.......................... ......................... The worst E-Fit ever?
According to Sky News this E-Fit sketch, which actually led to the arrest of a man who murdered a Bolivian taxi driver, was the 'World's worst E-Fit sketch.'
However, I really think that honour must go to the one and only... 'Eggman,' the first sketch of a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, which was created based on a description by Jane Tanner and shown to amazed, and probably amused, residents of Praia da Luz.
Eggman, seen here making his getaway in a chauffeur-driven vehicle, is obviously a man of means and definitely, I would say, not the raggle-taggle gypsy fingered by Raymond Hewlett's son Wayne. Wayne Hewlett claims that his convicted paedophile father, Raymond, sent him a letter from his deathbed, detailing a dastardly plot by a band of gypsies to steal children to order for wealthy couples.
Lettuce-Man is definitely a contender for the title of worst E-Fit, but I guess he's at least got a face and looks like a human being. Wanted by Hampshire police in relation to the theft of £60 from an elderly woman.
And now a reprise of just some of the men and women, implicated as suspects in the Madeleine McCann case. That 'World's worst E-Fit,' may have been pretty hilarious, but at least it was the only E-Fit in the case of the murder of the Bolivian taxi driver and at least it did lead to an arrest. Those sharp-eyed citizens of the world, for Maddie has been seen on all five continents, have a wonderful range of suspects to choose from. Is it your husband, brother, sister, son, daughter, or your long-dead Uncle Fred? Why not grass'em up? You too could get your five minutes of fame with the Daily Mail: "Woman states that her long-dead Uncle Fred came from the grave to snatch Maddie. 'It's not about the money they paid me,' she said, 'He always liked little blonde girls and it's time he was put behind bars. It's just another one of his excuses that he's dead.'
Pick a suspect, any suspect!
Then, of course, there's this man!A very dodgy-looking geeza!
.............................. ............................... Well, it's high time she let the rest of us know! Kate McCann couldn't tell us how she absolutely knew that Madeleine had been abducted while she was an arguida, but after all this time, she hasn't told us yet. In this video, she tells a journalist, "I know more than you do." So, come on, Kate McCann, you can tell us now! How did you know that Madeleine could not have wandered out of the apartment and how did you know immediately that she had been abducted? The shutters had not been jemmied and the abductor probably didn't open that window!
The McCanns on The Oprah Show. At 2.06, there is a chart on the McCanns' fridge freezer, a start chart for Madeleine staying in her own bed. So, this seems to suggest that Madeleine was in the habit of getting out of bed in the night and going in search of her parents in their room.
Why do Kate and Gerry McCann keep referring to their daughter Madeleine as, 'the little girl,' and, 'a little girl.' and 'a child'? They sound like they're either just repeating the words of their solicitor, Isabel Duarte, or they're subconsciously distancing themselves from Madeleine and whatever happened to her.
Transcript of the above video, thanks to jjp.
Sandra Felgueiras: Gerry do you also believe that the...
Gerry McCann: There is one real reason why we've come here and why we've taken this action and this why it is [indicates the poster] it's our daughter who is missing, and who deserves justice for a fair search. The laws of a democracy are there to protect the vulnerable in society, our daughter is vulnerable, our twins are vulnerable. Given what you've heard in court over the days of this trial, we want to appeal to the Portuguese people again, to come forward with any information that may lead us to help find Madeleine, or any other information that might be related to Madeleine's abduction. The number here is 800 814 024. [some journalist asks something to Kate McCann] Pardon.
Kate McCann: [unintelligible]
Gerry McCann: Thank you.
Unknown British journalist A: Tell us about those criminal proceedings that you're starting.
Gerry McCann: Can't comment on that.
Sandra Felgueiras: But do you think that the PJ is not investigating important leads that could help you to find Madeleine?
Gerry McCann: I think you've heard detective Paiva's testimony and that speaks for itself. There's one thesis that's being investigated here more than any other, that hasn't come up with any evidence, and the important thing is that there is an innocent child missing and that search must go on. We would very much like the whole process reviewed, we would like all information held by all law enforcements to be put together and systematically reviewed and identified areas for further investigation.
Unknown British journalist B: Are you going to review that Gerry?
Sandra Felgueiras: We were said that that notice the PJ received had inclusively photos from Madeleine or eventually from some child...
Gerry McCann: [refuses to answer, turns head to another direction] Pardon , sorry?
Sandra Felgueiras: ...have you seen that photo?
Unknown British journalist B: Who do you want to do that review with?
Gerry McCann: The most well-qualified people capable of doing it.
Unknown British journalist C: Who, who is that?
Unknown British journalist D: Mrs. McCann, how difficult has this trial been for you?
