: Ben Needham: Toddler 'may have been crushed by digger'

http://news.sky.com/story/ben-needham-toddler-may-have-been-crushed-by-digger-10579729

Ben Needham: Toddler 'may have been crushed by digger'

British detectives are told a digger driver may be responsible for Ben's death as excavation is set to begin at two new sites.



Ben Needham disappeared on 24 July, 1991

The mother of missing toddler Ben Needham has been told her son may have been killed as detectives are set to begin excavating at two sites close to where the toddler vanished 25 years ago.

British investigators on Kos believe Ben may have been crushed to death by a digger, Kerry Needham said.

A friend of digger driver Konstantinos Barkas - known as Dino - came forward following an appeal on Greek TV and said he believed the workman was responsible for the 21-month-old boy's death, the Daily Mirror reported.

The death is said to have been accidental.

Mr Barkas reportedly died from stomach cancer in 2015, just months before South Yorkshire Police detectives renewed the investigation on the island.

He apparently had not told detectives he had been working on the two sites which are due to be searched.

Ms Needham had been hoping she would be reunited with her son, but said her worst fears appeared to have been confirmed following a visit by police officers.

She told the newspaper: "What they had to tell me was the last thing they would have ever wanted to. They think my Ben could be dead and buried.

"They are no longer looking for a missing person. How do I cope with that? My mother's instinct has always told me he was alive.

"What if I've been wrong all this time?"

Ben, from Sheffield, disappeared from outside Ms Needham's parents' home on Kos on 24 July, 1991.

Mr Barkas had reportedly been helping to clear land for a local builder near the property.

Experts have apparently tested soil and surveyed the site using drones.

the word "may" is only a possibility, only a theory, which does not prove anything, in my opinion.

No, we don't know anything definitely just now, Pedro.

We will wait until it is confirmed........

I so hope for the family's sake that they get closure - one way or another. Poor souls.....

My friends, this was taken from The Daily Mirror newspaper:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-ben-needham-search-police-8921091

My friends, this was taken from The Daily Mail newspaper:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3809263/Ben-Needham-police-items-slight-discover-fabric-toddler-s-clothes-dig-body.html

We will just have to wait and see what they find, Pedro - old fabric in itself doesn't mean anything, because it could have come from just about anywhere.

bb1, your words are mine.

http://news.sky.com/story/kos-landowner-demands-police-stop-ben-needham-search-10599296

he owner of the site where police are searching for Ben Needham has asked for the digging to stop, but officers have told Sky News work will continue unless they are ordered to quit by a court.

It emerged on Friday morning that the owner of the land around the old farmhouse on the island of Kos, where Ben was last seen 25 years ago, wanted investigators to cease their operation.

The landowner's lawyer told the Daily Mirror his client was "not happy" after visiting the site.

South Yorkshire police, who are leading the search for the Sheffield youngster, have insisted the dig will continue despite those concerns.

Lead investigator, Detective Inspector Jon Cousins, said he would seek judicial authority to search the land if permission was withdrawn.

"So far I have not had any contact from the magistrate to say that we must stop conducting the important work we are doing on site," he said.

"My priority is to ensure that disruption to the operation that my team are running remains at an absolute minimum.

"If magistrates' permission is withdrawn, it will be my intention to seek immediate judicial authority to search this area of land."

Detective Inspector Cousins had been on his way to update Ben Needham's mother Kerry on the ongoing operation when news of the land dispute broke.

He has now returned to Kos to try to negotiate with the landowner and his lawyers to allow the dig to continue.

On Thursday, police were forced to halt part of the excavation work after they unearthed an ancient burial site, dating back some 2,000 years.

Archaeologists have been brought in to examine the remains and once that work is complete, digging will resume there.....etc

My friends, this was taken from Sky News:

http://news.sky.com/story/police-end-work-on-ben-needham-excavation-site-in-kos-10617736

Thank you, Pedro. So, no further forward....

you welcome bb1, your words are mine.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2081894/ben-needham-mystery-has-all-signs-of-a-cover-up/


'WHITEWASH' ON KOS Ben Needham case ‘has all signs of a cover-up’ because cops on Kos ‘wanted case closed’


Sex lies to smear mum and cops 'under pressure' to close case on tragic tot missing on Greek island for 25 years, probe found


BY CLARE BALDWIN  31st October 2016, 12:41 am

THE hunt for toddler Ben Needham – who went missing on the Greek island of Kos 25 years ago – has the signs of a cover-up, an investigation found.

