Operation Grange

This is following a FOI request it seems.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2949479/British-police-67-return-flights-Portugal-cost-Madeleine-McCann-search-nears-9million.html

Thanks for that caricature. 

So 67 return flight to Portual, and we have only heard of a handful.  Just shows how much work is going on that we don't know about.    They do the odd photo op for the press to shut them up, but meanwhile the business goes on.

From the top of the article.



British police take 67 return flights to Portugal as cost of Madeleine McCann search nears £9million

• EXCLUSIVE: Trips last year cost nearly £16,000, around £1,300 a month
  
• Came as police carried out largest ever search by British police overseas 
  
• Eight-day search in Algarve in June ended with nothing of interest found 
  
• David Cameron set a provisional budget for £5million for the investigation
  
• Operation Grange has cost around £2.5million every year for three years
  
• Home Office said this year's spend likely to be 'broadly in line' with past
  

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2949479/British-police-67-return-flights-Portugal-cost-Madeleine-McCann-search-nears-9million.html#ixzz3RSwR6Lm0

Is that 67 group trips, or 67 trips in total?

ie - 13 round trips x 5 passengers OR 67 round trips comprised of unknown numbers of passengers?

I think 67 'group' trips would cost a lot more than 16k...

canada12 wrote:Is that 67 group trips, or 67 trips in total?

ie - 13 round trips x 5 passengers OR 67 round trips comprised of unknown numbers of passengers?

Has there been any indication whether the PJ have been to the UK in that time?

I realise they are separate enquiries, but frankly I'd be happy if the British government made a contribution towards the PJ's investigation (ie flights, accommodation to enable re-interviewing of various witnesses in the UK) to assist the forwarding of this.

Or would certain witnesses be required to go to Portugal for this purpose? All in the name of the investigation of course?

Just wondering.

Andrew wrote:I think 67 'group' trips would cost a lot more than 16k...

Yes I think so too... so the DM article is a bit misleading, making everyone think they've been backwards and forwards 67 times.

There did seem to be a lot of police officers in Potugal in July for the dig etc, not to mention the four dog handlers and dogs.Surely that would put the flight totals up.

And don't forget the helicopters Andy commissioned -- they must have been quite expensive.

I thought Redwood, retired before December? if so what is he doing in Portugal in December with Wall.

I am sure Andy Redwood retired just before DCI Wall started which was the 22nd of December. They were both in Portugal on the 11th for the witness interviews.

From the link - the photo of K and G in the back of the car.

What's happened to Kates arm. 

Another for the scrapbook of 'weird' snaps.

Don't you start please Andrew about dodgy arms in photos!

If you mean Kate's left arm, it's partly out of view behind a plastic carrier bag.

The caption under the photo - "........have fought a tireless campaign to find their missing daughter" - has had me spluttering over my cornflakes!

Freedom wrote:Don't you start please Andrew about dodgy arms in photos!

If you mean Kate's left arm, it's partly out of view behind a plastic carrier bag.

The caption under the photo - "........have fought a tireless campaign to find their missing daughter" - has had me spluttering over my cornflakes!

The body language says she can`t get far enough away from him.

costello wrote:There did seem to be a lot of police officers in Potugal  in June for the dig etc, not to mention the four dog handlers and dogs.Surely that would put the flight totals up.

Apologies, mentioned July a few posts back should have been June.

The bits that jump out at me from the first reading of that article:

1. There is no mention of where the other two dogs searched.

2. There is no quote from a source close to the family.

3. Kate in that photo. She oozes fury and can hardly bear to be sitting next to Gerry.

This is taken from the front page.

Op.Grange began in Spring 2011 just before the launch of Kate McCann's book 'madeleine' An enormous amount of public money has gone into the investigation, yet 3 plus years later we are still no further forward in knowing what happened to her that fateful night. Portuguese police after much pressure, reopened the case in Oct.2013.

But according to this.

http://www.policiajudiciaria.pt/PortalWeb/page/%7B45D0C3D5-89C2-4966-BE04-0C7A6C1146B5%7D

As is the case with any situation in which a child goes missing, notwithstanding formal dismissal of the inquiry into her disappearance, and just as has always been publicly stated, the Polícia Judiciária never stopped paying close attention to any and all information that might possibly shed light on the whereabouts of the minor Madeleine McCann, the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and the identity of the perpetrator(s).

It was with this goal in mind that in March 2011 the National Director of the Polícia Judiciária entrusted a team of investigators from the North Directorate with the mission of reassessing, as a whole, the vast amount of information gathered during the inquiry, aimed at identifying data for which a more in-depth investigation might be useful and possible.

The reassessment which took place over the last two years and a half suggested new evidence to have surfaced, which, requiring the investigation to proceed, meets the requirements set out by section 279(1) of the Portuguese Code of Criminal Procedure for reopening of the inquiry.

Accordingly, a request for reopening was made to the Public Prosecutor for the jurisdiction of Portimao, and approval granted by the latter.

24 October 2013

The Portuguese were looking as early as March 2011, the PJ were reviewing the findings around the same time OG was formed,is it because of this that the McCanns started to hustle the home secretary and Pm to open an investigation of their own to find out just what the PJ were up to.

It wouldn't surprise me at all

Seems like it to me.

