DNA clues delay in Maddie probe

by clairesy Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:45 pm

DNA clues delay in Maddie probe

Madeleine McCann
Published Date:
21 July 2009
By Paul Fielding

A FORMER Blackpool soldier, linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, is unlikely to face charges over a sex attack 30 years ago.
A team of detectives from West Yorkshire police flew to Germany to question Raymond Hewlett over the assault on an eight-year-old girl in 1972 and took a DNA sample.

But sources at the Yorkshire force said that although they were still awaiting instructions on how to proceed from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), it was unlikely charges would follow. A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "We have been over to interview him and are currently liaising with the CPS regarding the matter.

"We are also still awaiting the results of a DNA profile."

Hewlett, 64, who was brought up in Hawes Side Lane, Marton, is currently in hospital in Aachen where he is being treated for throat cancer.

Private detectives working for the McCann family have not named him as a suspect but want to question him after receiving some worrying information from people who knew him.

In the past he has been jailed three times for sex attacks on young girls but has since insisted "I didn't kill the McCann girl".

Hewlett is said to have been staying around an hour's drive from the McCanns' holiday flat
in Praia da Luz in Portugal when the little girl vanished on May 3, 2007.

The battered blue Dodge van owned by Hewlett at the time of Madeleine's disappearance has been seized by German police and looked over by investigators.

It has been alleged the vehicle was seen parked close to the McCanns' complex on several occasions around the time the youngster went missing.

The McCanns' investigators – retired UK policemen Dave Edgar and Arthur Cowley –
flew to Germany last month in a bid to question Hewlett.

But negotiations between the private investigators and Hewlett's German lawyer broke down and the detectives flew home empty handed.

by clairesy Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:57 pm

hmmmm two things that have confused me there.........

why aint going to face charges for the attack in the 70's??? doesn't make sense surly they cant be brushing it under the carpet?why take dna from him and go to Germany to question him about the assault and then state it is unlikely he will face charges. Why bother even dragging the victim through all that sh/t again just to announce hes going to go free??Thats sick,i think thats awful and to be honest it isn't surprising soo many folk fail to come forward with vital evidence about a crime these days.If i was assaulted tomorrow and my attacker got free and then years late they felt they had found him due to him attacking someone else i would keep right out of it.After all (imo) catching him wasn't such an important thing until someone else got hurt....and by the seems of it they are only trying to link him with madeleine...any other crime he as commented seems now to be forgotten and he can walk free.So just like the parents of the 14 year old girl(he held at gun point ) said when they were approached by detectives.................''we dont want anything to do with this,its in the past for us now, and that were we want it left '' well said by them because it obviously isnt going to benefit them in anyway what so ever.They have feelings to and shouldn't be used to dig up info on a guy who once harmed them just to try and link him to someone else.Its not fair and its wrong.You cannot treat people like pieces of meat in order to help you solves a new case,you should be treating them all equally,after all he still as to face charges for harming that kid so why isnt he?

the other thing thats jumped out at me is the blue doge van................it was seen near the apartment at the time Madeleine was taken................. thought it was the white van???

by sadie Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:29 pm

[quote="clairesy"]hmmmm two things that have confused me there.........

why aint going to face charges for the attack in the 70's??? doesn't make sense surly they cant be brushing it under the carpet?why take dna from him and go to Germany to question him about the assault and then state it is unlikely he will face charges. Why bother even dragging the victim through all that sh/t again just to announce hes going to go free??Thats sick,i think thats awful and to be honest it isn't surprising soo many folk fail to come forward with vital evidence about a crime these days.If i was assaulted tomorrow and my attacker got free and then years late they felt they had found him due to him attacking someone else i would keep right out of it.After all (imo) catching him wasn't such an important thing until someone else got hurt....and by the seems of it they are only trying to link him with madeleine...any other crime he as commented seems now to be forgotten and he can walk free.So just like the parents of the 14 year old girl(he held at gun point ) said when they were approached by detectives.................''we dont want anything to do with this,its in the past for us now, and that were we want it left '' well said by them because it obviously isnt going to benefit them in anyway what so ever.They have feelings to and shouldn't be used to dig up info on a guy who once harmed them just to try and link him to someone else.Its not fair and its wrong.You cannot treat people like pieces of meat in order to help you solves a new case,you should be treating them all equally,after all he still as to face charges for harming that kid so why isnt he?

