A McQuestion Or Two

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19 second update.





1 When the McCann’s fled Portugal in September 2007, the British Police assisting the Portuguese enquiry left also. Madeleine was still missing, supposedly abducted. So why did the British Police quit the search the day after they were both made official suspects?

2 Since that day in September 2007, not one legitimate Police force has been actively looking for Madeleine, why?

3 Why were the Tapas 9 so keen to control the early stages of the investigation by writing out all of their timelines on Madeleine’s sticker book, before the Police had even arrived on the scene?

4 Why did the McCann’s with their limitless amounts of money coming in from generous donations, hire people who specialised in fraud and bomb disposal?

5 Why did the McCann’s ignore crucial Police advice by publicising Madeleine’s distinctive mark on her eye, which would almost certainly have guaranteed her immediate death and disposal?

6 Why did the McCann’s make Madeleine a Ward of Court after she had vanished? Was it to prevent any details of her medical records and other information from being made public for 75 years?

7 Why was it necessary to hire such a large team of lawyers when Madeleine first vanished, which also included Pinochet’s infamous extradition lawyer?

8 Why did Kate McCann refuse to answer all of the questions put to her?

9 Why did the McCann’s claim to know instantly that Madeleine had been abducted, yet waited 40 minutes before first contacting the Police?

10 Goncalo Amaral’s book, ‘The Truth of the Lie’, has now been released in 6 European countries, but not in the UK. It has recently been banned in Portugal. It is a factual account of the early stages of the investigation based on information contained within the officially released Police files, so why has it been banned?

11 Why did the McCann’s want the investigation shelved? It was within their legal rights to ask for the enquiry to remain open, which they turned down? Why?

12 Why did 3 UK Detectives deliver several files of information to the McCann’s home, shortly after they got back to the UK whilst they were still suspects?

13 Why did the cadaver and blood sniffer dogs Eddie and Keela, only indicate to their apartment and their car? I believe 7 properties and 10 cars were searched in total that day, but only the McCann’s apartment and car tested positive.

14 Why did the Home Office refuse to hand over to the Portuguese investigators details of the McCann’s bank details, credit cards and medical records? These are one of the first things any Police force obtains at the start of an investigation. So why were they refused assistance?

15 The British Authorities later informed the Portuguese Police that the McCann’s did not own any credit or debit cards? So how did Gerry manage to pay for his holiday?

16 Why were the McCann’s and their Tapas friends never seriously interrogated? Instead, during their Rogatory interviews the British Police assisted them with some of their answers, which can be clearly seen in their statements.

17 Why did Gerry delete all the phone calls from his mobile on the 2nd of May, the day before Madeleine disappeared and also one received from Kate on 3rd May at 23.17 p.m., just over an hour after she had raised the alarm? Neither went to search for Madeleine, so why did Kate need to call him? Where did he go?

18 Why did Gerry have to fly home to obtain something with Madeleine’s DNA on? Did he actually supply an accurate representation of Madeleine’s DNA to the Police? Why was there no DNA of Madeleine’s found in the apartment the night she vanished?, an apartment which she had lived in for 5 days? Not one strand of hair was found there belonging to the McCann twins either. It’s like the apartment had been scrubbed clean.

19 Why is the case filed under Homicide, Simulating a Crime & Hiding a Cadaver and not abduction?

20 How did the scent of cadaver from a dead body get on Madeleine’s Cuddlecat, a child’s red T shirt, Kate’s black/white cheque trousers and her white sleeveless top? Why only these items?

21 Why did Gerry have to move the position of the sofa in the lounge? The exact same sofa which was identified by the blood dog Keela, as containing minute traces of blood in 3 different positions on the back panel. The exact same sofa that Eddie the cadaver dog also identified the scent of cadaver behind. Is this just a coincidence, or is this evidence of staging?

22 Why did the British Government intervene and support them on an unprecedented level from day one?




23 Why did the British Government feel the need to appoint a spokesman Clarence Mitchell, to speak in public for the McCann’s and is still assisting them today? Has the British tax payer been paying for his services all this time?

24 Why are the British papers only interested in reporting on the abduction line, when there is not one shred of evidence to support this theory? In 2008, one third of the official police files was made available to the general public. Facts that every newspaper could have easily been printed without any fear of litigation. So why have they ignored all of this information?


25 Why was Kate so annoyed at being asked to attend the Police station in the early days to identify a little girl caught on CCTV, that was believed to be Madeleine?

26 Why would the McCann’s leave Madeleine in an unlocked apartment knowing she had a tendency to wake up and wander frequently at night?

27 Why did the British Secret Service immediately put the McCann’s under telephone surveillance and not inform the Portuguese Police?

28 Why would SOCA (the Serious Organised Crime Agency) get involved with a missing child?

29 Why did the British Police withhold a statement for at least 6 months from the Portuguese Investigators involving David Payne and Gerry McCann, over lewd allegations of paedophile behaviour as witnessed by another Doctor friend of theirs on a previous holiday?

