Colin Sahlke in Praia da Luz, May 2007.

According to the British press in May 2007, a former British paratrooper, Colin Sahlke, went to Praia da Luz to search for Madeleine McCann. He sold his possessions and gave up his job and his rented home to finance the search.

Under strange circumstances almost 3 years later, Sahlke suddenly died in bed on April 19, 2010. His death is a mystery and the traces of what caused his death are gone forever—Sahlke was cremated in Skipton on April 29, 2010. At the time of writing in early June 2010, the family still do not know the cause of death.

Background

Days before Faked Abduction was printed, 3 chapters were removed. One of them “The Trojan Horse” was a controversial chapter detailing the operation of the inflatable billboard sent to Praia da Luz.

According to Gavin Hollywood, the managing director of Posterplus Media—the company who sent the billboard—the entire operation took 13 days in May 2007. From press stories released on Monday May 28, 2007, there is a consistent claim that the two drivers left Scotland on Friday, May 25, 2007. This also tallies with Gavin Hollywood’s communication to the author that the journey from Scotland to Portugal took 3 days.

The two van drivers were lauded by the press as a couple of ordinary guys who had been moved to pay for the venture out of a genuine, heartfelt concern for the plight of Madeleine. Nothing was further from the truth. The entire venture was set up after John McCann—Madeleine’s uncle—had approached Posterplus Media. The two men were employees of Posterplus Media and were just doing their job.

When we peel back the layers, we find that one of the drivers—Les Harley—lives very close to John McCann in the Temple/Partick area of Glasgow. Posterplus Media is located in Kilmaurs and is a good 25 miles away from where Harley & McCann live. It is a fair bet that John McCann knew Les Harley as a fellow brethren in one of the local lodges in that district—perhaps in the Galen Lodge located at the torched Ardery Street Freemason Hall that was burned to the ground in an arson attack in January 2008. No doubt the membership records of the various lodges using the Ardery Street hall disappeared into smoke along with many other interesting historical records.

Kate and Gerry McCann looking at the inflatable billboard that was driven to Praia da Luz for a couple of days at a cost of over £20,000.

The 2000+ mile trip to Portugal with an 800 sq.ft. inflatable “bouncy castle” with a poster stuck on the side made no sense at all. Gavin Hollywood’s estimated cost of £20,000 ($30,000) could have been done for thousands less by flying the two men to Portugal and sending the inflatable as air freight. A glance at the accounts and financial status of Posterplus Media makes the story even more fantastic. Deeply in debt for several years and with at least one county court judgment recorded against them, what on earth was the company doing by spending such a vast sum of money for very little—if any—reward? The newspaper articles touted the drivers, Chris Lennox and Les Harley as the brains behind the venture and at no time was the name Posterplus Media mentioned in those articles. It wasn’t as if the company gained by some press exposure and if anything, the company remained completely anonymous. When you are so deep in the red, it isn’t as though those expenses can be used as a tax right-off. If you’re not making money then you won’t be paying tax anyway.

Now switch our attention to a story that came out a day or two before the “bouncy castle” story.

Posterplus Media balance sheet. Click the image to view it larger.

Steve Taylor and Colin Sahlke were two former British Army soldiers who are reported to have met while working in a shower company in Nelson, Lancashire. The fantastic stories about Taylor and Sahlke have a vibe that is incredibly similar to the story of Harley and Lennox. Taylor and Sahlke didn’t take any fancy equipment to Portugal but if we are to believe the news reports of the time, we are told that they both gave up their jobs and at least one of them gave up his rented home and possessions to raise £5,000 ($7,500) to go and find Madeleine.

John McCann, the Madeleine Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited Chairman, is said to have given up his job with AstraZeneca so he could concentrate full time on the search for his niece. It is staggering to think how four people gave up their careers to focus on the search for Madeleine: Kate Healy, John McCann and two former soldiers in Lancashire.

The dates and times that Taylor and Sahlke were in Praia da Luz are pretty much the same as Lennox and Harley’s. All four men left the UK on Friday, May 25, 2007. Apart from a few staged photographs of Taylor and Sahlke decked out in clothing more suitable for Operation Desert Storm, we saw nothing more of the two former soldiers. We saw nothing more of the inflatable sign either. After a photo session on the beach in Praia da Luz, the sign was not seen again despite Gavin Hollywood’s claim that the sign was to be set up at sites around the Algarve.

And what incidentally was it that cost Taylor and Sahlke £5,000? Two return low-cost airline tickets to Faro, Portugal, from Leeds/Bradford or Manchester Airports would typically cost about £150 or less. Accommodation for a week or even a cheap package holiday including flights would have cost the two men no more than £500 each. May is not high season in the European package holiday trade.

The two stories of Taylor/Sahlke and Lennox/Harley really make no sense whatsoever. Keep in mind that these men came onto the scene 3 days after Clarence Mitchell’s public arrival on the Madeleine McCann disappearance.

North East Lancashire/West Yorkshire

For those not familiar with this part of England and its involvement in the McCann case, it is a location that has had an ever increasing list of coincidental involvement. To date we have:

• Ed Smethurst, a Madeleine Fund director, a lawyer and a prominent Freemason in the East Lancashire Lodge in Manchester. It appears that Smethurst has lived and worked in the Bury/Rochdale/Clitheroe area for most of his life.
• Michael Wright, Kate Healy’s cousin’s husband. Wright was the named driver on the Renault Scenic where the cadaver dog smelt the scent of death in the trunk. Wright made numerous trips to Portugal in 2007, including one trip where he literally flew to Portugal to accompany Kate and the twins on a flight back to England the same day.
• CCP—the Centre for Crisis Psychology—are based in Skipton. CCP were dispatched to Portugal in the middle of May 2007 to assist the McCanns with trauma counselling.
• Colin Sahlke and Steve Taylor were work colleagues at a shower company in Nelson. Presumably this was Manhattan Showers Ltd.
• Raymond Hewlett, the deceased former paedophile lived in Todmorden and was linked to the Madeleine case for various reasons. Suspected to have been the real killer of Leslie Molseed in 1975, Hewlett passed away in 2010 after contracting throat cancer.
• David Payne, one of the Tapas Nine, has family in Rochdale. Payne is the doctor who was reported to Leicestershire police by Katerina and Arul Gaspar when they made statements about the behaviour of Gerry McCann and David Payne when they were all on holiday together in Majorca in 2005.

The area of north east Lancashire and west Yorkshire discussed in this section. A: Clitheroe, B: Skipton, C: Nelson, D: Keighley, E: Todmorden, F: Rochdale. To give an idea of the scale of this map, it is about 27 miles from Clitheroe to Keighley and 40 miles from Skipton to Rochdale.

A well known blogger in the Madeleine McCann case is “Blackwatch”. His blog—The Sargeant’s Inn (here)—is like a curio shop full of fascinating connections between the hundreds of characters involved in the story. Intelligently written, it is a great repository of trivia on the Madeleine story.

The detail in his blog is what makes it a compelling read but although he supplies many names and their relationships between each other, he reaches few conclusions and he actually states by way of a disclaimer:

The site offers no explanation for what might have occurred prior to the event, only for the Press, PR and lobbying activity that erupted in its wake. The intent is to dispel any notion of an elaborate conspiracy and to propose a more prosaic but no less compelling account of the Madeleine Franchise and how it came almost accidently into shape: a story of commercial and political improvisation.

Blackwatch also goes on to state:

Here are a few things we won’t tolerate:

• Any crazy stuff about Roslyn, Roswell, Freemasons, the Bilderberg Group, Crop Circles, the Illuminati, Opus Dei, New World Order and fat bald blokes

Phil Johnson, the owner of JJ Associates International based in Keighley, West Yorkshire.