Kate McCann: It's obviously been difficult to hear all these allegations again, and, but is reassuring again to be demonstrated publicly that there is no evidence that Madeleine has come to any harm.
Unknown British journalist E: Kate do you feel...
Kate McCann: And I really do want to ask Portuguese people to continue to help us, please, there's a little girl still missing regardless of what Mr. Amaral and his followers say, and they have their own motives. There's a little girl still missing, and we know that people care about children, please help us.
Portuguese Journalist: You are asking Portuguese people to come forward, what do you have to say if they ask you 'why are you not re-opening the case'?
Portuguese Man's voice: That is the question, that's the one.
Gerry McCann: [looks startled]
Kate McCann: [answers another journalist question - unintelligible]
Gerry McCann: We be delighted if the case was re-opened, we have no problem with that, but what we need is real investigation, not this, not dismissal...
Portuguese Journalist: Did you already do anything? Take any steps to open the case?
Gerry McCann: We, we have sent information through, at the authorities both in England and through the PJ here. It's the prosecutors decision when to re-open the case.
Portuguese Journalist: Did you get a reply then?
Gerry McCann: What we need is. What we need is and this is very, very clear. What we need is new leads, new information. We believe that information has not gone into the inquiry and we want it all systematically examined under one review panel.
Unknown British journalist F: Gerry would you want that, would that be the British police? Do you want a British review panel?
Portuguese Journalist: A reconstruction. If you volunteer to do a reconstruction wouldn't that open the case?
Gerry McCann: We want to create information that will lead us to us helping find Madeleine.
Portuguese Journalist: That will help Madeleine. Don't you think so?
Gerry McCann: Well if it does then, you know, we will participate.
Portuguese Journalist: You are in Lisbon. You could take that step today. Ask for the case to be reopened and do a reconstruction with your friends.
Gerry McCann: We are going round in circles. We would be more than happy for the case to be reopened.
Unknown British journalist F: Gerry to clarify the, we are talking about this review. Its quite interesting. Is that something you would want the British police to do? A review of the entire thing.
Gerry McCann: We'll take whoever's prepared to do it and whoever has the most expertise and obviously we want the Portuguese and British authorities to cooperate in such a review.
Editing/video glitch
Portuguese Journalist: You are asking the Portuguese people to come forward and they will not do it (????)
A number of garbled questions.
Gerry McCann: We don't know when new information is going to come forward. There are many cases as you know of, of children who have been missing for years who have subsequently been discovered. And its when that piece of information falls into place that the children are found. And if people believe, erm, unnecessarily that Madeleine's dead without any evidence then we'll never find her.
Sandra Felgueiras: Are you sure that after this court that public opinion in Portugal will change?
Gerry McCann: It depends what your question really relates to. It's not a popularity contact, er contest. It's about finding Madeleine.
Sandra Felgueiras: You claim that the finding of Madeleine has been damaged with all this Gonçalo Amaral thesis but I'm asking you if this decision will be something like you wish to happen, do you think after that, after this step it will be better for you?
Gerry McCann: I think it will be a step in the right direction. It's about Madeleine. It's not about us. It's about this girl. She's missing. She needs to be found and we are doing everything in our power to aid that search.
Unknown British journalist G: Gerry, have you formally asked anyone to start a review?
Gerry McCann: We are happy to ask now.
Unknown British journalist G: But before today is it something you have formally asked.
Gerry McCann: We are asking behind the scenes all the time, many different things. Of course we want all the information reviewed. It's sensible. It would be done in any other major inquiry. There is a situation we have been advised of in Portugal. But, you know, we want the information reviewed. We want it. It's an unsolved case. It's really important. You would expect that. There is a little girl missing. We must find her, We must do everything in our power. Just because it is hard doesn't mean we give up. We are not gonna give up.
Citizen's Female voice: Why not do the reconstruction, maybe? Why not do the reconstruction, why?
Sandra Felgueiras: Isabel Duarte told to the court that she felt you were under a judgement these days. Do you still feel or did you feel that today you were under a judgement?
Gerry McCann: What's important is the judge's decision. I think that is the objectivity of it not biased opinion. You know, evidence has to be looked at objectively. There is no evidence Madeleine's dead. As far as we are concerned she's still out there.
Portuguese Journalist: Wouldn't you say that someone who accepts that there was an abduction is also biased? It's just one side of the question.
Gerry McCann: Aye. Obviously all possibilities have to be considered and they were considered. One was pursued much more aggressively than any other lead. But you know we weren't there on our own. We weren't in isolation. There were many many people around us. There are many different witnesses that seem to get forgotten about and only negative, er, testimony seems to ....
