Happy Birthday Madeleine McCann

It remains to be seen whether or not the British Government performs yet another U turn on their decision to fund the Metropolitan Police’s New Scotland Yard “review” of the evidence relating to the case of the missing girl, Madeleine McCann.

David, “call me Dave” Cameron has just announced that he is asking the Met’s finest to “bring their expertise to the case”. Or as Britain’s finest journo’s opine:

”Scotland Yard Hunt’s for Maddie” and

“Yard to try and bring Maddie back”.

As I currently write this, I understand that there are huge reservations and not an inconsiderable amount of discomfort amongst certain Senior Officers about this proposal. Ostensibly, because it means tying up much needed resources and manpower on what is, effectively, a VERY cold case.

I would also suggest that quite a few of those reservations are held by bemused officers who will also be wondering how on earth such a review can possibly take place, given that it is going to require MORE than their “expertise” in negotiating certain ‘aspects’ of the case.

Aspects that have categorically NO place in Team McCann’s agenda.

Aspects that unequivocally NEVER get mentioned in the British Press, nor are ever uttered from the mouths of its senior Media figures.

Aspects that have no place in the sentiments or thoughts of the wealthy business figures who have bankrolled many of the McCanns exploits and sojourns around the world in their quest to “find” Madeleine.

Aspects that have probably never even crossed the sycophantic leanings of the innumerable celebrities, pop stars, writers, TV presenters and public figures who have tied their ribbon on the Madeleine McCann cause.

Those aspects being the Portuguese aspects.

For, if there IS to be a review, then it cannot possibly take place without incorporating the Portuguese Police findings.

And as much as Team McCann and the British Press, (and clearly to a degree, the British AUTHORITIES), like to assert that the Portuguese closed the case by concluding that the McCanns, (along with Robert Murat), were CLEARED of any involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a thorough scrutiny of that final report reveals a rather different picture.

For the report clearly notes a number of issues which are worthy of mention and indeed, further evaluation. In fact, as I have pointed out previously, I often wonder if in fact, whether the Press or the Authorities have actually read the report at all, or have in fact read a DIFFERENT report.

From day one, this whole case has been beset with innuendo, supposition, conjecture, opinion, and theory, some of which is definitely conspiratorial. But the Police, IF they carry out a review, are going to have to address and explain away some FACTS that the McCanns and their supporters are going to find rather unpalatable.

Like the FACT that the ONLY, tangible evidence that Madeleine McCann was ever abducted originates from Jane Tanner.

And if they are going to try and validate and support Ms. Tanner as a credible witness, then they are going to have to try and explain not only WHICH of the MANY differing eyewitness accounts she and Team McCann assert to be genuine ARE, in fact, genuine:- (egg man, bundle man, spotty man, Robert Murat, hippy-man, paedo-man, FEMALE-man, god-knows –who- else –man), but also explain why ALL of the others are NOT.

More importantly, (and I don’t profess to be a Scotland Yard ‘expert’), but if one is to conclude that Tanner is LYING, (and she clearly is unless she wishes to insist that ALL of her estimated 9 or 10 different descriptions are correct); then one would have to conclude that the evidence for an abduction is, NONE.

A Scotland Yard man of merit would then have to further read the report, together with all the Portuguese reports, statements, documents and contemporaneous notes. And he would have to explain away the clear “inconsistencies” in the witness statements made by the McCanns and their Tapas friends, as clearly pointed out in the report that Team McCann asserts to be the one that puts them in the clear. Inconsistencies surrounding their movements, their observations, their positions at any given time, what they witnessed, what they saw.

In order to clear this inextricable confusion and mess up, perhaps the Yard’s “expertise” can coerce the McCanns and their friends to undertake the essential reconstruction that the Portuguese could NOT persuade them to take.

Another ASPECT that the Yard are going to have to contend with are the use of Enhanced Victim Recovery Dogs. Eddie & Keela’s findings in the McCann apartment and their vehicle and on many of the personal possessions of the McCanns are well documented.

It is a very simple matter for Clarence Mitchell and the McCanns to glibly refute their findings, explaining away their “unreliability” and inadmissibility as evidence by pointing to a case in the United States where such evidence was successfully challenged by a top US Lawyer.

Bit tricky to do the same thing when such dogs have made well documented, irrefutably PROVEN contributions to many Scotland Yard cases, not to mention hundreds of OTHER Constabularies all over the UK and elsewhere Worldwide.