While the Madeleine case may not involve crop circles, the Bilderberg Group, Roslyn Chapel, the Illuminati, Opus Dei and a New World Order, it certainly does involve Freemasons. As Faked Abduction clearly demonstrates, there is a large network of Freemasons involved in the founding of the official fund. Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited has their registered office at one of Britain’s largest law firms to represent Freemasons and Freemasonic charities. Ed Smethurst is one of the directors of the Madeleine Fund and is a long time Freemason.

Blackwatch recently wrote an article about JJ Associates International (here). This private firm of investigators are also located in the East Lancs/West Yorks area and their mailing address is in Keighley (D on the map above). In typical “Blackwatch” style, he connects the players and in the context of this article he refers to Colin Sahlke:

Readers might recall that Colin Sahlke a former Keighley paratrooper and his friend flew to Praia da Luz in the first weeks of her disappearance. I am assuming he may have been a member of JJ Associates or at least someone on their books.

The owner of JJ Associates International is Phil Johnson. Phil has a long and detailed entry on the business networking site “Linkedin” (here).

Freemason involvement

Ed Smethurst has made no secret of his affiliation with Freemasons. For most of his life he has been involved with the craft in the Manchester area.

Phil Johnson lists 'The Virtual Lodge' in his group affiliations on his Linkedin page.

For all Blackwatch’s denial of Freemason involvement in the Madeleine disappearance, when we look at Phil Johnson’s Linkedin entry, we see that he belongs to a group called The Virtual Lodge. As Blackwatch surmises, perhaps Sahlke was on the books of JJ Associates International. Who knows?

According to Colin Sahlke’s sister, she is of the opinion that if Colin was a Freemason then that was “in his dreams” because her brother liked to exaggerate his achievements. In point of fact, when the British press reported that Colin was a former paratrooper, his sister said “…that was the first we knew of him being a former paratrooper!”

But were Sahlke and Taylor Freemasons or were they chosen by Freemasons to go over to Portugal?

The Midas Award logo (left) is suspiciously Masonic in design. Compare to the compass and squares (right), the well-known symbol of Freemasonry.

Here’s a clue: Manhattan Showers in Nelson have their registered office in Glossop, Derbyshire at a firm of accountants called Crossley Lomas. Back in 2004, Crossley and Lomas won a financial services award called a Midas Award. The company behind this are located (here). Look at the Midas Award logo. Crossley Lomas are the registered office for many companies and they also advised a Manchester company called the Brownsword Group Ltd. Brownsword Group Ltd are the parent company of Mike India 5 Ltd—clearly a play on the term “MI5″.

The reader is probably bewildered now by an ever increasing list of company names and more people loosely connected by Freemasonry in the Manchester area.

Look no further. The connection comes back full circle to tie in Freemasonic Madeleine Fund helpers Brian Kennedy and Ed Smethurst.

In October 2008, it was announced that Brian Kennedy’s rugby club Sale Sharks had a new sponsor.

From sportindustry.biz (here):

Sale Sharks sign up new sponsor- 27 Oct 2008

Guinness Premiership side Sale Sharks have signed a one-year sponsorship deal with insurance specialists Mike India 5.

Prior to the deal being signed, the Cheadle Hulme based firm, specialists in investigating integrity for the insurance industry and general commerce, completed an investigation into the benefits of an association with the Guinness Premiership club.

The investigation has concluded with Mike India 5 signing a one-year deal to become official partners of Sale Sharks.

The Sharks will wear the Mike India 5 logo for all their remaining Heineken Cup matches this season.

The deal also provides Mike India 5 with perimeter signage, corporate hospitality to entertain key guests to Sharks matches and the opportunity to network with other club sponsors and partners through membership in the Sale Sharks 500 Club.

Freemason sponsors of Sale Sharks - Mike India 5 Ltd - an east Manchester based investigation and surveillance firm with links to Chartered Accountants Crossley Lomas. Click image to see larger version.

Conclusion

This is yet another proven Freemasonic link in the Madeleine McCann case and one that ties in the key players Brian Kennedy and Ed Smethurst to Colin Sahlke and Steve Taylor—two men sent to Portugal on May 25, 2007.

Did Sahlke and Taylor help to repatriate Madeleine?

Sahlke liked to talk too much. Was this his downfall and did it ultimately cost him his life?

Orders are coming in fast for the 526 page paperback, published this week in the USA.

It seems that the public will at last be able to read for themselves the key evidence in the Madeleine McCann case. This book—the first of its kind in English—will carry the baton forward after Goncalo Amaral’s book was banned in Portugal. The former inspector’s book was never translated to English and so the British and American public were unable to read about many aspects of the case.

The Book Contents

Here is the chapter listing:

• British Establishment Cover-ups
• Maddie: A Name the Media Invented
• The Police Conclusions
• How the Story Unfolded
• Experts in Propaganda
• The Locations and People
• A Neighbor Hears Crying
• An Obsession with Lawyers
• The Five Photographs
• Payne & McCann Allegations
• Dogs Don’t Lie
• The Weekend of June 9 – 10
• McCanns on the Oprah Show
• Letter to the Madeleine Fund
• Gerry’s Blogs and Kate’s Diary
• The Official Fund
• The Arguido Interviews
• Dealing with a Corpse
• Flaws in Gonçalo Amaral’s thesis
• Interesting Details from the Files
• The Author’s Conclusions

APPENDICES

• Appendix A: Timeline 2007-2010
• Appendix B: Timeline May 3, 2007
• Appendix C: Tavares Almeida’s Report
• Appendix D: Mark Harrison’s Report
• Appendix E: Martin Grime’s Profile
• Appendix F: Documentaries & Interviews
• Appendix G: Kate Healy’s Bible
• Appendix H: Justice Hogg’s Judgment

A few book Highlights:

• Copious footnotes and cross references to verify sources
• Correspondence from Peter McCann of Castle Craig about his relationship with Gerry McCann
• The statements deliberately held back from the Portuguese police by Leicester Constabulary
• The blatant discrepancies in the Tapas Nine witness statements
• Jane Tanner’s conflicting statements
• Did Kate falsify legal documents?
• Where did Gonçalo Amaral go wrong?
• Correspondence from the Masonic law firm entrusted with setting up Madeleine’s Fund
• Gordon Brown’s wife and the fellow Bristol University graduate behind the Madeleine Fund
• Information about other appalling British Establishment cover ups including Dunblane, Omagh and the recent shock Hollie Greig case

Can anyone confirm if this is Jim Gamble of CEOP standing at the back of the picture in this Freemason photograph?

