Observations by thepottingshedder

I wonder what was said during that confrontation and why did Robert Murat make the decision to sue only two of the McCanns' friends (Payne and Oldfield) instead of the three that were present? Did Dr O'Brien recant his accusations and indeed, could he be one of the friends who reportedly changed their statement? Is the case still going ahead? Questions, questions. Dr O'Brien has kept a low profile since - he was the only member of the group of friends not present on the High Court steps when the group accepted the out of court settlement from a number of newspaper groups. His partner, Jane Tanner appeared in the McCann documentary alone.







In an interview Flash magazine conducted with Susan Healy, a source claimed...

At most the house in Rothley is visited by close family and three others of the group of seven friends who were with them in the Algarve when Maddie disappeared, that is David and Fiona Payne and Jane Tanner, as they are connected with them.
Conspicuous by his absence... just where is the good doctor?
Posted by Me, Myself, Moi... at 18:34 26 comments Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook
Schrödinger's Cat
You may call me naive... when it was revealed that Kate McCann would release a paperback version of her book 'Madeleine' with an added chapter about the Scotland Yard review, I really did wonder just how she would manage it. Especially when it was said that the British review would be conducted in utmost secrecy with no final report even being made public.


Lead investigator DCI Andy Redwood originally stated that the open minded investigation followed two leads - one that Madeleine was alive and secondly that she was sadly dead. This week however, we appear get a good idea of how things are panning out, ready for the 5 year anniversary and paperback book launch.


Several sources, including Robert Murat, Alan Johnson and Isabel Duarte, enabled Panorama to come across as an all out denigration of the Portuguese people and its police force. Extremely degrading towards Portugal, the show pointed the finger of guilt at everyone except the main players... Kate and Gerry McCann and their friends.


Despite the Portuguese having primacy in the case and Scotland Yard only being one quarter of the way through their file, we now have claims that Madeleine is alive, having been subjected to a criminal act by a stranger. And even more bizarrely, this respected Detective Chief Inspector is making these claims whilst doing the sofa run on morning television. There's something just not right about that... We have also been proffered an image of what Madeleine may look like at the age of nine and a possible 195 historical investigative teasers.






The Scotland Yard review is made up of 3 elements... information from the Portuguese and British police in addition to the array of private investigators hired by the McCanns. Authorities in Portugal have publicly rejected the media led request to reopen the case, saying it would only be reopened on the basis of new evidence from a "serious, pertinent and authoritative" source. Authoritative source... can we assume that these 195 old leads have come from the unauthoritative files of the private investigators? What a strange place for a police force to start a review. Despite the AG stating that these historical 'leads' are quite obviously not new, the alive drive continues.






As the Portuguese are not willing to reopen the case using old evidence, I would appeal to DCI Redwood to reveal every one of these 195 leads and identify which part of the investigation they have arisen, in the same way that he has unveiled the image of a 9 year old Madeleine. The public are a great help in many investigations, why not this one? It would also quash the wave of accusations and rumours that a whitewash is in full flow.


Amongst many questions still being asked, the review has declared a live child yet failed to explain the scent of death found in many related places by a British cadaver dog. And because of these very serious indications, the review should explain just how they have reached the conclusion of a live child being taken from the apartment. The analysis of a sporadic, jotted down timeline really doesn't wash.


There is persistent chatter that the McCanns have the right to request the reopening of the case in Portugal themselves at no cost, but no-one in the British media has ever questioned this. This current review has so far cost the taxpayer £2m, and is only one quarter along - are we foreseeing a final bill of £8m three years on with diplomatic relations with Portugal on a downward spiral?

Conspicuous by his absence... just where is the good doctor? " A former Member of MM Pm'd me several months ago saying a Guy she knew who was a friend of the McCanns said they had seperated and asked what she should do. I advised her to do nothing in case it wasn't true.

It's cropped up a few times, that particular suggestion of marital strife.

But frankly, despite the Madeleine Case, that's an issue so peripheral and personal that it ought to remain private - unless it has a direct and significant bearing on resolving Madeleine's disappearance: Which it in all probability doesn't.

Panda wrote:Conspicuous by his absence... just where is the good doctor? " A former Member of MM Pm'd me several months ago saying a Guy she knew who was a friend of the McCanns said they had seperated and asked what she should do. I advised her to do nothing in case it wasn't true.

