The costs of the McCann investigation soar to £4.5 million
£6,228-a-day, £4,500,000 since May 2011. That’s a lot of money. It is also the figure of the costs of Operation Grange, Scotland Yard’s review of the Madeleine McCann investigation.
Two stories to keep beside you
Darth and Maddie
That the police have ended forensic work into the search for “missing” Madeleine McCann speaks volumes about Theresa May’s sheer lack of judgement Yesterday, The Sunday Mirror reported that all forensic work into the search for “missing” Madeleine McCann is to stop. In doing so, British police have only confirmed all that we all […]
What about other missing children?
A new investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann A new investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is all very well but given the colossal costs involved and the fact that many other children are missing, is it right that so many resources continue to be devoted to this case?
On Friday this week, it will be six years since the three year old daughter of Gerry and Kate McCann disappeared in the Algarve in Portugal and now, according to the Sunday Express, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, will “face pressure to explain in detail if taxpayers are getting value for money”.
Strangely, no other newspaper has chosen to report this story this week. Instead, the only mentions of the case have focused on Mrs McCann talking about how she has been subjected to abuse by Internet trolling and reports about her participation in the Virgin London Marathon last Sunday.
Whatever one thinks about this puzzling case, one has to ask if this investigation is at all worthwhile especially given that the Find Madeleine campaign also continues to operate.
Readers have their say
30 comments
I cant understand why this review is even taking place,Eddie and K eela were sent there and came up trumps
the PJ [believe] Madeleine was not abducted,so the only reason i can think … and that doesnt bear thinking about. [EDITED]
Of course she was abducted. There is no conspiracy.
The Find Madeleine campaign only operates at gathering funds. After operation Grange started, the McCann stated that no PI’s work was being done in order to not interfere with the SY work. Grange Op. is not an investigation, it’s merely a review of what was investigated by other agencies (portuguese police, Leicestershire police, CEO and PIs). Personally I wouldn’t mind being payed so generously to go over old files, but would I be happy for my tax money to be spent that way? Never, because this is not an investigation to find a child it’s merely a scrutiny about what has been done.
Louis, it is an “investigative review”. Please read the remit on the Met Police site under Operation Grange.
The Met doesn’t have jurisdictional powers in portugal or in any other country apart from the UK to investigate. They are merely going over what was investigated, this is, just reviewing the old data.
An “investigating review” of old files that after £4.5 million later only leave them with the conclusion that the child could be either alive or dead!
Many surely wouldn’t mind being paid that much for scrutinize the files, a task they do for free, just because something towards the truth has to be done.
Tax payers have the right to know whether this huge amount of money was reasonably spent. They said it paid translators… But Mr and Mrs McCann claimed their Fund had paid translators of the PJfiles… And besides, a couple of weeks after the files were turned public, they had been translated, with the utmost rigour, by benevolent hunters of truth, checked and checked again before being published on line for the benefit of all !
The photographs of Madeleine McCann show her with a left hand parting. Have they not noticed the latest image of her has a parting on the right hand side? If not, why?
read this….The interim report of Tavares Almeida of the PJ, you can find it all over the internet.the PJ KNEW there was no abduction.THIS IS A FACT.
I rather agree with LizzyF, and I don’t believe the Met will be political poodles… poodles for whom? The investigative review is NOT merely a paper-sifting exercise, if you read what is written on the Met’s own website about Operation Grange, and believe what it says. It BEGINS with shuffling through everything collected in print by the Portuguese police, the British police, and the McCanns informal, very informal, sets of investigators, but it is made clear that this is stage one, and that they will proceed to investigating anything they feel needs further investigation. If they are NOT prepared, together with the Portuguese police who have the lead role in all this, to proceed to ‘further investigation’ of a type many people have already described, the whole business will have been a waste of time. The public have paid millions for this investigation and should be given an official update of some kind right away. If nothing more practical is to be done, the operation should be stopped at once, and no more money wasted.
when they refused to take part in reconstruction that should have been end of it Portugal, they could have missing people uk and councelling to help them accept this .Surely its logical child went missing in set of chance circumstances when parents left children alone that she will most likely be found by chance.recession not helped by all this money being spent hopefully they prove it was spent wisely !!!!