9:23: Good morning. We’re outside the courthouse for the third day of the McCann libel trial.
9:26: We’ve had rain every day so far – but this morning the sun has come up and cast a rainbow over the court building. A good omen for someone?
9:35: Cameras are out in force again outside the court today – interest in the trial shows no sign of waning.
9:53: Kate McCann has arrived at court. She stopped briefly outside to speak to the waiting press pack.
9:53: Mrs McCann said she was still confident of winning the case.
9:56: Kate McCann: there were mistakes made in the investigation but we need to look forward really.
9:58: Kate McCann: i believe this was the right course of action. i have confidence in the Portuguese justice system.
9:59: Kate McCann: we need to find Madeleine. That’s why we’re here.
10:18: We’re back in court and proceedings are under way. Kate McCann is here, but Gerry has flown back to the UK.
10:20: Mrs McCann is sitting on the front bench of the public seating with Fiona Payne, a close friend and member of the so-called ‘Tapas Seven’.
10:21: There are far fewer people in the court today. Journalists, campaigners and members of the public packed the benches for the past two days.
10:24: There are only eight or so people other than Mrs McCann, Mrs Payne and the McCanns’ translators.
10:24: Another notable absentee is Gonçalo Amaral, the former policeman whose controversial book sparked the libel action.
10:32: The first witness is being called – Antonio Paulo Santos.
10:36: Mr Santos is a lawyer and general manager for the video production association, a nationwide industry body,
10:38: He is also an ex-investigator for Portuguese police, making him a colleague of Mr Amaral’s, although they worked in different departments.
10:38: Mr Amaral has arrived in court and has taken a seat in between two lawyers.
10:39: Mr Santos tells the court he considers himself an acquaintance of Mr Amaral’s.
10:42: The judge has stressed that this hearing is separate to the action being brought by the McCanns for £1m in damages.
10:44: She stresses that this trial is solely about the publication and distribution of the book and the documentary upon which it was based.
10:51: Mr Santos is discussing the details of the contract between Mr Amaral and the makers of the documentary.
10:52: Mr Santos: I read Mr Amaral’s book and watched the documentary on television.
10:53: Mr Santos: Mr Amaral never accused the McCanns of guilt, either in the book or the documentary..
10:57: Mr Santos: As a former policeman, I think Mr Amaral’s conclusions are based on the evidence gathered during the official investigation.
10:58: Mr Santos: Mr Amaral’s personal honour prevented him from publishing the book before his retirement from the police force.
11:00: The contract between the documentary maker, VC Films, and Mr Amaral was signed in March 2008.
11:02: Mr Santos: While Mr Amaral was in charge of the investigation he came under attack from sections of the British media.
11:03: Mr Santos is becoming quite impassioned and raising his voice as he gives his testimony.
11:04: Mr Santos: Sections of the British media portrayed Mr Amaral as an alcoholic.
11:04: Mr Santos: Mr Amaral was given no support by his superiors in the Portuguese police.
11:05: Mr Santos: Mr Amaral was pursuing the truth, and only the truth, no matter what conclusions it led to.
11:06: Mr Santos: Mr Amaral decided to publish the book to clear his professional reputation.
11:08: Mr Santos: I am a father too. God prevent that I ever lose any of my children. I understand the pain felt by the McCanns.
11:08: Mr Santos: I don’t think the book or the documentary increased the pain felt by Madeleine’s parents.
11:09: Mr Santos: There is no greater pain than losing a child.
11:10: Mr Santos: If there is evidence that Madeleine has been seen, then the investigation will be re-opened.
11:11: Mr Santos: But up to now, none of the information published by the media has been strong enough to make the police re-open the case.
11:14: Mr Santos: The facts of the investigation can be found on the internet and are available to everyone.
11:17: Mr Santos: Pirate copies of the documentary based on Mr Amaral’s book were put on the internet and a copyright complaint was made to police.
11:25: The McCanns’ lawyer, Isabel Duarte, asks Mr Santos if he remembers the colour of the first page of the police investigation file.
11:25: Mr Santos says he doesn’t remember. Ms Duarte says she finds this strange.
11:30: The judge is sitting slumped in her chair, her chin resting on one hand as she listens to the exchanges between Ms Duarte and Mr Santos.
11:37: Mr Amaral has got up and left the courtroom without any explanation.
11:45: Mr Amaral has left the court building through the back entrance.
11:47: Carlos Coelho da Silva, TV director at VC Films, the production company behind the film based on the Amaral book, has taken the stand.
11:48: Mr da Silva says he has a professional relationship with Mr Amaral.
11:49: Mr da Silva: We reconstructed some scenes in order to facilitate the understanding of the events surrounding Madeleine’s disappearance.
11:54: Mr da Silva: It was crucial that Mr Amaral was involved in the production of the documentary.
11:56: Mr da Silva: Mr Amaral’s theory is that the McCanns hid Madeleine’s body.
11:57: Mr da Silva appears uncomfortable under the line of questioning he is facing.
11:59: Mr da Silva: The documentary is based on the book. I didn’t add anything else.
12:02: Mr da Silva: When we consider making a new film we think in terms of profits, as we are a commercial company.
12:07: Mr da Silva: When we carried out a reconstruction I realised Mr Amaral’s frustration at the McCanns’ account of Madeleine’s disappearance.
12:17: Mr da Silva: In my opinion, the documentary does not provide the last word on the case. Its conclusion calls for further investigation.
12:23: Isabel Duarte asks Mr da Silva whether he has seen the official case files. He says no.
12:23: Ms Duarte, the McCanns’ top lawyer, then asks how Mr da Silva can say Mr Amaral’s book was based on the case, if he hasn’t read the file.
12:29: Isabel Duarte: Why didn’t you include the public attorney’s verdict that the conclusions arrived at by the investigators were incorrect?
12:29: Mr da Silva: Because I was telling a story.
12:31: Mr da Silva: Because I was telling a story.
12:32: Mr da Silva has finished giving evidence and left the courtroom.
12:35: Proceedings are breaking up for lunch.
1:33: Kate McCann outside court: it has been shown again that there is no evidence to support Amaral’s claims.
1:34: Kate McCann says having her friend Fiona Payne here has been a big support.
1:36: Isabel Duarte: we knew we would open a Pandora’s Box and that we had to face the enemy.
1:37: Isabel Duarte: the Amaral side is trying to do in civil court what it could not do in criminal court.
1:39: There will be a further hearing in this case on February 10 when two more witnesses are being called.
1:43: Amaral says that if he loses this case he will appeal to the Supreme Court and the European court of human rights.
1:49: Amaral has denied a report that he swore when speaking about the McCanns yesterday.
2:54: The court has re-started for the afternoon session – but Gonçalo Amaral, Kate McCann and Fiona Payne are all absent.
2:58: The McCanns’ senior lawyer, Isabel Duarte, said during the lunchtime break that this is only the first part of the injunction process.
2:58: This week’s hearings are only to decide whether the temporary injunction should be sustained, ahead of a main trial for the full injunction.
2:59: The judge may make a decision after hearing the two extra witnesses on February 10, or she may take more time to consider her verdict.
2:59: The final verdict in this preliminary hearing will be released to the lawyers on each side but will not be made public.
3:01: However, it should be easy to tell who has won – by seeing whether Mr Amaral’s book goes back on sale.
3:01: Ms Duarte also said she has made an official complaint to the police about Mr Amaral, alleging that he has abused the legal aid system.
3:17: Kate McCann and Fiona Payne have returned to the courtroom and resumed their positions on the bench at the front of the public seating.
3:23: Luis Cunha Velho, from Portugal’s biggest TV channel, TVI, has taken the witness stand.
3:24: Mr Velho: The amount of people who saw the documentary based on the book was far smaller than the audience for the McCanns’ Oprah interview.
3:26: Isabel Duarte (McCann lawyer): How many people in Portugal saw the Oprah interview with the McCanns?
3:29: Mr Velho: Not very many people saw the Oprah interview because it was broadcast on cable television.
3:29: Duarte: Did you know that the documentary was broadcast on Madeleine’s birthday?
3:29: Mr Velho: No, I didn’t know that.
3:31: Duarte: Did you know the content of the documentary before it was broadcast?
3:34: Velho: No.
3:34: Duarte: Why was your channel interested in the documentary?
3:34: Velho: Because we wanted a documentary about the case.
3:36: Mr Velho’s testimony has ended and he has left the court.
3:36: The next witness to take the stand is Paulo Soares, another executive from TVI.
3:39: Soares: We tried to buy the documentary produced by (British) Channel 4 but were unable to.
3:42: Soares: I received an email from a British production company advising me that they were going to produce another documentary on Madeleine.
3:44: Soares: I took the email in to the usual weekly executive meeting in order to decide whether or not to buy it.
3:45: Soares: I did not know what material the British documentary contained.
3:47: Soares: I heard the McCanns were involved in the production of the documentary.
3:48: Soares: Though there were lots of cameras in the Algarve there was no in-depth analysis of the case.
3:56: Soares: Suddenly, the production firm lost interest in selling the documentary, because the McCanns didn’t want it broadcast on our channel.
3:59: Soares: Channel 4 bought the rights to the documentary, which covered its broadcast in Portugal.
4:01: Soares: The deal with Channel 4 would have restricted the amount of time available for us to broadcast the documentary.
4:01: Soares: That’s why we chose the Portuguese documentary instead.
4:03: Soares: We had allocated a specific time slot to broadcast a documentary about Madeleine – whether it was the British or Portuguese version.
4:05: Soares: The marketing and communication plan was unaffected by the version chosen.
4:26: The McCanns’ lawyer, Isabel Duarte, is cross-examining Mr Soares on the subject of the channel’s decision-making.
4:47: Proceedings have been put on hold for a short break.
4:58: Kate McCann has left court. She said she believes in Portuguese justice and these proceedings will go a long way to help find Madeleine.
5:21: We’re back in court and Ana Teixera, international programming director for TVI, is the next witness to take the stand.
5:23: She tells the court that the channel’s general programme director had wanted to buy the Channel 4 documentary on the McCanns.
5:26: Teixera: They signed the deal to screen the Channel 4 documentary, but a time slot was not assigned. It was pencilled in for 9.15pm.
6:00: Teixera: A few days later we received a call from Channel 4 saying the documentary was not to be sold to TVI because the McCanns opposed it.
6:04: Teixera: We requested via their lawyer that the McCanns take into consideration the fact that TVI is Portugal’s biggest broadcaster.
6:06: Teixera: We then acknowledged that another Portuguese channel, SIC, was going to broadcast the documentary.
6:06: TVI tried to stop the broadcast by SIC but their attempt was rebuffed by a court.
6:08: Teixera: All this means that TVI did everything it could to broadcast the documentary.
6:10: Teixera: There are three main reasons to broadcast both documentaries.
6:13: Teixera: Firstly, audiences; secondly, to get two versions of the case; thirdly, to prevent rival channel SIC getting the audience share.
6:13: Proceedings are finished and will start again on the 10th of February.