ROB imo may well have been tricked into compromising himself. By then the whole circus has started and how to get out? I always thought it was significant that he didn't join the others on the high court steps.
Murat - as you know - I've always seen as part of the scam, but not so that he would get his own hands dirty.

Love the potting shedder, there must be so many people who are beginning to smell a rat and if they only came across articles such as these...
the last lot of comments in the DM were sickeningly pro - as the previous few articles merited masses of anti and neutral comments, my bet is the papers are whooshing them as fast as they come in.

Afternoon, Panda ..... vis-a-vis your last Post, there's no added text???

Yes I agree TIEN....something going wrong with this Computer , or me, when I press "quote" the letters double in size and I can't type a reply.

I was going to quote this bit, good point.


You may call me naive... when it was revealed that Kate McCann would release a paperback version of her book 'Madeleine' with an added chapter about the Scotland Yard review, I really did wonder just how she would manage it. Especially when it was said that the British review would be conducted in utmost secrecy with no final report even being made public."

Note how the paperback bewk has a capital M .
Maybe mummy realised how disrespectful the lower case was.

Hi the slave, nah, that's window dressing to make it look like a different book .

It really is disgraceful that they expect joe public to buy it if the Panorama Programme is included using Redmond's 195 possible leads. Will Kate tell
us how much the Royalties were and that the whole amount , listed seperately, went into No Stone Unturned. The Accounts are not due until the end of the Year .

Maybe ROB is the weakest link?

NoStone wrote:Maybe ROB is the weakest link?

Morning NoStone, I remember reading that Oldfields Lawyer said he was going to Portugal to change his Statement , don't know how true that was.
OB'rien was supposedly called by Jane to care for their child who had been sick and by the time he returned to the Restaurant it was almost 10pm
and everyone had finished their Dinner.Minutes later Madeleine was reported missing. O'Brien did not attend the Court hearing when the group won damages from the Daily Express. Sousa, the American/Portugese hired by CBS said Jane Tanner was never in the Restaurant that night according to
the Staff, so take your pick.

Panda wrote:

NoStone wrote:Maybe ROB is the weakest link?

Morning NoStone, I remember reading that Oldfields Lawyer said he was going to Portugal to change his Statement , don't know how true that was.
OB'rien was supposedly called by Jane to care for their child who had been sick and by the time he returned to the Restaurant it was almost 10pm
and everyone had finished their Dinner.Minutes later Madeleine was reported missing. O'Brien did not attend the Court hearing when the group won damages from the Daily Express. Sousa, the American/Portugese hired by CBS said Jane Tanner was never in the Restaurant that night according to
the Staff, so take your pick.

Could you find a link somewhere? I'd never heard that and it fits with a number of other things that happened in November 07. A very busy month.
Beginning of November there was a rumor that 4 Tapas were to be made arguidos. BK visits Murat twice, BK contacts the Smiths in Ireland. The first Panorama documentary is aired, the Rothley meeting takes place. Some time - possibly Nov. one or two of the nannies visit Rothley.
There is also a rumour that two of the Tapas wish to change their statements.
Another 100 questions the PJ have for the group are not 'allowed'. It looks as if the 'cold shut down' happened in November.
It is reported by David Smith? (Steel Magnolias it's here somewhere!) that ROB and JT did have a baby monitor with them, contrary to the statements they gave to the PJ.

Most of this is from the McCann files, I'll try and do this properly as soon as I have time.
Only in april 08 is this information officially taken down in the rogatory interviews.

tigger wrote:

Panda wrote:

NoStone wrote:Maybe ROB is the weakest link?

Morning NoStone, I remember reading that Oldfields Lawyer said he was going to Portugal to change his Statement , don't know how true that was.
OB'rien was supposedly called by Jane to care for their child who had been sick and by the time he returned to the Restaurant it was almost 10pm
and everyone had finished their Dinner.Minutes later Madeleine was reported missing. O'Brien did not attend the Court hearing when the group won damages from the Daily Express. Sousa, the American/Portugese hired by CBS said Jane Tanner was never in the Restaurant that night according to
the Staff, so take your pick.