the other thing thats jumped out at me is the blue doge van................it was seen near the apartment at the time Madeleine was taken................. thought it was the white van???[/quote]

sadie:
Me too, Clairesy.

That jumped out at me!

Where was this published?

About the charging of him for the offence of in the 70's............maybe he is dying and so it would not only be a bit inhuman to do that, but also a waste of time? Just my thoughts.

by dianeh Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:44 pm

It might also be that the DNA evidence does not incriminate him in the 70's murder.

But on the bright side the police now have his DNA. Who knows when it might come in useful to help solve other crimes????

by clairesy Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:51 pm

About the charging of him for the offence of in the
70's............maybe he is dying and so it would not only be a bit
inhuman to do that, but also a waste of time? Just my thoughts.

Hmmm inhumane for who??him!! ..........

dont think so...besides i dont care if he is dying....nothing is too inhumane for him......... hes raped kids...and dying or not.......... he deserves to be punished...
I think as a last dying dig at him they should pour acid on his privates.I would gladly oblige,it would give me pleasure.

Charging him might be a waste of time for hewlett with regards to him not being here for long.....because he wouldn't get to spend his time in jail etc...

although it certainly wouldn't be a waste of time for his victims.For them to know that their attacker as been named,charged and labeled the b"stard he is is not a waste of time.

Dying is to good for him,they should keep him alive on life support machine and every now and then turn the air cylinder down so he feels like hes chocking,then turn it back up again,just keep him hanging on a thread for as long as they can,let him get a taste of what it feel like to have his life and feelings in someone else's hands ...i would gladly be the nurse to deal with him daily...Anyone wanna help me treat this nutter!!!! lol

by Catkins Wed Jul 22, 2009 1:22 am

Dead man walking or not..he should be charged and give this family some Justice imo...........

Have we had any detailed forensic News of the Dodge Van in Germany ?

by Royal Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:49 am

Hello Clairesy, did you enjoy your holiday? Regarding Hewlett, it sounds to me as if the 'creature' is in a poor state physically, perhaps even nearer to death than we know, in which case they probably wouldn't be able to get him back to the UK let alone put him on trial. Even were they able to get him back to the UK would he 'pop his clogs' half way through the trial? Perhaps the DPP think it would be a waste of the courts time and money in that situation. On the other hand, it is said they are still waiting the result of his DNA testing, that seems rather odd, how long would it take if they were trying to solve a murder, rather sooner than that I think! I suspect they are giving up on Hewlett as a waste of space and are probably hoping he'll soon be 'snuffing' it (in great pain I hope), and the sooner the better, get him out of their hair and off their backs! I believe you may be right about the 'White' van as opposed to the 'Blue' van, that is also how I understand it Clair! I gather the Mccann detectives have more or less excluded Hewlett as a suspect in Madeleine's enquiry so the search continues on! I have made a new entry in the "Madeleine review" thread earlier which brings back into focus other possibillities and bearing in mind the Mccann's investigators still suspect the abductor 'could' possibly be a local PDL man! I think maybe it is time to go back to the 'drawing board' once again and take a fresh look at the situation. Unfortunately it is like looking for a 'needle in a haystack' as there are so many "if's and but's" to consider. Abduction by sea still cannot be ruled out, neither can kidnapping by some local group of paedophiles, even Spanish, and the possibillity still remains that the abductor was some 'loner' acting single handedly can not be ruled out! As a potential suspect Hewlett brought fresh hope into the equation but now I think we can say with reasonable certainty he probably was not involved in this particular case, even though so much evidence seemed to point in his direction!

