Early Madeleine McCann inquiry would have been ‘very difficult’ for Portuguese police, says Met chief

There's no doubt that the rank and file officers, like the Portuguese dog handlers, etc., did their very best to try to find Madeleine in the first few days.

The later incompetence from the top in the overfed shape of the Great Co-Ordinator is another matter entirely.

Maybe it would have been better if Gonzo had STAYED in the brasserie, and left actually finding Madeleine to the rank and file, as they don't seem to have been paranoid conspiracy theorists? Or drunks?

PS - after that appalling demonstration on ITN last week, it is safe to assume that Gonc has alcohol 'issues'.

Longer piece:

http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/madeleine-mccann-met-chief-defends-portugese-cops-1-3152884

Madeleine McCann: Met chief defends Portugese cops

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has defended the way Portuguese police handled the initial investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, from Leicestershire.

The country’s most senior officer said it would have been “very difficult” for officers in Praia da Luz to know whether they were dealing with a serious crime immediately after the little girl vanished.

Speaking on LBC 97.3, he said: “I think sometimes these things at the beginning can be very difficult to deal with, you don’t know exactly if the child has just wandered off. It can be very difficult to know if you’ve got a very serious crime.

“I’m sure for them that must have been a challenge. Anybody can go back after two, three, five, six years and say ‘why didn’t you do that’?

“That’s easy in hindsight.

“We don’t like it when it happens to the Met, and I’m certainly not going to do it to the Portuguese. What I’m determined to do is to work together to make sure we’ve got the best chance to now try to get to the bottom of this terrible tragedy.

“There is a poor family there who’ve got the torture of not knowing whether their daughter is alive or not.”

He said the discovery of two blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls living with Roma families in Ireland and Greece has not had any “direct impact” on the investigation, but added: “It looks like there’s a possibility that around the world there are occasions when people steal children and keep them.

“And I’m sure in one sense that’s what the McCanns must be hoping, that at least their child is alive.

“The other possibility is that sadly she’s not alive, and either way we want to try and end the torture that they’re going through.”

Scotland Yard is now running its own investigation into what happened to Madeleine, who went missing from a holiday apartment on May 3 2007 as her parents dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends. The Portuguese inquiry was shelved in 2008.

Refreshed appeals were made last week as part of the British investigation, with Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood appearing on television in the UK, Holland and Germany.

He revealed that his team had discounted a previous sighting by the McCanns’ friend Jane Tanner, which was thought to be an abductor carrying Madeleine away and had been put at the centre of the Portuguese investigation.

His team managed to track down the man - an innocent British holidaymaker - and instead decided to focus on a second suspect who was also seen with a child in his arms.

Officers also said they would like to trace a number of fair-haired men who were seen lurking near the apartment at the time, and are looking at a surge in burglaries in the area as well as bogus charity collectors.

An appeal is due to air on Irish television later this month.

Worth remembering that the people of Britain are more than happy to criticize the UK police. They don't set up tribute sites for dirty cops, or shriek about national honour being outraged when people object to innocent Brazilians being shot in mistake for terrorists.

Deluded forker:

Re: Metropolitan Police chief defends the way Portuguese police handled initial investigation :-)
Post mossman Today
Great to see this being reported and about time some professional courtesy is shown to the PJ.

Diplomacy, more like, to keep the current PJ onside after Gonzo's incoherent burblings of the last week or so.

And why aren't his fans keen to discuss his latest stunning pronouncement?

"The McCann hired detectives who made a portrait, a man that resembled Gerry, in order to devalue the deposition", he concluded.

 

Speaking on LBC 97.3, he said: “I think sometimes these things at the beginning can be very difficult to deal with, you don’t know exactly if the child has just wandered off. It can be very difficult to know if you’ve got a very serious crime.

Does that sound as if he is referring to Gonzo's mess? No, it doesn't. Because Gonzo didn't think Madeleine could have wandered off; he woke up on the morning of May 4th and decided, before he'd even drunk his breakfast, that the McCanns DONE IT.

The ensuing mess was NOT the fault of junior officers, Portuguese dog handlers, etc, who did their best and were let down all along the line by the Great Co-Ordinator.

The Gonzo fan club would do well to stop clutching at straws and read the reports PROPERLY; they might then notice how supportive Sir B. is of Madeleine's family and their efforts to find her alive.

Bloomin' brilliant! No more botched investigation and no more criticism of Dr Amaral

Er, no, he's actually said it WAS botched, but sh*t happens.....

“I’m sure for them that must have been a challenge. Anybody can go back after two, three, five, six years and say ‘why didn’t you do that’?

“That’s easy in hindsight.

“We don’t like it when it happens to the Met, and I’m certainly not going to do it to the Portuguese. What I’m determined to do is to work together to make sure we’ve got the best chance to now try to get to the bottom of this terrible tragedy.

“There is a poor family there who’ve got the torture of not knowing whether their daughter is alive or not.”

Whilst being diplomatic he also points out that Operation Grange officers have managed to discount the Tanner sighting as a potential abductor.  That very loudly begs the question as to why the PJ never managed to do the same thing. After all, if they had been inclined to show any initiative at all, they presumably could have checked the Night Creche records and contacted these people and dismissed this sighting within hours of it having been reported. But they failed and so far I've seen no explanation from Amaral or anyone else as to why this failure occurred..

big true, which I agree:

"There's no doubt that the rank and file officers, like the Portuguese dog handlers, etc., did their very best to try to find Madeleine in the first few days.

The later incompetence from the top in the overfed shape of the Great Co-Ordinator is another matter entirely.

Maybe it would have been better if Gonzo had STAYED in the brasserie, and left actually finding Madeleine to the rank and file, as they don't seem to have been paranoid conspiracy theorists? Or drunks?

PS - after that appalling demonstration on ITN last week, it is safe to assume that Gonc has alcohol 'issues'."

amaral has also tobacco issues.