Burglary files to aid hunt for Madeleine McCann

**Max** Sun Feb 23, 2014 3:51 am

Burglary files to aid hunt for Madeleine McCann

A SECRET dossier on burglars on the Algarve in Portugal is being shown to Scotland Yard detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

By: James Murray and Tracey Kandohia
Published: Sun, February 23, 2014

Portuguese police have kept the confidential file for years following a spate of break-ins in and around Praia da Luz, the resort from where Madeleine disappeared when she was three in May 2007.

Children were abused during some burglaries.

A businesswoman renting villas in the area confirmed: “Police have a special file on burglars operating in the area. Most of them are Portuguese and Romanian gypsies.

“Burglars go anywhere and everywhere in Luz and normally break in during the middle of the night when you’re asleep.

“Burglars come in and steal your stuff and sometimes you don’t know about it until you wake up in the morning.”

The woman, who does not wish to be named, said from her office in Lagos, four miles from Luz: “It’s been going on for years, well before Madeleine disappeared. Police here are aware of the problem but the public aren’t aware.” Yard detectives to whom the Portuguese break-ins dossier is being made available are reported to be focusing on three burglars who targeted people in Luz.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe disclosed last week how his officers and Portugal’s Policia Judiciaria are moving towards a joint investigation team and have the names of suspects.

Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, believe their daughter, who would now be aged 10, could still be alive.

Former GP Kate, 45, revealed in her book about Madeleine’s abduction that she had discovered five cases of British children being sexually attacked in their beds while on holiday.

She wrote: “It broke my heart to read the terrible accounts of devastated parents and the experiences of their poor children.

“British tourists in holiday accommodation were being targeted. It is so hard not to scream from the rooftops about how these crimes appear to have been brushed under the carpet.”

One British mother claims kidnappers may have tried to take her own young daughter just six weeks before Madeleine disappeared.

She claims that while she was staying at Montechoro, near Albufeira, 30 miles from Luz, a scruffy migrant from the former Soviet Union spiked her drink then tried to take her one-year-old blonde daughter to a getaway car.

The 30-year-old woman said: “It was terrifying, like something out of a film. I’ve given a statement to Scotland Yard and they are arranging to interview me again.

“I’ll do anything I can to help. I can’t be the only mum who has had a near-miss.”

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/461320/Burglary-files-to-aid-hunt-for-Madeleine-McCann

**Pedro Silva** Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:57 am

Thank you Max.

I wonder if in those files are the burglaries that Scotland Yard requested to PJ to investigate or track them.

**bb1** Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:03 am

Doubtless the McCann-haters are all going to desperately deny there is a problem on the Algarve, because they believe the crap Morais and co have been feeding them for years and are too thick to read the Portuguese media and see the truth for themselves.

**bb1** Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:31 am

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g227947-i744-k2752590-Beware_of_burglars_in_the_Algarve-Vilamoura_Faro_District_Algarve.html

Beware of burglars in the Algarve
30 April 2009, 15:23
Just back from Vilamoura where we had hired a villa for a week. On the third night we disturbed 2 burglars trying to pull the shutters of an upstairs window. It was a very frightening experience and we moved to a hotel the next day for the rest of the holiday. The only other time we had been to the Algarve was 10 years ago when we stayed in a villa in Montochoro and were burgled also. The thieves came in a downstairs window and took a camera, mobile phone and a purse but did not come upstairs where we were asleep. We felt very unsettled for the rest of the holiday. My advice is do not stay in a villa in the Algarve unless it is in a complex with security gates etc.. Because of these 2 bad experiences I will never be back in Portugal again and this is a pity because it is a lovely counrty.

**bb1** Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:33 am

http://www.theportugalnews.com/news/view/1138-5

Wave of violent robberies across the Eastern Algarve
IN NEWS · 12-11-2011 00:00:00 · 0 COMMENTS
Two foreign families and one elderly Portuguese man have been the victims of a wave of violent attacks in the Eastern Algarve since the beginning of the month by a gang of four masked men.