9:54: Kate and Gerry McCann are sitting outside the court, only a few yards away from where Mr Amaral and his team are standing.
9:59: Gerry McCann outside court: we’ve heard no evidence Madeleine is dead.
10:00: Gerry McCann: we’re not denying the existence of the dogs, or anything else. It is evidence we’re interested in.
10:02: Gerry McCann: this is the legal process we’re going through to protect our daughter. We’re looking for more information to help the search.
10:03: Gerry McCann: anyone else with children would do the same.
10:15: Mr Amaral claimed victory outside court, saying the witnesses had borne out his argument.
10:38: We’re back in court. The first witness is Moita Flores, former senior policeman and noted public figure.
10:41: Flores: this case involves a question of freedom of speech.
10:44: Flores is an acquaintance of Amaral’s and wrote the preface to the sequel to his book about Madeleine.
10:50: Flores: PJ investigation was based on well-established principles of police work adhered to all over the world.
10:54: Flores: McCanns have been trying to convince police since the beginning that abduction was the only line of inquiry worth pursuing.
11:02: Flores: I have spoken to respected experts on crime and none of them agrees it would be possible to pass a child through the window.
11:03: Flores: It is not possible to ask an investigator anywhere in the free world to follow the abduction line only.
11:03: Flores: We would all like to find Madeleine alive, but that is another thing.
11:03: Flores: Our constitutional rights cannot be attacked.
11:05: Flores: The good name of the McCann family is not attacked by Mr Amaral’s book. The book is about the investigation.
11:11: As on the first day of the case, the McCanns are sitting on the front bench, listening impassively to the proceedings.
11:12: Flores: No judge should be able to order people not to think about a case just because the police investigation has ceased,
11:17: Flores: No-one should be allowed to steal our constitutional rights – rights that were very hard to win. That is what this trial is about.
11:24: Mr Flores is being cross-examined by a lawyer from a Portuguese television company that aired a documentary based on Mr Amaral’s book.
11:26: Flores: It is not true to say that the police only pursued the line of inquiry that the McCanns were guilty.
11:26: Flores: Many, many hours were spend by officers checking out every other possible line of inquiry.
11:27: Flores: A detective has to think about what went through the head of the victim and the criminal.
11:30: Flores: It would have been a very stupid person who tried to pass a sleeping child through the window of the McCanns’ holiday flat.
11:30: Flores: The theory about passing the child through the window makes it seem as though someone is trying to fool the police.
11:41: The McCanns’ lawyer, Isabel Duarte, is repeating the same question to Mr Flores. Yesterday, she became quite impassioned on their behalf.
11:42: The McCanns are both in conversation with their interpreters. Gerry however looks relaxed and smiles as he talks.
11:47: Flores: I worked in a different part of the police to Mr Amaral but I know him from the investigation and I respect him a lot.
12:00: Isabel Duarte, the McCanns’ top lawyer, leaves the bench and approaches the couple for a quick huddled chat before returning to the fray.
12:04: Flores: This case is pathetic. A citizen is being prevented from freely expressing his opinions in a responsible way.
12:06: Flores: The McCanns have every right to do everything they can beyond what the Portuguese police did in order to find their daughter.
12:12: Flores: The documentary (based on Mr Amaral’s) book is a hypothesis that believers take to be the truth.
12:13: Flores: The book is autobiographical; it traces a period of Mr Amaral’s life.
12:16: Flores: Sections of the British media spread propaganda about Mr Amaral.
12:20: Glamorous judge Maria Gabriela Cunha Rodrigues halts the cross-examination of Mr Flores by the McCanns’ lawyer, saying it is not relevant.
12:22: Flores: It was a scandal to see such nasty portraits painted of the Portuguese investigators by the British media.
12:27: Flores: Mr Amaral was the victim of a smear campaign. He is a good professional with a good technical background.
12:27: Flores: Mr Amaral was the co-ordinator of the investigation. He was not in the field.
12:40: Duarte: What does the title of the book (by Mr Amaral) mean? Flores: The book is a thesis, not the absolute truth.
12:41: The proceedings have adjourned for lunch. Back in an hour’s time.
2:30: Waiting outside the courtroom for the afternoon’s proceedings to begin. Mr Amaral is here too, chatting on a mobile phone.
2:41: We’re back in the courtroom, as are the legal teams, Mr Amaral and the McCanns. No sign of the judge yet though.
2:42: We’re expecting to hear from three witnesses involved in the publishing of the book this afternoon.
2:57: Judge Maria Gabriela Cunha Rodrigues has arrived, so the afternoon’s proceedings can begin.
3:00: Jose Manuel Enes, a former forensic laboratory chief in the Portuguese police, is the next witness.
3:00: Mr Enes is giving evidence in person, rather than via video link as Mr Flores did this morning.
3:00: Mr Enes has an associateship in chemistry and a doctorate in anthropology, but has now retired from the police force.
3:04: Mr Enes was interviewed by a Portuguese journalist for a book about Madeleine’s disappearance.
3:12: Mr Enes says that the immense media interest in the Madeleine case was unhelpful for the investigators trying to solve it.
3:13: Mr Enes compared the Madeleine McCann case to that of OJ Simpson, saying that allegations of contamination of evidence had compromised it.
3:15: Mr Enes’ phone has just gone off, drawing laughter from the court. The judge is smiling too as the clerk has to turn it off for him.
3:17: Mr Enes tells the court he has been called to give evidence in several other cases as an expert witness.
3:17: Mr Enes says his conclusions are often relied upon completely by the courts in which he gives evidence.
3:22: Mr Enes: I strongly respect the convictions and work of Mr Amaral.
3:22: Mr Amaral has suddenly got up and walked out of the courtroom, causing a murmur among the onlookers on the public benches.
3:37: Mr Amaral has left the court building, stopping to give a few comments in Portuguese before climbing into a waiting car.
3:39: Mr Amaral said he was pleased with Mr Flores’ testimony earlier, adding that for the first time it had been explained why he wrote the book.
3:39: Mr Amaral added that he wrote the book to protect his honour and set the record straight.
3:40: The former policeman said what he described as a campaign against him in the British press is continuing.
3:40: He added that he had only this morning been described as ‘incompetent’ in one British newspaper.
3:43: Right. Back to the courtroom. Mr Enes is still giving evidence.
3:45: Mr Enes says the Madeleine investigation was the victim of ‘friendly fire’ from the media that hampered its course.
3:47: Mr Enes says that just because people put forward their own theories, it does not prevent other lines of inquiry being investigated.
3:49: Mr Enes: Some parts of the book were put too strongly – it’s not the way I would have done it, but that’s because I’m from another era…
3:49: …the course of justice should not be diverted by books or films; it should be deaf and blind to them.
3:52: Mr Enes has left the witness stand, and has been replaced by Mario Sena Lopes, former chief editor at the book’s publisher, Guerra e Paz.
4:01: Mr Lopes tells the court that Mr Amaral’s book had been ready to publish in the last week of July 2008.
4:01: The book was published very quickly to take most advantage of marketing opportunities, the court hears.
4:05: The marketing plan for the book was much smaller than normal, because we are a small publisher, Mr Lopes tells the court.
4:46: Sorry about the pause – we had a brief intermission during which Gerry McCann left the court.
4:47: Mr McCann held an impromptu press conference outside the front of the court where he was besieged by journalists’ questions.
4:50: He explained that he was leaving the court case as he had unavoidable work commitments in the UK, but that Kate would stay on until the end.
4:50: Despite the avalanche of testimony favouring Mr Amaral over the past two days, Mr McCann seemed to be quite upbeat.
4:50: I think it’s important that things have been debated in a court of law, he told reporters.
4:50: From our point of view, what happened here in the past few days is to be expected.
4:58: “I think it’s particularly disappointing that the police officers who considered us responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance…
4:59: …are the same officers that we are depending on to carry on the search for Madeleine.
4:59: The search for Madeleine is ongoing. We don’t have any leads and we need to keep searching.
5:01: Mr McCann added that mistakes were made during the investigation that now cannot be righted – but that was not the point of the court case.
5:04: We made a mistake by leaving Madeleine alone in the apartment, and we have to live with that. We can’t change it, Mr McCann said.
5:04: He also rejected the testimony yesterday that Kate had had a dream about Madeleine lying buried somewhere, saying “that never happened”.
5:07: I hope that everyone remembers that there is a little girl missing that still has to be found, Mr McCann continued.
5:07: That’s why we carry on. We have other children who miss Madeleine dearly.
5:09: He added that although the testimony had favoured Mr Amaral’s version of events, it still had not produced any evidence Madeleine was dead.
5:10: Mr McCann also rejected the charge that the trial was a bid to restrict freedom of speech, as has been claimed by Mr Amaral’s supporters.
5:41: That’s the last update from court for today. Back tomorrow morning.

