DID GERRY KIDNAP MADDIE ?

Here is that picture of Gerry in bundleman outfit from a whole year ago on my blog Jan 2008. So actually I have been very consistent in saying I think Gerry was the one who carried Maddie off, it is just that I now believe she was alive, not dead.

That contrasting outfit of dark jacket and beige trousers, so clearly described by Jane Tanner and The Smiths is a pretty unusual combination for a man in a holiday resort. It really stuck out to both sets of witnesses, he was just not dressed like a tourist. How clever of you Gerry! So, in the deserted streets of PDL at that time of year, was there two men wondering around who dressed in that way? I really don't think so! Oh and did Gerry just happen to have that non touristy looking outfit with him in PDL, well you bet he did, just look at that picture! Like he said in that video on the bus, "I have not come here to enjoy myself". Nasty man!

ADDED 28/1/09 PROCESS WITNESS STATEMENTS COPIED FROM 3 AS

Witness statement. 26 May 2007. A Smith in Portimao.

--------- She accepts the presence of an interpreter.
--------- On 30 April 2007 she came to Portugal, specifically the Algarve, for holidays. She came with her parents and two nieces.
--------- They stayed at a complex in PdL where her parents have an apartment.
--------- When they arrived at the apartment her brother and sister-in-law were already there with their family.
--------- They came for approximately 10 days returning to Ireland on 9 May (not being absolutely certain of the day [of the week])
--------- She spent her holidays at the pool where she was staying, on the beach and in the shopping centre. Usually she was in PdL, in the town of Luz.
--------- Dinner was eaten between 19H00 and 20H00 in the apartment or in the restaurants "Dolphin", "Cavaleiro da Luz", "Chaplin" or "Marujo", all being situated in the PdL area.
--------- When they dined at home they usually did not go out. When they ate at restaurants they would go to "Kelly's" bar situated, she understands, in Rua da Calheta in PdL.
--------- Regarding 3 May 2007, she was with all her family dining at the Restaurante "Dolphin" which was close to "Kelly's Bar". When they left the restaurant, at 21h30, they went to "Kelly's Bar". They were there for about thirty minutes.
--------- At 22h00 they left "Kelly's Bar" returning on foot, as a group, to the apartment.
--------- Questioned she replied that she knew the time they left because her father and brother decided to go home early that night. There were two reasons for this: one was the fact that her sister-in-law wasn't feeling very well, and the other was that her brother, sister-in-law and their children finished their holidays the next day and had to catch an aeroplane back to Ireland in the morning.
--------- Leaving the bar they turned right and went along the road for 40-50 metres. They turned right again and began to climb up some steps in a small road that came out in Rua 25 de Abril. As they were a large group (four adults and five children) they spread out along the road one in front of the other. She doesn't recall how they were divided [who was where in the line].
--------- The deponent remembers that when she got to the top of the steps she looked to her left and saw a man with a girl in his arms, walking along Rua 25 de Abril, coming in her direction, about two metres away from her.
--------- The deponent crossed to the other side of Rua 25 de Abril having started to go up Rua da Escola Primária in the direction of their complex.
--------- She didn't notice if the man went down the stairs or continued along Rua 25 de Abril.
--------- It was the first time she had seen that man, not recalling having seen him at any other time or place.
--------- She had seen photographs of Madeleine McCann and thinks that it could have been the missing girl. Questioned as to the percentage of her certainty she responded 60%.
--------- The description of the man and the girl given below was based on the witness's sight, in poor light, at around 22h00.
--------- Questioned she said that she probably could not identify the man or the child.
--------- Description
--------- (1) - Male individual, caucasian, light-skinned, seemingly between 20-plus and 30-minus years old, normal build, about 170 to 175cm tall. She saw the man's face at the time but now she can't recall it. She thought his face was clean-shaven. She doesn't remember any tattoos, scars or earrings. She didn't notice his eyes. The hair was thick, light brown, short behind (a normal cut) and a little longer on top.
--------- As for the trousers, they were full-length, smooth "rights", light beige, cotton but thicker like linen, possibly with buttons and without any designs [markings],
[NOTE: unless the expression "rights" has some kind of local use in Ireland, or it was misheard by the interpreter, there is an expression "às direitas" in Portugal which means "as it should be", so she may have said something like "they were just trousers, as you would expect, or, as they should be".]