English school teacher Beverly Stevens who is the acting headmistress at the International School São Lourenço, her Dutch husband Hans Lavoo and his 26 year-old daughter were violently attacked in their home at Quinta do Sobral in Castro Marim on 2 November by a gang of four masked robbers.
The family were left bloodied and bruised by their attackers who beat their faces with fists and a stick before stealing computers, credit cards, money, jewellery and escaping in the victims’ BMW.
Speaking exclusively to The Portugal News, the couple described their horrific ordeal.
“I was reading and my wife and daughter were sitting watching television when suddenly, there were four masked men, dressed all in black, one carrying a stick, in our living room,” said Mr. Lavoo, adding: “Before we had time to react they started punching and beating us, they didn’t say anything, we were just being hit.”
“Suddenly only I was shouting and I thought that my husband and daughter were dead. I was on the floor, there was blood everywhere and I was struggling to breath because of the blood when they put a pillow to my head,” said Mrs. Stevens.
The family’s wrists and ankles were then tied with plastic cable ties before they were all picked up from the floor and sat back on the sofas.
“They spoke English to us and told us to be quiet. They also spoke a few words of Portuguese to each other, but we don’t believe they were Portuguese,” she added.
After searching the house, the assailants returned to the lounge and demanded to know the location of the safe.
“We do not have a safe, but they didn’t believe us. I thought they were going to kill us,” said Mr. Lavoo, adding that he gave them the location of some emergency petty cash.
“After that, they started tearing a sheet up to gag us and our daughter started screaming because we couldn’t breathe with the gags on due to the blood.”
The family were tied to the banister of the staircase before the robbers made their escape in the couple’s BMW.

“My daughter got free and she untied Beverly and me. I then went to the front door to see that they were gone then I went to my neighbour’s to ask for help,” said Mr. Lavoo, adding: “He must have had the shock of his life when he saw my face.”
The neighbour contacted the emergency services.
“Two police cars with six or seven officers and two ambulances arrived and we were taken to Faro Hospital.”
Both husband and daughter were soon discharged from hospital, but the wife’s injuries were so severe that she was transferred to the maxillofacial service at Lisbon’s São José Hospital. At the time of going to press on Thursday, Mrs. Stevens had been discharged and was recovering at home.
On the night of the crime, the authorities closed the border at the international bridge towards Spain, which is only approximately five kilometres away from the couple’s villa, but the gang was able to escape.
“I have to say that the police, the hospital staff, the emergency services, in fact all of the authorities have been brilliant,” said Mr. Lavoo, adding, “Our BMW has already been found and returned to us and we believe that the police will catch these thugs very soon as all the forces are working together.”
Overall, the couple told The Portugal News that they consider Portugal to be one of the nicest and safest countries in the world and are not planning on moving away.
“Our villa was for sale anyway, but that is because we plan to buy an apartment in Vila Real de Santo António, we are not going to change our life just because of these thugs,” they said.
The Judiciary police are now investigating this case but have not yet found the assailants who may also be responsible for an incident that occurred the previous night.
An elderly man was also assaulted and robbed by a gang of masked men in his home, located in an isolated area near Luz de Tavira in the Eastern Algarve.

A GNR spokesman told Lusa News Agency that the criminals tied up their victim and forced him to reveal where he kept his money and gold. The Judiciary police are now investigating this crime but the value of the stolen items has not been revealed.
More recently a German family was also attacked by four masked men at their villa in Azinheiro, Estoi, near Faro on the evening of 5 November. A woman and her two children, one of whom was beaten, were made prisoners, sprayed with pepper spray and threatened with a gun, while the masked assailants searched for valuables.
According to Correio da Manhã, the 19 year-old son was driving the vehicle alone and parked at the family home at around 8.30pm before being surprised by the gang of robbers who jumped out from the bushes and tried to tie him up.
He then managed to escape and ran into the family home where his mother, 50, and his sister, 25, were, but was followed by the gang who beat him and sprayed the women with pepper spray.
The ordeal lasted around 10 minutes and the assailants escaped with a laptop and a games console.
Following the attack, the mother told Correio da Manhã: “Everything is ok now. My son was very injured and I just want to forget everything that happened.”
Eloise Walton

**bb1** Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:36 am

http://john-clare.com/blogs/algarve/crime.html

Crime in the Algarve
It has been an uncomfortable end to the week for me in the Algarve. One of the ongoing topics here is the problem of crime. There is a basic misconception that Portugal is a quiet, bumbling and honest country where you can leave your door unlocked for weeks on end. On the other hand, there is another school of thought which sees the Algarve as being a place where it really is unsafe to walk about after dark, and where you are at risk of burglaries, some of which are quite violent.