Best NOT ask the dogs, eh Gerry?

Equally, perhaps the Yard can procure those DNA samples that were initially reported as being a “match” to Madeleine McCann, and explain why eventually, the FSS at Birmingham, (a department now facing closure) and who have for many years been Universally acknowledged as being “the BEST in the world”, eventually decided, (after much delay and confusion), that the material in fact, was “not identified to pertaining to anyone specific”.

Perhaps the man at the Yard can exercise his expertise and cast some light on that blue holdall that Martin Brunt NEVER mentions anymore.

No! I jest a little.

What I REALLY want the Met’s finest to do is ask Kate McCann exactly WHAT it was that was shown to Kate at her interview. As the final report clearly states:

“Kate Healy was not immediately made an arguida, but merely interviewed voluntarily as a witness. Only after her interview was she made an arguida, that is, after she was confronted with concrete facts that might lead to her incrimination”

 “...concrete facts that might lead to her incrimination” ???

Concrete FACTS, Kate? Gerry? Mr. Mitchell? It can’t be brushed off as “scurrilous, unhelpful speculation” by those bungling Porto Plod. It’s right there. In black and white. In the report.

The report that Team McCann so vehemently wave in the faces of anyone who dares to doubt their version of events. You can’t pick and choose the good bits, Clarence, and dismiss the rest as hogwash.

I don’t personally care about the McCanns. I honestly don’t know what they did or didn’t do. In the great scope of things, it matters little.

I don’t even admonish or criticise them for systematically leaving their children unattended, an act that would obviously contribute to Madeleine’s disappearance, were an abduction genuine.

Why not? Because I believe that the fact that their children were alone has absolutely NOTHING to do with Madeleine being missing.

I’d so love for Madeleine McCann to walk home tomorrow; to confound the world and be found, safe and well. But that can’t surely happen. Because if we have to hold on to some vestige of common sense and sanity in this case, then we have to accept the findings of those dogs, no matter what Kate says. (Actually, Kate you’re right. The dogs DID want to please their handler, Martin Grime. Pleasing him is exactly the premise on which they function. For which they get a reward and a pat on the head. Pleasing their handler is ALL they know. That, and the scent of cadaverine or blood).

We HAVE to give serious consideration to the truth that Madeleine died in Portugal, four summers ago. We have to do so, because the Portuguese investigated and believe so. It’s clearly documented in their reports, even if that ‘final report’ doesn’t quite specify so, but merely proffers it.

Only the British Media refer to the Policia Judiciaria as “bungling”, “inept”, “Porto plod” and “sardine munchers”. Prior to this case they were considered globally, rather like our OWN finest Police Force, as being amongst the best in the world.

We also have to consider it so because it has been documented that Leicestershire Police ALSO advised of their belief that Madeleine died in Portugal.

I haven’t yet seen any tabloid headlines calling THEM useless. Not yet, anyway.

Kate’s book will, without a doubt, throw up HUNDREDS of yet MORE inconsistencies and contradictions. Not contradicting the Portuguese Police or other observers, but contradicting herself. When you tell so many untruths, it’s so hard to remember what you said in the first place.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that this “review” will never take place at all. At least, not in the form that it should.

Because now, I believe the case of Madeleine McCann to be at a most crucial crossroads. I believe that the outcome of this “review”will either decide that a historically unprecedented number of people are going to be subjected to some accusatory probing and be eternally embarrassed, including at least ONE ex- Prime Minister, by virtue of the Yard finding that the McCanns DO have something to hide, as purported by the Portuguese; OR.

OR.

The Government cut the Portuguese out of the “review” all together, meaning that the Britain’s finest Police Force will have to find in accordance with what they believe themselves. Or, rather, what they are told to believe.

And this case will continue to be a tragedy for us, one and all.

Happy Birthday, Madeleine, wherever you may be.

Kate's Book Madeleine: No.1 in Bestseller FICTION list

Perhaps above all other cases, that of the missing girl, Madeleine McCann is enshrouded in the greatest tragedy and MYSTERY.

Irrespective of what actually happened to the little girl, the facts surrounding her disappearance and current whereabouts are not only unknown, but in the absence of any illuminating evidence or dramatic discovery, quite possibly will remain so for ever more.

The movements, behaviour and comments of her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance, together with those of their friends, have been the subject of much conjecture and speculation since May 2007.