--------- As for the upper body clothing she couldn't see clearly because the child covered him almost completely.
--------- As for the shoes she can't say anything because she didn't see them.
--------- The individual's walk was normal, [she] knowing how to distinguish between that, going fast and running. The man did not appear tired, moving normally while carrying the child.
--------- (2) - About the child she was female because she had long straight hair, below her neck, blondish/brownish in colour.
--------- She was sure the girl was about 4 years old because her neice (who was in the family group) is that age and they were the same size.
--------- She couldn't see the child's face as it was on the left shoulder, she was upright and in front of the man, seeming to be asleep. Her arms were dangling down her own body, not around the neck of the person carrying her. She didn't she the hands of the girl, not knowing [therefore] her skin color, although she felt that she was white.
--------- She had no covering, blanket or other clothing, [the deponent] having, due to the position of the child, only a view of her back.
--------- She wore light trousers, white or light pink, which could have been pyjamas. She doesn't remember any designs because it was already dark. The fabric was fine [delicate], possibly cotton.
--------- Her blouse [top] was also light with long sleeves. She [the deponent] couldn't see clearly because the man had his arms around the child. She wasn't sure if the top was the same color as the trousers, saying only that it was vey light, though the material was the same as the trousers.
--------- Questioned about the shoes she responded that she doesn't remember seeing any footwear, not knowing if there was any or not.

---

This one has some surprises ... very similar to his Dad's but with some twists ... where's my steel helmet? (COMMENT FROM ALBYM ON 3 AS WHO TRANSLATED FROM DVD)

Witness statement. P Smith. 26 May 2007 in Portimao.
--- He appears as a witness and accepts the presence of an interpreter.
--- His father owned an apartment in the town of Luz, Lagos to which his father came at least three times a year. The deponent was one time in Portugal.
--- Concerning that period, he said that he arrived on 26 April 2007, returning on 4 May 2007. He arrived at Faro airport from Dublin. That he came ahead of his father, by choice, was due to the days he had available [from work]. He came with his wife, S, and their two sons, T and C, 13 and 6 respectively.
--- He wished to clarify that on 3 May he was with his family at the restaurant "Dolphin", in Praia da Luz, where he ate dinner. About 21h00 he left the restaurant and went to "Kelly's" Bar, about a minute away on foot. In "Kelly's" bar, the street address of which he does not know, they consumed several drinks, leaving about 21H50/22H00.
--- They left the bar, and climbed some steps to gain access to a main road a bit higher [up the hill]. On that road they took a secondary road, whose name he does not know, destined for [their apartment]. At the start of that road he saw an individual carrying a child, walking normally but with some haste, going down [the road]. They appeared normal to him, like a father and daughter. The individual continued downwards, in the opposite direction to the deponent and his companions. He didn't know where he [the man] was headed and only observed him as they passed each other.
--- Asked he said that it could have been 21H55/22H00 when they passed each other, and that he had no knowledge at all of the disappearance of a child. He only found out about that the following morning through an acquaintance, the son of the builder of the complex, who was also on his way to the airport. The deponent went to the airport, as previously arranged, in order to return to Ireland that day.
At that time, he did not associate the individual [from the previous night] with the disappearance. Only after thinking about the subject and the coincidence of the timing did he conclude that Madeleine could have been the child being carried by the individual whom he had seen.
--- Regarding the description of the individual who had carried the child he said:
caucasian, about 175 to 180cm tall. About 35 years or older. Darkish skin from exposure to the sun. Normal build, in good shape. Short, brown hair. Didn't remember if he wore glasses, beard or moustache. Doesn't recall any other relevant details because of the poor light.
--- He also doesn't remember the clothing or trousers of the man. He related that he didn't pay attention to those details because his wife is pregnant and, at that moment in time, she was feeling indisposed so he was paying constant attention to her rather than to the man.
--- As for the child he said that she was female. Perhaps two or three years old, she having seemed to him to be a little smaller than his niece of the same age. Her build was normal. She had blond hair, medium in tone, i.e. not really light. Her skin was white, typical of British people. Didn't see her eyes as she was asleep with her eyse closed.
Doesn't remember much about the clothes but thought they could have been lightweight for summer, light in colour. Doesn't remember if she was covered, or had any shawl or blanket. He couldn't say if she was shoeless.
--- He related that he [the man] had carried the child on his arms, with her head on his left shoulder , such that she was on his [the deponent's] right-hand side, in a seemingly wholly natural manner.
--- Having already seen various photographs and TV images of Madeleine he related that the child being carried by the man could have been her. While not absolutely certain he is sure that it could have been Madeleine and that that view is shared by his family.
--- Asked he said that the the man said nothing, nor the child who was sleeping deeply. Further, the man neither tried to hide his face nor lower his eyes, giving no perception of anything strange.
--- He stated that he doubted being able to recognise the man either face-to-face or by photograph.
--- Asked about them he said that when he saw the man he was with [... the list of the family ...]
--- He stated that when they passed each other the man was going down to his right, in the middle of the road, there being little or no motor vehicles at that hour.
--- Further his family group was spread out so others may have seen the man from a different position.
--- A diagram indicating the route and location of the sighting is attached.
--- Further, when talking in Ireland his son T had said the man was wearing a black, long-sleeved coat and the child had no shoes.

