Friday 11 September 2020

Socrates: a review:

Eumenides is most pleased  to post this clear and accurate review by Socrates.



I have been asked to write a short piece looking back on what this saga has revealed. 


One of the extraordinary things is that after 13 years, the intervention of three nations' police and criminal investigators, the 'assistance' of at least three different Private investigation agencies, the combined might of all the acolytes, sycophants and apologists, the background presence of the most feared firm of Libel Lawyers in the world, and many many others, there is still not a single piece of evidence that an abduction took place.

Nothing.

There is moreover not a single coherent theory suggested which could account for an abduction within the extremely tight parameters of time and place imposed on the scenario by the main protagonists.


What we have is evidence of a death, of the presence of a corpse, of subsequent removal, and a litany of excuses and falsehoods apparently from a badly written and poorly thought out and under-rehearsed  script.


Posters on various fora have made and continue to make valuable contributions to the understanding of the whole story.

By concentrating on tiny details and picking at them until they are fully exposed, we have worked in the way a major crime investigation is organised.  Teams and individuals are handed dozens, often hundreds of small tasks, (TTBD = things to be done) and gradually the 'blanks are filled in' so that the SIO is able, with luck, to see the bigger picture.


And as we have also seen, from apparently tiny observations new lines of enquiry emerge.

Here is one startling example.

The revelation of TR's interest in things adolescent and digitally manipulative sparked a renewed interest in the pool photo, which up to that moment had focussed on whether or not the image itself had been tampered with.  The debate had degenerated onto an “It is, it isn’t” playground level.


But the linking of a close family member who was known to be a keen and skilled amateur astronomer and then the discovery that he was also skilled in manipulating digital images, in turn led to research and comparison of similar images taken by many other tourists during the week, then to detailed research into weather reports and satellite records, submission of the image to two genuine professionals in the field,  and thence to a realisation that whilst the image itself was genuine, the date recorded on it had been altered.


And from there the forensic trace back to the likely forger and the identification of the messenger were suddenly clear.


And from there the motive behind altering the Metadata became an issue.


Some time later, from another angle entirely, came a detailed analysis of witness statements in an attempt to find definitive reports of Madeleine’s activities during the week.

That analysis showed a remarkable lack of any credible sightings. Indeed it became clear that even those close to the parents had apparently deliberately sought to distance themselves from making any positive and definite statement.

The sudden change in Oldfield's statement that he had seen Madeleine in bed when he checked the children at 9;30 pm to the oddly unconvincing story that he had merely looked in, seen the twins were breathing, but had not turned his head or eyes slightly to the left to see Madeleine formed part of this pattern.  And then one assumes turned round to the right in order not to see her

It would have made him the ‘last person to see her alive’, which in any major investigation is an uncomfortable position to be in.

By altering his testimony he was able to accord that honour to the father.


When this is added to the alteration of the date on the photo a hypothesis began to emerge, namely that Madeleine died earlier in the week. 


This in turn would explain the photos taken on Saturday the day of arrival, the Pool photo taken on the Sunday, and then the total absence of any other photo of Madeleine or the twins in the following four days leading up to the report that she was missing.

 

And so on.


In my e-book I have tried to tackle individual tiny issues, and to pick at them until they bled.


I have no special insight, no contacts and no private knowledge.

I work purely on what has been reported, and everything I have is in the public domain.


That others people's individual expertise has been brought to bear on different aspects is one of the reasons I have found this case so fascinating for so long.   Every new theory tests us, so long as we remember the adage:

“You are entitled to your opinion. You are not entitled to your own set of facts”


Let us never give up until the case is solved.

Thank you all.



