Part 18 - 6:00pm Men’s Social Tennis, Did the men play? - Part 1

We are now going to look at the men’s social tennis which took place at 6:00pm on Thursday the 3rd May 2007 as we do not believe the men, apart from Gerry McCann, played men’s social tennis. 

As you may remember from our previous posts, it was only Gerry McCann who we can confirm played tennis everyday. Matthew Oldfield had played one lesson other than the time we are going to discuss, and David Payne and Russell O’Brien have no confirmation within the statements that they played tennis. 

The group had changed the time of the tennis all week as stated by numerous members of the group. The tennis was due to begin at 6:00pm. 

Gerry McCann was already at the tennis at 6:00pm, as he went to the play area/tennis courts with Kate McCann and the children at 5:30pm (see previous post). 

From our findings in the statements, we believe that the men didn’t actually play men’s social tennis on Thursday 3rd May 2007. 

We will now explain how we have come to this conclusion, once again, in order of the statements to see how this lie reveals itself. 

Remember that the majority if the group have lied after 5:30pm, but their truths still appear in their statements. Due to this, this post will overlap with what happens at 7:00pm. 

Also, remember that social tennis had been changed from beginning at 6:30pm to starting at 6:00pm, therefore the tennis would then end at 7:00pm. 

The first person to discuss the men’s social tennis was Jane Tanner in her first statement given on the 4th May 2007 at 11:30am. 

Jane Tanner stated that Russell O’Brien, Matthew Oldfield and David Payne left the beach bar and head to the tennis courts for men’s social tennis. Jane Tanner followed shortly after with the rest of the group at about 6:20pm (we know it is later than this due to cctv, but Jane Tanner would be giving an approximate time)

Jane Tanner stated that they passed by the tennis courts and stayed talking until 8:30pm, the abbreviation (Sic) means that the passage was translated as it was in the original document, which means the Portuguese statement from Jane Tanner says 8:30pm. 

It is hard to say why this may have happened, and it could have been Jane Tanner to skip over the time of tennis and the apartments before the Tapas, but she does explain later on in the statement what she did from 7:00pm onwards. 

This is either a genuine error, or her interview was question led, snd she was asked to describe what happened between tennis and the meal. These are assumptions, but may be confirmed further on.  

Jane Tanner stated that she thought Kate McCann was in her apartment putting the children to bed, therefore this only confirms Kate McCann was not there when Jane Tanner arrived. It does not confirm that she hadn’t been there. 

Jane Tanner then states that at 7:00pm they all went back to their own apartments, she bathed the children, read them a story and put them to bed. 

Jane Tanner stated that her daughter was unwell and having trouble sleeping, therefore Russell O’Brien stayed with his daughter when Jane Tanner went to the restaurant for 8:30pm

Once we have gone through a few more statements, we will compare what each member have said and will explain the discrepancies. 

The next group member to discuss the timings between 6:00-7:00pm was Fiona Payne in her first statement given on the 4th May 2007 at 7:20pm. 

Fiona Payne stated that they left the beach at 6:15pm, (cctv shows later) and they went to the tennis courts until 7:00pm. 

Fiona Payne stated that at 7:00pm, herself and Dianne Webster took their children back to the apartment, ten minutes later David Payne arrived. (7:10pm)

Fiona Payne stated that Dianne Webster helped David Payne bathe the children while she went jogging until 8:00pm. 

Therefore, comparing her statement against Jane Tanner’s, they both agreed that they left the beach at around 6:15pm and headed towards the tennis courts. 

They spent approx 30 minutes at the tennis courts and left at 7:00pm to return to the apartment, which was the end of men’s social tennis, and that at 7:10pm David Payne appeared. 

Jane Tanner stated she bathed her children in her apartment and Russell O’Brien stayed with their unwell daughter who had trouble sleeping. 

Fiona Payne said that Dianne Webster and David Payne bathed their children while she went jogging until 8:00pm. 

Dianne Webster was the next member of the group to discuss the same time period. 

Dianne Webster stated the same as Fiona Payne. She stated that they left the beach bar at 6:15pm to go to the tennis courts where they stayed until 7:00pm (the end of men’s social tennis)

Dianne Webster then stated that she went to the apartment after tennis had ended with the children, she does not state that Fiona Payne went with her. 

