The Remit of Operation Grange

Operation Grange

On 12 May 2011 the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) announced that, at the request of the Home Secretary, it had agreed to bring its particular expertise to the Madeleine McCann case.

The then Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, considered the request and took the decision that on balance it was the right thing to do. This was subject to funding being made available by the Home Office, as this case is beyond the MPS's jurisdiction.

The Portuguese authorities retain the lead.

While the MPS will not provide a running commentary on its involvement, known as Operation Grange, it is felt appropriate to make the remit available to the public and it is available in the related publications.

Taken from the Metropolitan Police website

Below is the remit of Operation Grange, which is available to the public and can be downloaded from the Metropolitan Police website.

There is some speculation over the word 'abduction'.  I'm not going spin or mess about with the phrase... it just seems to be a sloppy oversight and perhaps something which should be corrected on the original public remit.  All other references to Madeleine's disappearance are just that... a disappearance.  It would be a travesty for this child if the police followed the blinkered approach of abduction and nothing else. Something I find very hard to believe they would do.

What I do find interesting is that the remit refers to not just a review of the case but an "investigative review".

Whilst ordinarily a review has no investigative remit whatsoever - the scale and extent of this enquiry cannot permit for such an approach.  It will take too long to progress to any action stage if activity is given wholly and solely to a review process.

This can only be good news for Madeleine... not only is the case being reviewed but appears to be being investigated with a timescale. And with the Portuguese police retaining the lead, hopefully our Boys in Blue will find that missing piece of the jigsaw that will allow the official case to be reopened.

Everyone seems to be whistle blowing these days... if you have any information that could help the investigative review, please contact the Met -

Major Investigation Team 5

Homicide and Serious Crime Command

Belgravia Police station 

202-206 Buckingham Palace Rd 

London SW1W 9SX

operation.grange@met.police.uk

Trials and Tribulations...

Liars and fantasists... there have been a fair few over the years. So many that one could be tempted to write a bewk about them... Or has that already been done?

Here's another one...

Leonor Cipriano, accused of an incestuous relationship with her brother, murdering her 8 year old daughter, Joana and disposing of her body by feeding her to the pigs. Absolutely barbaric. Alongside her lover/brother, she was found guilty and sentenced to 16 years in prison. She later claimed she was tortured into confessing, but police said Cipriano tried to commit suicide by throwing herself off a staircase.

The trial commenced... 5 officers stood accused of torture. As co-ordinator of the PJ in Faro at that time, Goncalo Amaral was also made arguido.

Although the judges considered that Cipriano had been beaten, it could not be established by whom. We all know that child rapists and murderers do not fare well in prison, and I can imagine a long line of prisoners vying for their own piece of Cipriano pie.

With no witnesses to the alleged torture acts, the final ruling ended up being based on the reports from forensic experts, which were not founded on a physical examination of Cipriano, but rather on photographs that had been published years earlier by Expresso, and whose authenticity is still questioned.

Three inspectors, Leonel Marques, Pereira Cristovao and Paulo Marques Bom, were all acquitted and cleared of torture.

Senor Amaral was cleared of a charge of failing to report a crime but found guilty of perjury because he upheld, under oath the version that he had been given by his subordinates, that Cipriano had been injured when she tried to commit suicide.  This was considered to be a false testimony because the facts that Sr Amaral testified to, could not be proved.  His defence was that he could not have given another version of the facts because this was what the inspectors who witnessed the episode, reported to him.

António Nunes Cardoso's report merely described the manner in which Cipriano fell on the stairs. Upon considering that she had been beaten by someone, this automatically removed the value of Cardoso's report.  He was found guilty of falsifying documents and given a two-and-a-half year suspended jail sentence.

The jurors and the collective of judges at the Court of Faro considered that Cipriano's deposition had "no credibility". According to judge Henrique Pavão, she changed her version several times and lightly accused persons of aggressing her, based on a list of names that she carried into the court room. "She lied about the identification of the aggressors and she lied about other crucial aspects," the judge mentioned.

Concerning the photographs that were taken of Leonor, which were included in the process, the collective considered that they were "of weak quality" and that therefore, "it was not possible to conclude safely about what really happened".

Which leads us onto the recent news that Cipriano's lawyer, Marcos Aragão Correia and Pedro Antonio, president of ACED will be tried in early February for the alleged defamation of Goncalo Amaral. At issue is a document dated 8^th April 2008 and entitled “Report on Torture Leonor Cipriano”. The section below appears to be the offending passage...