Alroy.

by Guest Wed Jul 22, 2009 4:04 am

Well said Alroy.

by Rosie Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:03 am

With regard to Hewlett, none of this report is ringing true to me. It doesn't matter if the man is dying, if police think he was guilty of such a serious assault then they would arrest him and extradite him, whether he died during the process or not, as far as I know it is not the police that dispense the law in this country, they uphold it, the courts dispense it.
Maybe the DNA results they have, which I understand to be a buccal swab, have proved inconclusive, if this is the case and the police have little else then they would simply be unable to make a case for the CPS to sanction, therefor stalemate.

As for the truck, this is what makes me doubt the whole validity of this report, where has it ever been mentioned that the truck has been seen parked near the complex? You are right Clairesy, every report I have seen has stated a white van!

I am very interested in seeing what comes back regarding the forensics on the blue dodge, Hamish Brown MBE who is a retired, Detective Inspector, from the Specialist Crime Directorate, New Scotland Yard with over 30 years experience at the Metropolitan police and is now a leading authority on stalking, has said that to have the blue Dodge examined forensically is absolutely vital and I understand this is still being undertaken. He would not have said that for no good reason!
I don't think the McCanns have ruled Hewlett out as a suspect because they have never described him as a suspect, they have continually described as a "person of interest to the inquiry".
I also do not think they are able rule him out of anything, even if they wanted to, as they have never spoken to him, that would be absolutely foolhardy and I just cannot see them doing this somehow.
If Madeleine is to be traced, then it is absolutely vital that all leads like this are followed until they are exhausted, which is the whole point, this was not done in the beginning when Amaral was in charge and later when Rebelo was in charge and IMO this is why this investigation slipped into the farcical chaos that it did.

I still maintain there are far too many suspicious circumstances surrounding Hewlett and his partner.

As for his health, unless he has been readmitted to hospital, he had been discharged home a couple of weeks back, when the journalist interviewing described him struggling for breath, yet the picture of hi was sitting there talking to the reporter and smoking, somehow, struggling for breath and smoking are not conducive to life!

I think this is another one line story padded out by other stuff and not very well either.

As for treating him humanely, when he can turn the clock back and treat all his victims humanely by not attacking them and raping them, then I will agree with that, until he can do that, I am afraid I couldn't give a damn about him.

I also do not blame the family of the girl who was attacked for taking that attitude, it must have been hell and why would they want it raked over again? But there is another strange thing, why would the "family" say this? It is not up to the family is it? It is up to the victim herself! I know many people in that situation would not be able to move on until their attacker has been tried and punished for what they have done, no matter how many years have passed! So I find that an odd statement.

by clairesy Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:07 am

Hi alory,

yer i had a fabulous holiday chick.....im already popping some money into an account ready for our next one!!

I se what your saying regarding hewlett and those charges etc.

however i find myself strongly disagreeing with them not bringing charges against him for the assaults on previous cases whatever their reasons for not charging him are.

Its the victims that need the charges brought against him not anyone else........Having charges filed against him and labeling him and blaming him etc for what he done to them will give them peace of mind and some sort of final closure on what he done to them.

He has to be charged imo and regardless of weather he is dying or not.What about the victims,they aint dying.Maybe they should ask them if they want to bring charges against him.