30 Why was Gerry in possession of sensitive Police manuals only used by Special Police Services and Government Agencies? Who gave them to him and why?

31 Why did the McCann’s want Leicestershire Police heading up the investigation and not Scotland Yard? They wanted the help from the Government, but not the top Police Force, why?

32 Why was the McCann’s Lawyers worried that Kate’s answers could be seen to be incriminating, but not Gerry’s?

33 Why did they destroy Madeleine’s sticker book when there was a perfectly good note pad on the table?

34 Why was someone allowed back into the apartment to remove personal items before forensics had finished looking for evidence?

35 Why was Robert Murat made a suspect when none of the photo fits depicted a man who wears glasses?

36 Why did it take the British authorities nine months to pass the Gaspar’s statement over to the Portuguese investigators?

37 Francisco Moita Flores has said that “the mystery lies with one or two of the ten or twelve elements that used to enter that apartment”. Who are the other 3 people is he referring to?

38 In Kate’s diary she states, "I can't stop thinking about Madeleine, about her fear of pain". How would she know that Madeleine had a fear of pain?

39 Why did Kate in her group statement say that she pulled the curtains open, yet in the documentary state that the wind blew the curtains open?

40 Why did Gordon Brown and Jackie Smith both have to visit Leicestershire Police three days after the McCann’s flew home? Both have publicly claimed that they do not interfere in ongoing Police investigations.

41 Why did several members of the group claim Rachel made the Tapas reservation, when the receptionist has clearly stated it was a man?

42 Why was a CRG (Control Risks Group) fraud expert brought in on a missing child case?

43 Why did Brian Kennedy feel the need to contact the family who claimed that they saw Gerry McCann carrying a child in the streets just before the alarm was raised?

44 Why was it that only Kate’s fingerprints, was found in a position of opening that window?




45 Why did the McCann’s need a service wash the day after Madeleine vanished, washing clothing that belonged to Madeleine that could have been important to the investigation?

46 Why did David Payne not want the McCann’s to speak to Yvonne Martin, the Social Worker who tried to offer them help?

47 Why didn’t Dianne Webster want to rush off and check on her own grandchildren when Kate shouted Madeleine was missing?

48 Why did David Payne claim that everyone went to dinner together, yet Fiona claimed that David would stay behind to watch the children?

49 Why did the FSS when testing the hair samples found in the boot of the McCann’s hire car, refuse to confirm if it had come from a living or dead person, simply by checking to see if they showed any signs of proximal banding?

50 Not one single hair of Madeleine's was ever recovered from the apartment, so how did the McCann’s manage to find one to give to Danie Krugel the South African body finder?

51 Why did the McCann’s need to air their car boot?

52 Why did Gerry not tell Mrs Fenn that it was his daughter that had gone missing?

53 Why did Paul Gordon, the previous occupant of the McCann’s apartment, say he feels like a “chess pawn” after being contacted several times by Brian Kennedy?

54 How could Matt Oldfield claim to see the twins breathing laying inside their cots, when he never even entered Madeleine’s bedroom?

55 Why did Gerry first claim the doors were left locked, then changed his statement saying the patio door was left unlocked?

56 Why did the PJ need to forensically examine an apartment in Burgau in relation to this case?

57 Why did the Vatican remove Madeleine’s details from their website, one week after Kate and Gerry were made suspects?

58 Why would a missing child of only 13 days be made a Ward of Court?

59 Why did Stuart Prior when examining all the evidence against the McCann’s, say that "he had arrested people in England with much less", yet they never got arrested?

60 Why did the McCann’s and their supportive friends refuse to help the investigation by not doing a reconstruction?

61 Sir Christopher Meyer publically stated that the McCann’s did not want the press to be stopped, they had been asked, but they turned the offer down. So why did they later complain that the press were outrageous?

62 Kerry Needham, the Mother of Ben Needham who went missing from the Greek Island of Kos in 1991, has never received the same level of help the McCann’s got. Why was that missing child treated so differently?

63 Jill Renwick says she spoke to Kate at 7am, the morning after Madeleine vanished saying, ''Kate was at the police station in hysterics. When we spoke she said the police weren’t doing enough.'' Yet Kate did not go to the Police Station until that afternoon, so which one of them is lying?

64 Why have the McCann’s never once shown us the inside of Madeleine’s bedroom as it now looks?

65 Why were there other Doctors booked in the Ocean Club that week, not part of the Tapas 9 group?

66 Why did Gerry and Kate delete so many calls from their phones before the Police arrived?




67 When Oprah Winfrey asked Kate why she never showed any emotion, Kate said, “the last thing I want obviously is to cause any extra further harm to Madeleine”. Yet they have always stated there is no evidence that Madeleine has come to any harm, so what “extra further harm” is Kate referring to?

68 Is it just a coincidence that on the 13th May 2007, Jose Barra da Costa, former member of the PJ publicly claimed that the McCann’s are swingers, then two days later on the 15th May 2007, Robert Murat is declared arguido?