Who said it is fact, lots of myths and Kate & Gerry have not been charged until this time they are innocent, all of this very tragic for Madeleine her brother,sister and family.
Hitler wasn’t charged either, is he innocent?
Forget the parents, they are alive and apparently very well, concentrate on the child.
The child is either dead or alive and, if alive, fine (a child of that age couldn’t have resisted offences). Nobody believes her parents are murderers, so the worst they did and go on doing is claiming everywhere Madeleine was abducted – and from bed ! -, as if it were a fact.
It shouldn’t take this long or cost more than a few hundred quid to investigate into why the Mccanns and friends financial and medical records for that period of time have not been made available to the Portuguese investigators.
It is not just 4.5m. There is the so called “Fund” which has had over 2m, and another 4m or so spent on lawyers. The net result. One old aged pensioner has been sent to prison for three months for daring to suggest there might be some questions.
The same questions, incidentally , that Operation Grange will be addressing, and the same questions that the Officer in charge of the original investigation, AND his successor, AND Leicestershire Police all agreed should be considered.
What the Metropolitan Police should do was to make a real deep forensic search over the Madeleine Fund. I bet most of the answers for this “mystery” can be found there. Who has that Fund been paying millions over these years and what for.
@pigs fly,read the files there are no myths in there,
This review for one child and the money it has cost so far is a downright disgrace when you think how much mr and mrs mccann have in the fund to help find Madeleine,i think they should hand this over to sy towards the cost of this review,I just wish Ben Needham had this sort of money spent on his abduction.,makes you wonder what the gov are up to and who they are protecting.
@pigs fly.read the official pj files.no myths in there.
Four and a half million quid for Scotland Yard to read through Portuguese police files ?
That’s part of the austerity measures is it ?
Lots of red flags in the McCanns version of events, not to mention the blood and cadaver dogs that alerted only to the McCanns apartment, clothes, hire car and key fob. These cannot be ignored by Andy Redwood and his Team if they wish to be viewed with trust. I have very little faith in this Review as it was the Home Office that denied the police judiciary the most basic background information on the McCanns in 2007, when the crime was committed, thus stalling the investigation at its most critical time. The Home Office is now funding this Review, and I have a feeling the public are being duped as to its aims.
The Portugese Police have still not agreed to re-open the case which suggests the £4.5 million has been a waste of public money. After all this time and so much manpower basically going over old ground you would expect a result. I think the least Cameron could do is make the Report public…..it is our money being used after all.
I don’t think the police will be puppets for the McCann’s. There’s no reason they should be, this whole scenario is entirely down to the parents, one way or another. Nobody else neglected Maddy and if the police didn’t believe in the abduction theory, they wouldn’t be doing the investigations. The police are driving it, we (via the government) are funding it. If the police can secure a watertight charge (like that of Mark Bridger) then it’ll be worth every penny. They won’t do anything or say anything that might jeopardise their chances of securing a conviction, that would be foolish.
terry u are completely wrong the files do not say this at all, PJ definately read the dogs findings incorrectly so many mistakes tragically & sadly. Madeleine Bless her is the wronged little girl where ever she is. The McCanns and I personally know many professionals do not think they hurt her but were very foolish leaving them alone.
Kate and Gerry McCann are decent people who lost a child. Their child was taken from them by someone very evil and they have shown courage in their efforts to find her. They deserve all of our support. Let’s get behind them rather than carping on about the investigation. Let’s help them find Madeleine.
last comment on this because ppl do not see the truth Scotland Yard if they thought The McCanns were not innocent they would definate act not cover it up. Gina Brown u are correct. Too many myths.
Well done to Lorraine this morning. We’re all thinking of Maddie today and we’re all thinking of poor Kate McCann.
Come on Matthew. Publish the views of your mates Antonia Tingey, Lady Meyer (Catherine/Cathy/whatever she’s called) and Mowbray Jackson. It’s boring not to let them speak as they at least speak for the loons of society.
Kate McCann says she forgives snatcher,that tells me everything i need to know.Rip little one.
Poor kate McCann!!! Maddie will get justice one day us, the Brithish public who know what the parents did to this little girl and lied from day one! God bless you Maddie, forever aged 4 (if you did make it to your 4th birthday) chin up sweetie, they’re gonna have to face their maker sooner or later. Good night and god bless baby girl. xxx