"At the request of prosecutors, Leonor Cipriano tried to identify the inspectors that tortured her. In her mind, she was transported to Evora in 2006 to try to recognize some of the torturers from the six inspectors. Unfortunately, given the lapse of time, and with a bag over her head many times when attacked, and the possibility of not being on-site recognition of all offenders, Leonor was only able to say with absolute certainty, Gonçalo Amaral, the then coordinator of the DIC of Portimão, was present during interrogation, watching the torture with ease, because every time she uncovered her eyes and was beaten, he was there, walking from one side to another, without ever attempting to stop the torture carried out by his subordinates."

Marcos Aragão Correia

Senor Amaral is suing each arguido for €3000. A rather low sum, you may say... however we all know that taking such action in Portugal is all about writing the wrongs and not for monetary gain. Perhaps the reason that the McCanns never sued the Portuguese press, yet settled out of court with the British media for later printing the very same newspaper reports.  Remind me just who the money-grubbers are...

Season's Greetings

~oOo~

Wishing you all a warm and wonderful festive season.

Your visits and comments have been greatly appreciated throughout the year.

Merry Christmas from Me, Myself, Moi...

All the very best for 2012.

~oOo~

Ambiguous or Equivocal?... Or just tongue in cheek.

Taken from the statement of Daniel Sanderson who appeared at the Leveson Inquiry on 15th December 2011 I believe 18,000 Euros were paid to the Portuguese journalist (the P J). It was paid in two parts; 9,000 Euros up front and 9,000 Euros on publication.  I can’t be certain of this figure, but it is certainly a fairly accurate estimate.  I am aware of the approximate figure because that is the price that had been agreed with the PJ in my initial phone conversations with the PJ.  The PJ set the price, which I had communicated to Mr Edmondson.  Mr Edmondson then authorised both payments to the source.  The PJ then contacted me after publication to organise the second payment, which was authorised by Mr Edmondson. For the benefit of the Leveson Inquiry... PJ = Portuguese Journalist For the benefit of the rest of the astute world... PJ = Policia Judiciara (Portuguese police) I assume that Mr Sanderson is well aware (him being a journalist, like) that the Portuguese police are referred to worldwide as the 'PJ'. Surprised he would use such wording on an official statement? Some pertinent questions people would like answers to... Who was the Portuguese journalist involved? Where is the original Portuguese copy now? Who were the London-based translation service? What is the proof that the Portuguese police were the original source? Was there another diary - pre 3rd May? If so, which diary did the police really want? And one final question... What is the relationship between Gerard Couzens, the diary picker upper and Tom Worden, the 8 new leads leaker?  Which may be answered by putting their names into a Google search. **thanks to the smarties online for spotting the 'PJ' gaffe.

Who's Lying to Leveson?...

Kate McCann's diary... modern day plague, capable of extreme violation and mental rape - but only in the English language it would seem.  The diary entries previously made the front pages in Portugal, without so much as a whimper from the McCanns.

So where did the diary come from and who did or didn't give permission for its extracts to be printed in the News of the World.  Despite the newspaper sitting on the story for some time, Mr and Mrs McCann and their spokesman deny all knowledge of it's then impending print.  The main players at the News of the World maintain every authorisation was given to go to print, and that emails and transcribed phone calls exist giving permission.

The important job of tracking down, translating and forming a story on the diary was given to intrepid reporter Daniel Sanderson, in his own words... the most junior reporter on the paper.  He was originally unaware of the ultimate source although when repeatedly pressed by Counsel, contradicted himself and said it could have come from the Portuguese police.  He was reassured that the story would not run without the green light and express permission from the McCanns. 

Former Legal Affairs Manager for News International, Tom Crone played some part in clearing it up afterwards, his understanding was that the representative of the McCanns had given permission to the head of the news desk to run the diaries.  Mr Crone claims there are supporting emails.

Former News of the World editor, Colin Myler is adamant that the paper had permission to print from Clarence Mitchell (the man paid to speak on behalf of the McCanns).  During his appearance at the Leveson Inquiry, he stressed over and over that Mr Mitchell had given his utmost assurance that permission was granted.

...it was absolutely clear from the Friday to the Saturday that that assurance had been given to him (Ian Edmondson) and given again to me.

Because I was given an absolute categoric assurance that Clarence knew what we were doing.  Ian Edmondson was probably at that stage almost in daily contact with Mr Mitchell.  What conversations had taken place, I don't know. But I know that they had a very close relationship and a very close working professional relationship.