Dianne Webster then stated that David Payne arrived ten minutes later, which confirmed what Fiona Payne said. 

From looking at their statements so far, there is only one major discrepancy between all their first statements. Dianne Webster did not state that Fiona Payne was with her at 7:00pm.

This could be seen as an error and Dianne Webster had forgot to say that Fiona Payne was with her, or that Dianne Webster was telling the truth and she did not return to the apartment with Fiona Payne at 7:00pm. 

The reason why we believe Dianne Webster is telling the truth and Fiona Payne was not with her at 7:00pm, is because Fiona Payne said herself that she was with someone else at 7:00pm. 

Fiona Payne has stated that she was with Kate McCann at 7:00pm and that she returned to Kate McCann’s apartment.

Fiona Payne also confirms that her husband arrived ten minutes as she had said in her previous statement. 

From going with the findings so far in this post and our previous post. 

There is every possibility that Kate McCann WAS AT THE TENNIS COURTS when the men arrived at 6:30pm. 

There is every possibility that Kate McCann left and went to her apartment at 6:30pm. 

There is every possibility Kate McCann then left her apartment to be able to return at 7:00pm with Fiona Payne. 

If she did not leave her apartment to be able to return at 7:00pm, there is a possibility she never went inside her apartment between 6:30-7:00pm. 

Either way, Kate McCann was not where she said she was prior to 7:00pm, in the apartment with the children. 

The above information relates to David Payne’s visit at 6:30pm, but before we discuss that event, we need to discuss the rest of the men’s social tennis. So this is something we will explain in future post. 

Returning to the men’s social tennis and referring back to the first statements who spoke about men’s tennis. 

Out of the 3 group members who discussed the time during men’s tennis, Jane Tanner was the only one who said that Russell O’Brien, Matthew Oldfield and David Payne left before them for tennis, we know this is true from the cctv footage. 

Jane Tanner then stated that she ”had passed by the tennis courts, seen all the men, including Gerry on court”

Did Jane Tanner mean all the men were on the court or just Gerry McCann?

Gerry McCann gave his second statement on the 10th May 2007 at 3:20pm, he was the next member of the group to discuss men’s social tennis. 

Gerry McCann stated that they bathed the children and left for tennis at 6:00pm. 

REMEMBER THIS IS NOT TRUE - There usual routine was going the play area at 5:30pm which has been confirmed in our previous posts, therefore they could not be in the apartment to bathe the children at this time. 

We believe the reason why they said she was tired was for an excuse for not going to Millennium restaurant that Thursday night. 

We believe the reason why they said they bathed the children at this time, is because the usual time the children are bathed is at 6:30pm. 

Once again, this will be discussed in more detail in our next post. 

Gerry McCann stated that men’s social tennis started at 6:00pm and he played this with Dan Stuk, the tennis instructor, Julian Totman, a holiday guest and supposedly Tannerman, and Brian Curtis, a holiday maker. 

Since Gerry McCann has mention other people, we will look at their statement. 

The only available statement was from Dan Stuk the tennis instructor. There are no statements from either Julian Totman or Brian Curtis. 

Dan Stuk stated the following regarding men’s social tennis. 

Dan Stuk that Gerry McCann played the men’s social tennis and this was between 6:00-7:00pm. 

Dan Stuk has not mentioned any other players in his statement. 

Continuing with Gerry McCann’s statement, he stated the following;

Gerry McCann stated that David Payne went to his apartment at 6:30pm and returned at 7:00pm, which was at the time the men’s social ended. This would mean David Payne didn’t play tennis.

Gerry McCann stated that David Payne tries to persuade him to stay and play, but he left at 7:00pm (end of social tennis). 

Gerry McCann then stated the men stayed to play. 

We are now going to look at the time the men say they return to the apartments from their earlier statements. 

Jane Tanner in her first statement given on the 4th May 2007 stated;

Jane Tanner has stated that they ALL went back to the apartments at 7:00pm. 

And even though Fiona Payne possibly wasn’t with the group at the tennis courts, she still confirms it ended at 7:00pm and David Payne returned to the apartment ten minutes later. 

This confirms, once again that tennis had ended at 7:00pm and David Payne did not stay long to play comparing to Gerry McCann saying David Payne arrived at 7:00pm when tennis had ended. 

