obscured by the child. That description matches a suspect seen walking away from the apartment at about 9.15pm by Jane Tanner, a member of the "Tapas Seven" group of friends who were on holiday with the McCanns.   She saw a man carrying a child wearing pink pyjamas similar to those worn by Madeleine.   The McCanns' spokesman said yesterday: "Our detectives are being very methodical and I am quite sure that this family will be on their list."   The eight-month deadline means suspect Robert Murat, 34, hopes to be formally cleared today.

Maddie: Irishman provides dramatic new clues, 03 January 2008

Maddie: Irishman provides dramatic new clues Daily Mail (appeared in paper edition only)   EXCLUSIVE: Tourist met rude man carrying child in blanket on night Madeleine vanished   By SANDRA MURPHY, VANESSA ALLEN January 3, 2008   AN IRISH holidaymaker has spoken publicly for the first time of his disturbing encounter with a man carrying a child wrapped in a blanket on the night Madeleine McCann disappeared.   Now investigators hired by Madeleine's parents hope Martin Smith and his family can provide a crucial breakthrough.   Speaking from his home in Drogheda, Co. Louth, Mr Smith recalled the sighting, which is strikingly similar to one by a friend of the McCanns, Jane Tanner. In hindsight, the retired Mr Smith said, the mans rude behaviour should have aroused his suspicions.   He explained: "The one thing we noted afterwards was that he gave us no greeting.   "My wife Mary remembered afterwards that she asked him, 'Oh, is she asleep?' But he never acknowledged her one way or another.   "He just put his head down and averted his eyes. This is very unusual in a tourist town at such a quiet time of the year."   Their description of the barefoot child and the man, who wore beige trousers, echoes that of Miss Tanner, who said she saw a man carrying a sleeping child away from the McCanns apartment about 9.15pm.   Though the Smith family believe they met an almost identical man closer to 10pm, the coincidence prompted them to contact police after they returned to Ireland. Mr Smith said: "Luz is such a small place and so quiet, we felt a duty to tell police and let them decide if it was important."   Last night, McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said detectives from the Spanish agency Metodo 3 now hoped to speak to the family. "Metodo 3 is being very methodical, working through a number of people they think might be able to help them, and this family will be on their list."   On the night of the disappearance, Mr Smith was dining with his wife in the Dolphin restaurant in Praia Da Luz, where they are frequent visitors.   The couple were with their daughter Aoife, their son Peter and his wife Sile,as well as four grandchildren Tadhg, Cole, Aisling and Eimear.   All nine met the man holding a child but their recollection differs slightly from Miss Tanner's.   "In the image she gave, the man was holding the child forward in his arms. The man we saw had put the child over his shoulders. But Luz was very, very quiet at that time of the year and the likelihood of two young children being carried around like this is very small. "Also, our timings are a bit different. She saw the man at 9.15pm. We say 9.45or 9.50pm and the sighting was only a five-minute walk from where the child was staying. "I dont know if this information will help the McCanns. We kept interested in whats going on but we tried to avoid the limelight."   The father of six yesterday said the Irish family would do anything they could to help the McCanns find their missing daughter.   "We have not been contacted by the private detective hired by the McCanns, and have had no contact with the investigating police since May 26 last year.   "But anything we can do to help try to solve it, we will." Recalling the event she witnessed, Mr Smith said it was some time before the family realised they could be star witnesses   "We were out the night it happened. My son and his family were leaving on the Friday and we were going for a family meal. We went home about 9.50pm and we heard nothing at all about Madeleine McCann until the next day.   "I was taking my son Peter to the airport and on my way back, I heard that a kidnapping had happened in the village of Luz.   "We were looking at all the commotion on Sky News and we really felt quite helpless.   "We had two grandchildren with us at the time, aged four and five, and it had a terrible effect on them.   "They all wanted to sleep in the same room as us until we went home on the Wednesday.   "We were home two weeks when my son rang up and asked was he dreaming or did we meet a man carrying a child the night Madeleine was taken. We all remembered that we had the same recollection. I felt we should report it to the police.   "I rang the Portuguese police and they took a statement from me on the phone.Then they asked me to make a statement to gardai, which I did in Drogheda two weeks after the disappearance.   "Two days later, Leicestershire police got on to us and said they wanted to speak to all nine of us. But we felt there was no point dragging grand children and the whole lot out to Portugal so just my eldest son, Peter, and youngest daughter, Aoife, and I flew to Luz to make a statement.   "The police were fairly busy and the station was pretty typical. They didnt seem to be the most efficient police you ever came across but they are probably no different to police anywhere else. We were interviewed separately and told them what we saw, and showed them on the map where we met the man and child.   "We spent the whole day there from 10.30am to 7pm with an interpreter. That day, May 26 last year, was the last time we had any contact with the investigation.I remember clearly because it was my wedding anniversary.   "I told them we went for dinner at the Dolphin Restaurant and then went on to have just one drink in Kelly's bar, just 50 yards away.   "We would normally have stayed out longer but my son and his family were going home the next day.   "As we made our way back to our apartment in Estrella da Luz, we met a guy with a child that appeared to be asleep.   "It looked like a blonde child, and I thought she might be four years old, as she was the same size as my grandchild who was with us.   "It was around 9.55pm and it was getting dark and he was looking downward so I couldnt tell you exactly what he looked like.   "None of us was 100 per cent sure what he was wearing but we all told police he was wearing beige trousers and a darker top. We all put him in his early 40s. I didnt think he was Portuguese." Insisting he knew chief suspect Robert Murat visually for years, Mr Smith told police the person he saw carrying a child could not be him.   "I told police it was definitely not him because the man wasn't as big as Murat. I think I would have definitely recognised him."

