The Bolton NewsHow Lancs police would have dealt with Maddy searchFriday, 11 May 2007
By Charlotte Bradshaw
THE case of missing Madeleine McCann, three, has pulled at the heart strings of people across the UK - particularly those preparing to take children abroad this summer. But would our police have done anything different in the hunt for her suspected abductor?
APPEAL FOR HELP: A poster at Lisbon's airport about Maddy's disappearance APPEAL FOR HELP: A poster at Lisbon's airport about Maddy's disappearance
There has been wide-spread criticism of the police in Portugal since the abduction, where the law prevents officers disclosing details of their investigation.
Detective Inspector Pete Broome, of Lancashire Police Force's Major Investigation Team, said he didn't want to criticise the Portuguese force but that more pro-active measures would have been implemented in the UK.
He added that media coverage would have been used to trace missing Madeleine McCann if she had disappeared in the UK.
Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, disappeared from an apartment in Praia da Luz, the Algarve, a week ago while her parents, Gerry and Kate, ate at a nearby restaurant.
They had been regularly checking on her and their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie.
British child abduction experts have been in Portugal to assist the investigation and Superintendent Graham Hill, of Surrey police, who investigated the disappearance and murder of Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler is among them.
Det Insp Broome, who has worked for Lancashire Police for 24 years, said: "In cases like this there is a framework that we would follow.
"If, like in this case, it seems it was a paedophile who has taken this child, then we would instigate Child Alert which alerts the media about a missing child believed to be in danger.
"We would circulate details about the suspect, a car or part regist-ration number of the car or whatever information we had and then that information would appear on a scroll bar across the TV every 15 minutes.
"A picture of the child would also appear because the more people that have their eyes peeled the more chance you have of getting a sighting.
"But there's a delicate balance to be struck because we can run the risk of frightening the abductor into getting rid of the evidence by killing the child.
"In Portugal they have a law that's totally different to ours which prevents them from releasing details.
"They also may not have the resources we have available to us.
"However the main aim has got to be getting that child back.
"The problem with this case is that it wasn't ascertained right from the start that she had been taken.
"It was thought at first that she has woken up and took herself off.
"But if we knew there had been a crime, the hotel room would have been declared a crime scene and nobody but the forensic examiners would have access in the first instance.
"Your scene is the golden piece of evidence and it would be squeezed like a lemon for fingerprints, touch DNA and fibres and the evidence would be examined by scientists."
Det Insp Broome, married with children, added: "Some people could say that this whole sorry episode could have quite easily been avoided had the parents not left the children alone in their room, but it's easy to criticise with hindsight."
Madeleine's grandmother, Susan Healy, said Portuguese police made mistakes at the start of the hunt for her, possibly because they were "inexperienced".
But, the British ambassador to Portugal, John Buck, said he had been assured by Portuguese authorities that "everything possible" was being done to ensure the girl's safe return.