Maybe if we look at some of the evidence of witnesses it really looks that way. Would he carry a dead Maddie through the streets? I really don't think so!

Why did Gerry, Payne and O'Brien sit there desperately cooking the timelines before the PJ arrived? Why are Payne and O'Brien so nervous during their rogatory interviews they are utterly incoherent, in spite of being qualified doctors?

Why is it that when every other benefactor of the McCanns pulls out of supporting them in September 2007, Brian Kennedy vows to use his fortune and support them to his dying day? Who could have owned this "top of the range" blue vehicle the taxi driver refers to at a meeting in a hotel with four people who he believes were certainly Payne, Gerry and Kate

Why would the McCanns want everyone to keep talking about a death theory on let's face it, no evidence? Could it be to stop people focussing on these witnesses below that given an insight into what really happened?

If Gerry did cart her off alive but drugged down to the beach that night and hand her over to some "predator" in a boat, then what he has done is far worse than losing his temper with her and killing her, overdosing her or leaving her to have some "accident", he is truly the most despicable example of a parent we could possibly imagine. A parent that immediately wanted to cash in, big time! A parent who got a spinner Clarence Mitchell to fiercely defend his "right" to have all the "profits" from the demise of his little girl go directly to him.

Why would you just happen to have a couple of 6 x 4 pictures of little Maddie all done up in her football outfit with you, on holiday and then use that same football team to draw in massive cash for his "fighting fund" as he called it in the early stages?

Why did Mrs Justice Hogg decided to make Maddie a Ward of Court in April 2008? Would she bother to do that in relation to a child she knows is dead or would she do that because she fears the child may still be alive but at grave risk of very serious harm? Worse still, why would the McCanns' overpaid liar, Clarence Mitchell, tell the press, the world, that the McCanns themselves made Maddie a Ward in May 2007 when we can see from the Order of Mrs Justice Hogg that is just a lie? It looks to me like Mrs Justice Hogg did that, as she has a right to do, because she felt in April 2008 that Maddie may still be alive and in very grave danger and suffering very serious harm. She had a right to do that to throw a ring of care around Maddie and take any decisions and rights away from a couple of parents who she knew full well from all the confidential evidence at her disposal were simply not fit to be involved in her future care. The Court Order makes plain the McCanns made an application under the Child Abduction Act on 17 May, claiming that Maddie had been abducted and obtaining an Order that all information concerning her whereabouts/details of the police enquiry into that had to be passed to them. In short they wanted to know whether they were going to get caught out. But the Chief Constable of Leicester Police was refusing point blank to comply with that Order. So on 2 April 2008, desperate with worry about what they police were doing and what they had found out, the McCanns made an application seeking to force him to comply and disclose details of his file and other UK agency files. That was strenuously opposed and the McCanns had to accept they are being investigated for the couple of serious criminals they are and they cannot see the files of police investigations into their conduct. The Hearing was adjourned until July 2008 because Mrs Justice Hogg wanted to give time for all interested parties to join in the proceedings and present their objections. The Attorney General herself intervened, a rare step in court proceedings but she said she wanted to "preserve the integrity of police investigations by not releasing files to suspects". The Serious Organised Crime Agency also intervened and made similar objections. Mrs Justice Hogg therefore reversed her earlier Order and said that no British Agency whatsoever had to release any information to the McCanns other than what they had already seen which the Chief Constable handed back to them. Some 81 pieces of information the McCanns solicitors had handed to the police about supposed "sightings" of Maddie. I am sure he kept a copy, given those "sightings" may well have links to employees and friends of Kate and Gerry McCann including of course Metodo 3. Clarence Mitchell then tried to put a gloss on this humiliating defeat for the McCanns saying they now had 81 good leads for their investigators to work on. Two points spring to mind, if the McCanns solicitors already had those leads why did they not act on them in the first place? Could it be the solicitors have to act in a lawful way and allow the police to do their job of trying to find Maddie? Clearly the "leads" were every bit as useless and unhelpful as everything else that spews forth from Team McCann otherwise the Police would have found her. Indeed, Mitchell's pompous words that M3 could somehow do a better job than British Police would be a joke, if this were not a serious subject. It is all part of the bizarre McCann Media Circus with Mitchell the Pink Ringmaster and not caring one bit what they did to little Maddie. He just gets off on being so needed by two atrocious "parents." , and the sheer challenge of trying to make them sound human.

What on earth was going on in Kate's head :

She joked: that Madeleine is probably giving her kidnapper a taste of her forceful character.

She said: *I bet she is giving them her tuppence worth"

She said: "Madeleine is such a sociable child, so funny and engaging."

What when she is with these dreadful paedophiles who have not caused her any harm?