Newspapers, both here and in Portugal, have previously suggested that the course of events as explained and propagated by what has come to be, disaffectionately, known as ‘TEAM McCANN’, did not stand up to scrutiny.

Contradictions galore, non-corroboration of ‘Tapas members’ statements and bizarre, inexplicable behaviour led some to suggest that the McCanns and their Holidaying compatriots were hiding something.

The PORTUGUESE Police, the previously World respected and renowned Polícia Judiciária, were rather less circumspect. Their report of September 2007 by Tavares de Almeida, then Chief Inspector, concluded, (amongst other things), that:

Madeleine McCann died in the Holiday apartment on 3^rd May 2007.

A staged HOAX abduction took place.

The McCanns were involved in the concealment of the corpse of their daughter.

Of course, we now know this statement must be wrong. We know this because the then Police Inspector in charge of the investigation, Goncalo Amaral, was SACKED, after complaining about BRITISH Government “interference” in the case, enabling the British newspapers to clarify the whole matter and explain to us that he is, in fact, a “Boozy Porto Plod” and is forever to be referred to as that “Disgraced Maddie Cop”.

We also know that this Report must be untrue because that nice man Richard Desmond, (proprietor EXPRESS newspapers, amongst others) who decided to reprint some of the Portuguese Press’s reporting’s on the case, based on this PJ report, then went on to GIFT the McCann’s and their friends almost a MILLION POUNDS STERLING between them, ALL of which ended up in the Kate & Gerry fund... (SORRY...I mean the ‘Looking for Madeleine’ fund).  

Desmond, a man who enjoys a reputation as a rather FEARLESS and FEARSOME individual had his newspapers explain that there was in fact “no evidence whatsoever” to support the theory that the McCanns were involved in Madeleine’s death or her disappearance, specifying that they were “completely innocent of any involvement”. 

Along with the cash settlements, (for an Action that never even reached the jurisdiction of the Courts), the newspapers also included endless front page apologies, an act described as “unprecedented”, by Media commentator Roy Greenslade.

(Curiously, despite the fact that MANY OTHER journals and publications printed identical, and in some cases, FAR MORE inflammatory comments, they escaped both censure and litigation.)

And of course, we also know that Tavares de Almeida’s statements must be wrong because after Mr. Amaral was sacked and replaced, the ENTIRE PORTUGUESE POLICE AUTHORITIES were sacked by ‘Team McCann’, and replaced by those world renowned sterling crime fighters, Metodo 3, led by Senior Detective Clarence Mitchell.  

Mitchell’s frequent Press Conferences pleaded for information about a whole plethora of bizarre, contrived characters, plagiarised from that week’s tabloid paedophile story or courtesy of some never previously reported witness who had suddenly remembered some crucial bogey man or malevolent looking individual(s). 

 This, remarkably, in turn then coerced Jane Tanner into a moment of clarity; enabling Clarence to report that she believed these new ‘suspects’ to resemble the person Jane had witnessed carrying, what she believed to be Madeleine, away from the apartment on the night of May 3^rd.  

Of course, Ms. Tanner’s testimony itself has long been the subject of scrutiny and discussion, not least because when she first spoke to the police about the ‘abductor ‘ she alleges to have seen,  she stated that she was unsure as to whether he was carrying anything or not. Some Month’s later however, she recalled that not only was he carrying something, but someONE, and that it was a little GIRL. 

Wearing PYJAMAS identical to the one’s Madeleine was supposed to have been wearing!

Of course, in any other circumstances, this ‘testimony’ (to which the Portuguese Authorities never afforded any significance or reliability), would be of only minor relevance, an incongruous anomly, were it not for the FACT that Tanner’s sighting forms the ONLY EVIDENCE that an abduction took place at all.

Fortunately for all concerned, not LEAST for the investigation, Jane was afforded the opportunity to clarify all these seeming inconsistencies and glaring contradictions in her ever-changing evidence, when she was interviewed by Leicestershire Police in April 2008. When asked to describe the man she saw in detail, she stated, (verbatim):

“You see, this is where, now, I'm really... I don't even know whether it's worth doing this, because there's been so much since then. I've had the... when they took me round for the surveillance to look at... and I'm guessing now it's MURAT they wanted me to look at and, you know.........all the other bits and bobs, I really don't know, but I think I'd prefer just to stick with what I said in my original statement, in terms of the... because, even... I mean, this is coming back to the sketch, even when I did the sketch, by that stage, you know, things were... were murky..... I needed to do that sketch that first night, I mean, they took me in to do the sketch, but they only had, errm... front facing software, so...you know... and at that point I said, you know, is there?... can I do?... because the clothes and everything was the thing... was the thing that was the most in my mind then and I can remember saying to the chap I met on the stairs earlier......”