Greek police were “under pressure” to end their probe quickly, reports The Mirror, and a witness apparently falsely claimed he had slept with Ben’s mum Kerry in an attempt to smear her.

A key witness account on the holiday island is said to be missing and a Greek official has dismissed the UK police theory that Ben was run over by a digger.

Despite a £1.1million police operation and two extensive digs, a toy car is all that’s been found.

Kerry, 43, said: “It infuriates me. It is just one big cover-up.”

South Yorkshire Police think 21-month-old Ben was crushed accidentally by digger driver Konstantinos “Dino” Barkas, who died last year, and his body hidden.

Det Insp Jon Cousins, who led the investigation, said: “It is my professional belief that Ben Needham died as a result of an accident near to the farmhouse in Iraklis where he was last seen playing.”

The inquiry found the man admitted lying to cops in 1991 that he had slept with Ben’s mum Kerry when in fact she was out looking for her lad.

And she fears a cover-up, with people hoping she will “go away”.

A former Greek official close to the case said a policy of waiting 24 hours before a full search for a missing person was a “huge mistake”.

He also claimed that a late friend’s witness statement was not taken.

Another mystery is what happened to the account from an elderly woman whose home overlooked the farmhouse where Ben vanished.

She has since died.

The pensioner said she saw Ben’s uncle Stephen leaving the area alone on his scooter. Minutes later she watched Ben playing behind the building his grandfather was renovating.

Her evidence would have quashed false rumours that Ben could have died after falling from the back of Stephen’s scooter, says the Mirror.

And a retired cop, one of the first to join the hunt, admitted: “We were under pressure to close the case. Everyone wanted to find the child. We did our best.”

Dino’s family denies that he was involved. The case is “still open” and in the hands of local prosecutors.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ben-needham-case-hallmarks-cover-9161080


Ben Needham case has hallmarks of cover-up with cops wanting probe closed quickly and sex lies in bid to blacken mum's name


22:47, 30 OCT 2016 UPDATED 23:39, 30 OCT 2016

BY LUCY THORNTON


British police searching for answers to the disappearance of the toddler 25 years ago have tried hard to finally lift the gloom


The Ben Needham case has all the hallmarks of a cover-up, a Mirror probe has found.

The Mirror can reveal Greek police were pressured to close their inquiry quickly and a witness lied that he slept with the boy’s mum, blackening her name.

A key witness account on Kos is missing and a Greek official has dismissed the UK police ’s theory that Ben was run over by a digger.

As the last British tourists leave Kos at the end of the holiday season, a sinister cloud hangs over the island.

British police searching for answers to the disappearance of the toddler 25 years ago have tried hard to finally lift the gloom I’ve felt which shrouds this sunny place in the Aegean Sea.

But, after a £1.1million police operation and two extensive digs in renewed searches, they have only a little yellow toy car discovered in scorched earth to show for it.

South Yorkshire Police suspect 21-month-old Ben was crushed accidentally by digger driver Konstantinos “Dino” Barkas and his body hidden elsewhere.

Det Insp Jon Cousins, who led the investigation, said: “It is my professional belief that Ben Needham died as a result of an accident near to the farmhouse in Iraklis where he was last seen playing.”

Mirror colleagues and I have spent months investigating the mystery and found claims of a Greek “cover-up” as wicked lies, vanishing statements and smears against the family were made.

After the renewed investigation and talking to key figures, we can reveal:

. A witness has admitted lying to police in 1991 about having sex with Ben’s mother Kerry on the night Ben went missing when, in fact, she was out searching for her son.

. A retired Greek official says a “huge” mistake was made when police waited 24 hours before launching a full search.

. And a former police officer admits they were “under pressure to close the case”.

. Rumours continue on the island, that Ben was taken by gypsies, or the mafia.

. Mystery surrounds what happened to a key account from a witness whose home overlooked the house where Ben vanished.

. Kerry believes there has been a cover-up over her son’s death and people wanted her to “go away....and forget about Ben”.

In a bid to smear the Needham name, a man who worked with Kerry at a hotel on Kos falsely claimed to have slept with her, while she was out hunting for Ben. He left Kos shortly after making the allegation.

He turned public opinion against the unmarried British mum and many blamed the family as a result. But Kerry has now been told by South Yorkshire Police officers this witness has finally told the truth.

