Witness Statement Carolyn Kish

Processos
Volume XV,

Pages 3924 to 3927—Witness statement 2007.11.21 (in English)



Statement of Carolyn Kish




Statement date 21.11.07

I am a British national, and I live in a house in the village in Portugal having lived there for 9 years.

I used to live in Worcester and my family still live there.

I came back to UK on 23rd April 07 to Coventry. I believe with Fly Thomson and was traveling alone.

I flew back with the same airline on 30th April from Coventry to Faro.

I had booked my travel arrangements through a company in Lagos. Part of the package included collecting me from faro and taking me home.

I didn't see any news as my T.V. was not working.

On the afternoon of Monday 7.5.07 I was in Lagos as I needed to do some banking. My car is xxxx coloured and has an English Registration.

Near to the main road in Lagos is a pedestrian area. There are parking spaces at the side and I parked in one of those spaces. There are ATMS near there and I went to the one on the left hand. I don't know what the bank is called but it is about 3 doors away from the Banco Espirito Santos.

On walking towards the ATM I was aware of a man in the pedestrian area. He was holding something to his ear which I thought might be a Dictaphone but later assumed it was a mobile phone.

I noticed him as he was talking very loudly. I remember him saying 'PLEASE DO NOT HURT MADELEINE' There was a lot of other speech, but I can only remember that phrase.

I think he had a notebook in his left hand and I think he was holding the phone in his right hand. The notebook seemed to be the type that journalists use. He seemed very upset and the way he was acting and with the notebook I assumed he was an actor or journalist.

It was very quiet and no-one else was around.

He was pacing up and down, being 10 metres away from me at the furthest, and the closest he was just a few feet away as he walked past me at the back while I was using the ATM.

I would describe him as a white male about 5.6” with pale mousey coloured hair. It think he was wearing an overcoat or raincoat of dark coloured with grey being the main colour I remember. I thought he was talking with a slight Irish accent.

I withdrew 150 euros at the bank and I also withdraw some cash from my fathers account. I was at the machine for a couple of minutes and when I left the man was still there walking and pacing up and down. I thought to myself 'who's Madeleine'. When I got back into my car the man was still there as I drove away.

I had a lot of chances to see the man's face during that time, and I had never seen him before.


The account the card services is xxxxxxxxxxxxxx in my name at the xxxxx branch. The sort code xxxxxxxx and the account no. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. The card has now been replaced with another sand I don't have the old card number.


I was then going to xxxxxx (a two minute drive away. I was going to do some insurance paperwork.

I have been a member of this bank for many years and am known by staff there. There were 3 staff working and I know that lunch is between 1pm and 2pm, so I think my visit was before that. One of the staff was xxxxx, one was xxx. I was talking to the one of the staff xxxxx. She has a daughter called xxxxx and she always chats when I visit.

She asked me if I heard about the missing English girl. I said I hadn't seen any news. She told me the missing child was called Madeleine and had gone missing from a resort along the coast. I told her that the man I had just heard must have been the father of the child. I only assumed this by logic and from the conversation AFTER the fact.

In relation to the identity of the man I saw I thought initially that he must be the father based on what he said and what the staff had said about the missing girl.

I went to the third local bank to do some more banking.

I don't usually watch or follow news. But months after this saw a news report on the local TV station at home. The footage showed the father of the missing girl. At that point I realised it was the man I had seen on the occasion above. I had not seen this picture before, but I am as sure as can be that he is the person.

I have been asked whether I have made this assumption but I do not believe I have. I am 99.99% sure if shown his photograph with lots of others I would have picked him out as the man.

I have heard GM on t.v. And my interpretation of his accent is that it's slight Scottish or Irish.

I am more interested in the case and have been following it since this event.


In September 2007, I was at a health club of xxxx. There was a kid's party.

Some of the children were walking off and I was worried because of what happened to Madeleine. I kept a watch on them returning them to the group when they walked off. There was also a large t.v. Which showed news about the case. I started talking about it to a man known as xxxxxx I told him what I had seen previously in Lagos. When I told him he said I should go to the police.

I asked him to come with me and he did. We went to the local station, they referred me to the GNR. We went there and they gave an email address for the PJ at Portimao. He then sent them an email and an officer made contact with me.

In relation to the times and dates I can add the following.

I keep a diary which I record a lot of detail in, in particular appointments and finance matters. It is kept up to date and I am not aware of any errors. It shows that 150 euros was withdrawn on 7th may, to cover my phone bill.

I authorise the British or Portuguese police to make any enquiries in relation to these financial transactions.

When I first spoke to the British police about this, I was under the impression that the events happened on the 2nd May. This was before the girl went missing and therefore not correct. I examined my bank statements and found the withdrawal from the ATM, my visit to sort out my insurance and the deposit to the third bank took place in the afternoon of 7th May. My bank have advised me that the cash withdrawal took place at 2.26pm.

Please keep discussions here:

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