Well you raised the spectre of "racism" and "paedophiles" Gerry, in your call back home where a witness heard you that night saying "she has been taken by a gang of Portuguese paedophiles". Then you have got quite a few racists on board to help you push that idea, we can see that. You got the press on board too and wanted lots of publicity, to keep the public focussed, we are and I have every faith in British Justice!


From the McCann files, an excellent and unbiased reference site who just wants to honestly inform the public, unlike some I could mention!

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id162.html

The Smiths' Sighting

Kate and Gerry McCann return to the UK

Just before 10:00pm on the night of 03 May 2007, the Smith family from Ireland pass a man carrying a child in his arms. The man averts his eyes from them to signal that he does not wish to speak.

Four months later, during which time the McCanns never sought to exploit this potentially crucial sighting, the Smith family are watching TV. They see the McCanns return to the UK and observe Gerry leave the plane and walk across the tarmac with Sean in his arms.

The father, Martin Smith, is shocked. He recognises the walking style and the way the child is being held against the shoulder. It is exactly like the man he saw on the streets of Praia da Luz, four months earlier.


Reference to the sighting in the PJ's 57-page report summary

'Further on this issue, the testimony of MARTIN SMITH was considered, pages 1606 and following, reporting the sighting of an individual carrying a child, in one of the streets that lead to the beach. It was said that the child could be MADELEINE McCANN, although it was never peremptorily stated. Some time later, the witness alleged that, by its stance, the individual who carried the child could be GERALD McCANN, which was concluded when he saw him descending the stairs from an airplane, pages 2871, 3991 and following and 4135 and following. It was established that at the time that was being mentioned, GERALD McCANN was sitting at the table, in the Tapas Restaurant.'


Gonçalo Amaral speaks to IOL PortugalDiário, 03/04 August 2008

PortugalDiário: The PJ's report dismisses the Smiths' testimony, due to the hour at which they say they saw the person with the child…

Gonçalo Amaral: 'It cannot be that way, because nobody knows for sure at what time the things happened. The reconstruction was not made, therefore it is impossible to know for certain. The employees do not state that Gerry McCann was in the restaurant. They only say that people were sitting down and getting up from the table. Their testimony [Smith] is very credible. The way that the person walked, the clumsy manner in which the child was held. It is nothing that sounds invented. Is it evidence? Certainly not. It is information that has to be worked further.'


Summary from 'A Verdade Da Mentira' ('The Truth of the Lie' by Gonçalo Amaral) - Chapter's 8 & 21 - The sighting by the Smith family


smith.jpg

Text: "Rua da Escola Primária, the location where the Smith family (black arrow) crosses paths with a man who was walking down the street (red arrow) carrying a child, on the 3rd of May 2007, at around 10 p.m." Photograph courtesy of Gonçalo Amaral, 'The Truth of the Lie'.
Chapter 8 - A man carrying a child on the way to the beach - pages 111-114

30 July 2008
Thanks to 'blackberry' for translation

- The Smith family, from Ireland, is in Luz for holidays, staying at their own holiday apartment; four adults and 5 children: the father (retired, 58) his wife, his son (23 yr old) and daughter-in-law and their two children (ie, Mr Smith's grandchildren), his daughter (12), two additional grandchildren, 10 and 4, of another daughter back in Ireland.

- approx 21h55, they are returning from "Kelly's Bar", heading north, all spread out along the street

- they pass a man walking down the middle of the street, carrying a child, with the head against his left shoulder and the arms hanging down alongside the body, in light colored or pink pyjamas, bare feet, pale skin typical of British and blond, shoulder-length hair; the girl is about 3-4 years old, about 1 meter tall.

- The man is not dressed like a tourist; he's wearing cream or beige trousers, classic cut, of linen or cotton. He is white, 30-35 yrs, 1.70-1.80 meters tall, average build, physically fit, short, brown hair, with a face that looks tanned.

- Images of Robert Murat begin to circulate around the world

- Back in Ireland, the Smiths watch the news and learn of Jane's statement and the suspicions falling upon Murat.

- The father contacts the Irish police. He tells his story. The man he saw was NOT Murat. He knows Murat and it was not him.

- The father is almost certain that the girl he saw was Madeleine.

- The Smiths are secretly brought back to Portugal. On Saturday, 26 May, in Portimão, Smith and his two children are interviewed.

- Their testimony is credible, but given the lack of light in the area, they can't identify the man who was carrying the child.

- The described the way he walked and carried her; this image is strongly fixed in their memory.

Chapter 21 - An Irish family in shock - pages 197-199

- Sept 2007, McCanns return to UK

- Gerry exits the plane, carrying his son against his left shoulder, the child's arms down along his sides, down the stairs and across the tarmack Gerry walks

- The Smith family see this recording on the news at 22h00 and are hit hard: they know this person, this way of carrying a child and of walking. It is Gerry McCann, they believe with a high degree of certainty, that they saw on 3 May at about 22h00, carrying a 4 yr old girl who appeared to be deeply asleep

- The father contacts the police to communicate this new information. He says he has not slept since 9 Sept and is very upset. It's as if he re-lived the night he saw the man carrying the child. Seeing Gerry walk and carry the child, awoke something in his head...