Yes, that is correct, they were looking at it then.  I put that on the front page because of the 'official' opening - it was never really announced properly about the 2011, and much of the general public were not aware, and I don't think it was actually officially opened as such, and with a fanfare......... and in fact, an article just after the case* was shelved stated there would always be 2 or 3 officers assigned to it in case new evidence came in. (*Way back in 2008 a small paragraph in I think the Mirror - I remember it well, and mentioning it many times)

Here's an article about Alan Johnson's scoping excerise, and Theresa May not letting the McCann's see it.


13 May 2011 Last updated at 17:05


Met Police 'bring expertise' to Madeleine McCann search



Kate and Gerry McCann had appealed to David Cameron to launch an independent review

Related Stories

• Madeleine McCann inquiry timeline
  
• Kate McCann reveals fears Watch
  
• McCanns urge PM to launch review
  

The Metropolitan Police are to "bring their expertise" to the search for Madeleine McCann, the Home Office says.

Madeleine went missing aged three on holiday in Portugal in May 2007, and David Cameron has agreed to ask for a review of the case.

Met Police Authority member Lord Harris said Mr Cameron's intervention damaged the independence of the police.

But Downing Street and Scotland Yard have both denied the government ordered the force to investigate.

Scotland Yard said Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson had "received a request, which he considered, and took the decision that on balance it was the right thing to do".

A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May asked the Met to review the evidence after a new plea by parents Kate and Gerry McCann from Leicestershire.

He said the case was "exceptional" and that the prime minister "has been clear that he wants to do everything he can to support the family".
'New perspective'
The McCanns said in a statement: "The expertise of the Metropolitan Police is renowned and we are reassured by our government's commitment to the search for Madeleine."

Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell added: "This is exactly what Kate and Gerry have been asking for. They wanted an independent force to examine everything, basically."

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Clarence Mitchell: "It's a glimmer of hope, it's movement for the first time in many years"


The official Portuguese inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance ended in July 2008 although private detectives hired by the McCanns have continued the search.

Home Secretary Theresa May, whose department will pay for the review, said it was hoped the Met "can bring a new perspective to the case".

A Home Office spokesman said: "Law enforcement agencies here [in the UK] have continued to follow up leads and pass information to the Portuguese authorities as appropriate."

But Lord Harris, a Labour peer who is a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said decisions about operational matters should be made only by senior officers.
'Worst nightmare'
He said David Cameron's intervention "drives a coach and horses through the draft protocol issued by the Home Office designed to preserve the operational independence of the police."

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

I simply cannot imagine the pain you must have experienced over these four agonising years”

End Quote David Cameron Prime Minister

• Madeleine McCann inquiry timeline
  

Writing on his blog, he said that while it was desirable to find out what had happened to Madeleine McCann, he did not think senior leadership at the Met would be happy.

"It again embroils their officers in a high-profile investigation, where the chances of success are unclear, and which will divert limited investigative resources away from other matters."

In an open letter in the Sun on Thursday, Madeleine's parents had asked Mr Cameron to launch an "independent, transparent and comprehensive" review of all information relating to the disappearance of their daughter.

In his reply, published by the same newspaper on Friday, Mr Cameron said their ordeal was "every parent's worst nightmare".

He wrote: "I simply cannot imagine the pain you must have experienced over these four agonising years, and the strength and determination you have shown throughout is remarkable.

"I have asked the home secretary to look into what more the government could do to help find Madeleine.

"She will be writing to you today, setting out new action involving the Metropolitan Police Service which we hope will help boost efforts in the search for Madeleine."

Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson commissioned a scoping exercise by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) centre to look at the feasibility of carrying out a review of the case.

This was completed in March 2010, but Mr McCann said current Home Secretary Theresa May refused to let him and his wife see it because it was "sensitive".

British police were involved in the Portuguese investigation from the early days.

That involvement included the Forensic Science Service carrying out testing on samples sent to their laboratories in Birmingham; and various British police forces, co-ordinated by Leicestershire police, providing translators, family liaison officers, child abduction experts and specialist sniffer dogs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13378289

The PJ need to get GA back on board and pronto.

As soon as this damages nonsense is put to bed.

Which hopefully is very soon.

GA and Nichola Wall need to have a good chinwag.

Being honest here, if AR seriously thinks a burglar broke in and killed Maddy between 9:15/9:30, cleaned up and got away with her, gawd help us. If he seriously thinks this happened between 9:30/10:00,, with others checking also, gawd help us.
From what I've read, cadaver takes around 90 mins, not a chance. When OG told S&S to go read the PJ files for their book that's when I believed this is real.

For dogs cadaver doesn't take 90 minutes. They smell it within minutes and sometimes even shortly before death.
The problem is, that there are very few published tests - one reason being that it takes time to allow a corpse - a recently died person - to be released for such tests.


ETA IMO madeleine [to quote Kate] may have died the evening of May 2. She may have been behind the sofa until the next morning, when her parents found her. All IMO, IMO and no evidence [which is, IMO, the biggest problem in this case].

Châtelaine wrote:For dogs cadaver doesn't take 90 minutes. They smell it within minutes and sometimes even shortly before death.
The problem is, that there are very few published tests - one reason being that it takes time to allow a corpse - a recently died person - to be released for such tests.

Oh thanks Chatelaine, does that mean a body could have been removed within mins and still be detected by Eddie?