Dianne Webster said the same as Fiona Payne, except she did not state that Fiona Payne was with her;

Dianne Webster confirms leaving at 7:00pm and David Payne, once again, ten minutes later. 

The last group member who discussed the time they returned from tennis in their first statements was Russell O’Brien who gave him statement late at night on the 4th May 2007 at 9:45pm. 

Russell O’Brien has stated a later time than other members of the group for when he returned to the apartment. He stated between 7:15-7:30pm. 

The majority of the group who discussed the time they left tennis, said they left the tennis courts at 7:00pm. 

Which was the same time David Payne arrived at the tennis courts after being at Gerry and Kate McCann’s apartment from 6:30pm. 

Which was also the same time Dianne Webster returned to the apartments without Fiona Payne.

Fiona Payne returned to the McCann’s apartment with Kate McCann at 7:00pm.

The next group member to confirm that men’s social tennis had ended at 7:00pm was Matthew Oldfield in his second statement given on the 10th May 2007 at 4:00pm;

Matthew Oldfield stated that they returned to their apartments after tennis at 7pm. 

An interesting piece from Matthew Oldfield’s statement above is;

“GONE TO THEIR RESPECTIVE APARTMENTS IN WHICH THEY FOUND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE GROUP.”

We believe this to be a red flag, especially when we explain further. 

Keep this point in mind though, that after 7:00pm when returning to the apartments, there were OTHER MEMBERS of the group. 

Supposedly, Gerry and Kate McCann were in theirs, Dianne Webster and David Payne was in theirs, Jane Tanner was bathing her children in hers. We still have to see what Rachael says she was doing, but so far we have confirmation from the majority of the group that they all returned from tennis at 7:00pm. 

Jane Tanner gave her second statement on the 10th May 2007 at 4:35pm and stated the following;

Jane Tanner again stated that she left the tennis courts at 7:00pm and each person went to their own apartments. 

Jane Tanner stated that she bathed her children. 

Jane Tanner stated again that her daughter was sick and had difficulty sleeping. (As we have shown in a previous post how this evolved to form an alibi)

Jane Tanner also stated that Russell O’Brien because their daughter was unwell arrived and he stayed with his daughter while she went to the Tapas. 

Whereas Russell O’Brien stated this in his second statement given on the 11th May 2007 at 11:20am;

Russell O’Brien has once again, stated a later time for returning to his apartment. 

Russell O’Brien also stated that his daughter was a little better that evening, this was different to what Jane Tanner had stated in her previous statements, as she had said her daughter had been sick. (See post Russell’s false alibi)

Rachael Oldfield then gave her interview at 11:30am on the 11th May 2007, she stated the following;

Rachael Oldfield has stated that she stayed at the play area until 7:00pm, and that Matthew Oldfield returned to their apartment at 7:15pm. This agrees with the majority of statements. 

The final member of the group to give their second statement was Dianne Webster at 11:30am on the 11th May 2007. 

As we have shown from our previous posts, Dianne Webster has added a lot of details in her second statement which we have proven that she has remembered to include the details important to the groups timeline, 

Eg Russell O’Brien leaving the table, remembering Matthew Oldfield walking past at 9:00pm (she did not see Matthew Oldfield at 9:00pm in her first statement she provided or in her second statement where she was directly asked, but remembered him in her rogatory interview, David Payne returning at 7:10pm, Fiona Payne going for a jog at 7:15pm, we will go through the last two in a future post.

Now Dianne Webster is stating the following;

Dianne Webster has now remembered that Fiona Payne was with her at 7:00pm, but she is now saying that David Payne also returned with them at 7:00pm. 

This confirms that tennis ended at 7:00pm, as it agrees with the majority of the group, but now she’s included Fiona Payne at 7:00pm, whereas as we have shown, the possibility that Fiona Payne was with Kate McCann at 7:00pm. 

Our conclusions from the groups first and second statements so far;

Gerry McCann played tennis with Dan Stuk, Julian Totman and Brian Curtis between 6:00-7:00pm. 

Kate McCann was at the tennis courts/play area when the men arrived at 6:30pm. 

Kate McCann had left the tennis courts by the time the women arrived at 6:40pm (cctv footage). 