Sunday 1 September 2019

TRADE MARKS


TRADE MARK:

By A DAY TRADER
Published: 2011/04/12  

Perhaps one of the most bizarre aspects of the case of missing Madeleine McCann is that, within days of her disappearance, her parents submitted a trade mark application on her behalf. Trade marks are typically used to protect commercial property rights, so that, in this bizarre case, it seems that not only was Madeleine perceived as a missing daughter, but also as a future commercial concern, the rights of which were required, to protect the commercial interests of Team McCann. In a way, it's easy to see why Madeleine's image attracted substantial sums for the interested parties. [..] Is it customary to mark a missing child this way? Was the McCanns' child an exception, whose name needed to be trade marked in the circumstances? Source: ipo.gov.uk

Classes: 09, 16, 36, 41

Relevant dates

Filing date: 18 May 2007
Next renewal date: 18 May 2017
Registration date: 22 February 2008

List of goods or services

Class 09: Downloadable internet publications
Class 16: Printed matter
Class 36: Charitable fundraising; charitable and non-charitable services relating to the provision of assistance to families and others affected by missing children.
Class 41: Non-downloadable internet publications 






From:   https://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t11499-isabelle-mcfadden-trademark-proceedings-started-may-18th-2007-in-usa?highlight=trademark


Thursday 22 August 2019

NOTES REFERRING TO BOATS, PINGS AND PSYCHICS.



The Swansea number: 


Wednesday 2nd May 2007: 

At 11.21 Kate received a call from what appears to be a landline in Swansea ( xxxxx0023). The report by Inspector Dias researched this call in detail (Page 21 in his report of 9th November 2007) and discovered that it had not activated any of the Luz antennae. But digging deeper, he found that another UK mobile (xxxxx 1583) had triggered the Luz antenna when connecting to the same Swansea number at 14.01. He dug even deeper, tracked all of the calls made from Luz by xxxx1583 and established it had no connection whatsoever with any of the “Tapas 9”. The Swansea call to Kate McCann was simply a “wrong number”, misrouted and thus not logged by the Luz antennae.
What Inspector Dias did not realise was that the Swansea call had become so special to Kate McCann that, when deleting all of the other Portuguese call records from memory, she decided to leave this one intact.



The ‘press release  below was dated 12th May 2007. (apparently for a mere £ 50,- anyone could get a ‘press release’. The site no longer seems to be accessible) 

The psychics: 


It is clearly not possible for either of these two psychics to have been at the Lagos Marina  before the 8th of May, when Kate submitted the photographs to DC Markley for on the 27th of May the Daily Star reports that Diane Lazarus is flying out on Wednesday the 30th of May 2007. (see part 4)
Press release:
This  ‘press release was dated 12th May 2007. (apparently for a mere £ 50,- anyone could get a ‘press release’. The site no longer seems to be accessible) 


Hi, We've just had this great story come about a couple of our clients and thought that it may be of interest to you.
Two UK psychic detectives have arrived in Portugal in a bid to help track down missing toddler Madeleine McCann.
Amanda Hart from St Albans and Ben Murphy from Watford believe their psychic powers could provide the missing key in finding the three year old who has been missing since last Thursday.
[..] Amanda Hart, who has appeared on Tricia Goddards Psychic Challenge and regularly presented her own psychic radio show, says she has been receiving vital clues as to the childs whereabouts. Her partner, Ben Murphy who was involved in helping track down the murderer of teenager Sally Anne Bowman last year, has also had psychic impressions of her location. 
The pair arrived in Portugal on Friday and are hoping to use Amanda’s ability as a psychic ‘tracker’ to help find Madeleine.
Spokesman Kizzi Nkwocha said: “Both Amanda and Ben have proven their psychic abilities beyond any doubt. They now hope to use these powers to help find Madeleine. Any information they get will be made available to the authorities in Portugal.”

Kizzi Nkwocha


OK, that makes it Friday the 11th, so it is  rather strange that Diane Lazarus was flying out on the 30th May, according to the Daily Star:as she tells the Daily Star on the 27th: ‘she hopes to link up with Maddy’s devastated parents once she gets there.’ At her home in Cross Hands, South Wales she has been bombarded with emails..’.
As it happens the village of ‘Cross Hands’ is appreciably nearer Swansea than it is to Cardiff, which links it to the mysterious Swansea number on Kate’s phone on the 2nd of May.  

Meanwhile, Amanda Hart flitted around the Algarve, writing a blog containing much in the way of angels, abandoned farmhouses and random doves. I understand that the McCanns called her off around the middle of June. Possibly because she broadcast the death of Madeleine as being the message from white doves. 