- Still not completely convinced, he watches the news again on ITV and also on Sky.

- No, there are no doubts. Gerry McCann looks just like the same person he saw carrying the child on May 3.

- Smith, upset and worried about what he saw and has concluded, needs the investigators to contact him.

- In late September, the Portuguese police receive this information from Smith. This appears to be a piece of the puzzle.

- Now Jane Tanner's insistence at seeing the abductor go the other direction makes sense, removing attentions from the way Gerry walked, in the direction of the beach. The man carrying a child didn't walk east towards Murat's house, but west in the direction of the Smiths.

- This puzzle piece allows the investigators to reconstruct what happened on that cold night of 3 May. The puzzle is almost complete.

- We make the decision to bring the Smiths back to Portugal. They will be heard, and in legal and procedural terms, will give their identification using televised images, since a personal identification [of Gerry] is out of the question.

- A reconstitution of that night, with the Smiths, is seriously considered.

- But the Smiths don't return to Portugal.

- The Portuguese police changed their minds after GA leaves the team; they decide to use the international request mechanism [letters rogatory]

- This leads to absurd delays

- In the meantime, rumours abound that strangers to the investigation have found about about this witness and his family and, supposedly, have tried to talk to Smith, though their intentions in doing so are unknown.

Maps and aerial views of the Smith's sighting

Map of Praia da Luz

Map of Praia da Luz

The McCanns' apartment was located on R. Prof. Agostinho da Silva - the Ocean Club swimming pool and the McCanns' apartment are clearly visible just below the road name on this map.

The sighting by the Smith family took place on R. da Escola, which is marked on this map - just below and to the left of the Ocean Club complex. The actual point of sighting was just below the final 'a' in the 'R. da Escola' road name on this map.

Map showing location of Smith sighting

Most likely route taken from Apartment 5A

This map marks in red the most likely route taken, if the man seen by the Smith family was Gerry McCann and the starting point was the McCanns' apartment.

It is possible that another route may have been taken - straight down the R. Primeiro de Maio and then right into R. da Escola - but that route would have increased the likelihood of being seen, being on a main road and presumably reasonably well lit.

The route above appears to offer the greater degree of privacy as it passes waste land, is not overlooked by apartments or houses and would presumably have been considerably darker than the main road.

The point at which the Smith family met with the man carrying a child

The meeting

This map shows the point at which the Smith family met and passed a man carrying a child.

The red line indicates the route of the man, the black line indicates the route of the Smith family, who were returning from Kelly's Bar.

An alternative route into R. da Escola

The alternative route

This is the alternative route into R. da Escola if the man had walked straight down R. Primeiro de Maio and then turned right.

Close up of R. da Escola

Close up of R. da Escola

This picture gives a close up of R. da Escola. The meeting took place roughly half way up this road.

The zig-zag building on the left can be clearly seen in the photograph reproduced from 'The Truth of the Lie' above.

Aerial view of possible routes

Aerial view of possible routes

This photograph shows the two possible routes to R. da Escola, if the starting point was Apartment 5A.

The red route is the route already indicated on the map above. The yellow route is the route taken by going straight down R. Primeiro da Maio and then turning right into R. da Escola.


Jane Tanner's sighting

Height:
5' 10" (25 May 2007)
5' 8" or 5' 9" (05 June 2007)
5' 7" to 5' 11" (09 June 2007)
5' 8" to 5' 10" (26 October 2007)
5' 9" (28 October 2007)
5' 6" (16 November 2007)
'probably 5ft 8in tall, he was taller than me but not 6ft and so between those two' (19 November 2007)

Age:
35-40

Hair:
Hair that was short on top (25 May 2007)
Dark hair, parted to one side, slightly longer at the back (05 June 2007)
Dark hair (26 October 2007)
Black hair (28 October 2007)
'Hair.. the one thing that I remember a lot is the hair. He did seem to have quite a lot of dark, reasonably-long-to-the-neck hair' (19 November 2007)

Skin:
White (25 May 2007)
Caucasian (09 June 2007)
Caucasian with southern European/Mediterranean appearance (26 October 2007)
'More local or Mediterranean looking'/'swarthy skin' (19 November 2007)

Top clothes:
Dark jacket (25 May 2007)
Dark jacket, slightly longer than a suit jacket (05 June 2007)
Wearing a maroon shirt (28 October 2007)
Heavy dark coat (19 November 2007)

