I wonder why the McCanns did not threaten to sue these experts for "libel" or the Daily Mirror for publishing it? It is hard to attack the truth, their story never has added up and tells both British and Portuguese Police loud and clear, they are not looking for anyone else, no matter how many weirdos the McCanns use public monies to come up with. At the time, even the FSS commented the inquiry is focussing in the right direction.
I applaud David Cameron for taking a step for children and for justice. Who knows I may even change the habit of a lifetime and vote for him!
Tick tock, Kate and Gerry
McCanns evidence 'doesn't add up'
Stewart Maclean In Praia Da Luz Stewart.Maclean@Mirror.Co.Uk 18/10/2007
EXCLUSIVE THE HUNT FOR MADELEINE Brit team questions Kate's reaction
A team of British crime specialists who have scrutinised the Madeleine McCann case claim there are inconsistencies in her parents' version of events.
The retired experts believe there is a question mark over Kate's response when she discovered the four-year-old was missing.
Forensic scientist Professor David Barclay, part of the four-man team who reviewed the case for Channel Four's Dispatches show, said: "We examined all of the available evidence and the conclusion we came to was that there appeared to be some significant inconsistencies.
"One thing we looked for was any sign of 'staging', the term we use for the actions of someone who has committed a crime and wants to 'stage it' to appear someone else has done it.
"The first words apparently spoken by Kate McCann when she discovered Madeleine had vanished were significant. She is supposed to have said 'They've taken her, they've taken her' - which seems a strange choice of phrase.
"I don't think that would have been my first reaction if my child had gone missing."
Prof Barclay also questioned the McCanns' claims that an abductor got into their Praia da Luz holiday flat through the back shutters.
He said: "We checked the scene of the crime and it struck us immediately how unlikely it would be for anyone to try and access the apartment through the back windows. The shutters there were firmly shut and couldn't be opened and the car park behind the flat was overlooked.
"We're not saying it was impossible to have gained entry that way, but with all of our collected years of experience to us it seemed highly unlikely and a very implausible scenario.
"It could be that claim is consistent with staging, but without full knowledge of all of the facts in the case it would be impossible to say for sure."
Prof Barclay visited the crime scene along with ex-Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Stevenson, the man who caught Soham killer Ian Huntley and psychological profiler David Canter.
The will seen on tonight's show visiting key sites and seeing footage of the police in action.
Prof Barclay, 62, added: "There has been a tendency to criticise the Portuguese police but on the whole they did a pretty good job.
"However, they made two big mistakes. Firstly, they did not seal of the crime scene anywhere nearly quick enough. Secondly, in my opinion they were not aggressive enough with the McCanns in the first stage of the investigation.
"It is actually for the parents' benefit in cases like this that the police tackle them robustly and demand a comprehensive account of their movements during the relevant timeframe."
merged:
BRITISH police are to launch a new probe into missing Madeleine McCann after massive failures were found in the Portuguese investigation.
Our top child protection cop Jim Gamble has completed a fresh look at the three-year-old investigation for the Home Office.
He told ministers there were huge holes in the original inquiry that need to be revisited if they want to "come close" to reaching UK standards.
It will come as a bitter pill for Portuguese investigators who have fended off criticism since Maddie disappeared in 2007
Portugese police left 'gaping' holes
But parents Kate and Gerry McCann, both 41 and both doctors, are "delighted" at the move.
Failures in the original investigation are said to be "so gaping" that British authorities feel it is their duty to look at it again.
This time police will review all the leads using technology and standards expected in a homicide or kidnap case in the UK.
Mr Gamble, head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, found a basic failure to collate information and join up links that should have been made.
Telephone records were not properly analysed, missing early opportunities for leads.
And Kate and Gerry McCann were named as Arguidos, or formal suspects, by Portuguese police - something that the review says would not have happened if the probe had been carried out in the UK.
