Lori Campbell isn’t the brightest hack at the Daily Mirror. For being an amateur sleuth instead of a journalist, she cost her paper probably more in damages than she earns in salary.

Campbell’s “souped up” stories about Mr Murat were distasteful and as clear cut a case of libel as you could ever witness. Not content with the libel and slander, she persists in writing about the McCanns as if they are related to Mother Teresa.

Ms Campbell may be related to the Fairy Godmother. Her stories bear no resemblance to true journalism. It’s surprising that her articles don’t all start with “Once upon a time…” In the Madeleine McCann case it’s a blessing that she doesn’t write like that. A lot of people certainly won’t be living happily ever after.

Let’s analyse her latest piece in the Daily Mirror on July 27, 2008. Entitled Kate and Gerry McCann: Portuguese cops’ hunt for Maddie “pathetic”, she makes various futile claims and here we expose her own pathetic attempts to discredit the police involved in the Madeleine McCann mystery.

1. There are 7,000 homes in Praia da Luz, the resort where four-year-old Madeleine was snatched – but police went to fewer than one in 10 doors, says a report into the investigation.

REPLY: Ok, it would appear that Ms Campbell has looked into the demographics of Praia da Luz and worked out that there are 7000 homes. She has then taken the number of homes checked and worked out that this is less than 10 percent. Erroneously she makes out that the report [police report] says that police went to “fewer than one in 10 doors”.

The police report mentions how many homes were visited. The police report does not make any claims as to what percentage of homes were checked.

2. In stark contrast, British police probing the disappearance of Shannon Matthews earlier this year knocked on 5,000 doors and searched 2,000 houses.

REPLY: So the British Police ignored 3,000 homes then Ms Campbell? Using your own stupid analogy, there are over 398,000 people living in the borough of Kirklees where Shannon Matthews lives. This means that the UK police only contacted a potential maximum of about 20,000 people (assuming 4 inhabitants per house). This means the UK plod contacted no more people than the Portuguse police did in percentage terms. Do your math properly Ms Campbell!

3. Nine-year-old Shannon was found in 24 days, whereas Portuguese police have stopped looking for Madeleine after 14 months.

REPLY: Wrong on two counts Ms Campbell. Nine year old Shannon was found after a tip-off. Portuguese Police haven’t stopped looking for Madeleine. They would very much like to know what happened to Madeleine and why cadaver scent and DNA matching Madeleine was found in Apartment 5A.

4. A friend of the McCanns said: “The 443 doors would barely cover 500 yards from the apartment where Madeleine was taken. That is shocking and unacceptable.”

REPLY: Why would police bother looking in other homes when they know what happened in Apartment 5A?

5. “The report shows Portuguese police clearly didn’t do a thorough job from day one. It is immensely frustrating for Kate and Gerry.” Former chief superintendent Dai Davies, who was head of the Royal Protection Squad, slammed the Portuguese detectives’ efforts as shameful.

REPLY: How about wheeling out a current policeman? How about asking the police involved in the case why cadaver scent was found? How about finding the “passenger” that Gerry McCann helped on the flight from Faro to Gatwick?

How about getting off your backside and doing some real investigative journalism Ms Campbell?