# 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.

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.