Mr Gamble found no evidence sufficient to make them suspects. His findings have now been formally submitted to the Home Office with recommendations to re-investigate.
The damning review has now set the Association of Chief Police Officers the difficult task of trying to decide who takes on the mammoth task. It is already predicted to be "an extremely costly" investigation that, even if done properly, will probably never be solved.
Damning: Jim Gamble
A source said: "It is something that has to be reviewed. It is only right that the McCanns are given the satisfaction that everything that could be done has been done. It now comes down to who is up to the job."
The Home Secretary Alan Johnson is expected to announce that the new probe will NOT be carried out by Leicestershire police, the McCanns' local force. The review has highlighted failures within their handling of the case and ruled them out of the review.
Instead ACPO are now asking around their top cops to see who could take on the very difficult and complex investigation.
The source added: "It will be extremely costly and sadly is unlikely to result in a positive outcome.
"As much as we would all like this to end with good news for the McCanns, the fact is there have been a lot of missed opportunities and no-one will ever be able to reclaim the time and evidence lost."
Two thousand pages of evidence released earlier claimed Portuguese detectives failed to follow up leads.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson ordered officials to examine the "feasibility" of British detectives having a fresh look at all the evidence back in March.
Kate and Gerry McCann, of Rothley, met Mr Johnson to plead for help in their search for their daughter who vanished aged three from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.
merged:
BRITS LAUNCH "MADDIE" PROBE
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/778905/Portugese-cops-slammed-for-gaping-holes-in-investigation.html
By Lucy Panton , 11/04/2010
By Lucy Panton , 11/04/2010
BRITISH police are to launch a new probe into missing Madeleine McCann after massive failures were found in the Portuguese investigation.
Our top child protection cop Jim Gamble has completed a fresh look at the three-year-old investigation for the Home Office.
He told ministers there were huge holes in the original inquiry that need to be revisited if they want to "come close" to reaching UK standards.
It will come as a bitter pill for Portuguese investigators who have fended off criticism since Maddie disappeared in 2007
Portugese police left 'gaping' holes
But parents Kate and Gerry McCann, both 41 and both doctors, are "delighted" at the move.
Failures in the original investigation are said to be "so gaping" that British authorities feel it is their duty to look at it again.
This time police will review all the leads using technology and standards expected in a homicide or kidnap case in the UK.
Mr Gamble, head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, found a basic failure to collate information and join up links that should have been made.
Telephone records were not properly analysed, missing early opportunities for leads.
And Kate and Gerry McCann were named as Arguidos, or formal suspects, by Portuguese police - something that the review says would not have happened if the probe had been carried out in the UK.
Mr Gamble found no evidence sufficient to make them suspects. His findings have now been formally submitted to the Home Office with recommendations to re-investigate.
The damning review has now set the Association of Chief Police Officers the difficult task of trying to decide who takes on the mammoth task. It is already predicted to be "an extremely costly" investigation that, even if done properly, will probably never be solved.
Damning: Jim Gamble
A source said: "It is something that has to be reviewed. It is only right that the McCanns are given the satisfaction that everything that could be done has been done. It now comes down to who is up to the job."
The Home Secretary Alan Johnson is expected to announce that the new probe will NOT be carried out by Leicestershire police, the McCanns' local force. The review has highlighted failures within their handling of the case and ruled them out of the review.
Instead ACPO are now asking around their top cops to see who could take on the very difficult and complex investigation.
The source added: "It will be extremely costly and sadly is unlikely to result in a positive outcome.
"As much as we would all like this to end with good news for the McCanns, the fact is there have been a lot of missed opportunities and no-one will ever be able to reclaim the time and evidence lost."
Two thousand pages of evidence released earlier claimed Portuguese detectives failed to follow up leads.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson ordered officials to examine the "feasibility" of British detectives having a fresh look at all the evidence back in March.
Kate and Gerry McCann, of Rothley, met Mr Johnson to plead for help in their search for their daughter who vanished aged three from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.
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