He confessed it was a lie, but claimed he felt bullied into it. It is understood prosecutors on Kos are looking at this admission.

They should also perhaps look into claims of one former Greek official involved closely with the investigation.

He told us there had been a “huge mistake” in the investigation because of an unofficial policy of waiting 24 hours before launching a full search for a missing person – even though in this case Ben was just 21 months old.

The man was at first reluctant to talk, saying he feared for his life. Eventually he told us: “I arrived at work at 8am the morning after Ben disappeared. For someone to be called lost, 24 hours have to pass.

“That was a huge mistake. They didn’t go to the port when they should have done.”

But he said his main reason for speaking was to reveal the statement of a mysterious witness, a friend of his, was never taken because bosses ignored his report.

“He told me he’d seen a car with number plates from abroad. It had two people in the car and they were not Greek people.

“The witness said the child was playing outside and someone stepped out of the car and took him. My friend does not lie. I went back but once he knew the child was still missing he didn’t want to speak.

“He said ‘Don’t ask me more, I’m scared.’”

He said the witness, like so many others, has since died. He added: “I’m in danger for what I’m saying.

“If the child left Kos, all the police officers sitting on chairs would have a problem.”

He fears police would have been accused of leaving it too late to shut ports and lockdown the airport.

I asked to contact the family of this witness and he agreed, but next day, he said the son did not want to talk to us.

But his sombre mood changed when asked about the British police theory that Ben was killed in an accident.

Slapping his forehead with the palms of his hands, he exclaimed: “It’s crazy, doesn’t make sense”, and wagging a finger he said they wanted “to close the mystery”.

The official said he knew Dino, a construction business owner in Kos.

He was behind the building of many of the island’s hotels and, the Mirror understands, also did domestic building work for various police officers.

Another mystery is what happened to a key witness account from an elderly woman whose home overlooked the farmhouse where Ben vanished.

She said she saw Ben’s uncle Stephen leaving the area alone on his scooter. Minutes later she watched Ben playing behind the building his grandfather was renovating. It is too late for police to take her statement now, as she has died. But others have confirmed to British officers what she saw.

Her evidence would have destroyed false rumours that Ben could have died after falling from the back of Stephen’s scooter. It is not known if a statement was ever taken, or if it vanished.

The horrible rumours speculating the family were involved still thrive in Kos.

We met a retired police officer, one of the first to hunt for the missing toddler, who is still full of poison.

He admitted police were under pressure, but denied there was any intimidation of witnesses like the hotel worker who claimed to have slept with Kerry.

“Nobody bullied anyone into giving a statement,” he said. “We only pushed for the truth. Once the mother said the child was missing, we immediately searched. I took the mother’s statement.

“She didn’t look very sad. She was very calm. The police did go to the port that night but not in uniform. We were under pressure to close the case.

“Everyone wanted to find the child. We did our best.”

But Ben’s grandfather Eddie strongly rejects his claims. “That’s a lie,” he told me. “There were no police there just me and my Stephen. I knew all the police.”

With “pressure” mounting on Greek police to close the case and the“mistake” in waiting more than 24 hours, and so much misinformation, I wonder if suspicions of a cover-up are right.

Conspiracy theories saturate the island – Ben was sold to gypsies, there was an accident and it was covered up, or the mafia took him.

But were locals simply scared the tragedy might affect tourism? Back in 2012, when South Yorkshire police first began digging at the farmhouse, the island’s tourism chief Nikos Sofos said: “A lot of mistakes were made in the investigation.

“To the people here it is improbable that Ben was abducted and somehow spirited off the island.”

The British police began digging again in Kos for the first time since 2012 after information from a new witness, a friend of Dino who believed he may be responsible for the death of the toddler.

Dino died, aged 62 last year after suffering cirrhosis of the liver. His family deny any claim that he was involved.

I understand Dino told Greek police officers Ben could have been abducted. He said he saw a strange white car in the area that day on July 24, 1991.

Currently Ben’s case is “still open” and in the hands of local prosecutors.

Angry Kerry, 43, said: “It infuriates me. It is just one big cover-up.

“When I spoke with the UK police and got a full update…they know what happened. They haven’t done this digging on a whim. It has been just one big smokescreen. They [the people on Kos] wanted us to go away, disappear and forget about Ben. They had an attitude that we were not worth helping.”

I have NO idea what is going on Max, beyond this must be Hell for the Needhams. But I am always suspicious when people start throwing mud, as some in Greece appear to have been doing...