Its a weird world....our laws work to satisfy themselves and the criminals... with total disregard to how they leave a victim of crime feeling. I would hate to be the person who goes up to one of his victims and break the news that the guy as now been caught,that we have his dna..... although it is unlikely he will be charged with raping them because of................??????

why did the police even bother going to Germany to question this nutter if they are not going to do the victims some justice and give them the closure they need??That closure might seem un important to them right now due him to dying etc although it is vital and some people find coping with such a situation harder without getting that closure.Sounds odd doesn't it??why would a person need such a thing when it happened such a long time ago??surly by now they have moved on in their lives yer???..............
They probably have moved on from what happened to them,they probably do live a normal happy life......but the knowledge that their abuser got away with it will always be with them and that knowledge will probably make them feel a little like their abuser made them feel.....that they were to blame in some way for what happened to them,that what happened to them isn't very important,they have over reacted and that now, all this time later,years down the line,their plight is not at all felt to be worth anything to anyone,and they shouldn't feel the need to want to prosecute a poor dying man who raped them......so not only as Hewlett downgraded them and insulted them,our laws are now going to do the same thing to them.
Its an insult.The law works in wierd ways..........and we regulary find ourselves plunged into some sort of deluded political stink that protects a criminal.

by Rosie Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:13 am

Clairesy our posts crossed there, but I understand what you are saying and agree with you 100%.

Him dying should have absolutely nothing to do with it. Not prosecuting someone who has carried out such a heinous crime as that, by taking that attitude it is saying to the victims of that crime that it doesn't matter because it is so long ago and any way he is dying so it and you (the victim) are unimportant!

No that is not right and I cannot see that at all.

by clairesy Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:23 am

hi rosie,

Lol i think we did cross with our posts there!!!

the family's daughter as moved away from the area in which it happened.But her family still live there.I believe they were approached by journalists about Hewlett...and their reply was they wanted it left in the past,that they have moved on from it now...i suppose they were talking on behalf of their daughter to who was not there.I can totally understand them saying that.These days you deal with your problems and learn that our system isnt going to do nothing to help you....why drag it all back up and make it all raw again??

Its clear to see right now that if they had of helped they would have been kicked in the teeth and sh/t would have been their thanks!!!

by Royal Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:24 am

Hi there Rosie, Clairesy and thanks for that kind remark Roddy! Now then, as I see it, in the case of Hewlett none of us know exactly at what stage of his illness he's in, if his throat cancer is very advanced the probabillity is that he's on Morphine and will soon be on, is it Dia Morphine, the extra strong stuff, in which case he would not be expected to live long. You said the reporters said he was gasping for air and yet was still smoking. As an ex-smoker I can say that smoking did affect your breathing but only in the long term, not noticably short term! I smoked cigarettes for about twenty five years and then went on to a pipe for a further thirty years. I can't say that at the time I had any severe breathing problems and only gave up my pipe following a minor heart attack in 2001. It may be that Hewlett has taken the view that "what the hell" why stop smoking now that I'm dying, after all smokers as well as being severely addicted really do thoroughly enjoy smoking! I have always said since giving up the pipe that if ever I am told I am going to die, I shall definitely take up my pipe smoking again until my final "puff!" I really do even now still miss my pipe. And let us not forget that to bring Hewlett back to the UK he will first have to be extradited out of Germany which of course his solicitors will thoroughly resist on health grounds! This, together with his long drawn out appeals could drag on for months if not years, and lets face it, months and years is something Hewlett supposedly does not have! Perhaps the police realize this dilemma! And as Clairesy has said, does the poor girl and her family really want it all dragged through the courts or would they just prefer trying to put this nasty ordeal behind them? What is more important to them, satisfaction from seeing a dying man convicted of rape, if the case got that far, or the struggle for peace of mind by putting it behind them and trying to forget the cruel incident in their lives? Would the victim girl really want to face the ordeal of giving evidence in court after such a long time? Perhaps the thought of Hewlett soon having to face judgement before his maker gives them some little sort of comfort!

Alroy.

by clairesy Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:39 am

nd as Clairesy
has said, does the poor girl and her family really want it all dragged
through the courts or would they just prefer trying to put this nasty
ordeal behind them? What is more important to them, satisfaction from
seeing a dying man convicted of rape, if the case got that far, or the
struggle for peace of mind by putting it behind them and trying to
forget the cruel incident in their lives? Would the victim girl really
want to face the ordeal of giving evidence in court after such a long
time? Perhaps the thought of Hewlett soon having to face judgement
before his maker gives them some little sort of comfort!