Portuguese Journalist: But that is part of life isn't it? There is always someone who has a different opinion.
Gerry McCann: We are here. We are standing here in front of you. We are visible. The abductor is not.
Portuguese Journalist: The abductor?!
Gerry McCann: We need to find that person and...
Kate McCann: Yes. The abductor is not.
Gerry McCann: ... and those that are responsible.
Portuguese Journalist: What evidence do you have that there was an abduction? Can I ask this question because you say that Amaral doesn't have....
Kate McCann: I know. I was here. I found my daughter gone. I know more than you do. I know what I saw.
(Well, come on Kate, tell us! You know what you saw? Well, there's a novelty!)
Portuguese Journalist: I'm not saying. I don't know anything. I'm just telling from a point of view where I don't know who to believe. I just want evidence like you say.
Gerry McCann: Where is the child? We are looking for that evidence. Where is the child? What other explanation can explain how she is not here?
Kate McCann: So(???) do you agree it shouldn't be be ruled out? Do you?
Portuguese Journalist: Other people have advanced other explanations. That's why we are here.
Gerry McCann: Okay. Any other questions before we go because we've got a flight to catch?
Kate McCann: Could you just remember there is a little girl missing and we need everybody's help.
Sandra Felgueiras: Are you planning to come on the..., next week?
Gerry McCann: Er. No.
Sandra Felgueiras: Why not?
Gerry McCann: I can't. I've got work commitments.
English Voice: Gerry, do you want to do ???? now.... for the press???
Sandra Felgueiras: How many legal actions are you planning to put in Portugal?
Gerry McCann: If you speak to Isabel. We take all our advice from Isabel regarding further actions.
Isabel Duarte: As many as necessary.
UK Photographer: Will you show it this way?
Portuguese Journalist: Gerry what's your next step?
UK Photographer: Gerry and Kate this way please, this way. In the middle please. Gerry and Kate. Thank you.
British Female journalist: Sorry Mrs McCann, are you intending to come next week? Your husband can't so....
Kate McCann: I've got no plans to come next week, no.
Portuguese Journalist: What will you do if the judge forwards the complaint and asks for the re-opening of the case?
Gerry McCann: Thank you.
Isabel Duarte: Questions about the legal actions are with me.
Who tells the truth? Kate and Gerry McCann or Dr Gonçalo Amaral?
.............................. .............................. I would hazard a guess that Kate and Gerry McCann would love to be living in the days before the internet, when interviews were paraphrased, if at all, in just a few newspapers, and the only way to find the copy was to visit the library or the newspapers' archives.
Now, though, all those interviews are on video and available on the internet for every Tom, Dick and Harry to view: their words and body language can be scrutinised, analysed and it's there for ever, or until someone shuts down the net or Carter-Ruck manage to delete it all, like the Langoliers in the Stephen King story of that name, gobbling up the past.
I wonder if Kate and Gerry have learned from those early videos and modified their behaviour in certain ways, from their own observations or from advice from experts in communication: they do seem to have spent rather a lot of that publicly donated money on experts. From the early videos, where they never looked at each other, but sat there in parallel, like a couple of stookies, they seemed to adapt their presentation skills in later videos and actually look at each other, instead of just doing the usual just-for-show hand holding.
Here, for the purpose of a reprise and to remind us that it's all there, is a selection with a comment or two!
1) Philmena McCann, sister of Gerry McCann, stating that Kate and Gerry are, 'negligible,' parents. May 5th 2007, two days after Madeleine disappeared.
2) Missing for a month: too young to be alone.
3) 100 days missing: "Madeleine was alive when she was abducted." (Gerry McCann)
Would an abductor carry away a dead body?Perhaps implicit in that statement is also that whatever happened subsequently cannot be blamed on Kate and Gerry. After all, she was sleeping when they left her and she was alive when she was abducted. Whatever situation Madeleine then found herself in, was it their fault? They left her in good condition like a DVD that was stolen by burglars and claimed on the house insurance. That child was alive, normal and in good health, so give us your money!
4) Gerry McCann stomping off the set during an interview for Spanish TV. Oh diddums! Was that a difficult question?
5) The response to the Calpol question! Note the attention Gerry pays to his left earlobe: a very common indicator of lying!
6) Gerry McCann mentions murder, one week after the dogs were brought in.
7) Panorama 2007: Kate McCann trying to get her mouth under control and sounding like she opened thr back door and the dog bolted!
8) Gerry McCann suggesting that the reason the twins never woke up through all the noise in the apartment and their being carried to another apartment was that the abductor must have sedated them! An abductor entered the apartment, left no trace of himself, managed to drug three children, carrying one of them away, through a very narrow window in the space of a few minutes! Eat your heart out SAS!!
