McCanns ask High Court to release Police Documents

Madeleine McCann: parents' court bid for information

Kate and Gerry McCann are to ask a High Court judge to order the release of police documents which they hope will kick-start the search for their missing daughter Madeleine, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.








Kate and Gerry McCann are determined to do everything necessary to search for their daughter





By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter

6:27PM BST 20 Jun 2008





The McCanns hope their application to Mrs Justice Hogg will result in Leicestershire Police opening their files on scores of reported sightings of Madeleine, most of which have been passed on to them by police in Portugal, where the four-year-old disappeared in May last year.


Until now police in Leicestershire, the McCanns' home county, have refused the couple's requests for information about sightings, saying they are bound by the terms of an agreement with Portuguese police.


But Mr and Mrs McCann, who retain the services of a Spanish-based detective agency, are anxious to make sure that every possible lead has been checked out, which they believe the Portuguese police, whose investigation is gradually being wound down, may not be able to do.


The Telegraph can also disclose that Madeleine was made a ward of court last summer at the request of the McCanns, to empower judges to act in her best interests in any legal dispute such as the case which is about to be heard.


Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman, said: “I can state that on the instigation of Gerry and Kate McCann Madeleine is a ward of the High Court of England and Wales.


“An application has been made on Madeleine’s behalf by her parents for disclosure of certain documents. The hearing is currently scheduled for July 7 in the High Court in London.

“It has been the stated intention of Gerry and Kate McCann to leave no stone unturned in doing everything necessary to search for their daughter, as would any parent.

“This application is just part of their search for Madeleine.”

Madeleine’s status as a ward of court has never been disclosed by her parents, who quietly made a wardship application in the High Court just weeks after she went missing.

The couple’s legal team had advised them to ask for Madeleine to be made a ward of court because wardship status gives the courts certain statutory powers to act on her behalf in legal disputes such as the one which has arisen with Leicestershire police.

They still believe their daughter is alive and hope the police files may contain information which could yet lead to a breakthrough.

The case is listed to be heard in open court on July 7 in the Family Division of the High Court in London, and is expected to be contested by Leicestershire Police, according to legal sources.

Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said: "Kate and Gerry have always said that they will do whatever is necessary to find Madeleine and that they will leave no stone unturned in their search for their daughter.

"They will take whatever legal steps are necessary if there is information out there that can assist their private investigation into finding Madeleine. Beyond that I cannot make any comment."

Mr Mitchell said the hearing would not involve any attempt by the McCanns to clear their names by proving they were not involved in their daughter's disappearance from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz. They remain official suspects, or arguidos, in Portugal.

In recent months the couple have become increasingly frustrated at the slow progress of the Portuguese investigation, and they suspect that many possible sightings of Madeleine have not been followed up at all.

If they are given access to the police files on reported sightings, each one will be looked into by private investigators retained by the couple.

For the past year the McCanns have employed Metodo 3, a Barcelona-based detective agency, to carry out an investigation in parallel with the Portuguese police inquiry.

The agency has checked out sightings as far afield as North Africa and South America – all of which have proved to be false – using either its own staff or affiliated firms, which it says it can do far more quickly than the police.

In one instance earlier this year, the agency ruled out a sighting of Madeleine in Chile within three hours of receiving a tip-off, by employing local investigators to track down the girl concerned. The agency argues that police would have taken days to achieve a similar result because they would have been hampered by bureaucracy and official procedure.

Earlier this week Portugal's Attorney General suggested that police files may be opened up at the end of July, but the McCanns fear his comments may prove to be another false dawn.

Their case is being heard in the Family Division because it involves the welfare of a child. Mrs Justice Hogg, a specialist in child welfare cases, is the sister of former cabinet minister Douglas Hogg and the daughter of former Lord Chancellor Lord Hailsham.

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When did the PJ shelve the case? The McCanns were allowed two months to have it re-opened. Who was in their employ to search for Madeleine at that
time?

This is something I have never understood, have any other parents of missing children made them a ward of court?

meg wrote:This is something I have never understood, have any other parents of missing children made them a ward of court?

Hi Meg, WofC is something reserved within
child custody disputes when the court is
compelled to take over full responsibility
and guardianship for that child. It prevents
any parent absconding with the child. This
normally exists within parental break-down
but as you say, I've never heard of a united
set of parents of a missing child seeking a
third party to over-see their child's total
well-being. In effect, they should be requesting
the court's permission with regards to Maddie's
welfare and search methods. I've often wondered
why the court didn't intervene when they did
actions which may have put her life in danger,
but maybe the court already knows that this
was not possible.

I think the reason Madeleine was made a Ward of Court was on the advice of a QC meeting the McCanns in PDL. The idea was if the Parents were charged with neglect in Portugal the High Court would search for Madeleine. The McCanns applied for information from Leicester Police and it was only
the intervention of the Chief of Police in Leicester on the grounds that the investigation was ongoing that stopped Justice Hogg from allowing the request. In the event, the McCanns received only 81 pieces, I bet they were furious.

When you think of it, from day one, all they have done is make demands while doing nothing themselves except make money, shrewd couple.

I personally would never have given over responsibilty
for my child and I would have trusted my family to carry on the search if for some reason I couldn't.

Their families were very proactive with the campaign so they would have no reason to think they
wouldn't continue.

I think their explanation for it is just spin to cover something else or they are being told what to do.