What is abundantly clear is that neither Diane Lazarus nor Amanda Hart were able to point out the right boat to Kate and take photographs as they did not arrive in Portugal until Friday the 11th at the earliest. At least Amanda Hart did as she reports being there in time for Madeleine’s birthday on the 12th. 

So when were these photographs Kate gave to DC Markley actually taken? It looks to be either during Kate’s little excursion on the 4th or earlier that week. However, bearing in mind that Kate’s mobile did not leave PdL before the 4th of May according to the PJ, it is clear from the records that the Tapas 9 were all well aware of the need to be cautious with their mobile use. 

From 'Madeleine' written by Kate McCann we learn: Friday 4: Virtually the entire day was spent at PJ headquarters in Portimao. They travelled there with police at 10.00 a.m. (p.88) returning to Praia da Luz 'some time after 8.30 p.m.' (p.92).

There are a number of interesting points regarding the pings of the McCann’s mobiles on that Friday.   

Gerry's mobile  pings the Portimao mast at 10.55.07.The records stay on the Portimao antenna until 18:24:45pm.(presumably for both the McCanns.)
The records returned to Luz at 21:11:22pm,  the PJ records note:' that there is an interval without contact between the last entry in Portimao and the first in the village where he was on holiday. ‘

As for Kate
Her phone pings the Portimao mast at 10.44.53: 
PJ files: ‘From that moment until 18:19:29, inclusive, it activates only antennae that serve this locality.(u,e, Portimao)
The antenna registered immediately following that one is "Luz Centro 2" at 23:17:52.

Now it looks as if Gerry was off-line between 18.24.45 pm and 21.11.22 pm. Whereas Kate’s phone signs off from Portimao at 18.19.29 and alerts Luz Centro 2 at 23.17.52. Another gap which would be interesting to examine. The time of the first press ‘conference’ that evening is not clear and the McCanns  may well have needed some help in drawing up a statement and therefore turned their phones off. Possibly representatives of Bell Pottinger PR who were already on the spot may have advised them at this juncture.  

If the photographs were taken on the morning of the 4th by Kate, she would have needed to print these off somewhere. Surely not at the Ocean Club, although this is a possibility. This ‘evidence’ was only  passed on to the liaison officer DC Markley on the 8th of May. We may assume that it could not be produced earlier because the photographs were not available any earlier in printed form. 

Meanwhile, apart from the unspecified psychic at Lagos marina, a number of witnesses backed up the 'abducted by yacht/boat' and pointed to the sea as well, notably Michael Wright with the ‘evidence’ of George Burke seeing a child dragged to the marine in the early morning of Friday the 4th.  Miss Pennington did her bit too by locating a suspicious character in a rowing boat. David Payne and Russell O’Brien looked for Maddie on the beach at some point, although David Payne specifies his search as lasting 'not long'.  All this activity would certainly make sense if the police needed to be strongly encouraged to look anywhere except in Praia da Luz itself. 

Cognitive thinking would seem to indicate that the McCanns thought the sighting by the far too observant Smith family would surface, most likely as early as Friday the 4th.  Another abductor would have to be reported to invalidate this meeting. For to have been seen by one or two people on their way to or from the nightlife of PdL would have been of some use. But there were no less than 9 family members and Mrs. Smith spoke to the 'man with the child'. But the Smiths didn't contact the police at that time and although they were at a later date  certain it was Gerry McCann they'd seen, by that time the case was unravelling and the McCanns were safely back in the UK.

Once the evidence of the Smith family was submitted at the end of May, the PJ officers realised why  the curious Tannerman abductor had been promoted by the McCanns as the one and only abductor.  Clearly the PJ didn't take the the evidence of the Tapas 7 seriously. They gave Gerry an alibi for the time at which the Smiths saw 'the man with the child' in the quiet street leading down towards the beach.  With Tannerman now getting the leading role, at a different time during which Gerry was talking to a fellow holidaymaker, and seen by Jane Tanner, his new alibi was secured. He could not be 'the man with the child' for by that time a witness had seen Maddie being abducted whilst Gerry's back was turned. 