The truth is of course, as usual, somewhere in-between. I have on several occasions gone off for the weekend and left the french windows wide open, and they face my front gate. There is no evidence that anyone came in, or took anything. Mind you, I have done exactly the same in London. In fact, I left my car keys in the door of my car in Hayes for a whole week once, and no-one nicked the car, but on the other hand I have had five cars stolen from private parking areas in London over a twenty year period.

There is this contradictory situation in the Algarve. On the one hand there is a large contingent of charming old world people who would not dream of entering your home, and would indeed protect it for you if you are away. And then there are those who creep about in the night, and nick anything that isn't nailed down.

One of our Portuguese friends has had a lot of his antiques stolen. It turned out that his next door neighbour was waiting for him to go out and then breaking in and stealing things.

On the other hand, an alarming number of people in the Loule area have been broken into time and time again, and treated quite brutally.

One thing is clear, and that is, there is a mentality that is apparent in rather a large proportion of the population that if they want something they will just take it. One neighbour has a lemon tree in her front garden. People pick the lemons without so much as a by-your-leave, but there are those who will come by with a sack and strip the tree.

Unfortunately I have now joined the list of those who've been targeted. Locals come across the fields and steal from my garden and the garden shed. It has now got to the stage where I cant leave anything about the place. I have to lock up the ladders, hide the wheelbarrow, and make sure all the shed doors are secure. It isn't a nice feeling. Where I used to leave hats and shoes around the place, only to accidentally find them sitting on a wall six months later, I now suspect they wouldn't last more than six days. It's all rather depressing. It's not nice to feel unsafe in one's own home. And I now have to think seriously about security fences and surveillance systems.

The stupid thing is I know exactly who is stealing from me. After all, I have caught them at it, so naturally I made the journey down to the local police station to make a denunciation. That in itself was a traumatic experience. I made sure I knew crucial terms in Portuguese, and even slipped a dictionary into my pocket. I was first in the queue, in fact I seemed to be the only one denouncing anyone that morning. And I was there nearly two and a half hours while my details were taken and put on a two page form. The computer system is totally up the creek, and every time the policeman hit a carriage return the computer accessed the police service database which ran at a snail's pace. Whoever set up the system was a twit who didn't understand how to do it properly. I could have improved their system given a couple of hours work on the program, yet I am not a programmer. Obviously there is no-one capable of even working out what's wrong, let along putting it right, in the establishment.

The result of this is that I nearly fell asleep in the interview room while we waited for the computer to access the database after each carriage return. Two and a half hours later the result was a two page document with perhaps a total of 500 words in it. Productivity in the police force is clearly low, low, low. I was told that the system was sometimes even slower.

Meanwhile in the next office there were three officers who spent the entire two and a half hours chatting and watching t.v. on a large screen hung from the ceiling.

It seems to me that the police force could be halved and no-one would notice. I'm not sure what it is that they are supposed to do apart from hassling motorists. They certainly aren't out on the streets. We have saturday and sunday markets, but rarely is there a police presence. If you call them they take hours to arrive. Presumably one has to wait until they finish watching their favourite program. And why is it that the police force is not funded by the insurance companies? After all, it seems that all they do is fill in forms, and give you a crime number. The first question I was asked was, "Are you making an insurance claim?"

And that's the problem. What happens now I have made a denunciation? They should get down to my neighbour's place and start hassling them. Fat chance! They will just sit in the ante-room and watch t.v. while the thieves plan their next raid. Ultimately, that's a big problem here. There is effectively no deterrent. You need to buy a gun. In that sense it's the wild west. If I blew someone's knee off they wouldn't be stealing from me again, and I could easily explain it away as an accident. The trouble is I would then be waiting for a return attack from my victim. So we have crime followed by deterrence followed by revenge. So, what's the answer?

john

**bb1** Sun Feb 23, 2014 12:28 pm

Forker:

We see that a businesswoman renting villas who relates this sorry saga does not wish to be named.
Just like many McCann storytellers of late who insist on remaining anonymous.

And why should people make themselves, and their families, targets for abuse and stalking from Gonzo's revolting supporters?

This woman lives in the Algarve; why should she paint a target on her back for the Algarve Mafia to satisfy the bloodlust of a bunch of nutjobs on the internet?

The Gonzo fan club really do need to take a long, hard look at themselves - and their seedy idol.