9) Madeleine asked why no one came when she was crying, but to her mother it was 'just a passing remark.'
10) Kate McCann did not phyisically search for her daughter: she was busy doing other things!
11) The McCann show their true colours as they get up laughing at the end of an interview.
12) Ask the dogs, Sandra!
13) Jaycee Lee Dugard gives them more hope! Oh yea! Madeleine might be being held as the sex slave to some nutter and that gives them hope! Yes, you really can make this stuff up!
14) What the twins have been told. Just wait till they can browse the internet for themselves!
15) Kate McCann outside the court in Lisbon: no evidence that Madeleine has been harmed! No, abduction by strangers and being taken from everything she knows, from an unlocked apartment in a foreign country would not harm her in any way! And this woman was working as a GP, with Child Protection training? Huh!
I found this on CNN: the Imam talking about what is right with Islam.
He begins by talking about the opening of all 114 chapters of the Qur'An: God the all compassionate and all merciful. Well, let's start with the name. Allah is not referred to as God. The name Allah is used. Mohammad is described as the 'source of compassion to humanity.' This Imam must think that none of us have actually read the Qur'An and that we have all forgotten the history of the Islamic conquests, rape, pillage, slaves, murder and Mohammad, the source of compassion, consummating a marriage with a nine-year-old child.
The Imam talks eloquently about Sufi, the mystic side of Islam. I know a few people who are involved in Sufi and it is the totally peaceful and reflective side of Islam, though I think it is based more on the works of the Poet Rumi than on the Qur'An. The Imam is misleading people because Sufi is not the style of Islam practised in either Shi'a or Suni mosques and I would bet that it is not the style which will be practised at the Ground Zero mosque. He is being very deceitful in referring to Sufi when that is practised by a very small minority of Muslims and definitely not those who call themselves either Shi'a or Suni.
Speaking about the Sufi aspect of Islam and claiming this to be an important aspect of Muslim beliefs, is somewhat like trying to persuade a non-Christian that all Christians are monks and nuns.
And let's face it, where is the compassion for the wife who is beaten according to Qur'An principles, or the woman who is stoned for committing adultery? And what of the virgins promised to those who kill themselves and others in the name of their religion? Are we to understand that these virgins will be raped with compassion?
In referring to Allah as God, he is attempting to beguile listeners into believing the myth that all religions worship the same God. I believe this man is dangerous and he lies with every breath, but then the Qur'An tells him that it's OK to lie to non-believers. He is an accomplished speaker: he speaks softly, with gentle hand gestures, but that is part of his deception. Having watched this and having read the Qur'An, I think this man is like the snake in 'Jungle Book.'
He speaks softly with lies and his gently modulated voice is almost hypnotic. He's well rehearsed in the art of body language: his hands clasped in front, his almost bowing pose. This man, in my opinion, is more dangerous than all the Abu Hamzas and all the Anjem Choudarys of this world because the latter two speak the truth about Islam.
Almost three years after his son went missing, former NSW deputy fire chief Ken Thompson has learnt the six-year-old boy is in Amsterdam.
Andrew Thompson was three years old when he was abducted in Sydney by his mother, Melinda Stratton, on April 24, 2008, after a custody battle.
Ms Stratton eluded the Australian Federal Police, Interpol and missing children's organisations until she was picked up on Monday after attempting to enrol Andrew in school.
Noticing the six-year-old's passport had expired, the school's principal ran a security check and discovered the boy was the subject of more than 180 Interpol alerts.
Mr Thompson quit his job in May to cycle across Europe on a public crusade to find his son.
Ken Thompson went out there in the world and physically searched for his son, handing out posters, leaflets and bumper stickers as he cycled through Europe. He actually went to the places where his son might have been taken. He didn't set up a fund and hire dodgy detectives who had no previous experience of finding missing children. He wasn't working very hard doing other things!
When the McCanns' private detectives issued a statement to the effect that they thought Madeleine was being held in a 'hellish lair,' in one of the, 'lawless villages,' within 10 kilometres of Praia da Luz, did the McCanns or even their detectives rush out there to comb those villages to find her? Not that I am aware of. The area covered by those villages within a 10 km radius Praia da Luz seems like a rather smaller search area than the whole of the UK and mainland Europe, but when the McCanns went back to Praia da Luz, did they get on their bikes and trundle round those villages? No! They were busy doing other things, like being photographed gazing out to sea, thinking about their missing child.
‘I didn’t know where in Europe he might be,’’ Mr Thompson told Macquarie Radio from Amsterdam on Thursday morning, having just arrived in the city.