But if it was Gerry who was noticed by the Smiths, consider the sleeping child he was carrying. It is unlikely to have been Madeleine herself, for most likely it was on the Wednesday 1) that her body was hidden somewhere, probably not by either of the parents. 

However on that night there were two comatose children available, carrying one of them dressed in pyamas would be no problem. Observation is all to do with proportion and angle of view. The photograph below shows Gerry carrying Sean and it would be easy to guess Sean's age at about 4 to 5 at least. Gerry is about 6'1" and Kate is about 5'7". Even the petite Amelie seems fairly tall in this photograph. 

The sequence of events that night and the events of Wednesday the 2nd of May point to Madeleine having died earlier that week. It is highly unlikely that Gerry would take a walk with a deceased child. More likely is that her body was removed from 5A on Wednesday and hidden in an apartment to which the McCanns didn't have a key or/and didn't even know where it was. But there was certainly a risk of very thorough house - to house searches by the police. In that case - should the body be found, the McCanns would have no connection to the location.  'Abduction gone wrong' would then have been the starting point of the investigation.  2)


These theories are based on the information given in the last five posts here. 
Any mistakes, more than pleased to correct them. 

1) https://fytton.blogspot.com/search/label/dogs

2)  https://fytton.blogspot.com/search/label/Blue%20bag%20blues







Wednesday 21 August 2019

PART 4: THE PSYCHICS AND THE BEACH

TOP PSYCHIC JOINS SEARCH
New twist in hunt for little Maddy DISGUISED AS A BOY? Charles’ deep concern

Daily Star Sunday   27 May 2007
Exclusive by RUTH HUGHES

AGONY: Maddy’s parents, Gerry and Kate McCann Lazarus, LEADING psychic Diane Madeleine inset above, believes is still alive but disguised as a boy, as shown in our edited image

A PSYCHIC is joining the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann.
Diane Lazarus says she will fly to Portugal on Wednesday at the request of a McCann family friend.
She will visit the holiday apartment on the Warner development at Praia da Luz where four-year-old Madeleine was staying when she vanished.
Mum-of-two Diane – who has helped police in high-profile investigations including the Jill Dando and Sarah Payne murder cases – thinks her skills can detect vital clues to who abducted the child and where she could be now. The psychic believes: 
● Madeleine IS still alive;
● She ISN’T  in Portugal;
● She has now been disguised as a BOY.
Diane told the Daily Star Sunday exclusively that she hopes to link up with Maddy’s devastated parents, Gerry and Kate, once she gets to Portugal.
At her home in Cross Hands, South Wales, she has been bombarded with e-mails from wellwishers begging her to help find Maddy and she says she is already “tuning in” to clues.
She confided: “I don’t think Maddy is actually in Portugal and they have kept moving her around.
“But I hope going there will give me the leads to where she went from there.
“I have also picked up that they have cut Madeleine’s hair and made her look like a boy. There are a couple of people involved.”


Robert Murat, who lives close to the Warner complex, is under suspicion of abducting Maddy.
But Diane insists: “I have thought he was innocent from day one.”
She went on: “Madeleine has touched my heart. She has been in my thoughts just as she is in everybody else’s. Now I just need to get out there and do something to help. “I need to start from the beginning and be where it all happened. “I will also look at a map of the area and take a photograph of Madeleine.

“I am going for four days and I should achieve a lot in that time. “I will have to be careful not to ruffle feathers with the Portuguese police because I don’t know how they feel about psychics.” Diane, 42, regularly teams up with her criminal lawyer husband, Peter Lazarus, to try and crack crimes here in the UK and in Ireland.
She talks about her skills in her autob i o g raphy, entitled Mixed Blessings. PRINCE Charles and Camilla last night gave their royal support to Maddy’s parents.
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall said they had been following the case “closely with deep concern for her parents”. Their statement added: “Their Royal Highnesses fervently hope that Madeleine will be safely returned to her family as soon as possible.”
It also emerged that soon-to-be Prime Minister Gordon Brown has spoken to Maddy’s dad Gerry on several occasions in the past few days offering “his full support”. Yesterday Gerry and his wife Kate described the sighting of a man seen on the night of her disappearance as “significant”. He is described as 35-to-40 years old, about 5ft 10in with short hair. He was wearing a dark jacket with light-coloured trousers.
The couple made a renewed appeal to find their four-year-old less than 24 hours after police released details of the mystery man. Mr McCann said: “We feel sure this sighting of a man with what appeared to be a child in his arms is both significant and relevant to Madeleine’s abduction.” 