Hi there alory,i think you might of misunderstood me a little ,not sure.But i think he should be brought to justice...i think that his victims(maybe not all) would want to see him charged for what he done to them.The reason the family(who were approached by journalists) said they wanted it left in the past was because they had already had their closure...he was jailed for what he done to their daughter...he held her at gun point and i think it was that case he was jailed for 6 years(not long enough).
For them not wanting to be involved in this anymore,having it dragged up, making it raw again, is something i can understand.

But for the others...for those who have never been able to see him done, charged, jailed, etc for what he done to them,i think it must be awful for them to hear how he isn't going to face charges. I think its cruel for the law to suggest such a thing. Going to Germany to question to him must have given them some hope that after al this time they now can get some closure and the man whos hurt them will be charged.............but because he is dying it seems they have no time and therefore no closure for his victims...such a shame i think especially given hes right there infront of their very eyes,they have his dna in their hands and they are going to to let him get of with his crimes.

Not wanting it dragged up again is ok for those who have been able to see him face whatever deluded sentence they handed down to him in the past...

but those who haven't been able to see him charged for what he done to them....????......Maybe they should ask them what they want,after all its them who should have the rights to see this nutter charged...not our courts

anyway...as you said hes about to face the real judge...the one none of us will fail to stand before.I hope he hands him the correct sentence,im sure he will.

by Royal Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:55 pm

Good morning Clair, glad you enjoyed the holiday, you'd been waiting long enough for it to come round! I was not aware there was more than the 'one' outstanding case of rape against Hewlett so how many other cases do you think there are pending, I thought it was just the one? (known of) And yes, perhaps I did misunderstand you Clair as I thought the reporters were interviewing the family of the rape victim and not those whose cases had already been settled in court and for which Hewlett had already been jailed on several previous occasions! As much as I would like to see Hewlett 'banged up' in prison again I somehow feel it will never come about, perhaps a dose of 'rat poison' would be the answer and for all those others like him in the world, they are after all just Vermin and not fit to live in a civilized society!!

Alroy.

by sadie Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:12 pm

Hi Clairesy

As far as we know, Hewlett has changed his ways and hasn't transgessed as far as paedophilia or attacking women/children is concerned for over 30 years.

If the family wanted it to go before the Courts, then I dont know what to think. I am with Alroy on this in that it would seem to be a gross waste of Public money for a case to go ahead that is not wanted by the victim and is unlikely to come to fruition, because of death.

That is, if we are being told the truth about the severity of his illness - something that I have doubted, but then I accept that I am probably wrong. As you know, I have wondered if somehow he was planted as a red herring to take our attention off other things that were going on - but it seems silly to wonder, because I dont know how that could be arranged? I think that I must be wrong on that.

He has paid his debt to society, for his foul misdeeds, by serving his time in prison, except for this one dreadful crime. Apart from this one crime of years ago, it appears that he has wiped his slate clear. He has also, paid for them by being forced to lead a rather deprived Nomadic lifestyle.

Now that doesn't mean that any of us would want him as a friend, NOR would we trust him near our children affraid

I felt like you when I was young, but age has moderated me. I wouldn't want any more suffering to be added to the suffering he will endure until he dies; he will have more than enough physical and mental pain to contend with. If this family want it to rest, then it is unlikely that the CPS would take it on board anyhow - especially as it would apparently be a gross waste of time and money.

As you say, if there is an after life, he will be brought to reckoning there.

Now, the big question is, just why did they take his DNA.......that is a loaded question as far as I am concerned. That has got me thinking! It's OK, private theory only - I wont trouble you all with it! lol!

by clairesy Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:48 pm

sorry but disagree. And to be honest i aint getting into debate about him 'paying his debt to society for his foul misdeeds' because i dont think he will ever be able to wipe his slate clean and as for not wanting more suffering to be added to his suffering before he dies.he deserves to be suffering and imo hasn't suffered enough.