‘‘I just knew Europe was the most likely place, so I decided I would do whatever I could do to raise public awareness to Andrew, and to some other kids who are missing in Europe as well, by riding a bicycle and just trying to generate as much media interest as I could in Andrew.’’
Europe was the most likely place? A rather big place, but Ken Thompson's way of raising awareness was to go there, not set up a fund and ask for donations and plan 100 days, 500 days and 1000 days events with any z list celeb who was willing to lend their name to a media campaign by parents who left their three small children alone in an unlocked apartment in a foreign country.
A family friend, Robin Bowles, said police had contacted Mr Thompson advising him that his son was safe with welfare officials and his former wife was in custody. Arrangements for her extradition were due to be raised in a court appearance yesterday.
"Ken's ecstatic, emotional, relieved, overjoyed and still in a total state of shock," Ms Bowles said. "It is no secret there were fears for both Melinda's and Andrew's safety and the longer time went on, the fear grew deeper within Ken that maybe he'd never see his son again. He wants to see him. He can't wait a moment longer."
Ms Stratton fled Australia four months after she and Mr Thompson failed to reach a custody settlement. She flew with Andrew to Germany, then vanished. In a letter to her family, she claimed she was forced to flee after losing faith in the Family Court over its handling of serious allegations she levelled against her former husband.
But in December 2008 Ms Stratton successfully lobbied the Family Court to lift a ban on identifying Andrew and his plight.
In granting the order, the court allowed Mr Thompson to release a psychiatric report – compiled before his former wife's disappearance – revealing she had a paranoia disorder that severely impaired her ability as a parent.
Mr Thompson said: ‘‘He is safe. We’ll hopefully now get him back to Australia and then Melinda and I can resume the process that needs to be resumed, that was started in 2008."
See, that's how you do it if your child is missing. You get off your butt and go to the places where the child might be found. This year, Gerry McCann got on his bike and rode up and down Scottish hills in record time, we're told, to raise money for the Find Madeleine Fund. He might have done better to have been out there searching when his child first went missing or to have got on his bike when he visited Praia da Luz and cycled round those 'lawless villages,' handing out leaflets and photos. Now, why didn't he do that? How much does it cost to hire an effin' bike for a few days? A great deal less than the £500,000 paid to Kevin Halligen of Oakley International, now fighting extradition to the USA on charges of fraud and money laundering!
Gerry went to America, he visited the Pope, he did the grand tour of Europe and had his piccie taken, but he didn't get on his bike and search those areas where the private detectives thought Madeleine was being held. I guess it was a bit like the night his daughter disappeared: he was busy doing other things.
Raymond Hewlett: a very sick man near the end of his life.
The Sun, September 1st 2010, by Antonella Lazzeri and Andrew Crick.
MADELEINE McCann suspect Raymond Hewlett confessed on his deathbed that he KNEW what happened to the little girl, The Sun can reveal.
In a letter to his estranged son Wayne, he denied having anything to do with Maddie's disappearance.
But he said he knew she had been stolen to order by a gipsy gang who kidnap children for wealthy couples unable to have kids or adopt.
Now, consider these wealthy couples who are unable to have kids or adopt: too old to adopt? What other reasons might there be? And wouldn't these wealthy couples want a very young child who would adjust easily to a new environment?
Madeleine McCann was nearly four years old and therefore cognitively mature enough to have a good vocabulary, good communication skills and the developmental level of memory to recall where she came from. Amelie, on the other hand, was two years and three months old, also a blonde child, but, as her parents pointed out when asked if the twins might be able to talk about what had happened to Madeleine, she did not have the necessary verbal skills. So, if one of those wealthy couples had 'ordered,' a small, blonde child, why not take Amelie, who would surely have adjusted more readily to a new environment?
We are to believe that Madeleine McCann was stolen by a 'gipsy gang,' for one of these wealthy couples. Does this mean that we are also to accept that not one person associated with this gipsy gang was tempted by the huge reward on offer for Madeleine's safe return?
Hewlett, a serial paedophile seen near the spot where Maddie was snatched in Portugal, said they had a "shopping list" of potential targets - such as a little girl with blonde hair like Maddie.
Private detectives working for Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry are "extremely interested" in Hewlett's claims.
A source close to their ongoing investigation said: "What he says fits the No1 theory, which is that she was stolen to order."
And what of this wealthy couple now? They have the world's most famous missing child, but they must keep her hidden, never send her to school, never take her out in public in case she inadvertently says something, mistrust everyone they know who might be tempted by a huge reward. But, this does fit neatly into Gerry McCann's oft repeated mantra about Madeleine's not having come to harm. She has been stolen to order for a wealthy couple who really wanted a child of their own. Yea right!
