949 to 954 Witness statement
of Dianne Webster 2007.05.11
955-Consent for moth swab of
Dianne Webster 2007.05.11
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04-Processo 4 Pages 949 to 955 |
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TRANSLATION BY ALBYM |
Diane Webster 11 May 2007
That she came on holiday to
Portugal with the group which
included MADELEINE, this group
composed of nine adults and eight
children. As to the purpose of the
individuals in the above mentioned
group, she explains that they are
united [together] in four couples
(among them was her daughter FIONA
and son-in-law DAVID), and their
children.
- Concerning her relationship with
the members of that group, adds that
she would have no direct
relationship with them as they are
individuals close to the PAYNE
couple.
- She thought the PAYNE couple
started a relationship of
friendship, insofar as her
son-in-law, David, had attended the
university together with RUSSELL,
which will have been extended to two
other couples (McCANN and O'BRIEN),
because the members of those
couples, except for RACHEL and JANE,
were [also] practicing doctors.
- Asked, she states that it is the
first time that she has been on
holiday with that group, knowing,
however, that some of those couples
have already spent holidays together
on other occasions.
- With regard to this trip she
explains that she thought all
details of the trip to Portugal were
handled by her daughter, Fiona;
together with her husband David, and
aided by the tour operator "MARC
WARNER, via Internet.
- She states that she came on
holiday at the invitation of her
daughter FIONA and son-in-law DAVID
- Adding that she does not know the
reasons why Portugal was chosen, nor
why Praia da Luz and the "Ocean
Garden Club" in particular.
- She states that she made her own
reservation, only with regard to the
plane, via Intemet, unlike the other
members of the group, whose
reservations had been made through
the PAYNE couple. Asked, she
explains that never before had she
been in Portugal, being sure that
the first time that she was here was
this present holiday. That the whole
group arrived in Portugal on April
28 and they have also been housed in
the tourist resort buildings
identified above, as initially
planned. Because she was asked, she
clarified that she had stayed in
apartment 5H, together with the
PAYNE family and their daughters
(Lilly, two years, and Scarlett, one
year).
- Prompted about the routine during
the holiday period, she clarifies
that she usually took breakfast in
their apartment, since the
Restaurant "MILLENNIUM" was quite
removed from the building in which
she was staying.
- Still, she explains, on May 2, the
eve of disappearance of MADELEINE
she had taken her breakfast in the
restaurant "MILLENNIUM", since it
was raining that day and she did not
have an opportunity to partake of
the morning sports.
She added that in the days preceding
the disappearance of Madeleine,
after breakfast she would play sport
(especially tennis), after which she
would go to the supermarket BATISTA
to make the purchases for lunch. In
return, she points out that several
families who made up the group met
in the PAYNE's apartment to have
lunch together, explaining that this
was due to the fact that it is the
larger apartment.
- After lunch the children took a
nap, usually staying in her care,
since they [the adults] went with
the PAYNEs to continue with,
together, the leisure activities to
which the holidays were dedicated.
The purpose of those activities, it
is clear, that it was usual to go to
the beach, pool and practice several
sports monitored by the resort. Also
she went to the beach at times with
the Paynes and the children when
they were not at the Kids Club.
- In the late afternoon, from 16.45
to 17.30, the children had dinner at
Restaurant "TAPAS", after which they
were taken to the apartment to
prepare for sleep, which usually
occurred at 19:00. That said, the
family PAYNE, the deponent included,
prepared for the dinner that usually
occurred around 20.45 in the
restaurant "TAPAS." The question
asked, she added that the restaurant
always reserved the same table for
the group at the only table that was
capable of seating a group composed
of nine people. Asked, she states
that, although it is positioned in
front of the balconies at the rear
of the residential block, the angle
of vision can not permit full
control over possible access by
people to the interior of
ground-floor apartment patios that
are there - especially since the
restaurant is covered by a
transparent oilcloth which hampers
vision. Asked who has done the
booking of the restaurant, says that
it has been done by RACHEL,
explaining that although the dinner
is scheduled for 20:30, the group
never gathered before 2OH45/21HOO
due to successive delays of several
couples.
- The question asked, regarding the
fact that, possibly, on the first
day it was RUSSELL who had made the
reservation at the restaurant, she
admits that as possible, although
she cannot be sure which of the two
(RACHEL or RUSSELL) would have done
it. Prompted, she says that, from
memory, the dinners usually ended
around 23:00 the time at which they
returned to their apartments where
they slept. Concerning May 3, the
date of the occurrence of the facts
now under investigation, she states
that she did the things she has
generally described above being
unaware of anything, nor having seen
anything, that might relate to the
disappearance of Madeleine.
- Prompted to report the events that
had unfolded in period between 19H00
and 22H40 of that day, the deponent
states that around 19:00 she had
gone together with the Payne couple
and their children to the apartment
in order to prepare them for bed.
Then, as usual, the adults prepared
themselves for dinner. In this
matter, she recalled that they had
been late with these preparations
because they only managed to get to
Restaurant around 21.00.
- Asked, she adds that she went to
the restaurant in the company of her
daughter and son-in-law.
- Asked directly if someone had gone
to her apartment to call them
(herself and the PAYNE couple) for
dinner the witness said no.
- Asked if there was the possibility
of having crossed paths with someone
during the journey between her
apartment and restaurant, the
witness said no.
- That night she judges to have
arrived at the restaurant close to
21:00, in the company of the PAYNE
couple.
