# Superintendent Stuart Prior

Superintendent Stuart Prior is Police Officer at the home police of the McCann's at Leicestershire Police.

Detective Superintendent Stuart Prior from the special operations unit of Leicestershire Police was involved in the meeting on 30th November 2007 with five members of the FSS and four forensic personnel from the PJ. He then returned from the Algarve on 6th March after three days of meetings with counterparts in Portugal about how fresh interviews would be conducted. Leicestershire Police said Det Supt Prior flew to Portugal to discuss the issue of mutual legal assistance, the process whereby evidence is gathered in one country to help an investigation in another (text source →here).

see also →Abuse of Power-Blog: Superintendent Stuart Prior, Leicester Police, intimidates Judiciary Police: “The Superintendent Stuart Prior, the English police inspector who made the liaison with the Portuguese authorities in the Maddie case, has contacted the PJ to express his annoyance at the suspicions of paedophilia raised about a friend of the McCanns, David Payne. The British doctor was part of the group staying in Praia da Luz, at the time of Maddie's disappearance from the apartment where she slept in the tourist resort in the Algarve. The informal phone calls of this senior officer - who was accused at the time of protecting Kate and Gerry McCann - are interpreted by Judiciary Police sources as ”an attempt of intimidation to stop future endeavours.“.The CM established that Stuart Prior, the head of the Leicestershire Police Constabulary (area where the McCanns live), called the PJ, giving an account of the couple's 'nuisance' regarding the suspicions over David Payne raised by Gonçalo Amaral. The former coordinator of the PJ in Portimão questioned the lack of explanations regarding 'the bath given to the children on the day Maddie disappeared'. Amaral, who was removed from coordinating the case precisely because he accused the English police of taking sides with Gerry and Kate, believes that 'promiscuity continues between the couple and the British authorities'. According to the former police inspector 'only very influential people can send messages through the police'. Gonçalo Amaral, together with other Portuguese and foreign former police inspectors, is examining evidences left behind after his departure 'to discover the truth and to make possible the reopening of the case'. Source: →Correio da Manhã.”

see also →The McCann Gallery-Blog and →PJ Files: “Date: 16th January 2008; From: Stuart Prior (LP) - To: Ricardo Paiva (PJ) - Subject: Forward sketch. Ricardo, Please get back to me as soon as possible with your instructions. The power point attached was completed by the McCanns but the statements were all taken by UK police. The Jane Tanner description was taken from the press and also from the summary of her statement….I will need to get back to the McCanns as he asked to be updated, how would Paolo want this conducting and what information am to provide them They are very excited about this potential lead. Give me a call back. Thanks Stu”

Goncalo Amaral remarks in his book The Truth of the Lie regarding Stuart Prior:

72 - The first results start to arrive. The blood found in the car has a 50% match with Gerry coming, most likely, from an offspring. Then, one of the samples comes back as a weak match to Madeleine, in spite of all the markers in the sample being a match, many markers were missing. The second sample, however, had a 15 out of 19 marker match to Madeleine's DNA profile. Another preliminary report is sent that contradicts the first findings. For example, regarding the trunk sample there is, this time, no mention about the 15 components of Madeleine's DNA profile, like they never existed. Stuart Prior then calls FSS asking if they thought the Portuguese were idiots. He was heard saying that in the UK he had arrested people for less.

…

74 - The time of the questioning of the McCanns is close and Stuart Prior seems nervous. The PJ also wished to re-question the whole group. Very little info on the McCanns arrives regarding their financial situation. According to UK authorities the McCanns have no credit card or ATM cards. However, the flights had been paid with credit cards so the PJ knew they had them.

(see also →Gazeta Digital, The McCann Case: Home Office refused information about Gerry's credit cards (7 Aug. 2008) ) …

78 - Mr Amaral discusses the fact that he was removed from the case. Portual seemed to have succumbed to the pressure. The information on the McCanns and other Tapas never arrived. Amaral says that both police forces agreed on the path the investigation took but that after the McCanns left all British police officers left too. So, were they here to help with the invstigation or were they here because of the McCanns. Find the body and prove we did it is also mentioned as well as the McCanns need to discredit the dogs. Along the way Mr Amaral neighbour's house is broken into and some documents are stolen. The hasty answer to the journalist, which was used to remove him from the case is also mentioned. Amaral says that he knew immediately it had been a mistake but that he never knew how serious it would be because his words were greatly exagerated. Amaral is removed on his birthday and later he knows that Gordon Brown apparently called Stuart Prior to ask him if the man in charge of the investigation had really been removed.

see also →Abuse of power Blog / Stuart Prior