Just my opinion i suppose, but i feel strong about this sort of thing and don't have any sympathy or thought for a man of his sorts, weather he be suffering with cancer at the moment or not.

''he will have more than enough physical and mental pain to contend with''

not half as much as his victims have had to suffer.

I believed the dna was taken in order to charge him for the crime against an innocent 8 year old girl in the 70's.What a waste of time though,because now its unlikely he will be charged with the crime.Yes i know hes dying,yes i know he wont do his time in jail.But he would have been charged and labeled the monster who carried out that crime and justice would be given to the victims

..I think its really sad.

i hope his final days are the most painful a human as ever encountered.I wish suffering on him the same way he made others suffer.Even his kids don't want him alive for god sake.And dont forget the men who were abused by him as soldiers when they were children to...the ones he made wear a kilt and then molested them...nothing as ever been done about that.This sicko as got away most of the crimes he as carried out...and hes going to continue to get away with them in his death.
I think they should stop treating him,stop giving him the pain relief they are giving him and allow him to die in pain.

he will never pay his debt to society,never wipe his slate clean either.If he wasn't going to be dead son he would still be out there abusing people.

good riddance to bad rubbish.Rot in hell.

by Royal Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:23 pm

Lovely Clairesy, hiya chuck, as much as I love you sweetheart my God I would hate to get on the wrong side of you, ha ha. But that's not likely to happen is it my little sweetie cause I know you love the very ground I shall one day be buried under! Not true actually as I shall be creamated and my 'dust' will be blown in the wind on the top of a large mountain, not far from you actually my sweet little petal. Now I'll bet that's got you guessing hasn't it! I hate this secrecy business but its not a very good idea divulging your identity to any old Tom, Dick. and Harry is it? Who are they by the way, do you know any of them? Well chuck, I think you can put your daggers away now as Hewlett has not very much longer for this world, thank goodness! Oh yes, and by the way, where are 'WE' going on our next holiday, thoroughly enjoyed this latest one and like you am putting my pennies away, just can't wait for the next one, where do you suggest! Really did enjoy our last little outing though Clair.. Whoops! sorry chucky and you told me not to say anything, sorry about that, didn't mean to let the cat out of the bag, it's just that I'm getting all excited!!

Alroy. X

by sadie Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:29 pm

I hear you Clairesy and fully understand where you are coming from.

It's just that I cannot go there, but have been (almost) there in my youth.

Hope you enjoy your holiday with Alroy; it looks like the rest of us have been dumped! Laffin

by clairesy Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:09 am

sadie wrote:I hear you Clairesy and fully understand where you are coming from.

It's just that I cannot go there, but have been (almost) there in my youth.

Hope you enjoy your holiday with Alroy; it looks like the rest of us have been dumped!

Hi saide,

you are welcome to come Sadie!! im sure alroy wont mind.....and me and minxy wont mind anyway because we will just leave you two to babysit while we go out on the town!!!! Laffin

id love to go to turkey,i have never been there,and have heard so many nice things about it.......hot(which i love)...cheap (which i love) and miles away from this place which is even better!!!!

Alroy...........dont worry about meeting me in a dark alley,i wouldn't hurt a fly, im quite placid enough, and i dont normally show aggression or anything towards folk even if i happen to fall out with them!!!!! Laffin

But i do make an exception for guys like Hewlett Laffin

slimy little beings aint they

Which mountain might that be alropy???Urrrrm all the sweet talk i would say it could be the sugar loaf although not sure..hmmmmm yes you have got me guessing now!!!

Anyway you aint going nowhere,theres plenty of life in you in yet. flower

by sadie Thu Jul 23, 2009 1:11 am

Nah, Clairesy, having heard such sweet talk between you and Alroy, I couldn't get in the way.