Trousers:
Beige or golden long trousers (25 May 2007)
Light coloured trousers which may have been beige or mustard coloured (05 June 2007)
Camel-coloured trousers (28 October 2007)
'He was wearing quite a lot of clothes and that's one thing in hindsight again I think was quite odd because tourists when they're abroad, Brits abroad would always have cropped trousers or shorts or something, and he had a sort of a big heavy jacket and trousers on' (19 November 2007)
'He was dressed in that sort of smart casual way European people dress' (19 November 2007)

Build:
Medium (25 May 2007)
Slim (26 October 2007)

Shoes:
Dark shoes (25 May 2007)
Black or brown shoes (28 October 2007)

Carrying child:
'Carrying, sort of, across the body like that. I suppose in hindsight you'd probably think somebody would carry them more against the shoulder.' (19 November 2007)

Child's description:
'I could tell it was a child, and I could see the feet and... feet and the bottom of the pyjamas, and I just thought that child's not got any shoes on because you could see the feet.' (19 November 2007)

Child's clothes:
'the pyjamas had a pinky aspect to them so you presume a girl.'


Martin Smith's sighting

Height:
175 to 180 cm tall (5’ 9’’ to 5’ 11’)

Age:
30-35

Hair:
Short, brown hair

Skin:
White

Top clothes:
A darker top. The man is not dressed like a tourist

Trousers:
Cream or beige trousers, classic cut, of linen or cotton

Build:
Average build, physically fit

Shoes:
Not specified

Carrying child:
Carrying a child, with the head against his left shoulder and the arms hanging down alongside the body

Child's description:
Bare feet, pale skin typical of British and blonde, shoulder-length hair; the girl is about 3-4 years old, about 1 metre tall

Child's clothes:
Light coloured or pink pyjamas


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.


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.


Irishman saw Gerry carry Maddie, 07 July 2008

Irishman saw Gerry carry Maddie Correio da Manhã

Final report - CM reveals everything about the investigation in an exclusive

07 July 2008 - 00h30
Thanks to 'astro' for translation

Extract:

Martin Smith, an Irishman, told the Polícia Judiciária that he saw a man carrying a child, that looked like Maddie to him, approximately around supper time on the 3rd of May.

The deposition of the witness was collected right at the beginning of the investigation, but the lack of complementary elements about the individual who was carrying the child did not lead the investigators to other diligences.

Days later, already back in his home country, Martin Smith contacted the Irish authorities. He asserted that when he saw the case on television and at the moment when he saw Gerry's face for the first time, when he was descending from an airplane, he had no doubts left. The man who carried the child on the day of the disappearance was her father.

The information was sent to the Portuguese authorities during a phase when the PJ still centered the process on the abduction theory. And, according to the final report, the lead was not followed up because at the time when Martin says he saw Gerry, the latter was having dinner at the Tapas Restaurant.

What the investigators established later on was that, after all, the reconstruction of the evening that was sustained by the group, was not straightforward. In truth, nobody knows at exactly what time each element of the group was present at the restaurant, given the fact that several of the English got up from the table in a more or less alternate manner during the dinner at the Ocean Club.

The PJ later equated the hearing of the witness through a rogatory letter. But the diligence ended up not being carried out, given the fact that without complimentary evidence, no results would be reached anyway.


Police files give McCanns 'hope', 05 August 2008

Police files give McCanns 'hope' BBC News

Page last updated at 17:35 GMT, Tuesday, 5 August 2008 18:35 UK

Extract:

Other new information revealed in the files includes the account of one witness who reported seeing a man carrying a young girl with blonde hair on the night of the disappearance. He later told the police the man could have been Madeleine's father.

Martin Smith, 58, on holiday at the time, was interviewed by detectives in Portugal and his native Ireland but the line of inquiry was later discarded.

Four months after his initial statement Mr Smith contacted the police to say he had seen Madeleine's parents arriving back in Britain on BBC News, and the way Mr McCann carried one of the couple's twins reminded him of the man he had seen in Portugal.

When detectives replayed video footage of the couple's arrival at East Midlands airport, the witness said he was 60-80% sure that the man he passed was Gerry McCann.

But this was later dismissed by prosecutors because at the time of the reported sighting, shortly before 2200, Gerry McCann was sitting in the Ocean Club's tapas bar with other members of his party.


Gerry was also in a "sighting", 19 August 2008

My name is Maddie. They took me from my holidays Público (no online link, appears in paper edition only)

By Andreia Sanches and Paul Torres de Carvalho
19 August 2008
Thanks to 'lisbonirish' for translation

Extract:

Gerry was also in a "sighting"

On 26 May, Martin Smith, an Irishman described by the Leicestershire police as a "decent" man who was not looking for fame, came to Portugal to give a statement to the PJ and tell them what he saw on the night of 3 May 2007, at around 10.00 p.m., in a street in Praia da Luz: a man carrying a child in his arms, with the child's head resting on the man's left shoulder.