6th June 2007 SOUTH WALES GUARDIAN 
Psychic says Maddie's safe

A GWENDRAETH Valley psychic has been enlisted to help with the search for missing Madeline McCann.
Mother-of-two Diane Lazarus, from Cross Hands, has flown out to Portugal to see if she can shed any light on the investigation for the missing four-year-old.
Madeline was abducted from her holiday apartment on the Algarve four weeks ago and has not been seen since.
Diane, who won Channel Five's Psychic Challenge two-years-ago, has helped police on a number of high-profile investigations in recent years.
She was invited by close friends of Gerry and Kate McCann to help with the flagging investigation, which does not appear to have produced any feasible leads.
She told a national newspaper that she has a number of theories which could lead to the capture of those responsible for the abduction.
Diane reached her conclusions after visiting the Mark Warner complex in Praia da Luz.
Mrs Lazarus has told police that the four-year-old is being well-looked after by her abductors in Spain.
She said: "I don't think that Madeline is in Portugal. The people who took her have kept moving her around.
"I have also picked up that they may have cut her hair to make her look like a boy.
"Quite honestly, I don't think Madeline has come to any harm."
Mrs Lazarus said she believes that Madeline was targeted by her abductors.
"They went out of their way to get a girl of a certain age," she said.
"They felt that as the McCanns have two other children, taking Maddie wouldn't be quite as bad."
But she is confident Madeline will be found. She will be returned to her mummy and daddy," she said.

AMANDA JAYNE HART:
Last May it was reported in the UK Press Gazette that the McCanns, their friends and their family had invited the 'alleged psychics' Diane Lazarus (of Cardiff) and Amanda Hart across to Portugal to see if they could discover what happened to Madeleine (Amanda is an ex-resident of Portugal and Spain).
What's interesting is that Amanda Hart registered a website domain for her new company on April 28 2007 called Amber Connections Ltd. 
Hart registered the actual company name on April 26th 2007 with the UK's 'Companies House'.
This 'psychic detective' company was to specialise in Missing Persons and Miscarriages of Justice. It was to behave in principle rather like the 'psychic wing' of Gerry's Amber Alert Sysyem.

Amanda Hart registered this domain 5 days before Madeleine went missing. It's alleged both she and Diane Lazarus were then invited across to Portugal by friends of the McCanns

What's interesting is that Amanda Hart registered a website domain for her new company on April 28 2007 called Amber Connections Ltd. 
Hart registered the actual company name on April 26th 2007 with the UK's 'Companies House'.
This 'psychic detective' company was to specialise in Missing Persons and Miscarriages of Justice. It was to behave in principle rather like the 'psychic wing' of Gerry's Amber Alert Sysyem.

Amanda Hart registered this domain 5 days before Madeleine went missing. It's alleged both she and Diane Lazarus were then invited across to Portugal by friends of the McCanns

Despite the fact that Praia da Luz doesn't have a marina, the nearest being Lagos, the beach was not forgotten: 
"On my insistence, Gerry and Dave went out again to look for some sign of Madeleine. They went up and down the beach in the dark, running, shouting, desperate to find something; please God, to find Madeleine herself. It was only much later that Gerry told me he’d already started remembering cases of other missing children and acknowledging the horrific possibility that Madeleine might not be found. It was a possibility I could not have begun to contemplate."

This is how David Payne remembers it: 
'we went down err to the beach ......he broke down with me on the front, you know. You know just very obviously a broken man, and you know we spent some time you know, not long, I was trying my best to console him, we went back then to the err the apartment, you know it's, by around about four, four thirty in the morning..............'