The 'No1 theory.'? Whose number one theory? Not that of the Portuguese police or indeed the English police who were part of the original investigation. Only the McCanns and their friends and relations seem to hold to this as their number one theory.
Hewlett died of throat cancer in April, aged 62, after persistently refusing to meet the McCanns' detectives.
He became a suspect because of his appalling record of rape and abduction of children.
And he was living as a nomad in Portugal with his second family when Maddie vanished from the McCanns' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007.
Hewlett's letter to builder Wayne, 40, was delivered to the son by a mystery man - thought to be a solicitor or a private eye - a week after he died.
Most of it was an apology for how his vile crimes had affected his first wife Susan and Wayne.
But then he went on to write about Maddie, who was nearly four when she went missing.
Wayne, of Telford, Shropshire, said: "It was a bolt from the blue and I shook when I read it.
"He stated he didn't want to go to his grave with us thinking he had done such a horrible thing.
"He said he had had nothing to do with taking Maddie but did know who had.
"He said a very good gipsy friend he knew in Portugal had got drunk and 'let it out' that he had stolen Maddie to order as part of a gang.
"My dad said this gang had been operating for a long time and had snatched children before for couples who couldn't have children of their own.
"Maddie had been targeted. They took photos of children and sent them to the people they were acting for. And they said Yes or No.
"Dad said the man told him it was nothing to do with snatching children for a paedophile gang or for a sexual reason.
"He said there were huge sums of money involved. And he totally believed what this man was saying."
The account fits with others surrounding the Maddie mystery.
Several strange men were seen taking photos of children around the Ocean Club resort in the days before she vanished. And The Sun revealed earlier this year that a British expat thought he had seen Maddie in a white van driven by a gipsy couple the day after she was lost.
'Several strange men were seen taking photos of children around the Ocean Club resort in the days before she vanished.' Ahem! It's a holiday resort and I expect there were lots of men, who probably were not in the least bit strange, taking photos of their own children. That's what people do on holiday, though not the McCanns, judging by the number of photos they appear to have taken of Madeleine during her holiday in Praia da Luz.
Wayne, who had no contact with Hewlett for nearly 20 years, said his father's letter seemed "very genuine".
He added: "I don't know if this is what happened to Maddie or not, but it does make sense. I can't believe he'd go to those lengths to make up some elaborate lie when he was so weak and ill."
Wayne said he considered going to Kate and Gerry with the letter but was worried it could cause them more heartache if it gave them false hope. He added: "I actually burned it because it unnerved me so much.
So, Wayne Hewlett burned a letter that at least a few tabloids would have entered a bidding war to get their hands on? Yea right! How very convenient!
"To have a letter from someone you hated for so long was just mind-blowing. I couldn't deal with it."
Wayne did not contact The Sun about the message. We learned of its existence through a friend.
But now he intends to sit down with the Maddie detectives to tell them everything he knows.
The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said last night: "We are extremely grateful to Wayne for coming forward with this information and the detective team will be interviewing him as a matter of priority."
And what might this detective team do once they have interviewed Wayne Hewlett, the man who burned a letter about the world's most famous missing child? Well, if Maddie is with a wealthy couple, she's probably not in a 'hellish lair,' in one of those, 'lawless villages,' near Praia da Luz that the detectives didn't get round to visiting and Kate and Gerry managed to avoid when they last visited the area.
Wayne is going to tell the detectives, 'everything he knows.'? I wonder if he will be like Jane Tanner who, through cognitive interviewing, discovered there was a great deal that she hadn't known she knew!
This is all very convenient: Raymond Hewlett is dead and can therefore neither confirm nor deny having written the letter and Madeleine has been stolen to order for a wealthy couple who really wanted a child, so she will not have come to harm. This gipsy gang had been watching, taking photographs and waiting for that very small window of opportunity when, by sheer coincidence, Jane Tanner just happened to be in the right place at the right time to be able to see the paid abductor making off with a child in Maddie's pyjamas! Yea right!
Kate and Gerry McCann arriving at the Lisbon Court February 2010
In February this year, the McCanns were successful in persuading a Portuguese judge that their right to a 'good reputation,' was more important than Dr Gonçalo Amaral's right to freedom of speech, and the injunction banning Dr Amaral's book, "The Truth of The Lie," was upheld.
By the McCanns' own admission, they left three small children alone in an unlocked apartment in a foreign country, night after night, checking on them every 30 minutes, as though a couple of doctors had no idea that a child could choke in just a few minutes, meet with an accident in a strange apartment, or wander out of that unlocked door. We were told though that their daughter Madeleine, who disappeared into thin air on one of those alone nights, could not have wandered off, but we haven't yet been told why her parents were so sure of this.