69 Why did the McCann’s ignore Police advice concerning the dangers of highlighting Madeleine's distinctive eye, which would ensure that she was killed?

70 Why did David Payne say “we have a pact”? A child is missing and they feel the need to have some kind of agreement. What for?




H/t to all contributors, a special thank you to Stella for compiling the questions, and all made possible by The Maddie Case Files.

NPIA Just Another Year To Go?

If we are to believe the report further down the page the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) is set to be disbanded sometime in the next twelve months.

I say disbanded but the more likely chain of events will be that they decamp, taking their troughs, their corruption and their criminality with them and amalgamate with the equally corrupt and criminal Association of Chief Police Officers.(ACPO)

A bold statement you might think, but far from it if you consider the few pre-requisites required in order that one might confidently make such a claim.

To assess this case and come come to the only conclusion that one can; that the Doctors McCann are instrumental in the death and disappearance of their daughter, doesn't require great gifts of deduction or intellect, it requires far less; the ability to walk upright and having attained the age of six, is more than sufficient.

How strange then it must seem, given the vast collective experience of those stalwart fellows, those that make up the membership of the Association of Chief Police Officers, (list below) that what is blatantly obvious to our six year old is somehow lost on these men of rank and great experience.

I have no intention, and even less inclination to quote chapter and verse of all that has past, such things as, and though a horse of a slightly different colour, Jim Gamble's unequivocal support of the McCanns just one month after they, the McCanns were declared arguidos, persons of interest, suspects if we are to call a spade a shovel.

No I have no intention of wading through the mire of things past, but no article of this nature would be complete without making mention of the pro-active support of the McCanns by Leicester Constabulary; the link from the police website to that most grotesque abomination, that catalogue of lies, www.findmadeleine, complete with I must add, www.store.findmadeleine.

But these things, distasteful as they are, pale into insignificance compared to the find Madeleine fund. A fund as fraudulent as the proverbial nine bob note, or would that be thirty Euro note given these modern times.

So before I come to the gist of this piece, and no it's not the story of the NPIA's demise, but rather a little something from the past from Blackwatch of The Sargeants Inn, a little reminder if you will of the stance taken, and ongoing by those charged with upholding the law of this once green and pleasant land.

A refresher.

‘Missing’ conference a resounding success

Gerry McCann, the father of missing child Madeleine McCann, gave a moving after-dinner speech. He highlighted the humanity that’s essential when police and other services deal with the families of missing people.

Confirming and endorsing the NPIA's position, Chief Constable Peter Neyroud stood shoulder to shoulder with Gerry McCann.

Features - International Missing Children’s Day 25 May

Sharon Lee, Kate McCann, Esther Rantzen, Peter Neyroud, Gerry McCann, Nigel Greenhalgh (uncle of Damien Nettles) and Natasha Lee
Families and police forces involved in the investigations of the five missing children chosen from the UK attended to encourage others to not only remember missing children
but also encourage anyone with information that may help find a missing child to contact the police.
The five children were:
• Ben Needham
• Damien Nettles
• Katrice Lee
• Madeleine McCann
• Paige Emily Chivers
Source PDF

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Grooming the McCanns: Amber Alert, the Prüm Treaty and Government Interference in the McCann Case
Author Blackwatch 12/08/2009

How The Madeleine Case Supported the Extension of Amber Alert System and the EU's Prüm Treaty To The Remaining 27 Member States - And How Downing Street Obliged

In response to the question, how will the McCanns be remembered, one Mirror Forum member wrote:

“they will become a leading force in the world to get rid of the hidden evil in our society, and to out those who try to cover up for the tragedies these criminals can cause”.

For a couple who were at this time suspects in their daughter's disappearance, the statement brokered something of a paradox; just how could these two ordinary individuals who had been openly pilloried for their routine negligence transform themselves into credible figureheads for law-enforcement overnight? Within the time it took to finish one glass of wine and discover one of your children missing, the McCanns exchanged their prison-issue denims for outfits tailored to a more 'practical' design.

And what at first had sounded like a most absurd suggestion by one deluded forum member steadily acquired some semblance of authority.

GERRY IS HONOURED AT POLICE BRAVERY AWARDS FOR A LIFETIME (WELL 6 WEEKS OR SO) OF SERVICES TO … MISSING KIDS AND STUFF ... JULY 2007

Retracing our steps to mid-July 2007 and we find ourselves standing alongside hundreds of dumbfounded uniformed officers at the Dorchester Hotel, invited from our seats by senior personnel to applaud one Gerald P McCann at the Police Bravery Awards. First we’d had the poignant video of his daughter, then the speech praising both UK Officers and the Polícia Judiciária, now we had the standing ovation. And for what? Just what were we honouring? Gerry’s contribution to ‘what’ exactly? One of the serving South Yorkshire officers receiving an award there that night described it as one of the most surreal events of his life. Sitting at his table was none other than Gerry McCann, 1500 metre junior running medallist and celebrated kidnap personality. And he wasn’t just down on the guest-list; Gerry was guest of honour. It was like having Mark Stanley - the man responsible for shutting the doors on the Herald of Free Enterprise as it left Zeebrugge - guest-of honour at the annual Maritime and Coastguard awards.