...Ian Edmondson had assured me on more than one occasion that Clarence was aware of what we were intending to do and had said, "Good".  I think it was very clear from Mr Edmondson's point of view how he'd spelt out what he was doing,

Mr Edmondson, given the number of times I asked him for the assurance to make sure that there was absolute clarity and understanding, had no view that there was anything ambiguous in what we were going to do.

Daily contact... very close relationship?...  Mr Myler and the McCanns also had a very close relationship.  Until Mr McCann accused Mr Myler of being irate and berating him on the telephone, that is. Something which disappointed Mr Myler to hear and which he categorically denies. 

A 4-page transcription of a phone call between Mr Edmondson and Mr Mitchell was submitted to the inquiry.  Mr Mitchell last night issued a denial and described the phone call as brief...

At no point in the one brief call that I received from Ian Edmondson on the Friday evening before publication did he spell out categorically that he had purchased a version of Kate’s diary that had been leaked by the Portuguese police and that they were planning to publish it in as big a way as they subsequently did.

Brief = 4 pages?  Perhaps the caller forgot to hang up and all that was transcribed was background noise. Or the dialling tone.  Ding dong. Interesting that Mr Mitchell contradicts himself by saying that he had no knowledge of the purchase of the diary, yet he was also unaware they were planning to publish it in as big a way as they subsequently did... Were the News of the World planning to simply translate the original Portuguese press reports?  If so, where did the other extracts come from?

The jungle drums are already beating on McCann supporter sites, thanks to Counsel to Inquiry, Robert Jay QC's persistent references yesterday to the diary's original source as being the Portuguese police.

Did Mr Edmondson tell you clearly that he had told Mr Mitchell that a copy of the diary had been obtained via the Portuguese police...

I think it was a woman journalist, but it's not going to matter.  Made clear to you that the Portuguese police had translated the diary and therefore they remained in Portuguese.

Were you concerned by the fact that the diary had been obtained from the police in some way?

But were you aware of some of the background which comprised this: that the police had obtained the diary, having seized it from Dr Kate McCann, and then there was an order by the Portuguese judge for the diary to be returned, but I think a copy by then had been taken?

But it was clear to you that the ultimate source -- the proximate source was the journalist, but the ultimate source was the Portuguese police.  That much was clear, wasn't it?

While the proximate source is brushed over, the ultimate source has been named over and over as fact.  A very serious allegation to make and something which is against the law in Portugal. Was Mr Jay so sure of his facts today when he questioned Mr Sanderson's thoughts on whether the McCanns put the diary out in some way themselves?  A very pertinent question which should be explored further.

The Portuguese speculation has in turn led to the usual suspect, Goncalo Amaral to be named, shamed and put in the line of fire by supporters of the McCanns.  Smeared yet again, and tied up with a pretty ribbon ready for the libel trial in February?  

[Unlike some, I don't find it easy to lie, neither would I write something which I deliberately knew to be untrue.  Thanks to an excessive amount of muppet froth directed at me, I've been alerted an error on my part and have removed the said error.  My mistake gov, it's a fair cop...  I would like to thank the said muppet for alerting me on this matter, although for speed of correction, it would have been helpful if a comment had been left instead of just whining with Kermit and co.  Thankfully, I never blogged under oath...]

Another claim from Muppetland is if Clarence Mitchell really did know about the diaries being printed, then the News of the World could have cut out the middleman and headed straight to Kate McCann for an original copy of the diary. The only problem with this theory is the price - the diary most certainly wouldn't have been available at the Portuguese snippet price of £20,000.  We have some seriously deluded muppets prancing about, tread carefully.  Side splitting stuff yet again, they really should go back to knitting.

Mr Jay asked...

The newspaper was very supportive of the McCanns, and you wouldn't adopt the stance that other national newspapers had taken by printing malicious stories which had no foundation and emanated largely from the Portuguese press. So that was your position.

Isn't that what the News of the World did, took old news from the Portuguese press and regurgitated it to the gullible British public?  The diary could be described as a British 'exclusive', but the NOTW were really just paying a cut price for old, already printed news.

A week after print and nipping at their ankles, there followed the swiftest of negotiations between the News of the World and Mr Thomson from Carter Ruck.  An apology was given and the McCanns' palms were oiled, with a substantial amount of dosh being paid into their private company, the Madeleline Fund.

All done and dusted within the week.  The way things are looking, the Team could well be commended for pulling a blinder on Murdoch... good play.

And the question remains... who lied under oath?