Dr Graham Hill authors article on the 'flaws' of the Madeleine McCann investigation

Dr Hill, a Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Law, has written an article for The Conversation on the 'flaws' of the Madeleine McCann investigation, which has also been covered by i-News.

Dr Hill’s article recaps a series of events, starting with his personal experience of first meeting with the McCann family at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance. Dr Hill “had been sent to Portugal as part of the UK’s Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP) response to Madeleine’s disappearance. [He] was a detective superintendent and senior investigating officer (SIO) with knowledge about predatory child sexual abusers and non-familial child abduction”.

In the article Dr Hill proceeds to explain how the events unfolded in the weeks and years following the disappearance and his personal involvement with the investigation. Dr Hill claims that the investigation was flawed from the start. “From the outset I was struck by the lack of urgency surrounding the investigation and it was difficult to establish any detailed information around what direction the investigation was taking” says Dr Hill.

Dr Hill proceeds to expand upon the notion that the investigation was flawed from the start and explains that “the first 24 to 48 hours of a child abduction investigation – often referred to as the ‘golden hours’ – are critical to its successful outcome”.

The article concludes that “there is a need for a systematic approach to core policing functions to deal with the complexity. And it is vital to have a thorough, well documented investigation strategy. These investigations also require highly skilled and experienced investigators who have the ability to make defensible decisions based upon reliable information and create investigative strategy and policy that can stand the test of hindsight. A failure to do so can have serious consequences”.

Read the full article in The Conversation and also covered by i-News.