Missing Madeleine McCann: Irish Witness 'Clears' Murat, 04 January 2008

Irish tourist clears Murat Sky News   John Kelly First published: 04 January 2008 (Same article later republished with new headline: 'Missing Madeleine McCann: Irish Witness 'Clears' Murat', 12:00pm UK, Monday April 07, 2008 )   An Irish tourist who saw someone carrying a child in a blanket on the night Madeleine McCann disappeared insists that the mystery man was not Robert Murat.   Martin Smith, from Drogheda in Co Louth, was on holiday in Praia Da Luz with his family when they bumped into the man just before 10pm on May 3 last year.   The Smith family's suspicions were aroused because the man made no response when they asked if the barefoot child was asleep.   "He just put his head down and averted his eyes, which is very unusual in a tourist town at such a quiet time of the year," said Mr Smith.   Initially the Smith family thought nothing more of the encounter - and even the next day when the story broke they still didn't make the connection.   "We were home two weeks when my son rang me up and asked was he dreaming or did we meet a man carrying a child the night Madeleine was taken," said Mr Smith.   "We all remembered the same recollection, and I felt we should report it to the police.   "We've all been beating ourselves up that we should have made the link sooner, if only we'd remembered the next day. But the Portuguese police said you see these things on holiday all the time."   The Smiths did contact the Portuguese police once they had returned to Ireland, but say they have had no contact with the officers investigating the case since May last year.   "I rang the Portuguese police and they took a statement from me on the phone," said Mr Smith.   They asked me to make a statement to the Gardai, which I did, and two days later Leicestershire police got on to us.   "My eldest son, Peter, my youngest daughter, Aoife, and I then flew to Luz to make a statement. They didn't seem to be the most efficient police you ever came across - and that was the last time we had any contact with the investigation.   "I don't know if this information will help the McCanns, but anything we can do to help try to solve it, we will.   "We were looking at all the commotion on Sky News and we really felt quite helpless. We had two grandchildren with us at the time and it had a terrible effect on them - they all wanted to sleep in the same room as us."   But Mr Smith is certain that the man he and his family saw that night was not Robert Murat, who is still officially an "arguido" in the Madeleine McCann investigation.   "I told police it was definitely not him because the man wasn't as big as Murat - I think I would have recognised him because I'd met him several times previously.   He was wearing beige trousers and a darker top. We all put him in his early 40s and I didn't think he was Portuguese."   Mr Smith's sighting is similar to the one reported by Jane Tanner, a friend of the McCann family.   A spokesman for the McCanns said detectives from the Spanish agency hired to investigate the case are now hoping to speak to the Smiths.   Retired Mr Smith, 58, does not wish to appear on camera in order to protect his family from media intrusion.