# The Rothley Meeting

At the so called The Rothley Meeting, 17 November 2007, the Tapas 9 met again in a Hotel in Rothley, Leistershire, UK.

more details see at →McCannFiles

Extract: A brief background to the Rothley meeting

04 November 2007: The Daily Express reports that Russell O'Brien, Jane Tanner, Matthew Oldfield and David Payne fear Portuguese police are preparing to make then arguidos.

07 November: The Spanish newspaper El Mundo reports that lawyers for two of the Tapas 7 have contacted police indicating their clients are willing to be re-questioned to 'correct' details of their original statements. The origins of this report indicate it to be unreliable but it is picked up and reported in the UK press.

09 November: →Daily mail titels “Madeleine: Changes in evidence from Tapas Nine could 'dramatically change investigation'” Changes in the evidence of two of the so-called Tapas Nine could “dramatically change” the Madeleine McCann investigation, it was claimed yesterday. The pair who allegedly want to correct their version of events were named yesterday in a Portuguese newspaper as Russell O'Brien and his partner Jane Tanner. Miss Tanner has given a key account of seeing a man carrying a child away from the McCanns' apartment. Both her and Dr O'Brien deny that they have contacted police to change their statements. However, according to police sources the two who want to change details in their accounts of the night of May 3 were said to have asked that their names are kept secret to avoid pressure from those close to the McCanns. A police source said any change to the statements of the couple could alter the course of the six-month investigation. He said: “The investigation could be changed dramatically if the two witnesses decide to clarify what really happened that night.” Officers have analysed a series of alleged contradictions and inconsistencies in the statements of the Tapas Nine, the group who ate together on the night Madeleine disappeared. The new focus of the inquiry led to fears that four of the friends - Miss Tanner, Dr O'Brien, David Payne and Matthew Oldfield –could be named as official suspects. Police said the pair who wanted to change their accounts contacted detectives after learning they could be made arguidos. Miss Tanner told how she saw a man carry a child from the McCanns' apartment at about 9.15pm on the night Madeleine disappeared. But another witness, TV producer Jeremy Wilkins, told police he was outside the apartment at the same time and did not see anything. Her partner Dr O'Brien, 36, was away from the tapas bar for longest of any of the group. He said he left the table for 25 minutes to look after his daughter, who had been sick, but other witnesses say he could have been away for up to 45 minutes. Miss Tanner described claims that they were about to change their statements as “absolute rubbish”. Dr Payne, 41, of Leicester, and Dr Oldfield, 37, from Richmond, South-West London, have also denied that they want to change their accounts. McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell insisted it was not true that any of the group wanted to correct their statements. Kate and Gerry McCann could sue the Portuguese police for £1million for failing to find their daughter, it was claimed. Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said it was something the couple's legal team might consider if the inquiry is closed.

17 November: (date unconfirmed) The McCanns and the Tapas 7 hold a secret meeting at a hotel near their home. This is believed to be the Rothley Court Hotel; their preferred setting for interviews/photo opportunities.

Eventually child carer Catriona Baker attended the meeting too (18th April 2008 Rogatory): “I visited the family in their home at their invitation to see how they were getting along in November of 2007.”

19 November: The BBC Panorama documentary 'The Mystery of Madeleine McCann' is broadcast.

08 December: News of the secret meeting emerges. According to The Telegraph, the Tapas Nine had wanted to keep the meeting secret but details of it were leaked by a source close to the McCanns. The source admitted that it was an opportunity to discuss events amid reports that the group are to be re-interviewed by police, going on to add “It was a show of solidarity under police claims that one or two had wanted to change their stories.”

16 December: The Times publishes Kate and Gerry McCann: →Beyond the smears by David James Smith. The article reveals how a UK journalist was prepared to collaborate with Gerry McCann, at a time when he was still an arguido, and subject to the rules of judicial secrecy, in order to promulgate the latest 'official' McCann timeline. A timeline which may well have been under discussion at the Rothley meeting.

Remark: The Rothley Meeting was a secret meeting. It came to public just through the investigative work of some British journalists. But from evidence we know that for sure at this time it was under supervision of “spokesman” Clarence Eden Mitchell. From evidence of Leicestershire Police we know (see Freedom of Information Act, 13. Feb. 2009), that the case was already covered under the term “National Security”. It is also obvious that Mitchell has to be suspected to be an MI5/MI6 Agent. From this we may assume that at the Rothley Meeting all the centre witnesses who are aware of a cover-up will have been told that they have to obey National Security. That means, one must assume that here all the witnesses were required, under threat of significant penalties, on their silence.