Naturally, not even this prepared us for what was to come. But just how did we get to this stage?

I HAVE A DREAM – GERRY’S EPIPHANY – FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN THEN WE TAKE BERLIN

In mid-June, in an interview given to the Catholic newspaper, The Tablet, Gerry McCann told of an "extraordinary experience" inside the church in Praia da Luz just days after Madeleine's disappearance:

"I had this mental image of being in a tunnel and instead of the light at the end of the tunnel being extremely narrow and a distant spot, the light opened up and the tunnel got wider and wider and went in many different directions .... I can't say it was a vision because I am not clear what a vision is but I had a mental image and it certainly helped me decide. I became a man possessed that night. The next day I was up at dawn, making phone calls."

At this point in time Madeleine has been missing, presumed abducted, for little more than 3 weeks. But in what can only be described as an epiphany or profound breakthrough, Gerry McCann is sufficiently inspired and transformed enough to pursue a totally new direction. At a time when most people in his position are coming round from the effects of a mild sedative Gerry decides to resign his position at Glenfield Hospital and spearhead a campaign on behalf of missing and exploited children everywhere. His mission starts modestly enough; a meeting with SOS Crianca, the main child welfare non-governmental organisation in Portugal and then to London for a meeting at the Headquarters of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. And then things start getting a little giddy. Gerry visits the National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children in Washington, bonds with the US attorney general Gonzales at the justice department, grapples at the White House with the First Lady's deputy chief of staff, Sarah Armstrong and follows it up with a mid-afternoon jog up Capitol Hill for meetings with Democrat congressman Nick Lampson and Republican Senator Robert Shelby.

And then, of course, we have that ill-timed appointment in Edinburgh with Kirsty Wark who interviews Gerry at the Edinburgh International TV festival, shortly before he and his wife are declared formal suspects.

Not bad for a couple from Leicester who were presumed reckless enough to leave their daughter unattended for several nights of the week on a jolly old Summer Holiday with their mates in Portugal. There is a great deal more to this article which can be found here

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National landscape streamlined as ACPO role reviewed

29 Jul 2010

The role of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) will be reviewed by the Government but will include many of the functions currently performed by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) which will be scrapped within two years, the Home Secretary announced this week.

A new National Crime Agency, as well as encompassing the work of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and UK Border Agency, is expected to take control of the databases currently managed by the NPIA, including the National DNA Database and Police National Computer.

The Policing Minister told Police Professional this week the Government will also seek to streamline the inspection regime. Policing in the 21st Century: Reconnecting police and the people, sets out a redefined and independent inspection role for Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary but fails to mention the future role of the Audit Commission. The Conservative Party has been expected to abolish it as part of a cull of non-departmental public bodies.

Nick Herbert said: “I am reviewing and discussing the whole inspection regime. Police forces find themselves subject to multiple forms of inspection; I am looking at the whole thing.”

The consultation document sets out how ACPO will in future be expected to show strong leadership in promoting and supporting the greater use of professional judgement by police officers and staff.
President of ACPO, Sir Hugh Orde, speaking to the Home Affairs Select Committee this week about the proposed changes, said he is “deeply uncomfortable” with ACPO’s current status as a limited company, proposing its Criminal Records Office be moved into a separate department, so that ACPO can become a “policy generator”

In its new role, ACPO will share evidenced-based practice and drive future leadership of service in place of the NPIA.

Sir Hugh said: “Reform must add real value to the critical service we deliver which keeps our communities safe.

“There are a number of new elements proposed which will now require careful consideration, in particular the role of the National Crime Agency, and how greater collaboration across the service can be achieved to drive the necessary savings. Today also presents an opportunity to firmly establish ACPO as a professional leadership body, with a governance and accountability structure as we have consistently requested.”

Mr Herbert defended the decision to scrap the NPIA, saying it would produce immediate cost savings, details of which will be published in a business plan in the autumn.

Mr Herbert said de-cluttering the landscape will produce far greater value for money and reduce overheads.

Responding to the decision, NPIA’s Deputy Chief Executive, Nick Gargan, said: “The NPIA has long argued that there should be fewer national agencies. We therefore see these proposals as a positive opportunity to evolve what functions the NPIA provides in a way that continues to tackle crime, increase public safety and provide value for the taxpayer.” source

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The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO, official title The Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland), established in 1948,[1] is the lead organisation for developing police policy in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In times of national need, for example terrorist attacks and civil emergencies, ACPO coordinates the strategic operational response and advises government. ACPO coordinates national police operations, major investigations, cross border policing and joint law enforcement task forces. ACPO designates Senior Investigative Officers for major investigations and appoints officers to head ACPO units specialising in various areas of policing and crime reduction. ACPO is now a statutory consultee.[3]

Scotland has eight forces and they are similarly coordinated by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

ACPO is currently led by Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde QPM who was, until 2009, the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. He was elected as president by fellow members of ACPO in April 2009.[4]

It is funded by a Home Office grants, profits from commercial activities[2] and contributions from the 44 UK police authorities. Chief officers' work through ACPO attracts no additional remuneration.

