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The West Yorkshire Police squad which found missing
schoolgirl Shannon Matthews (left) is to help in the search
for Madeleine McCann (right) |
The West Yorkshire Police squad which found missing schoolgirl
Shannon
Matthews is to help in the search for Madeleine McCann.
The move follows a private meeting between Madeleine's parents
Kate and
Gerry McCann and the Home Secretary
Alan Johnson.
The Child Exploitation Centre and Online Protection (Ceop) has now
approached West Yorkshire Police's major inquiry team which found
missing Dewsbury nine-year-old Shannon Matthews in March 2008.
The YEP understands a "scoping exercise" is being carried out by Home
Office officials to decide whether a new investigation is necessary.
The approach to West Yorkshire Police is believed to have come direct
from Ceop but they have refused to comment on any specific case
A spokesman said that it was "sensible" for their organisation to avail
itself of any expertise or knowledge available when carrying out
inquiries into the exploitation of any child whether it was a high
profile case or not
The investigation into Shannon's disappearance was led by Det Supt Andy
Brennan. After a 24 day search she was found alive – hidden a few miles
from her Dewsbury Moor home in the base of a divan bed at the house of
her mother's uncle Michael Donovan in Batley.
In January 2009 Donovan, 41, and Shannon's mother, Karen Matthews, 33,
were each jailed for eight years for kidnap, false imprisonment and
perverting justice. They had hoped to claim £50,000 reward from
newspapers.
Maddie
disappeared from her parents holiday
apartment in Praia da Luz
on
Portugal's Algarve coast in May 2007. Portuguese police were unable to
determine whether she had been abducted and "archived" their inquiry in
July 2008.
Since then her parents have employed
private detectives to continue the
hunt for their daughter. |