In any case, you wouldn't like my glass eye rolling around as the boat rolls; it is a bit frightening, I must admit. And then there is my 28 stones. Nah, dont think I could manage it now!

Shame!

Yep, I agree. Hewlett is rock bottom vile to have done the things he has done ~ and I wonder what he has got away with that we shall never hear of?

by Rosie Thu Jul 23, 2009 1:29 am

Sorry this is something I feel very strongly about!
How are we supposed to know, that Hewlett has not been up to his old tricks? He hasn't been residing in this country he has been on the run with a woman less than half of his age, fathering another family of 6 children, with no visible means of support.
Strangely enough, Portugal does NOT have a 'Sex Offenders Register' and certainly no DNA based register, so how did 'Amaral' supposedly 'know' where to find this man who has been on Crimestoppers most wanted paedophile list for so long?

Paedophiles do not change either, they don't change because they simply do not believe they are doing anything wrong and this makes them dangerous for life. This is why there is a strong argument that chemical castration does not work in these cases, because it is not that part of the body that is wrong, it is the mind that is wrong.

This man Hewlett's offences were NOT petty little misdemeanors, they were nasty violent predatory paedophile crimes, that have probably had a lasting effect on his victims for their whole lives, so excuse me if I do not push out the milk float of human kindness for him.
It is not for the family of people who fall foul of paedophiles to make decisions, it is for the person them-self, if they do not want to fair enough.
If a person who has been a victim of a rape was informed that they know who did it, but as the person was dying no charges were going to be brought, this would be yet another blow, it is telling them that their experience is not worth pursuing. That what happened to them is trivial and unimportan, maybe because somehow they are to blame etc etc etc, their self esteem has already taken a hell of a battering when something like this happens, to have this foisted upon them on top of that would be damaging beyond belief!

Equally, when I wrote about the journalist writing that Hewlett was sitting there struggling for breath, yet in the photo he was sitting there pictured smoking, when I said that struggling for breath and smoking was not conducive to life, I was not talking about past years of smoking, I was talking about Hewlett's supposedly 'acute' condition and I was not referring to his 'chronic' condition. We are led to believe by the papers that he was close to death and struggling for breath, if this was so, he would not be able to smoke and talk at the same time, it would have been physically impossible, he would have needed oxygen, I did not see any and that picture he seem to be struggling for breath, he looked quite calm to me.

Alroy with all due respect your own physiological description of your smoking history, would not really have much in common with Hewlett's.

The only thing that could or even should prevent Hewlett from appearing in court would be the state of his mental health and if he is compos mentis enough to sit there smoking and talking to a journalist for cash, then he is fit enough to sit in a witness box in a court and give an account of his actions. The people he has harmed deserve NO less, no matter how much money it costs, there is plenty of money wasted on unnecessary things in this world and I would not regard this as one of them!

I would like to see all these people going on about Hewlett having paid his debt to society,have their local council pay for Hewlett to move in next door to them or their families with little children. It is OK for us to hold these opinions as long as Hewlett does not come and live in our neighbourhood, or near our children, let him live near someone else's. I believe that Hewlett should have been given life imprisonment for what he did and never allowed near children ever again!

I also fear for his own little children's physical and mental well-being and so apparently did the Spanish authorities, who actually tried to do something about it.

It is NOT the debt to society that Hewlett needs to pay, it is the debt to those people that he has harmed that needs paying. Sick of hearing platitudes like "debt to society". I really dislike referring to the people that Hewlett (and people like Hewlett) have harmed as 'victims', to call them victims implies that he (Hewlett) still has control of them and since control is what all this is about, he hasn't.
For some people to make that transition to putting such an attack firmly in their past, they need to know that everything that could be done either was done or is being done to bring the transgressor to court and that they pay for what they have done.
I know if I or one of my children had fallen foul to this person, I would not be thinking oh well leave him, he has wiped his slate clean. - Poppycock, I would be doing all I could to bring him to justice!