Sr. Almeida pulls no punches and the McCanns’ lawyer is rebuked for making a false allegation against Sr. Almeida.

Here is a blow-by-blow account of the events in the courtroom courtesy of Sky’s Jon di Paolo:

Live From Court in Lisbon: Morning Session

8:40: [Jon di Paolo] Good morning, I’m outside the Palacio da Justica in Lisbon where the McCann libel trial will take place.
9:03: Camera crews and photographers are gathering outside the court.
9:05: The police have put barriers up outside the court entrance – they’re obviously expecting large crowds.
9:52: The McCanns have arrived at court. Word so far is that Goncalo Amaral is still yet to get here.
10:20: We’re in court awaiting the arrival of the judge and legal teams. The McCanns are sitting in the front row at the centre.
10:23: We’re sitting two rows behind the McCanns. The benches at the back of the courtroom are full of journalists from the UK and Portugal.
10:25: The legal teams have arrived. Goncalo Amaral is sitting on one of the benches at the side of the court, around 15ft away from the McCanns.
10:28: On the wall above the judge’s chair is a large 3D frieze depicting the judgement of Solomon – complete with baby being held up by swordsman.
10:36: A clerk carrying a large bundle of files has just come in, but we’re still waiting for the judge.
10:39: The judge has arrived – a young woman! Proceedings should now be able to get under way.
10:41: One of the policemen set to give evidence will do so by video link tomorrow, we are told.
10:46: Mr Amaral’s lawyer addresses the court, speaking very slowly and deliberately.
10:47: He is declaring the ‘principle of contradiction’ – the legal basis for Mr Amaral’s argument to be made.
10:47: Mr Amaral’s lawyer has said that the McCanns should take the stand in order to answer questions.
10:51: The McCanns’ lawyer replies that the couple are prepared to give evidence but only after Mr Amaral has done so.
10:52: The McCanns are having proceedings translated by interpreters seated either side of them.
11:00: The McCanns’ legal team is calling a new witness, Luis Frois, on a date to be scheduled on the 14th.
11:01: The mention of ‘a date to be scheduled on the 14th’ indicates proceedings are set to last longer than the three days set for them.
11:07: Mr Amaral’s lawyers want a CD containing police case files to be submitted as evidence because it would corroborate the claims in his book.
11:11: The McCanns’ lawyer is arguing against allowing the police CD to be submitted to the court.
11:20: The first witness is being called by videoconference.
11:23: It is the attorney who was in charge of the original inquiry into Madeleine’s disappearance, Jose Magalhaes e Menezes.
11:25: His testimony is marred by a high-pitched whine of feedback from the microphone – and the fact the screen can’t be seen by the public.
11:26: The McCanns can’t see the person giving evidence. Mr Amaral can, but doesn’t seem to be looking at him.
11:26: Mr Amaral’s lawyer is cross-examining the witness.
11:37: Mr Menezes is saying that English police sniffer dogs were brought in to help in the search for Madeleine.
11:38: He says that the decision to make the McCanns ‘arguidos’ – suspects – was taken by the police and then confirmed by the public attorney.
11:39: The decision to designate Kate and Gerry as ‘arguidos’ was taken after the sniffer dogs carried out their searches.
11:40: There were several possible charges that could have been brought against the McCanns: kidnapping and selling a child were among them.
11:48: The witness was asked what the probability was of Madeleine still being alive. He replied that he thought it was 50/50.
11:55: Mr Menezes said that a claim made by the McCanns on the first day after Madeleine’s disappearance was not true.
11:56: The witness said that Kate and Gerry’s report that they had been checking on their daughter every half an hour was inaccurate.
11:57: He claimed that although the parents had been checking on Madeleine, it was not as often as every 30 minutes.
12:01: Police intercepted text messages sent by the McCanns because they were suspicious of the parents’ role in Madeleine’s disappearance.
12:02: The text messages sent by Kate and Gerry were never admitted as evidence gathered as part of the investigation.
12:08: Mr Menezes said he has not read the book written by Mr Amaral that triggered this case, Maddie: The Truth of the Lie.
12:18: A report signed by Chief Inspector Tavares De Almeida said that Madeleine died in the flat in Praia da Luz, the witness adds.
12:19: Now it is the turn of the McCanns’ legal team to cross-question the witness.
12:24: The McCanns’ lawyer makes the point that ‘evidence’ usually sightings – has suggested Madeleine is still alive.
12:25: He says that the McCanns are not responsible for generating any of this ‘evidence’ that their daughter is not dead.
12:26: Another of the McCanns’ lawyers moves to quiz the witness – literally. She gets out of her seat and walks right up to the video screen.
12:33: She says that the McCanns were always totally prepared to come back to Portugal to take part in a reconstruction of the disappearance.
12:34: The McCanns’ lawyer asks the witness whether he understands the title of Mr Amaral’s book to imply some sort of dishonesty by the McCanns.
12:38: Who suggested the checking of the McCanns’ text messages, Mr Menezes is asked. The police, he replies.
12:39: The text messages were never considered as part of the investigation because the judge did not allow it, the court hears.
12:45: The senior lawyer for the McCanns has approached them on the front bench of the public gallery for a quick huddled conversation.
12:48: Tavares de Almeida, chief inspector of police at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance, has taken the stand to give evidence.
12:48: He was involved in the case from the beginning, but taken off it in September 2007.
12:51: Mr de Almeida tells the court that he is still working as member of the Portuguese police.
12:52: He tells the court that British police took an active part in the investigation.
12:53: He said the Portuguese detectives found the co-operation given by their British counterparts useful.
12:54: The British police told the Portuguese officers what the capabilities of the sniffer dogs being used in the investigation were.
12:56: One of the dogs used to search the apartment in Praia da Luz identified blood and another identified the smell of a human body.
12:58: The dogs detected the traces inside the dining room of the holiday flat and in the car the McCanns were using.
1:02: The animals also found a scent on a piece of cloth in a flat rented by the McCanns after they left the apartment where Madeleine vanished.
1:11: A report by the British police stated that one of the sniffer dogs was in a nervous, excitable state, and wanted to get into the room.
1:34: British police would have found it very difficult to charge the McCanns.
1:35: De Almeida: we were controlled by the British police.
1:36: De Almeida: British police kept information about the McCanns to themselves.
1:39: De Almeida: Forensic lab technicians from Birmingham came to Portugal so it is strange concerns were raised about contamination.
1:53: De Almeida: British authorities other than police hindered investigation by withholding information.
1:54: De Almeida: when we asked UK for info on McCanns we got a single side of a4.
2:05: The McCanns’ lawyer is getting quite worked up in her cross examination of de Almeida.
2:09: The McCanns’ lawyer is rebuked for saying de Almeida was accused of torturing suspects – he was never charged.
2:10: The court is adjourning for lunch. Back at 3pm.