In 1997 ACPO was incorporated as a private company limited by guarantee. As a private company, ACPO does not have to comply with the Freedom of Information Act. It is not a staff association, the staff association for senior police officers being a separate body, the Chief Police Officers Staff Association (CPOSA). (from Wiki)


President
Sir Hugh Orde OBE QPM

Vice President
Matt Baggott CBE QPM
Chief Constable of The Police Service of Northern Ireland

Vice President
Sir Norman Bettison QPM
Chief Constable, West Yorkshire Police

Vice President
Mr Tim Hollis CBE QPM
Chief Constable of Humberside

Children & Young People
Head: Ian McPherson, Chief Constable, Norfolk Constabulary

Citizen Focus
Head: Richard Crompton, Chief Constable, Lincolnshire Police

Crime
Head: Keith Bristow, Chief Constable, Warwickshire Police

Criminal Justice
Head: Tim Godwin, Deputy Commissioner, Metropolitan Police

Finance & Resources
Head: Grahame Maexwell, Chief Constable, North Yorkshire

Futures
Head: Mark Rowley, Chief Constable, Surrey Police

Information Management
Head: Miss Ailsa Beaton, Director of Information, Metropolitan

Performance Management
Head: Mr Steve Finnigan, Chief Constable, Lancashire

Equality, Diversity & Human Rights (EDHR)
Head: Mr Steve Otter, Chief Constable, Devon & Cornwall

Terrorism & Allied Matters
Chair: John Yates, Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police
DCC ACPO TAM: Margaret Wood
Vice Chairs
Mr. Chris Sims, Chief Constable, West Midlands
Sir Norman Bettison, Chief Constable, West Yorkshire
Peter Fahy, Chief Constable, Greater Manchester

Uniformed Operations
Head: Mr Meredydd Hughes, Chief Constable, South Yorkshire

Workforce Development
Head: Mr Peter Fahy, Chief Constable, Greater Manchester

2012 Olympic Games
Head: Mr Chris Allison, Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police

New Blog

Well archive to be precise.




The inability to find things has finally prompted me to do something that I have been putting off for far too long, a bit of a sort out if you will.

Saving things by post titles or galleries had turned into somewhat of a nightmare when it came to finding anything specific, so I have addressed the situation, I have archived all pics by subject.

I have tried to keep duplications to a minimum, but sometimes it has been unavoidable, some pics just falling into more than one category.

The McCann Archive.

By the by, does anybody know how I can permanently keep the post list in the sidebar? the best I can come up with is a monthly archive.
Thanks.

Talhotblonde Documentry

Update.

A couple of reviews that go some way to explain why I considered this documentary, particularly given the current climate regarding social networks, both fascinating and a must watch.

Last night I had the opportunity to watch the new documentary called ‘talhotblond’. I was not sure what I would make of the movie but needless to say if you were not told it was a documentary you would think this story was completely made up.

When the girl known by the screen name “talhotblond” discovers that she’s been lied to by one of her online beaus, she wants revenge and unleashes a fantasy online that escalates into real life murder…all because of a girl no one ever met in person. The critically-acclaimed and award-winning documentary draws from exclusive access to Internet messages, secret notes and letters, as well as police evidence files and exclusive interviews, to detail the horrific results of what can happen when people lie online.

Talhotblond plays out like a bad romance novel with an older man praying on an EXTREMELY hot young girl only for the girl to discover that her young male friend on the internet
that she not only loves but is now engaged to ( despite never meeting him ) is actually a 47year old male. As much as a twist as this is this is only but one small ripple in the timeline of this truly insane story. The entire documentary is a twisted tale of seduction, love, love lost, violence and eventually death. The victims are piled high in this movie and it has the kind of twists that are sure to make you shake your head in disbelief.

Clearly I do not want to spoil this entire sordid affair so I will leave it at this. Talhotblond is a disturbing and twisted look at society and online internet dating and predators with more twists then any fictional crime thriller I have ever seen. Its the kind of documentary that will educate you on the perils of the internet and leave you with no less then three holy crap moments.

Talhotblond is an interesting and moving story that will make you sit up in shock, groan in disgust and maybe even tear a bit in sympathy. Moving, tragic and emotional Talhotblond is a fantastic documentary that if you like docs you will definitely want to see.source

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Talhotblond is the kind of story that you would think could only be manufactured in a Hollywood pitch meeting: An internet love triangle that ultimately spirals out of control and results in a brutal murder. It’s a story filled with love, passion, deceit, rage, and violence. You can practically see studio executives foaming at the mouth while the pitchman delivers the goods. The scary thing is that this particular story isn’t fiction.

