Madeleine McCann-What PRICE the TRUTH? £6m and RISING.

Even the most casual ‘follower’ of this case, the most intriguing and baffling missing child case of all time, will know by now that the chief ‘suspect’ in the abduction of the child has been eliminated.

His ‘elimination’ however, is far more bizarre and downright DUBIOUS then his first emergence, seven YEARS ago.

According to McCann friend and fellow holiday-maker, Jane Tanner, her sworn testimony asserts that she saw a man carrying a child away from the McCann’s holiday apartment shortly before Kate McCann reported she had discovered Madeleine missing.

It was THIS testimony alone that formed the basis of the abduction theory, at least in the camp of ‘Team McCann’.

Innumerable column inches in newspaper stories, press reports, as well as countless TV interviews, magazine articles, News broadcasts, breakfast TV appearances, chat shows and even BOOKS, have all been given over in the quest to search for and to identify this man whom the McCann’s, their friends, allies,(and seemingly endless PR entourage), are quoted as stating they believe was responsible for the abduction of Madeleine.

Of course, those who have followed this case more closely, studying the available Portuguese and British police documents relating to the matter will know that not everyone held quite as much faith in this ‘abductor’.

The Portuguese Polícia Judiciária for example,NEVER placed any significance on Jane Tanner’s sighting for a number of reasons.

- It was FAR too dark at the time of the alleged sighting for her to make any kind of description, especially given the distances reportedly involved.

- Tanner, herself, (or on other occasions, ‘Team McCann’), has modified or even completely CHANGED the description of the person she states she saw:-height, build, dress,  colour, race and even on one occasion, SEX of this individual have all been subject to alteration.

-Perhaps more significantly, at the precise TIME of this alleged sighting two other witnesses, (one of which was Gerry McCann), were in pretty much the exact same area and saw neither this ‘abductor’ NOR Jane Tanner herself.

So the man who came to be known, variously, as ‘Egg Man’, ‘Bundleman’, ‘Swarthy-Man’,’'Gypsy-Man’ and a number of other monikers, was truly a man of immense  mystery indeed.

However, any mystery surrounding this, surely MOST WANTED,  suspect pales into abject insignificance when one considers the downright abstruseness surrounding his REAPPEARANCE!

For Scotland Yard’s finest announced, in October of last year, that this MAN had, in fact, now come FORWARD to eliminate himself from the inquiries by stating that it was HE whom Jane Tanner had observed, carrying his OWN daughter!. 

Not only did this man produce the self-same CLOTHES that he had worn on the night in question, all those years ago, but astonishingly, (as was reported in the PRESS), he even managed to produce his daughters’ “frilly pyjamas” that SHE had been wearing that night also, that had allegedly led Jane Tanner to think the girl was Madeleine!.

Of course, a CYNIC might want to know why this man had remained completely incognito for over six years, despite endless, unavoidable media coverage and countless appeals for information seeking to identify him. 

A cynic would most definitely want to know how or why ANY parent would be able to produce a pair of pyjamas, (or indeed ANY item of clothing), belonging to a child who would clearly have outgrown them by six years.

Alas, those questions are never going to be answered. 

Not least because the man in question has NOT been identified.

DCI Andy Redwood, the Met officer leading the review of the case of the missing girl, described this astonishing turn of events as a "revelation moment".

HOWEVER, to my mind, that’s nowhere NEAR as revelational as the NEW suspect that we are now to centre our attentions on, according to Scotland Yard, and as featured in the BBC  TV ‘Crimewatch’ reconstruction.

THIS “new suspect”, a man seen carrying a child in pyjamas “towards the ocean” is of course, the very self-same man who had been previously witnessed and  described by a family from IRELAND.

The very self-same man whose e-fits had actually been drawn up in 2007.

The very-self same man who had been identified to the McCann’s as "a very credible suspect" in 2008 by the McCann’s own investigators, headed by former MI5 operatives.

The very self-same man whose existence the McCann’s had sought to prevent being made public by taking LEGAL action ordering the investigators not to disclose it......

Team McCann is reported as saying that this information was suppressed as it 
“would have been completely distracting” if made public, and that the McCann’s wanted to 
“focus on a man seen by one of their friends” (Jane Tanner), and
 “it would have been too expensive to conduct full investigations into both sightings”.

Presumably, the decision to obscure this information was entirely unrelated to the fact that the chief witness, Martin Smith, had later stated;- 
“I would be 60-80% sure that it was Gerald McCann that I met that night carrying a child”.

So here we are, almost SEVEN years down the line, still searching for the truth.
Searching amongst all the suspects, as regularly paraded by the Media, for a glimmer of hope.

A  genuine clue. 

A tangible piece of evidence. 

A factual accuracy.

Yet, amongst all the “swarthy suspects”, the Romany Gypsies, the dead paedophiles, the Middle-East sex-rings, the Moroccan gangsters, the ‘mysterious’ van full of cleaners, the now deceased black tractor driver who was never convicted of an offence when he was alive, the phantom sex-abuser who “liked young white girls”, the “gang of burglars”; ALL are linked by one factor only:- 

That there is not a single iota of evidence to support any of their involvement.