Afternoon Session

3:28: We’re back in court. The McCanns are here but Mr Amaral is missing.
3:29: Mr Amaral has just walked in and we are under way.
3:33: Inspector Ricardo Paiva, of the Portuguese police, has taken the stand.
3:34: Inspector Paiva says he was the family liaison officer for the case but was taken off at the McCanns’ request.
3:45: Paiva is asked whether he ever got the impression from the McCanns they thought Maddie could be dead. He says yes.
3:47: Kate whispers something in Gerry’s ear and gives him a little smile. He stays looking straight in front.
3:52: Gerry has put his arm round Kate as they listen to Paiva’s testimony.
4:03: Paiva also says the McCanns were made suspects after the British sniffer dogs were brought in.
4:04: Paiva: there was total collaboration between British and Portuguese police on the case.
4:09: Paiva: it was Scotland Yard who first thought it could be a murder case.
4:09: Paiva: Amaral’s theories are based on the facts of the investigation.
4:12: Paiva: Amaral’s thesis has prevented other theories from being investigated.
4:13: Paiva: McCanns never pointed me towards any evidence that Maddie was still alive.
4:16: Mr Amaral looks like he’s dozing off.
4:29: Paiva: we found the ‘merchandising’ operation with wristbands and so on very strange.
4:31: Paiva: if she was being held somewhere publicity would be more likely to hasten her death.
4:55: The McCanns’ lawyer is taking an aggressive tone as she cross-examines Mr Paiva.
5:08: Proceedings have ended for today.
5:11: Some confusion here – that wasn’t the end of proceedings, just a break before today’s final witness.
5:29: Ok, that’s all we have time for. Back tomorrow morning.

He allegedly visited Praia da Luz in October 2007 after selling all his possessions to finance the trip there. He sent me several photos from that trip and most were the typical photos we’ve all seen before. Photos of the outside of apartment 5A, the car park and rear of the apartment, the beach, and some photos of what look like random apartments in other places in the town.

Apparently, Martin was involved with South African TV show Carte Blanche some years ago where they explored a missing person. Mr van Wyk never said so in his letters but research shows that the same TV programme also featured Danie Krugel.

Martin van Wyk’s theory (or moreover, the theory of the psychic working with van Wyk) is that Madeleine wandered off on the night of May 3 as she looked for her parents. He then goes on to say that a local man found her and took her in to his own home. In the following hours when people were out searching for and calling Madeleine’s name, she shouted out but the man who took her in got scared and put his hand on her mouth and suffocated her, only to subsequently bury her in his garden.

This theory ties in nicely with Mark Williams-Thomas’ theory that she wandered off and was taken by a predatory paedophile.

It also ties in nicely with the abduction theory.

But today the story turned decidedly murky.

For most of the year and more recently a couple of weeks ago, van Wyk and his sister had been virtually begging people to finance van Wyk’s return to Portugal to find Madeleine. He allegedly required money to go there and more importantly, a Portuguese national was necessary to sponsor his visa application.

Martin van Wyk’s sister made a comment post today under her pseudonym “Liberty”:

JusticeSeeker: Message from Liberty. My brother Martin van Wyk is arriving at Lisbon Airport today 4 December 2009 at 1315 local time. He is keen to meet you as he sees you are interested in the truth. You have his email address.

Is Martin van Wyk going to spectacularly “find Madeleine” in the same week that the McCanns are in court in Lisbon to face Gonçalo Amaral?

Coincidentally today,  another South African made their first post to the website and used the pseudonym “AMANDA SOUTH AFRICA”;

SOME WHERE I READ THAT ON THE DAY MADDIE WAS “SNATCHED “, KATE SPOKE TO SOME OF THE TAPAZ GROUP ABOUT THE FEAR OF ABDUCTION IN THAT AREA. ISN`T IT STRANGE THAT SHE SPOKE OF IT THE 3rd OF MAY AND THAT ON THAT DAY AT NIGHT MADDIE WAS GONE. THIS IS NOT JUST COINCEDENCE FOR ME.

Both posts are confirmed to have originated from Gauteng, South Africa.

This is Martin van Wyk’s most recent correspondence on October 26, 2009:

Martin here in South Africa. I am very close to leaving for Praia Da Luz.
I have attached something for you, an extract of my investigation docket. Along with this, And my new mobile nr.
The previous operator, Cellular c, is one big joke. It took me 3 days to load prepaid airtime to my mobile.
Anyhow, i still need assistance getting to Luz, this will only speed it up. Before xmas you will see me as the guy who found her remains.

Attached to his last email was a Word document containing the following 2 pages of text:

Madeleine Mc Cann

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED

Madeline Mc Cann - awoke in a vaguely familiar holiday apartment, all alone.

Alone, tired, scared and disillusioned, the 3 year old set out to do what most 3 year olds would do under the same circumstances,

SHE WENT LOOKING FOR HER MOTHER.

An elderly gentleman found the scared little girl, crying, lost and bewildered.

Small town, no vehicle, no police station and not even a fuelling station. As it was very late, he decided to take her home, the next morning he would take her to the authorities.

However, next morning, ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!!

The entire world descends upon the small town of Praia Da Luz. Everybody is running, looking, calling, shouting, searching, screaming and enquiring.

Little Madeleine would certainly have heard her name, she would have tried to respond, she would have tried to call back, the man would have panicked,  after all, who would believe he found her, they all say she was taken…

Nobody must know, he needs time to think, what to do next,

Madeleine shouts and screams. The man’s tone changes. The calm reassuring gentle voice is replaced with a more urgent, abrupt and threatening tone.