Gerry and Kate McCann, as we know, have maintained a global media presence since Madeleine disappeared, apparently intent on finding the person or persons who abducted their daughter. No other thesis is acceptable to them: she is alive, she could not have wandered off, she has been abducted, but there is no evidence that she has come to harm.
A child who has been abducted by a stranger has not come to harm? I guess if you seriously think that three small children alone in an unlocked apartment cannot come to harm, then believing that a child taken from her bed by strangers has not come to harm might not be too much of a leap of faith. She would, of course, be able to walk into her old home and take up that, 'spare place,' at the dining table. Nae bother! If either of you, Kate or Gerry McCann were my doctor, your reputation as health professionals would have suffered serious harm. I don't think I could trust a doctor who thought it was OK to go out wining and dining while their three small children were alone in an unlocked apartment and who also thought that abduction was not bad for a child's physical and emotional well-being.
Anyway, in search of upholding their good reputation, our fine doctors hired Carter-Ruck, who describe themselves as, 'the UK's pre-eminent media law practice.' In doing so, the McCanns are in a special kind of company! Carter-Ruck is the law firm that stopped General Augusto Pinochet's extradition to Spain to answer to charges of human rights violations. Carter-Ruck is also the firm that unsuccessfully tried to prevent the Guardian newspaper from publishing an MP's question in the House of Commons on the activities of the oil company Trafigura.
The latest well-publicised Carter-Ruck client is Nadhmi Auchi, whom Mark Kirk, US Republican, has linked to Democrat Senate candidate Alexi "the Mob Banker" Giannoulias. Warner Todd Huston of the blog Chicago Now has responded to Carter-Ruck's attempts to silence American bloggers on this issue:
And, before you Carter-Rucksters begin to start addressing another threatening email this time to me, don't bother. Your email will be ignored and THIS post will stay up. Just like the Illinois Review, THIS post is just reporting the news. If the allegations made against your client are false, that is YOUR problem. Not mine. You should take up your concerns with the Illinois GOP.
Still, don't get your hopes up. Unlike your foreign experience, in America libel is properly hard to prove. Here we do not cotton to libel tourism as they cater to in England. Basically I'm telling you attorneys and your client Nadhmi Auchi to pound sand.
Oh dear! They're not impressed by Carter-Ruck's reputation, are they?
The McCanns hired Carter-Ruck soon after their speedy exit from Portugal. Was that because of Carter-Ruck's experience as media lawyers, or because they had managed to successfully save Augusto Pinochet from extradition? Either way, why would two medical doctors, intent on protecting their good reputation, hire lawyers who had defended the likes of General Augusto Pinochet? You are not only judged by the company you keep Kate and Gerry, but by the help you hire!
Carter-Ruck have threatened various bloggers and The Madeleine Foundation (Read Carter-Ruck's letters under the 'Newsletters,' link on the Madeleine Foundation web site) and anyone else who dares to question the McCanns' version of events, that version being that Madeleine was abducted by a stranger. However, there does not appear to be any evidence of that abduction. According to Locard's Exchange Principle:
No matter how much someone tries to clean up a crime scene, something is generally left behind. It may not always be detected, or even be visible to the human eye, but it's almost impossible to take any kind of violent action without shedding something. This principle, called Locard’s Exchange Principle, has become one of the motivating factors in the development of forensic science.
Yet, the person who allegedly abducted Madeleine McCann, whom Gerry McCann felt may have been hiding in the apartment when he checked on the children at around 9.05pm, left absolutely nothing of himself, not even glove prints. The shutters had not been damaged and the only prints on them were Kate McCann's and from their position, it appeared that she had been trying to manually lift the shutters from the inside.
Now, back to the hired help! There was Metodo 3, Spanish detective agency that had no previous experience if searching for missing children. According to SOS Madeleine McCann in February 2009, Metodo 3 agency was under investigation for money laundering. In July 2008, SOS Madeleine McCann reported that Metodo 3 was under investigation for attempted murder: a former cell-mate of João Cipriano, uncle and convicted murderer of Joana Cipriano, had allegedly offered information to Metodo 3, but after receiving payment, had failed to deliver and his life had been threatened as a consequence.
Francisco Marco, director of Metodo 3
Is that the kind of hired help that enhances the reputation of our good doctors?
Then there was Kevin Halligen whose company Oakley International, was paid £300,000 in 2008 to look for their daughter.
A 48-year-old man wanted by the FBI who allegedly defrauded people across the world, including the Madeleine McCann fund, was arrested last night at a hotel in Oxford.