Next we have the amazing Miss Pennington:

Portuguese police to probe 'Madeleine dumped at sea' claim Daily Mail (article no longer available online)

Last updated at 14:48pm on 14th October 2007

Portuguese police are becoming increasingly convinced that Madeleine McCann's body was dumped at sea.
Detectives are believed to be keen to re-interview a British nanny who claims she saw a mystery boatman kicking at something in the middle of the night two days after Madeleine McCann disappeared.

Former Mark Warner nanny Charlotte Pennington said she spotted the man in a small dinghy just off the Praia da Luz seafront. She claims he was kicking at an object stored in the boat's hull.
When she moved closer to investigate, the man - whose name she has given to Portuguese and British police - stooped out of sight then hurriedly rowed away.
Portuguese police are taking the sightings seriously and Miss Pennington, 20, and are looking to interview her once again.
She was working in the Ocean Club's creche on May 3, the night Madeleine disappeared. She is the only person to have given a full, public description of the events of that evening.

She told police how she heard Kate McCann scream: "They've taken her" on the night of May 3, when Madeleine vanished, and that she saw the first official suspect Robert Murat standing outside the Ocean Club that night.

Miss Pennington said the man was wearing a reflective yellow jacket with a hood but she could not make out his face.
One police source today described the sighting as 'credible'.

Miss Pennington said: "I'm pleased they are taking this seriously as it means they aren't just looking at the McCanns as suspects."
Miss Pennington's account potentially tallies with repeated suggestions that Madeleine was smuggled out of the Algarve on board a boat, or that her body was dumped at sea.
It also tallies with a second report today claiming new evidence proves that Madeleine was alive when she was taken from her bed.
Police have been told Kate McCann knew instantly her daughter had been snatched because the bedclothes were in exactly the same position, raised above the mattress as if they were still lying over the little girl.
Friends of the McCanns believe this prove she was taken and did not just wander off, which would have ruffled the bedclothes.
*
The Daily Mail has a tendency to re-write and overwrite its articles. The article reproduced above was a re-write of a previous article that was published on 27 September 2007. A section of the original article was removed from the subsequent re-write and is reproduced here:
'Former Mark Warner nanny Charlotte Pennington said she spotted the man in a small dinghy just off the Praia da Luz seafront at 11.30pm. She claims he was kicking at an object stored in the boat's hull. 

When she moved closer to investigate, the man - whose name she has given to Portuguese and British police - stooped out of sight then hurriedly rowed away. 

Portuguese police are taking the sightings seriously and Miss Pennington, 20, has twice spoken to Leicestershire detectives about her evidence.
Yesterday Miss Pennington said the man was wearing a reflective yellow jacket with a hood but she could not make out his face. 

However the following day she was shocked to see a man - whom she had come to know over the preceding week - wearing exactly the same distinctive jacket as the man in the boat.'  unquote

Below is a link to a blogspot about amber alert and the general political climate at the time. It's long, but entertaining. 




















PART THREE: BOATS and PIZZAMAN


GEORGE BURKE BROOKS LAGOS MARINA SIGHTINGS
TRANSLATED BY INES
5 - 1 Apensos V, Vol  1 Page 3
apenso5_vol_1_Page3
Leicestershire Constabulary Continuation Witness Statement

Continuation Statement - 4th May

Continuation Statement: Information from the Family
There is a male who owns a pizza hut in the resort called George originally from Liverpool. He states that on Friday morning at 5.55 AM on Friday 4th May 2007 he saw a couple acting suspiciously carrying a child near to the marina.

He can be contacted on the following number: ***

The pizza hut is near to a place called Amy Dukes.

The police have not yet spoken to this male.

(In different handwriting)




Info from family to McCann.

