What can be concluded, without doubt, is Robert Murat had a lucky escape

Certainly seemed to be a concerted effort to put him in the frame . If DCI Redwood had been on the case back then this would have been 'solved' way back .

I must admit this had passed me by in this saga. Goncalo Amaral who resigned, and was not sacked because of torturing someone to get them to admit to a crime as the British press still have us believe, has had his life ruined totally by Metodo3 the firm of detectives the McCanns hired to 'find Madeleine' ably assisted by the British Press!

Scotland Yard not only have the complete files of the PJ, but they also have the files from Metodo3 and presumably Dave Edgar. Will they stand up to a close reading? We know they wont, so SY must ask, are the Drs' McCann really naive enough to be duped by 7 (?) firms of private investigators? The hot baked wind blowing in from the South, will be the trials for money laundering and fraud of the illustrious directors of Metodo 3. Their crazy Mr. Fixer (Marcos Correia) having hot footed it to Brazil. The Portuguese people already know that Metodo 3 paid Marcos Correia to get Leonor Cipriano to say she was tortured by Goncalo Amaral. She has just had 7 months added to her murder sentence for lying about Goncalo Amaral.

would anyone care to speculate on the repercussions for the mccanns should they lose this libel case.

The Portuguese priest who gave solace to the McCann family after the ‘disappearance’ of their daughter Madeleine has stripped his church of all traces of the girl, with friends saying the experience has left him “ruined”.
Fr Pacheco was questioned twice by detectives, and the church and its grounds were searched by police, because investigators became convinced Kate McCann had confessed to him. Friends of Fr Pacheco – who came under police scrutiny after he gave the keys to his church to Gerry and Kate McCann to allow them to pray round the clock – say they feared for his health and that his life is now completely ruined, they are desperate for him to open up but Fr Pacheco has insisted he would stand by his priestly vow. The seal of the confessional is inviolate and he thought he was helping a family in need, parents who had lost a daughter.
A close friend of Fr Pacheco said the priest still becomes irate at the mention of the Madeleine case and that even friends must tread carefully when broaching the subject. He has been 'deceived’ and this 'deception' has forced him into retirement and consequent silence.

I wonder how Father Pacheco now feels about the McCanns? I suppose whatever he said now, even if he wanted to, about a confessional would only be classed as hearsay by the McCanns powerful lawyers and would be inadmissible in a court of law, or would it? I honestly don't know but it looks as if another potential avenue will never be opened.

deflect and deny tactics from the apologists  in full swing.

Have every confidence the liable case will be lost and lets see where team McCann go from there .

What would you like them to say? I would suggest that several people, unrelated to the McCann case, must have thought the same thing.

I have no idea how the Libel case is proceeding...but I have no doubt that, IF they win the case, there will be loads of people on here claiming the McCanns pulled strings etc. with their 'legal team'.

lumping on 5/2 neglectful parents

sky news now.

Hypothetically if the UK investigation had unearthed some new evidence that implicated someone (whether the McCanns or someone else), presumably the only course of action available to them as the crime was committed on foreign soil, would be to pass the evidence over and get the Portuguese authorities to officially reopen the case, like they have just announced?

PORTUGESE Police set to RE-Open THEIR Inquiry into the 'disappearance' of Madeleine McCann

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24655826
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Portuguese police have reopened their inquiry into the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann, the public prosecutor's office has said.

Madeleine, from Leicestershire, was three when she disappeared from Praia da Luz in the Algarve in May 2007.

Portugal's attorney-general said "new elements of evidence" justified the "continuation of the investigation", which was shelved by police in 2008.

Madeleine's parents said they hoped for "the answers we so desperately need".

Scotland Yard began a review of the case in May 2011 - codenamed Operation Grange - and opened a formal investigation in July this year.

They said the Portuguese decision followed the "discovery of new lines of inquiry as a result of an internal review of the original investigation by the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria".
'Highly significant'

It comes after Scotland Yard said at a briefing earlier this year that the Portuguese inquiry would not be re-opened until judges there were convinced there were solid grounds to do so.

It would appear the decision is highly significant, BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said.
Continue reading the main story   
“Start Quote

    We hope that this will finally lead to her being found and to the discovery of whoever is responsible for this crime”

Kate and Gerry McCann

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley and Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood met senior Portuguese police last Thursday in Lisbon for a briefing on the new lines of enquiry which they said were "separate" to those being followed by the Met.

Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were also briefed on the plans to apply to reopen the investigation.

They said they were "very pleased" the Portuguese inquiry, which will run in parallel with the Met operation, was being reopened.

"We hope that this will finally lead to her being found and to the discovery of whoever is responsible for this crime," they said.

"We once again urge any member of the public who may have information relating to Madeleine's abduction to contact the police in Portugal or the UK."

Mr Rowley, assistant commissioner for specialist crime and operations, said the meeting was "very positive" and both forces had a "shared determination" to solve the case.

"I believe that we have the best opportunity yet to finally understand what happened to Madeleine," he said.

UK Home Secretary Theresa May welcomed the development, saying: "I I hope what we are going to see is a resolution of this case for the sake of Maddie's parents and family."

Kate and Gerry must be absolutely delighted ,just what they have always wanted .

Do you need a body to be found to have a successful conviction of murder in Portugal ?

Stretches my imagination really. Lets all go fishing for red Portuguese herrings.

Moths did it. Left handed moths.

dont think the portugese police would be reopenin the case if any results pointed to the mcaans been right all along and the police been negligent, on the other hand the cynic in me says this is just a comestic exercise to cover their bots if scotland yard unearth something they,ve missed
a 3rd option is the 2 forces are joining together to continue the flushing out of the perpetrators

Ivor, I would have thought that re-opening the case WAS a significant development. In a real-life significant sort of way. Obviously not like a Colombo significant way.

All I got was three dashes.

the Greek girl also turns out to have been sold by her Bulgarian gypsy parents - Clarence strangely silent on the issue

Portuguese police to investigate the case again - can't wait to hear your theory A_T when they don't suspect the McCanns.