- That, at that time, the whole
group were at the restaurant. The
witness did not recall, but thinks
that perhaps Gerald and MATT had not
been in the restaurant along with
the other members of the group.
- In this regard, asked specifically
whether, on the journey to the
restaurant, if they had passed
either of the two individuals
described in the preceding
paragraph, she answered
categorically not.
- Questioned about the members who,
during the dinner, had absented
themselves from the restaurant, the
witness says that, as she recalls,
there were some people who left,
failing to identify which, except
for RUSSELL who had left the
restaurant and taken a little more
time than usual due to, from what
she knows, his daughter had been
sick.
- Asked, she states that it would be
normal for one member of each of the
couples to get up regularly in order
to check in their apartments if the
children were well. She clarifies
that the practice was for each
couple to check their own children,
it not being usual for anyone to
check the children of other couples.
- The question asked, she thinks
that up to the date of the
disappearance it had never happened
that anyone had entered the
apartment of another couple in order
to check their offspring.
Nevertheless, it seems that the
couple PAYNE and the witness, did
not make any trips to apartments,
because they had an intercom called
the "baby monitor", through which
sounds or noises of the children
could be heard.
- Prompted to state for the record
the movements that occurred that
night, during the above dinner, the
witness reiterated that she could
not say specifically who had left
nor when they had done so.
- Therefore, she can only say with
precision that, at 22.00 Kate McCann
returned to the restaurant,
seemingly in panic, communicating to
others the fact that of Madeleine's
disappearance. Asked about the
reaction of other members of the
group when they heard the above from
KATE, the witness says that
everyone, except the witness, left
the restaurant and went to the
apartment of the couple McCANN in
order to find out what was going on.
In turn, as relates to her, the
witness says she stayed at the
restaurant for about five minutes,
then, noting that the remaining
members of the group had not
returned, she followed in the
direction of the apartment McCANN.
- In that apartment she found that
KATE was completely in panic, in
"state of shock ".
- Because she was asked, she states
that she entered the apartment by
the sliding glass door of the patio
at the back, which gives access to
the lounge. Then she went to the
children's bedroom, noting that
there she found KATE and the twin
siblings of MADELEINE
- She added that she did not
remember too much detail about the
scenario that she found in that
bedroom, other that what she said
above. However, she states that KATE
had repeatedly commented that, on
arriving at the bedroom, she had
found the
window of the room, with its
shutter, both open. Yet, she [DW]
did not notice, while at the
entrance to the room, if the window
was or was not open.
- However, she wants to stress that
immediately afterwards, she went
outside the apartment in order to
ascertain whether she would be able
to raise the shutters by hand from
the outside, and found it was
impossible for her. Consequently she
infers that at the time of her
arrival at the apartment the window
would have been closed.
- Because she was asked, she says
she does not know if the window, and
the shutter, of the couple's bedroom
were open or not, in that she did
not enter that room.
- Prompted about the conditions of
light inside the apartment at the
time, the witness believes that they
were good, judging that the lights
were lit and she recalls no
darkness. Regarding the bedroom
previously occupied by Madeleine,
she does not remember if the lights
were lit, but knows that when she
entered the twins were still
sleeping in their beds, which makes
her think that maybe those lights
were switched off. She added that,
for her to see the twins and their
cradles, and the bed of MADELEINE,
the darkness would not be complete,
but that the room had some coming
from the light of the lounge.
- She adds that that night, and
after the occurrence of the facts
under investigation, have been in
the the apartment on two separate
occasions. At the time described
above she remained about 10 minutes
in the apartment. After this time
she returned to the restaurant to
get her handbag as well as the
camera of the couple McCANN and
"baby monitor" of her daughter, and
was soon back again in the
apartment.
- The question being asked about the
people that were inside the
apartment of McCANN at that time,
the witness said that the McCANN
couple were present (although on the
first occasion she had no
recollection of having seen GERRY),
and FIONA, not remembering any other
people that were there. However, she
admits the possibility of their
being [others] inside the apartment,
including David, in that, as
mentioned above, all of them had
gone to the apartment following the
news that KATE had given.
- The question asked, she states to
know that male members of the group
undertook a search around [outside]
the apartment to try to locate
Madeleine, which was absolutely
fruitless. The deponent states that
FIONA had asked her to move to their
daughters to make sure that
everything would be well with them,
hence the deponent will have
returned to her apartment from which
she did not leave.
- Asked, she states to be unaware of
any type of problems affecting the
family, professional, loving, etc.,
for any of the group members, either
in our country or anywhere else in
the world.
- She does not know if any of the
group members knows anyone residing
in Portugal, particularly in the
Algarve, or anyone who has been here
on holiday in the same period.
- Prompted she says that during
these holidays all group members
made their movements on foot,
denying that any of them had rented
cars or that they could possibly
have driven cars of others, [nor
that] they were occasionally
available.
- She adds that none of the group
members left the village of Praia da
Luz.
- During that period, as far as she
is aware, none of the group had
formed any kind of acquaintance or
relationship with other persons.
- Prompted, she explains that in all
the dinners during the holidays only
members of the group had
participated, never having any
strangers with them at the table
that they usually occupied.
- Asked, she says that in the days
leading up to the disappearance of
MADELEINE, or at any other time, she
neither saw nor found any abnormal
situation that could by itself be
interpreted as having any
correlation with the facts of the
investigation.
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