All clear? Good.

But of course, the MAIN reason why we know that Tavares de Almeida’s report is wrong is because in June 2008, the Portuguese produced another, FINAL report, as presented to the Attorney General, (although, remarkably, this didn’t mention that it invalidated the first, ‘interim’ report and in fact used much of its original content, without the specific conclusions of Almeida, of course).

This is THE report, according to ‘Team McCann’and the British Newspapers and Media ,that “Clears” the McCanns of any involvement in the disappearance of their daughter. We know this because Clarence perpetually refers to this report whenever he wishes to reinforce his client’s innocence. 

Tabloid AND Broadsheet headlines such as “Madeleine McCann police clear Kate & Gerry as they shelve case” (The Telegraph); “Kate and Gerry McCann cleared over Madeleine disappearance” (Sunday Times); “Kate and Gerry in clear” (The People) and  “Portugals TOP COP set to clear Kate and Gerry” (The SUN), are pretty unequivocal in their message: that the Portuguese finally admit what the British Press, the McCanns themselves and their supporters have been saying all along, which is that Kate and Gerry had no involvement in the disappearance of their daughter and that the Portuguese Authorities were very clearly the inept, “bungling Porto plod” that they were frequently described as.

Except.

That’s not quite the truth. It IS true that this report, (which lifted the arguido status of the McCanns, along with Robert Murat), concludes: “despite all that has been done and in spite of all our efforts and lines of enquiry, it has not been possible to obtain a solid and objective conclusion about what really happened that night, nor about the present location of Madeleine”. 

(It also clearly illustrates and DEMONSTRATES the HUGE and hardworking efforts made by the Authorities and the Portuguese people to try and find Madeleine, including securing the apartment, roadblocks, house to house searches and an account of ALL the intelligence and sightings that passed through their offices, unquestionably refuting the claims by ‘Team McCann’, their friends and the British Press that the Police were useless and ‘bungling’).

It is only recently that I have actually paid any real attention to this publically available report. My nefarious mind had previously concluded that it wouldn’t be worth reading as it was likely to have been written, at least in consultation with, and possibly agreed by, Senior Detective Clarence Mitchell.

However, it is abundantly clear, after having studied the document to any appreciable degree, that one must question exactly WHICH passages the British Media are referring to when they assert that the report “Clears” the McCann’s and their friends of any wrongdoing. 

In fact, one might question whether they have actually read the report at all, or have in fact read a DIFFERENT report. 

For I can think of no other explanation for them NOT addressing the following facts:

The report makes VERY clear that there were “inconsistencies” surrounding the evidence and testimonies of the McCanns and their friends, and that these inconsistencies could have been easily highlighted and addressed were it not for the “un-cooperation from several, relevant witnesses”.

 

It goes on to say that the Portuguese strove for a re-construction or “reconstitution” of KEY events, but that they could not as “some of the key members of the McCann holiday group” were unwilling to return to do so.

The report goes on to specify that there were CLEAR inconsistencies and irregularities with some of the statements provided by the McCanns and their friends, thus the need for a reconstruction, particularly in relation to Jane Tanners’ statements relating to her alleged sighting of a “supposed abductor”, specifically noting that at the precise same time, Gerry McCann and TV Producer Jeremy Wilkins were in the very same “narrow confines of space”, yet neither man saw either Tanner OR the alleged abductor.

The report ALSO suggests that a reconstruction was necessary to pinpoint HOW and WHEN an abductor could possibly have struck, given the regularity and frequency of the checks being made on the children, as asserted by the McCann’s and their friends. The report CLEARLY doubts not only this testimony, but also the ability of ANY abductor to enter and exit the apartment as proposed by the McCanns, through the small window of the apartment in the manner being suggested, whilst carrying a child.

More importantly, it suggests that the events as suggested by the McCanns and their friends contained  inconsistencies and irregularities relating to the WHOLE period spanning from around 5.30pm on the evening in question,(“the last time at which Madeleine and her siblings were seen by anyone other than her parents”), up until around 10pm when Madeleine was reported missing.