Portuguese resident/business owner

Reporting couple with child

5.55 AM 4/5 near to the marina.


It all seems to start with this email from a helpful resident although it isn't at all clear from these files when exactly the Leicester Police received this information 'from the family'. Below at least dated information:

5 -1 Apensos V, Vol  1 Page 4 to 5
apenso5_vol_1_Page4
Email
To: DIC Portimao
Sent: 8th May 2007, 11.28
Subject: Fwd Madeleine McCann

From: M. Martins (sapo.pt email address)
Date: 8th May 2007, 10.14
To: DIC Portimao
Subject: Madeleine McCann

I have followed the case in the press as I live in the Algarve. However my attention has been drawn by the news that an English citizen (George Burke) who returned to the village in the morning from Lagos and who says that he saw a couple with a child at about 06.00. Would this person not be suspicious due to being from the village and be returning 7 seven hours after the events? Please excuse my boldness and if I am bringing false accusations due to lack of information, I apologise again but feel that I have to share my preoccupation. I hope this does not make you lose time.

Good luck   MM

5 -1 Apensos V, Vol  1 Page 4 to 5



Date: 2007/12/04
Place: Lagos Marina, Lagos.
Responsible Officer: Inspector Joao Carlos

Description and Result of Inquiry:

On this date I went to the abovementioned place with the purpose of gathering elements related to the previously mentioned information about a supposed sighting of Madeleine McCann, by a British individual named George Brooks in the early morning of 4th May 2007.

Once I arrived at the scene, I checked that there was effectively a restaurant establishment on the first floor of the complex, called Pizza Hut. This establishment was closed, because of the opening hours. However, in order to collect information, I went to another establishment called Lite Bites which is next door and where there was an employee, who identified herself as GS, of British nationality.

During our conversation, she said that she has worked there since May of this year, the owner of the space being George Brooks, identified by the enclosed photocopy of his passport, which she provided.

She said that the whereabouts of the owner were unknown since the 21st September 2007. On this date he collected....
(following page 8 is missing)

From the rogatory interview of Michael Wright on 16/5/2008:


‘As for additional information I would like to add that on Sunday, 6 May I went to the pizzaria in PdL and bough a large quantity of pizzas. I was attended by a girl from Liverpool. I explained to her my relationship to the McCanns and she told me that her father ‘George’ had seen a man carrying a child in his arms in the early morning of 4 May in the resort. I asked her if her father would speak about this to the Portuguese authorities. I don’t know if the information was ever investigated.’ 

On the 23rd of april 2008, Stuart Prior of the Leicestershire Police sends the following email: 

Email from Stuart Prior on 23 April 2008 to Ricardo Manuel Gonçalves Paiva

‘Michael further stated that on 6th May he purchased a large quantity of Pizza's from the pizza shack on the beach at Praia da Luz. The girl serving him was from Liverpool and after introductions she said her father "George" had seen a man carrying a child in the early hours of 4th May in the resort. He is unaware if "George" has ever spoken to the authorities.’

This event seems to be of some importance to Michael Wright, however it does not appear that he informed the PJ of this sighting. Instead a concerned citizen alerts the PJ two days after Michael Wright has been given this potentially important news. 


16-Processos Volume 16 Pages 4201 to 4202
16_VOLUMEXVIa_Page_4201
SERVICE INFORMATION

To: Paulo Rebelo

From: Ricardo Paiva, Inspector

Date: 2008/04/24

Re: Various Activities Regarding the Investigation NUIPC 201/07.0GALGS

Regarding the content of the attached email from British Authorities, with particular focus with respect to the statement by Michael Terrence Wright, in the international letter of request which is being implemented by the Leicestershire Police, on the 6th of May, 2007, in Praia da Luz, a pizza kitchen worker, of British nationality and originally from Liverpool, commented to that witness that her father, George, had seen a man carrying a child, in the early hours of May 4th of 2007. He does not know if George contacted the authorities about this. This testimony was recorded by Inspector Joao Carlos and myself as follows: 
--Yesterday, after heading toward Praia da Luz late, we located the pizzeria shop (PIZZA REAL) mentioned by that witness. It is situated in a kiosk on Rua da Praia. Even though it was closed at the time, we obtained the telephone number ********* of said pizzeria which is open from 18H00. This same night, we contacted the manager, C*******, using that telephone number and she immediately identified the employee as Amy. She told us that Amy was no longer in Portugal and that she had returned to the U.K. She was requested to contact Amy and ask her to contact this police force. 