The image he saw: a man approximately 175 to 180 cm tall (5' 9" to 5' 11"), 34/35 years old, short brown hair, and carrying a blonde girl wearing pyjamas "roughly four years of age", has never gone out of his head, he said.

On 20 September, the Irishman once again contacted the authorities. He was "distressed", going on to explain that when he saw the McCanns on the TV news on 9 September getting off the plane that had just landed in England, now as "arguidos" he sensed that he was witnessing a "repeat of the events of the night" on which he had seen the man "carrying the child back in Portugal". The way Gerry was carrying one of his children, Sean, whose head was resting on his shoulder, was "exactly" the same way the unidentified man in Portugal carried his child.

The PJ asked for more information. On 23 January Mr. Smith gave another statement to the police in Drogheda, Ireland. He repeated that he was 60 to 80 per cent sure that the man he had seen carrying a child in Praia da Luz was Gerry.

In the final report on the investigation, the PJ guarantee, however, that at the time Smith says he saw Gerry in the street, Madeleine's father was sitting at the table in the Tapas restaurant in the Ocean Club.

----------

From Joana Morais again an excellent and unbiased site that just wants to inform, no bias, no agenda and thanks very much to our Di for bringing this to my attention. It is time to look at what people actually say they witnessed, (other than the TAPAS group who the police clearly do not believe) just like the police do, then we may see what is staring us in the face. :

Portugal

March 2008

A British couple claim they saw a small bundle being smuggled on a jetski and taken out to sea just a few miles from where Madeleine McCann went missing.

He then appeared to take the bundle it to a small “official-looking” grey boat moored just off the coast at Salema, six miles up the coast from Praia Da Luz where Madeleine went missing last May.

Despite the fact that the couple reported their sighting to the Ocean Club resort, where the McCann family had been staying, police have not yet investigated the incident or called them in to be interviewed.

The witnesses, who did not want to be named, are from south-west England and were visiting relatives Patrick Matthews, 37, and his wife Eliza, 25, in Salema, near Praia da Luz.

February 2008

A Portuguese taxi driver has told how he picked up Madeleine McCann with a blonde woman who looked like Kate McCann and three men including one who looked like suspect Robert Murat the night of her disappearance.

Antonio Castela, 67, said he dropped off the missing girl and her English-speaking mystery companions at an Algarve hotel and watched them drive off in a blue jeep.


TAXI-DRIVER IS SURE THAT HE TOOK MADDIE IN HIS CAR IN THE NIGHT OF THE GIRL DISAPPEARANCE

“I transported that girl”

The driver remembers that he transported them in the night of the disappearance, in the 3rd of May, from the square of taxis of Monte Gordo for the Hotel Apolo, in em Vila Real de Santo Antonio. The passengers went then to a jeep. António contacted the PJ, but, as he says, no one took notice of his story.

A taxi-driver of Vila Real de Santo Antonio, in the Algarve, guarantees to have transported Maddie, Kate McCann and three men – one of them similar to Murat – in the night of the disappearance of the English girl, in the 3rd of May of last year. António Castela Cardoso, 67 years, does not forget the hour or the details of the passengers. He regrets that after having communicated the Judiciary Police of Portimão, he never received a follow up call to explain his statement. Taxi-driver, with 17 years in that profession, António Castela has the habit of memorizing the face of his clients. That one particularly, “She was a girl with very pretty eyes and she called my attention because of the sign that she had in one eye and the twitch that she was doing with the chin”, he remembered. In the beginning of that night, António was in the square of taxis of Monte Gordo, four kilometres of Vila Real de Santo Antonio, was ready to stop the cab service. “It was 20h10 and I like seeing the television news”, he remembers.

Man was similar to Murat

The clients approached and asked him to transport them to the Hotel Apolo, in Vila Real de Santo Antonio. The driver did not refuse. On his side a man seated who was using “fine glasses”. “He was similar with the one that appears in the television like the third suspect”, says António, concerning Robert Murat – who is arguido in the case. In the seat behind, a woman “like Kate” sat down, between two men. The girl that the taxi-driver says to be Maddie sat down to the lap of one of them.
“She was wearing pink pyjamas. The mother had the hair tied and a yellow coat”, he remembers, with exactness. It was a silent journey. The passengers did not exchange one word; they did not show any emotions. On the arrival to the journey destiny, António pulled out the baby's chair of the luggage car. “It was the same as what the couple usually uses”, he affirms. The customers asked him, in English language, how much the cab journey was. “I said that there were 3, 25 euros and they gave me five and then I thanked them”, he says.