The Police’s dissatisfaction over the account of the events on May 3^rd was, probably, partially because of, as is included in the documents, a “typed report produced by the McCann holiday group after a detailed joint meeting between them all. This report of theirs deals with their recollections about the events of the evening of 3^rd May”. 

(The inference being that the McCanns and their friends submitted, as testimony to the investigation, their accounts of the night Madeleine was reported missing, AFTER they had all got together to discuss it and formulate it beforehand!)

But for ME, the biggest mystery of all relating to the ignoring by the media of this report lies in the inarguable evidence as unearthed by the specialist Enhanced Victim Recovery Dogs.

Although the report makes clear that these “canine markings”, made by Eddie and Keela, the famous specialist ‘Cadaver’dogs, were NOT corroborated by the FINAL FSS Laboratory results, :(“the material collected was not identified to pertaining to anyone specific”); it is OBVIOUS that the Portuguese WERE initially advised of a match to Madeleine McCann by the FSS, (SKY’s Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt was advised of a 100% Match to Madeleine, and reported as much on television, as did most other journals and media outlets with varying degrees of percentile match).

BUT the mere fact that these dogs ACCURATELY and UNQUESTIONABLY scented sources of cadaverine and other biologic materials in the McCanns apartment, their hire car and on the McCanns personal belongings, and ONLY IN AND ON THOSE PLACES and in NO OTHER APARTMENTS, CARS OR OBJECTS, is surely deserving of the attention of even the most obtuse journalist.

But NOW, it seems, there IS hope.

After years of “scurrilous allegations” *, “unhelpful and hurtful comments” * and “ludicrous speculation” *, (*©Copyright C. Mitchell), we are, it seems finally going to get THE, definitive, factually accurate and honest account of what really took place in Praia da Luz during that fateful summer of 2007.

In what is being billed as an “account of the truth” by KATE McCANN, the Daily Mail reports that “THE true story of Madeleine McCann's disappearance is set to be revealed in an explosive new book billed as the publishing sensation of the year”. 

(Explosive?)

I’m pretty sure that Richard Desmond must be trying to exact a little tongue-in-cheek revenge for his own, previously referred to, expensive publishing’s on the McCann case, for according to the Daily Express, Kate’s reasons for writing the book were “simple. To give an account of the truth.” However, the paper includes this statement directly adjacent to its note that Kate was signing, a “Multi-million pound publishing deal”.

So what can possibly be so “explosive” in this account? What secrets are set to be “sensational”? What is Kate set to REVEAL, in the book described in another tabloid as the book that is “set to reveal all”?

At the risk of ruining the plot for those set to form suitable and orderly queues outside their book stores, or those placing orders with their Newsagents to reserve their copies of the newspapers who are paying HUGE sums for the serialisation rights, I’m going to hazard an educated guess and propose a synopsis :-

1. The Portuguese Police are useless.

2. Madeleine was kidnapped, probably by a paedophile(s), or by someone on behalf of a paedophile(s).

3. The Portuguese police tried to frame Kate and Gerry.

4. Madeleine is alive, and will one day be reunited with her family, (as long as kind people and celebrities continue to send donations, items for auction and other forms of financial backing or pecuniary advantage).

5. The Portuguese Police are useless.

6. Erm...that’s it.

What the book probably will NOT contain, are any explanations or answers regarding the innumerable questions that many followers of this case might care to ask. 

Questions, perhaps, relating to shutters.

Broken or jemmied? Open or closed?

Windows open or closed?

Open or closed balcony doors?

Open or closed FRONT doors?

Doors closed and locked or doors closed and UNLOCKED?

All were testified to during those first interviews, (the breaking of the shutters aspect being widely broadcast and published during interviews with the McCanns’ relatives) but given that Kate made the discovery that her daughter was missing, SHE and only she knows for certain.

Nor, no doubt, will Kate probably explain WHY, when confronted with the IRREFUTABLE “canine markings” of the specialist dogs that detected the scent of BOTH cadaverine and biological fluids, signalling a DEAD human body, did the McCanns contact the lawyers of a man charged with murder who “successfully challenged sniffer dog evidence”, for advice.

Rather than break down uncontrollably at the revelation suggesting that their daughter had died in the apartment?