Could you find a link somewhere? I'd never heard that and it fits with a number of other things that happened in November 07. A very busy month.
Beginning of November there was a rumor that 4 Tapas were to be made arguidos. BK visits Murat twice, BK contacts the Smiths in Ireland. The first Panorama documentary is aired, the Rothley meeting takes place. Some time - possibly Nov. one or two of the nannies visit Rothley.
There is also a rumour that two of the Tapas wish to change their statements.
Another 100 questions the PJ have for the group are not 'allowed'. It looks as if the 'cold shut down' happened in November.
It is reported by David Smith? (Steel Magnolias it's here somewhere!) that ROB and JT did have a baby monitor with them, contrary to the statements they gave to the PJ.

Most of this is from the McCann files, I'll try and do this properly as soon as I have time.
Only in april 08 is this information officially taken down in the rogatory interviews.

Tigger, just in relation to Tanners baby monitor. I am certain I read it, and it was in one of the rogatory interviews ? Indeed it was said it was placed on a wall or ledge when at the Tapas but they continued with the checking system as she had no confidence in it. It was either Jane Tanner's interview or one of the Paynes made this statement about it. I will check tonight when I have time but it is there.

Morning mossman, I read that the Tanners took a monitor on the advice of the Paynes who had holidayed in Greece with the same Firm. However,
Jane's monitor did not work which is why they had to check every 20 minutes.

Panda wrote:

Morning mossman, I read that the Tanners took a monitor on the advice of the Paynes who had holidayed in Greece with the same Firm. However,
Jane's monitor did not work which is why they had to check every 20 minutes.

Hi Panda, I am away to work, but below is the first part I was thinking of, it is from Tanners rogatory statement. When I have time I will read further but there is another mention of it, talk about how it was on a wall or ledge and not on the table. I have a feeling it could be one of the Paynes who mentioned that but there is certainly further mention of Tanners monitor.

I had often wondered why the Paynes would be so organised and then not mention it to any of the other couples but if what you read is true it answers my query. Don't forget the McCanns did not bring a buggy for the twins, so I am not one bit surprised a monitor was not considered by them.


4078 "Okay, since it was the first time, if you take your mind back to the first time you
went there, what had happened before you went, how had the, you know, while
driving that it, what were the arrangements for the children before you went?”
Reply "Yeah, well this is where I worry that I alerted somebody to maybe what we were
doing because I actually went down, before we went down I went down with my
monitor to check if it was working because Dave and Fi had a monitor which was
quite a good one, a very high spec monitor, whereas ours wasn’t such high spec so I
was worried that it wouldn’t work in the Tapas bar.”
4078 "Wasn’t the cups and string was it.”
Reply "Not quite that bad err so I actually did before we went down to eat err we actually, I
actually went down, just stood in the restaurant with the monitor just to check that it
did and it was on the edge of its, you know, it worked but not, I wasn’t completely
confident in, totally confident in it. So as I say looking back on it now you think oh, I
did that, could that have actually shown somebody what we were doing, you know,
me standing there like an idiot with my blo*dy monitor, you know, that sort of, that
has crossed my mind since but I think we decided before we went, one of the
attractions of a Mark Warner holiday was the baby listening service that they
normally offer.”

Thanks for that! But the thing about the monitor was that she had no monitor in the PJ statements.
The monitor surfaced in a Times online article in December 07. I believed. Written by David Smith.


The exchange re the McCanns and the baby monitor and the Smiths is in: http://unterdenteppichgekehrt.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/conversation-with-press.html

Here is a snippet from that exchange:
D. Smith:
.... however, I had a long briefing with Gerry McCann before I wrote my article and
I guess the baby monitor info came from him. I am aware that many discrepancies arose in the portuguese statements through
misunderstandings of language. And you ought to be aware that there will always be minor discrepancies of fact in statements
- failings of memory, interpretation and so on - which are not in themselves sinister or suspicious.
unquote

The question asked D Smith was:
The couple never mentioned to the PJ that they brought a monitor as well, in all their statements they claim that the Paynes were
the only ones with a baby monitor. Only in April 2008, in the rogatory interviews conducted by Leicestershire Police, this piece
of information appeared. It might seem a small omission, but in the light of possible neglect charges, would have been important.
Jane Tanner claims in the rogatory interview that she brought it with her in the evenings and positioned it on a ledge/wall behind
her. This was NEVER mentioned to portuguese Police as the released statements show. The question I have is, how did you
get this info before the rogatory interviews even took place? I know you have to protect sources, but this seems a very strange
inside knowledge.
unquote.


So David Smith was briefed by GM. It's an interesting use of the phrase - not told or 'it probably came from' - no: briefed - instructed. Thank you.