Talhotblond is the terrifyingly true story about the worst that can happen if you develop relationships with strangers on the internet. The documentary, directed by Emmy award winning journalist Barbara Schroeder, was the winner of the Seattle International Film Festival’s Best Documentary Grand Jury Award in 2009. My full review after the jump:

Talhotblond tells the story of a beautiful high school student named Jessi (screen name: Talhotblond) who falls in love with Tommy (screen name: Marinesniper), the young Marine she meets in an online chat room. It’s the perfect fairytale. That is, until Jessi finds out that Tommy is really 47-year-old Thomas Montgomery, an unhappily married man. After this revelation, Jessi seeks both comfort and revenge through 22 year-old Brian Barrett, a co-worker of Montgomery’s. The love triangle cultivates through a series of online discussions between the three. Despite the fact that neither man actually ever meets Jessi, serious jealousy and rage ultimately lead Montgomery to murder Barrett.

The story is certainly an intriguing one. The film, well…not as intriguing. Schroeder uses the late Barrett’s point of view to tell the story. It’s an interesting choice, but a difficult method of storytelling because no one can actually know what Barrett was thinking throughout the evolution of this tragedy. This method of narration takes what is an already engrossing true story and adds an unnecessary layer of fiction on top of it. Along with Barrett’s voiceover, Schroeder uses numerous chat logs between Talhotblond, marinesniper, and Beefcake (Barrett) to move the story forward, which ends up making the film just seem like an extended episode of Dateline’s To Catch a Predator. Schroeder uses commentary from Erie County officials, as well as from clinical psychologist, Dr. Rex Julian Beaber, for further insight into why everyone involved acted the way they did in this particular situation.

Highlights of the documentary include in depth interviews with convicted murderer, Montgomery, Barrett’s parents, and with Jessi’s father, Tim Shieler. Montgomery seems remorseful, but ultimately feels that Jessi was equally at fault for driving him to commit such a terrible crime. Shieler is genuine in how horrified he was to find out what was going on without his knowledge. He provides a layer of sympathy as someone who, although unaware and clueless about what was going on, will forever be affected by the final result. source

Some short time ago I wrote these words about HBO's Deadwood and the television series Boston Legal.

Every now and then, in the entertainment field, a little gem comes out of America. Only two shows in the last twenty years would I consider worthy of the "Gem" tag.

Yesterday evening I watched, and though albeit fact not fiction, another Gem, the documentary Talhotblond.

Not wanting to be a spoiler, I shall not say too much about the thing, but I will say, an absolutely must watch.

Try not to spoil it for yourself by reading the full story, but as you Google talhotblonde, options will appear for files, torrents or streams, choose which ever suits you best, but whatever, watch it do.

Talhotblonde
This is the true story of a love triangle that takes place entirely online. Lies lead to murder in real life, as a teenage vixen (screen name 'talhotblond') lures men into her web. Revealing a shocking true crime story that shows the Internet's power to unleash our most dangerous fantasies.

Postscript July 2010 by Antony Sharples

How I wish I was blessed with the talent, and possessed of the disposition that I might write equally well and dispassionately as this.

Postscript July 2010

Antony Sharples writes: The Blacksmith Bureau signed off without fuss at the end of the hearings to lift the various gagging orders on Goncalo Amaral. I am not a blogger; I have no interest at all in giving opinions for their own sake. The only reason for the Bureau's brief existence was to help Amaral in his struggle with the McCanns, by providing information from police and other confidential sources which was being hidden from the public, and by acting as a link between Portugal and selected UK media.


Before that the only reason for the Cracked Mirror was to provide the public - for the first and only time as far as I know - with some idea of what the people involved in the affair were really like.


Kate & Gerry McCann have never been able to give frank and open descriptions of what happened on the night of May 3. As the Bureau posts showed, time after time they have told significant untruths while using a screen of public relations techniques and personnel to protect themselves from direct interrogation.


The nearest the pair came to real questioning - and it wasn't very near, either - was in police headquarters in Portimao between May 4 and May 10. It is a matter of public and judicial record, as attested in court in Lisbon during the gagging hearings by the prosecutor in charge of the case, that the McCanns lied during those interrogations.


That is the only reason I became interested in the case: not because I'm a crime story freak - far from it - nor because I thought the parents were criminals or monsters. Within weeks of reading reports of the disappearance of the child it was clear to me and others, as it later became clear to the prosecutor who wrote the 2008 report that the McCanns claim "cleared them", that they were not telling the truth. The question, which has never been answered, is why were they not telling the truth? What possible reason or justification could there be for the parents of the missing child to lie to the police? More The Blacksmith Bureau.

File Under Merde d'Taureau

In collusion, by way of a change, with a beast of a different colour, Murdoch's Sun treats us to another dollop of self promotion by Jim Gamble.