Perhaps Kate will also enlighten us as to why, in the dead of night, she clearly thought that the best person to find Madeleine would be a Roman Catholic priest?

And given that the McCanns have acquired something of a predilection for writing regularly to a whole host of celebrities and other individuals for DONATIONS, their latest fundraiser involving BAGS being donated by famous owners for a recently held auction to raise monies for their cause, (to which Kylie Minogue was a donor); perhaps Kate will touch on that famous BLUE tennis BAG of their own, a holdall that the Portuguese were so anxious to trace after it went missing.

The one that Martin Brunt’s documentary insisted “could hold the key to Madeleine’s disappearance”.

The one whose whereabouts BRITISH police tried to ascertain in subsequent Rogatory questioning of ‘Tapas’ members.

The one that that appeared in the photograph of the McCann apartment, as presented to Kate by the Portuguese Police, on the occasion she elected NOT to answer any one of the infamous “48 questions”.

The one that Clarence Mitchell insists NEVER EXISTED. “Gerry has never owned such a bag. As far as Kate and Gerry are concerned, there is no missing tennis bag. They came back from holiday with everything except of course, tragically, Madeleine”, he explains.

I have absolutely no doubts that Kate is going to regale us with horrendous stories about how she was pressured by the Portuguese Police, about that famous plea bargain deal, (as explained by Philomena McCann), that would see her serving a lighter sentence if she confessed to having been involved in Madeleine’s death.

But I equally have absolutely no doubt that she categorically WON’T explain the one thing that resulted in her being made an Arguida in the first place. The one that EVERY single Media outlet either completely missed, or elected NOT to probe or question. 

The one FACT that is there, in black and white, in the FINAL report. The report that Clarence swears by and the one that ‘Team McCann’ adhere to when explaining their complete innocence.

The one that appears under the Policia Judiciaria’s reasons for making the McCanns suspects:

“Kate Healy was not immediately made an arguida, but merely interviewed voluntarily as a witness. Only after her interview was she made an arguida, that is, after she was confronted with concrete facts that might lead to her incrimination”

!!!

“...concrete facts that might lead to her incrimination” ???

Do tell, Kate. What were these “concrete facts” that you were confronted with?

No doubt Kate will include in her writings the countless sleepless nights she experiences on a regular basis. 

The lying awake, thinking. 

Doubts, fears? Remorse. Guilt? Perhaps.

Perhaps also a touch of worry and concern? Worry at not knowing exactly what is in those other thousands of documents that the Portuguese still cling to? Or perhaps, given your seemingly endless number of friends in very high places, concern because you DO know what is in those documents?

As has always been, and perhaps always WILL be in this case; the questions keep on mounting, but the answers come not.

So, to conclude, I’m going to answer one of the questions that Kate will almost CERTAINLY answer herself, in her book. The question as to WHY she has persistently refused, (along with her husband and friends), to partake in a reconstruction?

Kate is going to say tell us she doesn’t trust the bungling, useless Portuguese Police; a force that, not only tried to “frame” her and her husband,  but failed to properly look for the person(s), who kidnapped her daughter. 

She is, no doubt, going to cite all the ‘evidence’ as obtained by Metodo 3, along with all the other dubious ‘detective agencies’, ex-special policemen and ‘Team McCann’ Media consultants POSING as ex- special policemen; evidence and suspects as printed in every paper in the UK ranging from Third World paedophile rings who “snatch to order”, to known dead convicted sex offenders who had a secret that they never quite confessed to.

The answer she ISN’T going to give is this one:

You can’t reconstruct a lie. You can’t reconstitute an illusion. Like all magic tricks, you can only ever show it to your audience once, or they will quickly work out how you did it.

Godbless Madeleine McCann, wherever you may be.....................

NO Truth of the Lie in the UK.... by Spudgun

Goncalo Amaral has announced that he intends to market his book, on which the Lisbon Courts lifted a BAN recently, in the UK.

His book, ‘"Maddie - A Verdade da Mentira" - 'The Truth of the Lie", is an account of the investigation over which he presided, in the hunt for the missing girl, Madeleine McCann.

Despite the books obvious popularity, especially in Mr. Amaral’s home Country PORTUGAL,( as well as many other Countries), after a successful, contrived Court action by the McCanns, it was eventually banned in September 2009.

I, (along with many others, I am sure), wish Mr. Amaral all the luck in the world.

Sadly, however, he is going to NEED it........................