Sometimes it's like a 3 way game of chess between the McCanns, Government & NI

Under Portugese Law, there is a 1 year Prison sentence for neglect, which the Parents were certainly guilty of, 10 years for neglect causing harm which
also could have been applied. The Neglect charge has lapsed , as I suspect has the neglect causing harm. Had the McCanns been arrested and gone to
Prison for one Year , I.m sure their Family would have looked after the twins, but would not have the money to continue searching for Madeleine because the Fund was in it's infancy and no one thought it would create such a huge amount of donations. I suspect the McCanns thought they could interfere and demand information from LP via the High Court. When you think about it , despite the help they could have had from MI5 or someone on the agency best able to employ to search for Madeleine, they consistently employed Agencies without experience, that has to tell us something.

OK but what about these mysterious CAT files?
The files that are empty but still have their ref
numbers.
What if, (and its a big if) these files where
created as a result of some form of history of
neglect/abuse?
Therefore, it may explain the legal direction to
apply for WofC, and the need to empty the
contents of these files. If the PJ had got their
hands on such data it would have proven very
damning.

marxman wrote:OK but what about these mysterious CAT files?
The files that are empty but still have their ref
numbers.
What if, (and its a big if) these files where
created as a result of some form of history of
neglect/abuse?
Therefore, it may explain the legal direction to
apply for WofC, and the need to empty the
contents of these files. If the PJ had got their
hands on such data it would have proven very
damning.

Hi marxman,

I can't remember where the file was found, obviously at a Police Station, but which one? Since it had been empty for several years why wasn't it
Destroyed.?

marxman wrote:OK but what about these mysterious CAT files?
The files that are empty but still have their ref
numbers.
What if, (and its a big if) these files where
created as a result of some form of history of
neglect/abuse?
Therefore, it may explain the legal direction to
apply for WofC, and the need to empty the
contents of these files. If the PJ had got their
hands on such data it would have proven very
damning.

I think this is probably the reason for the W of C status

marxman wrote:OK but what about these mysterious CAT files?
The files that are empty but still have their ref
numbers.
What if, (and its a big if) these files where
created as a result of some form of history of
neglect/abuse?
Therefore, it may explain the legal direction to
apply for WofC, and the need to empty the
contents of these files. If the PJ had got their
hands on such data it would have proven very
damning.

Must admit I have often pondered the file reference. The letter can be read that the file has been created because of the disappearance ie a file created in case it is needed for future reference rather than any past events so I am not convinced there is some skeleton lurking. Like many things in this case it is easy to add 2 and 2 and get 5.

Chris wrote:

marxman wrote:OK but what about these mysterious CAT files?
The files that are empty but still have their ref
numbers.
What if, (and its a big if) these files where
created as a result of some form of history of
neglect/abuse?
Therefore, it may explain the legal direction to
apply for WofC, and the need to empty the
contents of these files. If the PJ had got their
hands on such data it would have proven very
damning.

Must admit I have often pondered the file reference. The letter can be read that the file has been created because of the disappearance ie a file created in case it is needed for future reference rather than any past events so I am not convinced there is some skeleton lurking. Like many things in this case it is easy to add 2 and 2 and get 5.

I agree Chris but just wonder which Police Station had the File.

Panda wrote:

I think the reason Madeleine was made a Ward of Court was on the advice of a QC meeting the McCanns in PDL. The idea was if the Parents were charged with neglect in Portugal the High Court would search for Madeleine. The McCanns applied for information from Leicester Police and it was only
the intervention of the Chief of Police in Leicester on the grounds that the investigation was ongoing that stopped Justice Hogg from allowing the request. In the event, the McCanns received only 81 pieces, I bet they were furious.

When you think of it, from day one, all they have done is make demands while doing nothing themselves except make money, shrewd couple.

If the Mccanns ARE been protected, and that they are safe and everything is going to be "sorted" by SY in favour of the Mccanns then why didn't the judge (Hogg was also very nice towards the Mcs) allow the child neglecting Docs what they wanted back then??? Remember everything was going swimingly back in 2008 lots of supporter from Government, wealthy backers, Celebs and remember then they had lots of public support regarding the fund??????

Lillyofthevalley wrote:

Panda wrote:

I think the reason Madeleine was made a Ward of Court was on the advice of a QC meeting the McCanns in PDL. The idea was if the Parents were charged with neglect in Portugal the High Court would search for Madeleine. The McCanns applied for information from Leicester Police and it was only
the intervention of the Chief of Police in Leicester on the grounds that the investigation was ongoing that stopped Justice Hogg from allowing the request. In the event, the McCanns received only 81 pieces, I bet they were furious.

When you think of it, from day one, all they have done is make demands while doing nothing themselves except make money, shrewd couple.

If the Mccanns ARE been protected, and that they are safe and everything is going to be "sorted" by SY in favour of the Mccanns then why didn't the judge (Hogg was also very nice towards the Mcs) allow the child neglecting Docs what they wanted back then??? Remember everything was going swimingly back in 2008 lots of supporter from Government, wealthy backers, Celebs and remember then they had lots of public support regarding the fund??????

I don't think Justice Hogg could overrule the Chief Constable , but I do wonder why the McCanns did not go to Court to have Madeleine's Ward of
Court status rescinded once the case was shelved. it is after all a bit of a stigma to have your child under the Courts' protection once you are back home.