Kevin Halligen, from Surrey, was hired by the Find Madeleine fund as a security consultant. His Washington-based company, Oakley International, was awarded a six-month £500,000 contract by the fund, but Mr Halligen allegedly disappeared with £300,000. He had allegedly boasted that his contacts in the US capital could provide high-tech satellite imagery to help the search.
He is also said to have made £1 million from links with Trafigura, the controversial Dutch company accused of causing mass illness after waste was dumped on the Ivory Coast.
Links with Trafigura? Now, that's interesting!
What of the unpaid help and how that might affect one's reputation? Well, there's Brian Kennedy of double-glazing fame, who according to SOS Madeleine McCann was prepared to finance Kate and Gerry for the rest of his life. Does that mean out of his own pocket, should his business empire collapse owing to breach of covenants on loan agreements? (The Business Desk)
Oh dear! Is that the kind of support that is good for one's reputation?
And finally, Jim Gamble, of CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) who produced the video, 'A Minute For Madeleine.' Jim Gamble was the senior police officer who presided over Operation Ore.
Operation Ore was a major police operation in Britain which became known to the public in 2002 targetting thousands of alleged users of child pornography websites. In the words of Wikipedia, the statistics were:
7,250 suspects identified, 4,283 homes searched, 3,744 arrests, 1,848 charged, 1,451 convictions, 493 cautioned, 879 investigations underway, 140 children removed from suspected dangerous situations (although the definition of what constitutes such, has varied and remains vague) and an estimated 39 suicides.
The work of journalist Duncan Campbell amongst others has already cast serious doubt over the integrity of the police investigation in Operation Ore.
As I write, Liverpool solicitor Chris Saltrese is taking a test case to the Appeal Court for wrongful conviction:
In the UK, thousands of people were implicated and convicted or cautioned even though they protested no knowledge of having visited the site or any interest or intention to access child pornography.
It has since emerged that the blueprint employed to incriminate suspects was fundamentally flawed, so that many people may have been implicated in a crime they did not commit.
With the help of experts, Chris Saltrese Solicitors has carried out groundbreaking evidential and legal research into Operation Ore. Some apologists have used Operation Ore to campaign for our current set of laws around child abuse. For example Margaret Moran MP who quoted incorrect and misleading statistics as fact in a debate in the House of Commons in 2005.
Characters such as controversial Senior Police Officer Jim Gamble, who presided over Operation Ore and has refused seriously to consider the possibility that significant mistakes were made, and perhaps some figures originally from the world of Child Protection Charities, will be in a very difficult position. (Matt Wardman.com)
The test case being brought by Chris Saltrese has been postponed until late 2010.
Concern about the prevalence and accessibility of child pornography has magnified in recent years with the growth of the internet.
The law is clear that it is a serious crime to intentionally access or possess such material. However, when it comes to identifying intention and criminal acts in this complex ephemeral medium, there are many pitfalls ensnaring the innocent as well as the guilty.
Operation Ore was a large-scale police investigation supposedly targeting paid subscribers to an internet child pornography gateway.
In the UK, thousands of people were implicated and convicted or cautioned even though they protested no knowledge of having visited the site or any interest or intention to access child pornography.
It has since emerged that the blueprint employed to incriminate suspects was fundamentally flawed, so that many people may have been implicated in a crime they did not commit. With the help of experts, Chris Saltrese Solicitors has carried out groundbreaking evidential and legal research into Operation Ore. Leave for appeal was granted for a test case before the full court in Spring 2010 but has been postponed. It is hoped it will be heard before the end of 2010. This will unveil fresh evidence and expert opinion. If you were wrongly convicted or cautioned in relation to Operation Ore, please get in touch and we may be able to assist. (Chris Saltrese)
So, for me, what kind of reputation does all this give to the McCanns? Simply in my opinion, what am I left with thinking? What do they have a reputation for and as?
Two doctors who left three small children, with a combined age of seven years, alone in an unlocked apartment while they wined and dined with friends. I'd call that child neglect or even abandonment.
People who don't care about the tactics used by a very expensive firm of media lawyers, as long as they can silence anyone who disagrees with their theory of abduction.
Two supposedly well-educated people, who, nonetheless cannot seem to find a reputable detective agency that has experience of finding missing children.
People who are guided by a man who buys up companies, liquidates them leaving customers with nothing for their money, and breaches covenants on loans. (Perhaps someone will leave a comment about Mr Kennedy's visits to witnesses)
People who, having lost a child, are supported by a man who presided over a major police operation, now thought to have been seriously flawed, which allegedly wrongfully convicted many people.