For I truly believe that this book, along with copies of the DVD Documentary which was based on the book, will NOT see the light of day here in the UK.

For if they DID, they would produce a rather unique and untenable set of circumstances, for publishers, the MEDIA, for the very laws of Libel and for the ESTABLISHMENT itself that has resolutely thus far sought to protect the McCanns at every turn.

For if we cast our minds back to MARCH of 2008, we find that the EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS dared to repeat what Goncola Amaral and the Portuguese Media had suggested: That Kate & Gerry McCann were involved in the disappearance of their daughter.

For daring to do so, it cost them £550,000 paid to the McCanns in an “out of Court settlement”(not to mention Court costs which would have been at LEAST equal to this amount).

They THEN paid a further £375,000 to the ‘Tapas 7’ for repeating SIMILAR allegations, which in turn they nicely ALSO donated to the McCanns. (SORRY, the “Find Madeleine” fund).

For those who do not KNOW anything about the owner of the Express newspaper group, they may perhaps suspect nothing untoward in this apparent climb down and substantial payment by the Newspapers the ‘Daily Express’, ‘Sunday Express’, ‘Daily Star’ and ‘Sunday Star’.

For those who DO know "Dirty Des", however, this course of action simply beggared belief!

I have never met Express Newspapers Proprietor, Richard Desmond. I know many that have and feel confident I know SOME things about him.

I know that he is extremely forthright and has a notorious temper.

His well known ‘party piece’ is an impersonation of Adolf Hitler singing a chorus of "Deutschland über Alles"

He is alleged to have once locked a senior Executive in a cupboard. He denies throwing a chair at the head of one of his own senior executives but admits, "I pushed the chair."

He also denies that he once ordered an executive to stand on the boardroom table, pull his trousers down and call himself a "cunt" because he was late for a meeting.

There are certainly many who have had dealings with him, who attest to having been on the receiving end of just that foulest of expletives.

He has accumulated quite a wealth, partly due to his publication of soft-Porn titles, starting with Penthouse. It was the beginning of a magazine empire that went on to include such salacious names as Asian Babes, Readers' Wives and Big Ones to name but a few.

Although he has since SOLD these titles, he still runs his own soft-core Pornography channel on Satellite/Cable TV, as well as now owning the ‘Channel 5’ TV channel.

He greatly enjoys his reputation of being a man who takes no prisoners, of behaving like an underworld gangster.

According to ‘Private Eye’, just within this past week, in a meeting with executives with ‘Endemol’, designed to negotiate a deal to screen the now defunct ‘Big Brother’ Reality show, he offered them a “pittance” for permission to screen it on Channel 5.

He violently smashed his glass down on the table and called them “Fucking Wankers” when they refused his offer. (Funnily enough, exactly the same terms he used on Executives when trying to negotiate a purchase of the ‘Telegraph’ newspaper some years ago).

As the Eye pointed out, he notoriously exhibits “tight-fistedness” and “foul-mouthed thuggery”.

You get the picture?

Now try and align these traits and characteristics with someone who, without a single Court appearance, threw up his hands, took out his wallet and coughed up well over a MILLION Sterling for doing no more, (and in some cases, much LESS), than what many other Newspapers, magazines and media outlets had ALSO already done, which was to merely report on the allegations that were emanating out of Portugal.

I once commented, ACCURATELY I surmised, (although perhaps tastelessly), that the only way Richard Desmond would willingly part with money to the McCanns was if he were successful in persuading KATE to appear nude in one of his less than salubrious magazines!.

How can it possibly BE, that this fearless GIANT of the Media World, a man who by his own admission likes to challenge the very borders of “acceptability”, not only parted with what was for HIM, an unprecedented amount of money, but also published FRONT PAGE APOLOGIES on all publications, a move described by the Media commentator Roy Greenslade as "unprecedented".

("I think this is an amazing stand-down, a U-turn, by the Express newspapers,") he said.)??

Like so much with the case of Madeleine McCann, perhaps we shall never know. I am certainly in no position to suggest the reasons, and like so much with anything to do with the McCanns and their missing daughter, hard EVIDENCE is a bit thin on the ground.

But there ARE a few pointers, and a few issues which bother me.

When Desmond first announced his intention to acquire the Express Newspapers group, he was ridiculed and lambasted from all sides, his critics asserting that he would never pass a “fit and proper person” test to make such an acquisition.