Top-of-the-line Jeep

The taxi-driver saw three men, the woman and the child move towards a metallic-blue, top-of-the-line Jeep “ I do not know if it would be a BMW, but I remember that the license plate was yellow and therefore was not a Portuguese one ”, he affirms. The vehicle was parked in the Hotel Apolo parking. António returned to his house with the image of the girl in the head. It reminded him of his son, now with 37 years. “My son was operated to his eyes because he had a similar eye defect. He also did that twitch with the chin. They even looked like brothers”, he observed.
The next day, António was watching the television news besides his son and his granddaughter, with the same age of Maddie. With astonishment he saw that the blond girl of light eyes had disappeared. “I immediately told my son: ' I transported that girl yesterday! ’ ”.
The son, a police officer of the GNR, advised the father to phone to the Judiciary Police of Portimão. “ He (the son) dialled the number and I said what I am telling you (to the journalist of 24 Horas newspaper)”, he remembers to 24horas.
The inspector who answered then asked him if in the hotel there was a system of video vigilance. The taxi-driver did not know.
Up to today, António waits the police contact to give declarations personally. “I defend the girl as I would defend my granddaughter”, he affirms.
Some days later, out of curiosity, António still asked for informations to some of his acquaintances, at the service of the Hotel Apolo. He was told that there was not any reservation for that evening. They also told him that the Hotel had not been contacted by the Judiciary Police. Even worse. The system of video vigilance was damaged two years ago and was not catching any image. “Also I do not know if they did enter in the hotel”, says the taxi-driver.

Since then, António Castela has been accompanying the news on Maddie. When the telephone rings, he still thinks that it will be someone who investigates the case that want to speak with him. When he knew that a certain period of time was still to be explained in the investigation, António Castela immediately thought that this might be the explanation. “In two hours you can travel from Aldeia da Luz to Vila Real de Santo Antonio and return. Someone can be lying. They should establish if Kate did not go away during this period”, says António.

The taxi-driver has been telling this history in public establishments and to clients whom he transports. Only this week a journalist of the “Jornal do Algarve” contacted him to publish what the driver affirms to have seen. “Now they do not leave me alone. Tomorrow [today] there is a team coming from England on purpose to interview me”, he says.
Madeleine McCann disappeared mysteriously from the Ocean Club, in Aldeia da Luz, in the 3rd of May. 300 days already have passed since. The parents are still arguidos in the process, but up to now nobody managed to know what it went on that night.

From Correio da Manhã: A source connected with the investigation guaranteed that the facts told by António Castela were "investigated" and the “lead was proven false”.

Madeleine has no Twitches

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCanns, reacted yesterday with amazement at the declarations of the taxi-driver. “The declarations of Mr. Castela are false. They are a perfect nonsense. He can only be mistaken when he says that at that time he transported Kate and Madeleine with three men”, he said, underlining the fact of being several independent witnesses who place Madeleine's parents in a completely different place. “How is that possible, if at 20h35 several witnesses say that Kate and Gerry were sitting down on a table of the Tapas restaurant”, he questioned. Clarence doubts of the intentions of the taxi-driver. “It astonishes me that only now, ten months later, he talks about this. These are declarations that only cause pain to Kate and Gerry", he said, advancing that that the McCann's daughter has no facial twitches.
“The only sign to report is the one she has in the eye.”

THEY TOOK FIVE MONTHS TO READ A LETTER

The Inspectors of the Judiciary Police are already preparing the suitcases to travel again to Leiceister, where the McCanns and the friends with whom they had dinner with will be questioned again. The team led by Paulo Rebelo finally received green light from England.

English speak again with the Judiciary Police

With the suitcases done, the Judiciary Police is already finalizing with the English authorities the details for, five months after the sending to Great Britain of a rogatory letter, their return to question the McCanns and the friends with whom they had dinner with when Madeleine disappeared, on the 3rd of May, in the Praia da Luz, in Lagos, Algarve.
“The rogatory letter was returned in January to the Public Prosecution Office, for lack of completion of some bureaucratic proceedings. It was remade and then returned to the English Home Office in the beginning of this month. Finally, the letter it’s already in the possession of the Police of Leicester and we are finalizing the details to give completion to the solicitations done by the British authorities”, it explained to 24horas a judicial person in charge connected with the investigations. According to the same source, everything left done is now a mere “schedulement in order that the interrogations are prepared to the friends of the McCann and to the parents of the lost girl themselves, an organized plan that will have to be ended during next week.
In ten days a team of Portuguese investigators will travel to England, they will attend the interrogations, as the interrogations themselves will be done by the police officers of Leicester. “We can only hear, analyse the expressions of the persons and suggest some questions that do not appear in the rogatory letter”. The first persons to be questioned
will be Jane Tanner, David Paine and Russel O'Brien, whose lawyers revealed the intention of their clients to alter their first statements.

Source: Jornal 24 horas
page 22
page 23




by Joana Morais