Thanks to Sara we've saved 624 kids from paedos
By JIM GAMBLE, Boss of CEOP

Thanks to Sara we've saved 624 kids from paedos

FOUR years ago, a national agency was set up to rescue children from abuse and arrest sex offenders.

The Child Exploitation And Online Protection Centre includes police, child safety experts plus charity, Government and industry people. Today, on the tenth anniversary of eight-year-old Sarah Payne's abduction by Roy Whiting CEOP announce their latest results - with more perverts than ever being caught.

Here, CEOP chief exec Jim Gamble talks about his work.............

And on it drones, but tucked in with the bullshit is this one line.

We are now also to take responsibility for missing children.

Since when and by who's authority, or have you just thrown it in with the rest of the fertiliser in response to being accused of acting outside your remit?

Whatever the reason, the statement soon looses it's authority when it is followed immediately, and to the tune of the McCann abduction drum.

So if a child like Madeleine McCann went missing now, I can't say whether we could find her but I have no doubt we could act faster to alert the authorities here and improve the response of authorities abroad.

Rather than sully the page with this merde, you can read the rest of it here.






But given such impressive numbers by Gamble, this article may be of some little interest.

Police force 'tricks' to 'fiddle' crime figures

Police forces are using a series of tricks to manipulate crime figures to give a false picture of their performance, a former senior detective has revealed.

By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent
Published: 8:45PM GMT 05 Dec 2009

The techniques – dubbed "gaming" – are used to create the illusion that fewer crimes are being committed and that a bigger proportion are being solved.

Rodger Patrick, a retired Detective Chief Inspector, claimed that the methods are tacitly approved of by senior officers, police watchdogs and the Home Office.

The claims will reignite the debate about the validity of crime statistics after recent figures suggested that crime fell four per cent in the second quarter of this year, and following the admission by a police watchdog that some forces are failing to record violent crime properly.

The techniques identified by Dr Patrick include:

:: "Cuffing" – in which officers make crimes disappear from official figures by either recording them as a "false report" or downgrading their seriousness. For example, a robbery in which a mobile phone is stolen with violence or threats of violence is recorded as "theft from the person", which is not classed as a violent crime.

:: "Stitching" – from "stitching up", whereby offenders are charged with a crime when there is insufficient evidence. Police know that prosecutors will never proceed with the case but the crime appears in police records to have been "solved".

:: "Skewing" – when police activity is directed at easier-to-solve crimes to boost detection rates, at the expense of more serious offences such as sex crimes or child abuse.

:: "Nodding" – where clear-up rates are boosted by persuading convicted offenders to admit to crimes they have not committed, in exchange for inducements such as a lower sentence.

Dr Patrick, who researched the subject for a PhD, said: "The academics call this 'gaming' but police officers would call it fiddling the figures, massaging the books or, the current favourite term, 'good housekeeping'. It is a bit like the police activities that we all thought stopped in the 1970s."

Serving police officers confirmed that the tricks were being used and gave examples of how they had been implemented.

In one case, an offender shot at another man at close range but missed and broke a window behind his target. The offence was recorded as criminal damage rather than attempted murder.

In another example, a man robbed in a city's red-light district – an area he had been innocently passing through – was told by officers they would be unable to record the crime without informing his wife he had been the area, leading to the complaint being withdrawn.

One detective, who declined to be named, said: "Name any crime and I'll tell you how it can be fiddled."

Simon Reed, vice-chairman of the Police Federation, which represents front line officers, said: "This research demonstrates that senior officers are directing and controlling widespread manipulation of crime figures.

"The public are misled, politicians can claim crime is falling and chief officers are rewarded with performance-related bonuses."

Last month Denis O'Connor, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, published an official report into the way police record violent crime and admitted the figures may be skewed by "perverse incentives" around government performance targets.

Dr Patrick's research highlighted figures from his own former force, West Midlands, which reveal what happened when senior officers cracked down on one of the gaming techniques.

Rank and file officers were told in 2002 that informal police warnings could no longer be counted as a detection for common assaults.

Within 12 months the number of recorded common assaults dropped from 22,000 to 3,000 while thousands more crimes switched to the category "other woundings".

"Such a rapid adjustment indicates the organisational nature of the phenomenon and suggests some form of co-ordination and direction by management," the research said.

"The scale of the 'gaming' behaviours measured in this thesis ... suggested senior officers were either directly orchestrating the behaviour or turning a blind eye to it."

Dr Patrick believes other gaming techniques are still being used in forces across the country.

The report also warned that the use of "stitching" was "significant", while "cuffing" had continued after the introduction of Home Office rules which were supposed to guarantee and standardise the way crimes are recorded.

"Cuffing" can involve a situation where a victim of crime is accused of making a false crime report, and is therefore treated like a suspect rather than an injured party, Dr Patrick said.

"You cannot have members of the public who have been victims of crime coming to the police for help and being treated like suspects. That is not right and it will erode confidence in the police," he said.