According to the ‘INDEPENDENT’ (amongst other newspapers), in 2000, within “minutes” of walking into the Express headquarters, Desmond received a call inviting him for a chat with Tony Blair.

Mr. Blair's Labour critics believed and commented that the meeting produced a promise that the Government would not block the acquisition.

Sure enough, in February 2001, the then trade and industry secretary, Stephen Byers, announced that he would not block the Desmond deal.

Richard Desmond promptly gave the Labour Party a £100,000 donation.

Perhaps more importantly for New Labour, Desmond, (an obviously blatant Capitalist), suddenly declared himself a ‘Socialist’, and faithfully printed Blair and Brown propaganda in his newspapers.

I guess that’s the way business and politics work.

But it has always confounded and perplexed me as to WHY, the most resilient, independent, vociferous, FEARLESS publisher, a man who has frequently been referred to as an ‘OUTSIDER’ and as a man who apparently cows down to NO-ONE, should so quietly, almost reverently, bow down under very little, if ANY tangible pressure.

For example, when Desmond was seeking to acquire a LONDON Evening Newspaper, he announced that he would call it the ‘Evening Mail’. This was a big JOKE, on Desmond’s part.

He famously LOATHES the Daily newspaper the Daily Mail, and his declaration of the intended title was merely a prank, a 'wind-up', purely designed to irritate the Daily Mail group.

It worked spectacularly. It was inevitable that Associated Newspapers, owners of the Daily Mail, would object to such a flagrant misappropriation of their trade name.

They issued a writ and TOOK DESMOND TO COURT to prevent him from using that name.

Even though it was a Joke, and no such title, (or indeed nightly NEWSPAPER), would ever have existed, Desmond went to Court and FOUGHT the case!!.

He lost, but thought the case worth it, if only to cause angst and grief for his enemies.

Because that’s exactly the kind of guy he is.

In its front page apologies to the McCanns, the Express Newspapers wrote:-

"A number of articles in the newspaper have suggested that the couple caused the death of their missing daughter Madeleine and then covered it up. We acknowledge that there is no evidence whatsoever to support this theory and that Kate and Gerry are completely innocent of any involvement in their daughter's disappearance."

About as Clarence Mitchell-esque as one could get. (No doubt Clarenece got to actually write it himself).

But as I pointed out in a previous Blogging, the basic, fool-proof, cast-iron defence in a Libel or other Defamation case, is where the assertions being made are TRUE.

And if the UK is to allow the publication of Goncalo’s book, based on the LISBON Court findings who,( as well as re-establishing Amaral’s right to freedom of speech), declared that as the book was based on Police records, it was essentially a TRUE account!!; then where does that leave Richard Desmond?

Surely, if Amaral’s book can be deemed to be an accurate and TRUE account, then not only is Desmond free to RE-PUBLISH his assertions and accusations relating to the McCanns, copied from the Portuguese Press, but he could technically SUE the McCanns and the Tapas group for his MONEY BACK, based on them PERJURING themselves, could he not?

After all, the News of the World are clearly rubbing their hands in expectation over Tommy Sherridan and his wife, who have GONE ON TRIAL over allegations that they LIED in their £200,000 LIBEL Victory over the Newspaper a few years ago.

However, as much as I would relish such a prospect as seeing Clarence Mitchell make pleading noises with the public for donations to help out Kate and Gerry in their legal plight, it’s never going to happen.


Because underneath all this murky subterfuge, staged propaganda and fabricated garbage put out by the so called ‘Media’, lays an unknown secret.

Or perhaps SEVERAL secrets.........

As I have been wont to say on many occasions, we may NEVER know what happened in Praia de Luz in May 2007.

But what we DO know, surely without question, is that since that fateful night when a little girl was reported missing, Madeleine McCanns parents, (who were subsequently made criminal SUSPECTS in the case), have enjoyed privileges, freedoms, rights, advantages, treatments and PROTECTIONS afforded by the British Authorities, its POLICE, its Celebrity Culture, its Press and Media and, most tellingly, its Politicians and GOVERNMENT.

And to completely usurp that state of affairs with the TRUTH, just because of a decision made by those “bungling Porto Judges” in Lisbon, would be a truth too far. Perhaps for too many people.

I’m sure that Richard Desmond is cursing the McCanns as ‘C***s’, (under his breath of course), as I write.........................