HE PANICS, HE PUTS HIS HAND OVER HER MOUTH, - she must not be found, not now, he needs time to think, she struggles, he is bigger, stronger, he tightens his grip,

SUDDENLY - Madeleine Mc Cann is quiet,

It was an accident, he needed time to think, and he did not mean to hurt her.

What is very clear is that he must get the little girl out of his house, but where to?

The garden, that’s where, but how?  In the midst of the biggest manhunt in Portuguese history, you don’t just go around digging up gardens. It will attract suspicion, what will the neighbors think? What if you were to plant a tree, would that seem more acceptable?

Plant a tree, but not only one, plant a couple, to make it look more convincing.

AND SO IT WAS – TREES WERE PLANTED,

* * *

My name is Martin van Wyk, aged 44, ex – Military police investigator, Security company owner and Private investigator for the past 27 years.

October 17^th, 2007 I visited Praia Da Luz and started my own investigation on Madeleine Beth Mc Cann. The entire operation was funded by me, with emails, and blessings from the Mc Cann’s via correspondence from Sister Phil Mc Cann.

Arriving in Luz, I booked into the Luz Bay Hotel, and was registered 17/19 and 19 October 2007. (Please feel free to verify)

A source identified a property where trees were recently planted. It is here that I believe the remains of Little Madeleine Mc Cann are hidden, 2 -3 ft underground.

I now want to get in contact with Martin Brunt, please advise, or forward this email to him.

Thank you,

Martin van Wyk,  South Africa -  Mobile phone   0027 7626 91 704

Email vanwyk.martin@gmail.com

Will Martin van Wyk find Madeleine buried right under everyone’s nose in Praia da Luz and confirm the PJ to be bunglers?

Will this exonerate the McCanns and “prove” the abduction theory?

Gerry McCann is said to have told the media “find the body and prove we killed her”.

Could the first part of his taunt be finally coming true and was this all staged?

Dealers in Europe are being sought and preview copies for serious enquiries will be made available for review only.

Email enquiries only please to: totl@truthformadeleine.com

Plans are also being put in place to start a legal fund for Gonçalo Amaral.

More updates on this soon…

For four months one woman shared every day with Kate and Gerry McCann, all the false hopes… and all the tears. Justine McGuiness, the former press adviser to Kate and Gerry McCann, speaks out about one of Britain’s most famous families…

I will never forget the pain that registered across their faces: primordial pain that no actor, however skilled, could reproduce.

Kate McCann didn’t make a sound, her husband Gerry sat upright in his seat.

“You realise that if you get your daughter back you might not know her,” warned the Portuguese child-welfare expert.

“What she will have experienced will have changed her beyond recognition.”

It was the moment, I suspect, that Kate and Gerry began to realise that there would be no truly happy ending, whatever the outcome of their daughter Madeleine’s disappearance.

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Devastated: An emotional Kate with Madeleine’s toy Cuddle Cat, a permanent reminder of her daughter

It was mid-summer last year and the meeting was held in a second-floor apartment, my make-shift office, incongruously decorated, it seemed, with primary colours, like the set of a breakfast TV programme.

Sunshine streamed through the open window and the sound of children playing outside filled the room.

The warning came without preamble and jolted our senses. I’m sure it was not meant to be delivered quite so insensitively; the fact that English was not the woman’s first language must have accounted, in part at least, for its bluntness.

Afterwards, Gerry told me how deeply upset it had made Kate. I didn’t need to be told. Kate’s emotions at such times weren’t difficult to read.

For four extraordinary months I was at her side. At first hand, I witnessed her despair and devastation, the times, as well, when her spirits lifted – however fleetingly – with every scrap of positive information.

And once she was made a suspect, amid ceaseless media speculation, I watched her life fall apart.

Almost every morning she and Gerry would come to see me, usually armed with croissants which they bought in Baptista’s, the village store, after dropping off their then two-year-old twins Amelie and Sean at kids’ club.

I could tell instantly if Kate had had a good night or not.

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Support: Justine McGuiness with Kate and Gerry McCann in Portugal last year

If she was upset, possibly because of what had been in the papers or because of the approach of a poignant anniversary, I would know better than to offer a trite: “What’s wrong?”

Instead I’d ask her to sit down and let her know that I was making tea. We always drank tea, endlessly, it seemed.

And if Kate wanted to talk about what was on her mind, she would do so. I just let her come out with it.

I began acting as their Press spokeswoman in June, having been interviewed by Gerry in London. They struck me as a couple deeply committed to each other.

They treated each other with care and great respect. And as well as displaying affection, they communicated constantly.

If they were physically apart they would be on the phone, all the time, and not just because of their extraordinary situation – I imagine they were always like that.

They are both intelligent. Kate is sharp and witty and self-deprecating; she is naturally shy but is the sort of woman you can sit down with and have a decent conversation.

Gerry is presentable and single-minded, an alpha male to his fingertips. Indeed, I expect even he would admit that his manner may have rubbed some of the Portuguese police up the wrong way at times.

On the first day I met Kate, they were waiting for me at Faro airport, and greeted me with a friendly: “Hello, Justine.”

In the car on the way to Praia da Luz we set to work straight away, finalising plans to release balloons on the beach later that day to mark the 50th day since Madeleine’s disappearance.

When the balloon launch was over, I watched as Portuguese women touched and hugged Kate, offering their support and telling her to have courage. It was deeply moving.

Later, Kate took me on a tour of the village. “That’s the apartment,” she whispered, nodding towards the place from where Madeleine had disappeared.

She also pointed out the home of Robert Murat, a suspect in the case, and the church that provided so much support to her.

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Justine says that on the flight home she remembers thinking that unless Madeleine was found, the McCanns would never be able to fully rebut speculation and rebuild their lives

Meal times were always a family affair. At supper, it occurred to me just how ordinary this scene would have appeared to an outsider. A normal family, passing the salad around the table and laughing with their children.

There were quite a few light moments: I remember how Kate was frequently teased about her intense dislike of sweetcorn.

There might also be talk about relatives coming out to join them, or other practical matters, but rarely during meal times, because of the children, talk of Madeleine.

Sometimes the twins, who began learning to talk in Praia, mentioned Madeleine themselves, however.

I remember Amelie saying: “That’s Madeleine’s” as she pointed at Cuddle Cat, the toy Kate carried with her at all times because it reminded her of the daughter she loved and missed.

Once, I remember Gerry’s sister Trish saying to Kate with a smile: “Don’t you think it’s time Cuddle Cat had a bath?~” And on about Day 71 she finally did, a fact not lost on the photographers.

During the many conversations I had with the couple we spoke of many things, not just Madeleine.

They were interested in my voluntary work with the Liberal Democrats (I contested West Dorset in 2005 for the Lib Dems at the General Election) and I remember how we laughed about the story of Charles Kennedy, the party’s former leader, being ticked off by police for smoking out of a train window.

And even though Madeleine dominated the news coverage – and, it goes without saying, the couple’s thoughts – there were times when they expressed interest in other news from back home.

We spoke, for instance, of the terror attack on Glasgow airport in July. I remember Gerry, a doctor, on hearing the description of the burns one of the suspects suffered when his Jeep struck the terminal and burst into flames, saying straight away that the man would not live. It turned out he was right.

It didn’t take long for me to get to know the routine the couple established as a means of getting through each day.

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Justine says that if Kate and Gerry were physically apart they would be on the phone, all the time, and not just because of their extraordinary situation

The first thing Kate did every morning was to say a prayer for Madeleine.

She then got the twins showered and dressed. After getting ready themselves, Kate and Gerry would take the children to kids’ club, before stopping off at my apartment to discuss plans for the day.

The twins were a great distraction. They helped give Kate the will to get out of bed each morning.

Several times a week, Kate would go to the Catholic church in Praia. Her faith gave her hope and strength.