**bb1** Sun Feb 23, 2014 12:39 pm

Same story here:

Madeleine police shown secret Portuguese dossier on spate of burglaries in the area where she went missing

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2565955/Maddie-police-shown-secret-Portuguese-dossier-spate-burglaries-area-went-missing.html#ixzz2u9G3HmuK
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Let's see how long it takes the Gonzo fan club to try to hatespam it.

**bb1** Sun Feb 23, 2014 1:41 pm

Hohonumty:

Grainne Mccumiskey
GOD IF I HEAR ANY MORE CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2565955/Maddie-police-shown-secret-Portuguese-dossier-spate-burglaries-area-went-missing.html

Their big problem is that it ISN'T crap. As they can read for themselves, should they choose, instead of believing the anti-McCann propaganda they've been spoonfed by Morais and co for years.

Do they think this is CRAP?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/warning-to-british-tourists-after-killing-in-algarve-2291101.html

British tourists to Portugal have been warned to be on their guard after the death of a man who was savagely beaten in the street by a gang of youths.

Ian Haggath, 50, from Dunston, near Gateshead, was left unconscious in a pool of blood after being set upon in Albufeira in the Algarve a fortnight ago by a gang linked to at least two other attacks. He died in hospital on Wednesday.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has now revised its travel guidance to Britons heading for the Algarve and warned them to remain alert at all times. Consulate officials have been in contact with the local police to try to establish how serious the threat is. A spokeswoman for the FCO said yesterday: "Clearly the death is a matter of concern and the way he died. We are concerned about the possibility of violent attacks and take this matter very seriously. We have updated our travel advice to warn against the possibility of violent attacks and are in contact with the police and local authorities."

Mr Haggarth suffered fatal head injuries in an attack by four people feared to be from the same gang that attacked and killed another Briton, Darren Lackie, 22, in March and knifed an Irish tourist, David Hoban, 44, who survived, a few days later.

Is this CRAP?

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g189111-r104356828-Algarve.html

Dont visit the Algarve with your Family because of the crime”
Algarve

2 of 5 stars
peterwilson1
portsmouth
3people found this review helpful
Victims of crime twice in our villa near Ferreiras.Yes we were visited twice in our high fenced and gated private accommodation and petrol was siphoned out of our hire cars tank. We parked the car within 10mm of a wall so that the could not get the petrol cap open but to no avail. We could not feel safe with our young family for the entire duration. I had to leave my young family and wife locked inside on our departure date at 5.15am to go and find a 24 hr garage on empty after putting 35euros in the previous evening, we had to be at Faro airport for 7.15am. Obviously with the size of the fence and gates at the property two people must have carried out this prolonged crimewave and two come back twice in the space of 5 days shows they are willing and dangerous.
Unfortunately I will never visit this country again because of the extremely non relaxing time I had during our
"week in paradise". I actually could not wait to board the plane to get out of there. I would advise any traveller with a family not to visit the Algarve because you will not be safe.

Now, crime happens everywhere, sadly.

But it seems to be a peculiarity of the Algarve that it is swept under the carpet. And the hate sites aid and abet that, by trying to pretend Portugal is the one place in the world where it's unthinkable.

Any chance of them explaining why?

**Pedro Silva** Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:02 pm

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

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2565955/Maddie-police-shown-secret-Portuguese-dossier-spate-burglaries-area-went-missing.html

**bb1** Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:06 pm

Interesting comment in the Mail:

About twelve year ago I was holidaying in the algarve with my husband & son & niece & my niece has blonde hair & blue eyes & I was shocked at how many men who were with gypsy women begging had a weird interest in my niece ... If we were walking along the street they followed us & tried to touch her hair , It was uncomfortable , We had days out at different resorts & it was the same thing everywhere we went . I kept her very close to me at all times but I've never forgotten that feeling that if I'd have turned my head they would have taken her , I've travelled to Spain & other foreign countries & never seen this like I did in Portugal , I just hope they find Madeline & I'd say to anyone holidaying with kids in Portugal not to leave your kids & keep a very close eye on them at all times !

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2565955/Maddie-police-shown-secret-Portuguese-dossier-spate-burglaries-area-went-missing.html#ixzz2uA6CPxWz
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

**Pedro Silva** Sun Feb 23, 2014 2:11 pm

bb1, I agree with you: interesting comment but true.

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Madeleine police shown secret Portuguese dossier on spate of burglaries in the area where she went missing

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