ALL the above have been cited in the media as being 'persons of interest' to the Scotland Yard investigation, and whilst Redwood cannot be expected to generalise or elaborate, one would think that he would at least have made a statement DENYING that they were in the frame, were that not the case.

So WHAT cost, precisely, the truth?

In a leaked letter from the HOME office, in  a response to information requested by a Welsh MP, it gives the following figures, current as to FEBRUARY  of this year:-

“The costs incurred by the Metropolitan Police Service’s investigation, (operation Grange), so FAR, are £1,929,354 for 2011/12; £2,770,387 for 2012/13 and £1,254,705 for 2013/14.”
That’s a CURRENT total of £5,954,446 up to 14^th February of this year. On average, a running total of around £2m per year. 

Until when? Who knows?

What about the cost to the PORTUGUESE inquiry into this case that allegedly almost “bankrupted” the Polícia Judiciária?

How much spent investigating the case by Private Detectives employed by the McCann’s?

How much spent on OTHER lines of inquiry funded by donations, sponsored events and high profile business backers? 

How much revenue raised via media deals, TV appearance fees, book deals and  serialisation rights?

How much in public donations, given by people of all ages and means, in a quest to find the truth surrounding what happened to the little girl?

All amount to but one unequivocal fact:-

That the British TAX payer has spent almost six million pounds Sterling, (and RISING, every day), to have Scotland Yard 'reveal' to us the ‘NEW’ suspect that the McCann’s themselves spent a fortune and SIX years keeping HIDDEN from us.

Godbless Madeleine McCann, wherever you may be.

Madeleine McCann. Same questions, same NON answers.

I cobbled this video together five and a half years ago, just a few Months after Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007.

It took me all of half-an hour to make, using schmaltzy, but evocative music and a few purloined pics from the Internet.

Saatchi & Saatchi would have loved the idea, even if they’d have scorned the final result.

Watching it again, today, for the first time in a LONG time; I was struck by one, overriding issue. That it could have been made yesterday.

For the questions that this clip POSE not only remain unanswered; more significantly, they remain not ASKED.

Because, irrespective of whatever happened to the little girl that Summer in Praia da Luz there are, still, infinitely more questions than answers relating to this case.

I have never asserted that Madeleine McCann was murdered by her parents. In fact, I have NEVER proffered ANY theory as to what might have happened to her.

All I have ever maintained is that what has been ALLEGED to have happened, by the McCanns, their never ending team of advisers, publicists, Government Minister contacts, wealthy backers and innumerable Press and Media lackeys, can NOT have happened.

At least, not in the way that they are maintaining.

I believe that Madeleine died in the apartment. 

I believe the specialist dogs that indicated and located forensic materials. 

I believe the FSS Forensic laboratories that initially stated that there was a DNA match derived from those materials, to Madeleine McCann, even though that department elected to CHANGE its opinion a while later, determining that the results were “inconclusive”.

I also believe that the Portuguese were brought under HUGE pressure, as they state, exerted by the British Government to enable certain courses of action to unfold and for certain conclusions to be reached.

More succinctly, I simply believe in the Portuguese. In their authorities and in their Police; in their ability to investigate crime, and most of ALL, in their PEOPLE, who have been ridiculed, lambasted, insulted and derogated to an appalling degree by a subservient Press and Media that have been directed to do so, not to mention by British MEP's.

I also believe that this is so much more than a case about a missing child and what or what didn’t happen to her. It is an inexorable but tangible web of deceit and fabrication, a determination by many people who are insistent on ensuring that a certain line of thought is pursued, maintained and propagated, whatever the cost.

I have seen nothing, thus far, to suggest that FAITH can be placed in the Scotland Yard “review”, currently taking place. 

The British Police, after all, are merely foot soldiers of the British GOVERNMENT, and if the accusations that the British Government has influenced this case are TRUE, (and there IS, ample evidence of their involvement in this case), then there is no reason to suggest that the Metropolitan Police will reach a different conclusion to the one currently been enjoyed by Team McCann.

However.

The Portuguese, seemingly are conducting their OWN review. For them, surely, this is so much more than a case of a missing child also. For them, this has to be a case about truth, honesty, impartiality and integrity.

More importantly, about HONOUR and pride.

Whatever deals, decisions or agreements were initially ‘brokered’ between the two Countries, as has been suggested must be put aside and refuted.  

Not least for those “Country Bumpkins” as the British Press described the residents of Praia da Luz, who spent the whole night of 3^rd May 2007 on their hands and knees, sifting the dirt for CLUES as to the whereabouts of a little girl.

Yes, those questions ARE, indeed still very much unanswered. 

But for the sake of Madeleine, and  for TRUTH, justice and common decency, they must now be ASKED.

God bless Madeleine, 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.........................