Dr Patrick found that watchdogs such as Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and the Police Standards Unit had a "general tendency to underplay the scale and nature" of gaming.

He was scathing of HMIC's failure to tackle the problem, noting there were no examples of chief police officers being publicly criticised by inspectors for this type of crime figure manipulation.

HMIC tended privately to refer examples of widespread gaming to the Home Secretary or the police authority rather than "hold the chief constable to account" because of the risk of political embarrassment, he said.

Dr Patrick concluded that HMIC inspectors should be made accountable to Parliament rather than the Home Office, and suggested they should be drawn from other professions rather than solely from senior police ranks. Telegraph

From the 1m 50s mark.



Previous Jim Gamble/CEOP posts.

Who Says Journalism is Dead?

I have no intention of parsing the latest Home Office/Teresa May nonsense, it being done around the blogosphere already. Rather I just wanted to ask the question, why is it always the Express that appears to be privy to these Home Office exclusives?

Judging by the date, this AP report appearing after yet another "Express Exclusive," and included here for just the one line.

As for the rest of it? well I'm sure it won't be lost on you, just as it wasn't lost on Nigel Moore, for it wouldn't be by accident that Nigel posted these scintillating articles in sequence, the epitome of British Journalism.


Who Says Journalism is Dead?

McCanns set to meet Home Secretary The Press Association

(UKPA) - 11:15AM
Sunday 04 July, 2010

Home Secretary Theresa May will meet with Kate and Gerry McCann to discuss how the search for their missing daughter Madeleine is progressing, the Home Office said.

The meeting is being arranged following an exchange of letters between the couple and Mrs May in which the McCanns asked to see her, a Home Office spokesman said.

Details of the meeting are still being confirmed, he added.

The couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, want a review of all the information in the hands of the British and Portuguese authorities.
But the Metropolitan Police said it had no plans to reopen the investigation.

Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing from her family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal, on the night of May 3 2007 as her parents dined with friends nearby.

Despite a massive police investigation and huge publicity worldwide, the little girl has still not been found.

~ ~ ~

You remember James Murray of course.

Maddy case may be re-opened by Theresa May Sunday Express

Maddy's case may be re-opened by new home secretary Theresa May
By James Murray
Sunday July 4, 2010

HOME Secretary Theresa May has asked to meet Kate and Gerry McCann, signalling she intends to tell them she will order a new investigation into their missing daughter Madeleine.

Mrs May wrote to the McCanns last week asking them to come to the Home Office in what is being described as a "positive step" by department officials.

A senior Home Office source said: "The Home Secretary has already exchanged letters with Kate and Gerry about the case and will be meeting them shortly to discuss how the investigation is being taken forward. It would not be appropriate to pre-empt that meeting or give details of the work."

A new team of detectives, most likely from Scotland Yard, could soon get the mammoth task of raking over all files from Portuguese detectives, police in Leicestershire and private investigators.

Since taking office, Mrs May has taken a close interest in the case. Her predecessor, Labour's Alan Johnson, last March ordered a costing of a review of evidence and the outline of how a new probe would work into finding out what happened to Madeleine, then three, of Rothley, Leics, who vanished from Praia da Luz on the Algarve in May 2007.

Sources say that Mrs May felt Mr Johnson made the right decision and the internal report is almost complete.

Mr Johnson acted after Jim Gamble, head of the Child Online and Protection Centre, wrote a report for the Home Office analysing police investigations here and in Portugal.

His report, which has not been released publicly, outlines how a new approach could produce new leads.

~ ~ ~

No attribution for this.....

Let's find missing Madeleine Sunday Express Opinion (paper edition)

Sunday July 4, 2010

HOME Secretary Theresa May is right to call a meeting with Kate and Gerry McCann to discuss the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine. It is our sincere hope that Ms May will tell the McCanns that she has ordered a fresh Scotland Yard investigation into the case. It is long overdue.

Right from the earliest days following Madeleine's disappearance in Portugal three years ago there have been questions about how the case has been handled.

Jim Gamble, boss of the Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre, has submitted a report that identifies the shortfalls and inconsistencies in the case. His file is with the Home Office and many close to the McCanns believe his recommendations will lead to the appointment of a senior detective and a team of officers who will reopen the case.

So far, investigations have drawn a blank but there is still time for skilled officers to find out what really happened to little Madeleine. After all they have been through, we owe it to the McCanns.

You just could not make it up.

~ ~ ~

Who else?

Lorraine Kelly column The Sun (paper edition)

Lorraine Kelly
Saturday, July 03, 2010

FAMILIES will soon be going on holiday. Could I urge all of you to remember Madeleine McCann who went missing three years ago.

Her mum and dad have put together a special pack with posters, luggage labels and cards that show Madeleine's photo when she disappeared and how she might look today. I have the label on my case and it has attracted a lot of attention.

It's important her disappearance is kept in the public eye and it is the only way Kate and Gerry will ever find their beloved daughter. See findmadeleine.com or call 0845 ....

Un-fucking believable.




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