The Madeleine Foundation letter to Gordon Brown in support of a
The Madeleine Foundation letter to Gordon Brown in support of a
The Madeleine Foundation letter to Gordon Brown in support of a
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promptly. It was not. A decision <strong>to</strong> refuse <strong>to</strong> pass that <strong>in</strong>formation on must<br />
have been made by a senior detective <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Madele<strong>in</strong>e</strong> McCann <strong>in</strong>vestigation.<br />
An enquiry needs <strong>to</strong> establish who made that decision and why. In mak<strong>in</strong>g<br />
their statements, the Gaspars showed considerable courage, as they were<br />
putt<strong>in</strong>g the possible risks there may have been <strong>to</strong> <strong>Madele<strong>in</strong>e</strong> above their own<br />
friendship with the McCanns and the Paynes. <strong>The</strong>y also would know<strong>in</strong>g, as<br />
doc<strong>to</strong>rs, that they might well be plac<strong>in</strong>g fellow doc<strong>to</strong>rs and friends under close<br />
police scrut<strong>in</strong>y.<br />
I reproduce first <strong>of</strong> all the statement <strong>of</strong> Dr Kather<strong>in</strong>e Zacharias Gaspar made<br />
<strong>to</strong> Leicestershire Police on 16 May 2007:<br />
“I give this declaration <strong>in</strong> relation <strong>to</strong> the McCANN family who are currently <strong>in</strong><br />
Portugal. <strong>The</strong> McCANN family is composed <strong>of</strong> Gerry McCANN, his wife, Kate<br />
McCANN and their three children, <strong>Madele<strong>in</strong>e</strong>, aged 4, and Sean and Amelie,<br />
who are tw<strong>in</strong>s and 3 years <strong>of</strong> age. As is abundantly clear, <strong>Madele<strong>in</strong>e</strong> is not with<br />
her family presently, and has been miss<strong>in</strong>g for the last two weeks.<br />
“I will start by expla<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g that I am married <strong>to</strong> Arul Savio Gaspar and we have<br />
two daughters. I have been married <strong>to</strong> Savio for 11 years. We met when we<br />
were work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>to</strong>gether <strong>in</strong> Exeter about 14 years ago [1993]. I am a General<br />
Practitioner as was my husband. He cont<strong>in</strong>ues <strong>to</strong> be a General Practitioner but<br />
is also a specialist.<br />
“To expla<strong>in</strong> how we know the McCann family, I would say that my husband<br />
knows Kate, as they both attended the University <strong>of</strong> Dundee between 1987 and<br />
1992. At the time, Kate was known by the name <strong>of</strong> Kate Healey. I met Kate and<br />
Gerry on the occasion <strong>of</strong> their wedd<strong>in</strong>g around 1998 <strong>in</strong> Liverpool. Both Savio<br />
and I went <strong>to</strong> the wedd<strong>in</strong>g because Savio was an old friend <strong>of</strong> Kate; we were<br />
both <strong>in</strong>vited <strong>to</strong> the event. From what I know, Savio did not know Gerry<br />
McCann before they married. From that time on, we met as friends, probably<br />
about three times a year and we would spend the weekend <strong>to</strong>gether.<br />
“I would say we got <strong>to</strong> be close friends <strong>of</strong> Gerry and Kate. I remember that <strong>in</strong><br />
2002 or 2003, Savio and I spent a weekend with Gerry and Kate <strong>in</strong> Devon. We<br />
ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong>ed contact with each other by ’phone. In 2002 or 2003 Savio and I<br />
were liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the Birm<strong>in</strong>gham area and the McCanns were then <strong>in</strong> Leicester.<br />
In September 2005 Savio, me and ‘A’ [name <strong>of</strong> first child] (who was around<br />
one year and a half) holidayed <strong>in</strong> Majorca, with Kate, Gerry, <strong>Madele<strong>in</strong>e</strong> (who<br />
was about 2½ years old) and the tw<strong>in</strong>s, Sean and Amelie, who were only a few<br />
months old. I was pregnant with ‘B’ [name <strong>of</strong> second child]. <strong>The</strong>re were also<br />
other friends <strong>of</strong> Kate and Gerry with us there. <strong>The</strong>re was a couple, Dave and<br />
Fiona (the Paynes, I th<strong>in</strong>k). I believe they were married and had a daughter<br />
around one year old called Lily. I remember Fiona was pregnant on that<br />
holiday.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re was another couple on the vacation: C_____ and D_____, whose<br />
surname I can’t remember. <strong>The</strong>y had two boys (three years and one year old<br />
respectively) whose names I don’t remember. I did not know either <strong>of</strong> these<br />
two families before this holiday. I th<strong>in</strong>k it was Dave Payne who organised the<br />
trip and we stayed <strong>in</strong> a big house <strong>in</strong> Majorca. We were there for one week<br />
whilst the McCanns and the Paynes stayed for two weeks. I believe C_____<br />
and D_____ and their two sons also stayed for one week.<br />
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