And both of them, particularly Gerry, kept themselves busy as a way of dealing with their trauma.

Gerry would work on the computer, sending and answering emails, in one of their rented villa’s spare bedrooms which he had converted into an office.

Kate would sit on the veranda outside going through the mountain of letters. If any appeared to contain possible information they were passed straight to the police.

Every letter, even the strangest ones, were read with care. There were often toys for the twins and presents for Madeleine, which remained in their wrapping paper, awaiting her safe return.

The villa was cool and quite dark, and stood at the end of a short private drive. I remember thinking that it offered the McCanns a kind of sanctuary, and I think they felt that way, too.

Any donations were given straight away to the ‘Find Madeleine’ fund administrator, including all the cheques made out to Kate and Gerry, rather than the fund.

Naturally, Kate and Gerry were also contacted by people who thought they could help find Madeleine. One was Danny Kruegel, a South African former policeman who had invented a machine that, he said, could help locate people by testing a sample of their hair.

It sounds far-fetched. But he had apparently been successful in South Africa. He was very clear that the process was based on science, which appealed to the McCanns.

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Justine says that family was the most important thing to Kate and leaving Madeleine alone was her biggest regret

More recently, Mr Kruegel has been portrayed as something of a crank, but I can only say that at the time he was taken seriously.

After protracted negotiations with the authorities, he came to Portugal. Using samples of hair found on a brush Madeleine used, he set about working out where a search area should be concentrated.

After he left Portugal, Kate told me that Mr Kruegel had taken different readings, none of which really varied, implying that over the days he was in Praia da Luz, Madeleine’s position had not changed or she had not moved.

I think the word that was used to describe the readings was “cold”. I had the impression Mr Kruegel’s machine had indicated where a body might be found.

The police warned Kate and Gerry when they would start the new search. They told me and I contacted the people I liaised with at the Foreign Office, British Embassy in Lisbon and Leicestershire Police.

Everyone was on stand-by, ready and hoping for a breakthrough.

Kate, Gerry and I thought that the reporters in Praia da Luz would spot the police searching, so we were prepared for the inevitable questions and comments.

One morning while I was working, I saw a military-style helicopter circling for what seemed like hours over Praia da Luz.

I thought I would be bombarded with questions about it when I went to see the media later, but not one was forthcoming.

In the event, the search sadly wasn’t successful, of course. Once more the hope of a breakthrough had evaporated.

On August 3, we made the 55-mile journey to Huelva, the closest Spanish city to Praia da Luz, to distribute Find Madeleine posters and talk to locals.

It was a visit that would later assume significance, for all the wrong reasons. For it would be later suggested that Madeleine’s body was disposed of at this point. How this could be thought possible, I have no idea.

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Happy family: A young Madeleine with her parents Kate and Gerry

Kate and Gerry were, after all, accompanied by a cameraman, who was filming a documentary, and Kate’s old friend Jon Corner.

And as always their every move was shadowed by reporters and photographers. If they had dumped Madeleine’s body, someone surely would have witnessed something.

The allegations would come later. Up until that point, at least, the couple’s relationship with the police was good.

There were once-a-week meetings to discuss progress and, by and large, the detectives were receptive to ideas from Kate and Gerry, who were careful not to air their impatience at the slow pace of the investigation.

The relationship, which had been characterised by its informality (one weekend Kate and Gerry even went to a barbecue at the home of one of the officers) cooled significantly in mid August.

The meetings all but ended. And the phone calls, once unfailingly cordial, suddenly seemed aggressive and much less frequent.

When the police did ring, I think the detectives did little to disguise their suspicions.

At the same time, stories, apparently leaked by the police, began to appear in the Portuguese Press about the possible involvement of the McCanns in Madeleine’s disappearance.

To the British Press I described the couple’s relationship with the police during this period as having become more “formal”. In truth, it had become downright hostile.

It must have been a few weeks later when, on a Monday afternoon, the McCanns received a call that triggered the second nightmarish phase of Kate’s ordeal.

A police officer said that they wanted to question Kate later in the week. And he ended the conversation with a firm, devastating warning: “Kate should expect to be made an ‘arguida’ [formal suspect].”

Kate screamed in disbelief when she heard she was going to be declared a suspect in her daughter’s case.

Everyone said the same thing – it was unbelievable.

So when Kate was interviewed on Thursday and again the following day, when she was indeed made an ‘arguida’, she was fully aware what was coming.

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Kate and Gerry opened every letter they received from well wishers and passed any piece of information on to the police

That did not make it any easier, of course. While Kate was being questioned on Friday morning Gerry was very agitated. He paced around on the phone, speaking to lawyers.

The police seemed to be working on the theory that Kate killed Madeleine, accidentally or otherwise, and that Gerry was instrumental in covering up the death.

After the relentless questioning ended, it was announced publicly that Kate had been made a formal suspect.

Afterwards, I drove Kate away from the police station and was struck by how she appeared both stoical and devastated.

And I got the distinct impression that the police had offered her a deal, or put considerable pressure on her to admit that she harmed Madeleine.

Amazingly, I was also given the impression that her lawyer initially seemed to think she should take the deal and admit she harmed her daughter.

Perhaps he was doing this to test her. I don’t know. Either way, Kate was absolutely adamant that she would not be going along with any plea bargaining.

After all, this is a woman with a ‘black and white’ understanding of the truth.

I told Kate that the twins were being looked after by the wife of Father Haynes Hubbard, parish priest for Praia da Luz, whom Kate and Gerry had come to know well and regard as a much-valued friend.

I said I could take her there or straight to the villa. She wanted to see her children immediately. That was typical of her. Her family was the most important thing in her life.

During the journey back to Praia I reflected on the incredible events of the past week. I was absolutely clear in my own mind about Kate and Gerry’s innocence.

While no one is perfect, I simply could not believe that the woman next to me had harmed Madeleine. And I did not believe, as was being suggested, that Gerry masterminded some kind of cover-up.

At the time, I described the allegations publicly as ludicrous. Nothing has happened to change that view. Had I been in any doubt I would have left the campaign immediately and gone to the British police.

But I never understood why they did not take the children with them for supper at the tapas bar on the evening Madeleine disappeared.

My two sisters, one a mother of four, the other a mother of five, have told me that is what they would do, as have plenty of other friends.

But then I don’t have three children under the age of four. I, like many others, am hardly in a position to judge. I know it was a decision Kate has always deeply regretted.

A few weeks before Gerry and Kate were made suspects, friends and family had urged Kate to return to Britain with Gerry and the twins.

Gerry believed it was time to go back. But, having come to the Algarve as a family of five, Kate did not want to leave as a family of four.

In her mind it would represent an admission, symbolically perhaps, that she had given up hope, that it was the end.

In the end, she did agree – only for the sake of the twins – that they would leave Portugal in early September, when the lease on the villa ended.

When the time came we hugged at the airport and said our goodbyes. I watched Kate and Gerry walk away, up the

I then went back to Praia to brief the British Press for a final time, before packing. I caught a flight later that day and I was glad to be going home.

On the flight home I remember thinking that unless Madeleine was found, the McCanns would never be able to fully rebut speculation and rebuild their lives.

I feel desperately for Kate McCann. Her life has been ruined by the constant speculation and the continuing mystery surrounding her daughter’s disappearance. She loathes the media spotlight.

She has to live with the knowledge that she and Gerry were not there when their daughter needed them most, something I know she deeply regrets.

Gerry has to live with the knowledge that he failed as a father and a husband in a basic duty, to protect his family. That, surely, is a terrible burden to carry, for any man.

One year after Madeleine’s disappearance, I hope for Kate, Gerry and the sake of their two remaining children the media interest now ends.

I hope Madeleine is found, but I fear that will never happen. I hope the McCanns can find some sort of resolution, in private, to this hideous set of events.