I am also getting rather tired of hearing this talk about "red herrings" as if there is some kind of group that is sitting behind the scenes planning on planting red herrings to thwart the investigation, if they are, then this kind of attitude will do their job for them.

Let's be realistic, there is enough that is 'actually known' about Hewlett to make him a 'person of interest' to the Madeleine McCann investigation.

From what we know, the McCann investigators have not been able to get to speak to Hewlett, so common sense should tell us, that they would not be able to rule him out on this basis.

So therefore Hewlett remains a 'person of interest' to the investigation. Also it should not be forgotten that one of Hewlett's excuses for NOT speaking to the McCanns detectives (after agreeing to in principle) was because he said he could not manage up to five hours of interrogation. This is the length of the time the McCanns investigators said they would need with him. I would suggest imo that if they want to talk to him for this length of time, then they must have all we know of and much more besides about which to talk to him about.
Why couldn't Hewlett talk to them in hourly or two hourly interviews?

If Madeleine was my child, I would be doing everything I possibly could to ensure that Hewlett was spoken to and interrogated.

It wasn't the British police that took his DNA was it? I think I remember reading that it was the German police that did this, although this may have been done on behalf of the British police, of that I am unsure.

My way of looking at this is, that the German police have the blue Dodge truck, which somehow mysteriously has manifested itself in Germany and forensics tests are (as far as we know) still being carried out on it.

That truck appearing in Germany along with all the other mysterious things that came to light that prove Hewlett is still lying, would give me cause for serious concern.

I think Hewlett knows something about the abduction of Madeleine McCann and there is no way he should simply be written off as a 'red herring', which in any event, I do not think the McCann detectives are doing and I think they know their job.

To sum up, I think this report is a 'red herring' probably contains one factual line and the rest is just a load of padding and has been pieced together to beef the story up.

by clairesy Thu Jul 23, 2009 1:53 am

This man Hewlett's
offences were NOT petty little misdemeanors, they were nasty violent
predatory paedophile crimes, that have probably had a lasting effect on
his victims for their whole lives, so excuse me if I do not push out
the milk float of human kindness for him.
It
is not for the family of people who fall foul of paedophiles to make
decisions, it is for the person them-self, if they do not want to fair
enough.
If
a person who has been a victim of a rape was informed that they know
who did it, but as the person was dying no charges were going to be
brought, this would be yet another blow, it is telling them that their
experience is not worth pursuing. That what happened to them is trivial
and unimportan, maybe because somehow they are to blame etc etc etc,
their self esteem has already taken a hell of a battering when
something like this happens, to have this foisted upon them on top of
that would be damaging beyond belief!

i agree 100% with you rosie.

and i also agree with everything else you put into your post. thumbsup2

hewlett might very well be dying,but his victims sure as hell dying, and they deserve justice.That should be priority imo not what finances or condition hewlett is in.Even if he as died,then they should still bring his past to court....those left behind........ left to pick up the piece deserve that closure at any cost.

by sadie Thu Jul 23, 2009 2:59 am

But his victim and his victims family DO NOT want it.

They dont want it all raked up again. They dont want him charged.

As far as I am aware, he has done nothing wrong in over 30 years. His victim from then, doesn't want it raked up and there is nothing else that we know of that he has done wrong.

We might have suspicions, which may, or may not, be correct, but without proof there is NO Case to answer. We would have to make things up and then it would be like the Leonor case, (without the torture) - a case built on lies.

Even if there were a case to answer for, I doubt the CPS would prosecute a man who is dying, if he is indeed dying.

Now if he lives and real charges can be made against him with proof, then that is a different matter.

by christabel Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:20 am

Clairesy I will gladly be the second nurse where Hewletts concerned.
Those children he abused have a life sentence, whats he got?

He may have done nothing wrong in years but does that make it ok for what he has done in the past and got away with.

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HEWLETT, WHY NO CHARGE?

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HEWLETT!

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