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A former senior UK cop who sent criminal
profilers to investigate Madeleine
McCann’s disappearance and whose final
report helped trigger the UK
investigation into the crime has told
nine.com.au that despite some early
questions he is now convinced Kate and
Gerry are innocent of any wrong doing.
Jim Gamble, the former head of Child
Exploitation and Online Protection
centre (CEOP), has worked closely with
Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry,
ever since the couple’s three-year-old
daughter suddenly went missing in
Portugal in May 2007.
The arrival of specialist profilers to
the coastal town of Praia da Luz on the
Algarve gave British police “early
exposure to the McCanns” and details of
the case, Gamble told nine.com.au. |
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In episode two of
Maddie, Nine.com.au’s new podcast
investigating Madeleine’s disappearance,
Gamble outlined the profilers’ mission,
and potential crime scene scenarios his
team explored.
"When the case first began to unravel …
I began to simply watch the news feed
and then get direct feedback from our
team on the ground," Gamble said.
"Being a police officer, I am a cynic,"
he said.
"I believe that any good investigator
clears the ground beneath their feet.
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"So of course the first people you
suspect are the parents, because they
are there, they are in proximity, it is
their child.
"Did I believe at the beginning that the
parents could possibly have done it?
Yes. As time went on, did I see evidence
that supported that hypothesis? No, I
did not." |
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Jim Gamble, head of the
Child Exploitation and
Online Protection Centre, is
pictured in 2009 leaving the
policing board headquarters
in Belfast (Getty) |
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Gamble said as more evidence and
information from Portugal came to light
his team were convinced the McCanns were
not involved.
"Now that's not to say that something
couldn't turn up in the future where I
think: 'Oh flip, you know I was right in
the beginning and I'm wrong now'. But
I've seen nothing, been briefed on
nothing and heard nothing that would
make me think that Gerry and Kate McCann
[had] something to do with their
daughter's disappearance."
In episode two of Maddie, two other
former law enforcement officers
highlight what they claim could be
possible "red flags" relating to crime
scene evidence and witness accounts on
the night Madeleine went missing.
In 2009, Gamble wrote an extensive
report that analysed the Portuguese
police search for Madeleine. His report,
commissioned by former Home Secretary
Alan Johnson, led to London’s
Metropolitan Police launching its own
investigation, Operation Grange, into
the McCann's holiday to Portugal. |
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British police officers
search an area of wasteland
in 2014 during a search for
evidence of Madeleine McCann
in the town of Praia da Luz,
Portugal where she went
missing in May 2007. (AAP) |
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British girl Madeleine
McCann before she went
missing from a Portuguese
holiday complex in May 2007.
(AAP) |
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Gamble stepped down as head of CEOP, an
agency once linked to the UK's Serious
Organised Crime Agency, in 2010.
Kate and Gerry McCann have steadfastly
denied they were involved in the
disappearance of their daughter.
Nine.com.au does not suggest they had
any involvement.
Maddie is currently the number one
podcast on Australia's iTunes chart,
reaching that spot inside of 24 hours of
launch.
LISTEN
TO EPISODE ONE AND TWO OF MADDIE NOW
Maps, graphics, stories and all episodes
of Maddie can be found at
nine.com.au/maddie |
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