--Today, at 11.37, the signatory received a telephone call from *******, from a woman who identified herself as J***, mother of Amy, and who told me that as soon as possible, George, her husband, and Amy's father, would contact us. Around 17H16, we were contacted by George, Amy's father, from telephone no. *********. Regarding the facts in question, he states that he had already contacted the OH in May of 2007 and at this time relayed to the police that at around 06H00 in the morning on the 4th May, 2007, he saw a couple passing the Marina de Lagos. The man was carrying the child. It was ascertained at that time that the aforementioned situation would not be of interest to the investigation. 
Signed,   Ricardo Paiva



So there we are. We have a sighting at the Lagos marina.  The description is very similar to that of Jane Tanner who in her witness statement on the 10th of May 2007 said ‘that, indeed, there had passed in front of her a man carrying, in his arms, a barefoot child.’    https://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/JANE-TANNER-10MAY.htm

As is well known, there was another sighting that night, a man carrying a child was seen by an Irish family in Praia da Luz around 10 pm that evening.  But this sighting was - once it emerged  by the end of  May - not seen as important by Team McCann. On the contrary they ere very much against this sighting to be taken seriously.  Whereas it seems that Jane Tanner's man carrying, in his arms, a barefoot child.' would connect quite well with yet another man carrying a child in his arms in Lagos Marina. On the way out of the country possibly via the Lagos marina.  Where Kate may have been taking photographs as early as the morning of the 4th of May if not before. What is certain is that on or before the 4th of May, the psychic Diana Lazarus was still in South Wales and could not have pointed out any particular boat in the marina.  

It can be argued that the man seen by the Smith family intended to turn left at the end of the road, which would take him towards the beach and he would probably have been noticed by some of the customers of the various establishments he'd pass on the way.  It can also be 'purported' that - the Smith family having been too close and too observant, this event had to be dropped from the script and alternative sighting needed to point well away from Praia de Luz, where it was possible that the police would instigate a thorough house to house search. So a sighting in Lagos was either accidental, or not. What seems a little strange is the fact that both sightings mention particularly 'a man with a child in his arms'.  It seems a little scripted, moreover Michael Wright simply asked the girl from Liverpool to get 'George' to mention it to the police. Surely such a close friend of the family would have done so himself?  Instead, he mentions it in his rogatory almost a year later.

Whether Kate spent enough time in the marina to take the photographs isn't clear from the pings listed in the previous post. It depends on how  the various masts catchment areas overlap. The PJ did conclude that Kate's phone had not left Praia da Luz during the holiday week. 

But it does seem that sightings passed on to the police pointed firmly to the sea, away from Praia de Luz. The psychic also pointed  to the sea, in particular to a vision of a man on a boat. Kate provided the police with an impressive batch of photographs of the marina as can be seen in this link: 

https://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/BOATS_VISION.htm

(The links don't seem to work, but the relevant information can be found under www.Mccannpjfiles.co.uk )

Although as late as November 2007 the tale was retold by Martin Fricker of the Daily Mirror: 


Martin Fricker 28/11/07

A Britsh ex-pat insists he saw Madeleine McCann hours after she vanished,cruelly dragged towards a MARINA by a couple.George Burke said a small girl who bore a remarkable resemblance to Madeline, was being hauled along by a "vicious-looking man and a woman he added:" It was dark and they were hurrying towards the Marina.There was no-one else around at that time and they looked very suspicious".


George saw the couple and the child while driving past LAGOS MARINA and the rail station at 6am MORNING of MAY 4th.  unquote

Well, it grew in the telling no doubt. We now have lots of detail which had not surfaced before. One wonders how light it might be at that time in the morning since it was only just light enough at 7.00 AM for the McCanns to try and search for Madeleine. Not only that, where we first had a man carrying a child in his arms, the child is now being hauled along. Most important question arising is that this appeared in November, when the first we hear from Michael Wright about it is in the rogatory of the 16th of May 2008.