David Payne did not play tennis as he was away between 6:30-7:00pm at the McCann’s apartment. 

Fiona Payne was with Kate McCann at 7:00pm and returned to the McCann’s apartment. 

David Payne went to the tennis courts at 7:00pm. 

Gerry McCann left the tennis courts and returned to the apartment just after 7:00pm

David Payne returned to the apartment at 7:10pm

Matthew Oldfield returned to the apartment to find other members of the group. 

Russell O’Brien returned to his apartment between 7:15-7:30pm. 

What we have hopefully shown from our findings is that Madeleine McCann would still be alive up until Thursday 3rd May 2007 at 6:30pm as the group have been describing their usual routine for the Thursday night as they did every night previously.  The only exception is, the the whole group weren’t together until 6:30pm. 

Before we move on, we’ve got to discuss a little bit more regarding Russell O’Brien, Matthew Oldfield and David Payne returning to play tennis. 

The group had changed the tennis times all week, so it didn’t cross over bath time, but it did exactly that, as bath time was usually 6:30pm. 

Russell O’Brien, Matthew Oldfield and David Payne knew that the men’s social tennis started at 6:00pm as they had requested this change, but didn’t decide to attend until after 6:20pm. 

Russell O’Brien and David Payne have not played tennis during the week. Russell O’Brien said he was not bothered with playing tennis, and David Payne did not play tennis on the Thursday night according to the statements above. 

Gerry McCann was playing social tennis with three other players between 6:00-7:00pm. These were Dan Stuk, Julian Totman and Brian Curtis. 

In our next post we will explain what we believe happened between 6:30-7:00pm. 

After that, we will return back to tennis and the men playing social tennis using their rogatories. This is due to the fact that they group go in to more detail in their rogatories but it crosses over with what happens between 6:30-7:00pm. Therefore it will also prove further how the men were not playing tennis between 6:30-7:00pm and raises the question of,

IF THE MEN APART FROM GERRY MCCANN WERE NOT PLAYING TENNIS AT 6:30PM

BUT STILL MADE THEIR WAY TOWARDS THE APARTMENTS FOR 6:30PM

AND THEIR REGULAR ROUTINE WAS BATH TIME AT 6:30PM

AND MATTHEW USUALLY DID BATH TIME

AND DAVID HAD DONE BATH TIME DURING TENNIS ON PREVIOUS OCCASIONS

AND RACHAEL OLDFIELD SAID THAT SHE CANNOT REMEMBER WHICH NIGHT HER DAUGHTER HAD A BATH WITH JANE TANNER’S DAUGHTER BUT BELIEVES IT WAS THURSDAY NIGHT

AND DAVID PAYNE HAS GONE TO THE GERRY AND KATE MCCANN’S APARTMENT FOR 6:30PM

AND KATE MCCANN EITHER DIDN’T GO TO HER APARTMENT AT 6:30PM OR DIDN’T STAY IN HER APARTMENT AS SHE RETURNED AT 7:00PM WITH FIONA PAYNE. 

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED AT 6:30PM?

For reference, we will post Katherina Gasper’s statement to a previous holiday in Majorca in 2005;

 If you would like to read her whole statement, please clink the link below; (warning sensitive material contained)

http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/Gaspar.htm

Please click the link below to go to Part 19 - David Payne’s visit at 6:30pm on Thursday 3rd May 2007

https://akrasiel-theangelofjustice.blogspot.com/2019/12/part-19-david-paynes-visit-at-630pm-on.html?m=1

For future updates follow us on Twitter @akrasiel_angel

Part 17 - Thursday 3rd May 2007 - What happened after 5:30pm

What possibly happened after 5:30pm on the 3rd May 2007?

From what we have researched as a group, we have come to the conclusion that something happened to Madeleine McCann after 5:30pm on the 3rd May 2007. 

Our reason for this belief is due to our findings in the groups statements. 

As a group who have researched this case for so long, we are fully aware that many lies have been told by all members of the group, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that everything the group say are lies. 

The group have got to keep it as close to the truth as possible, in case there are any witnesses, but they’ve also got to cover up the truth with lies masking the parts they don’t want to be honest about. 

By knowing the groups weekly routine, we should be able to work out what possibly happened on Thursday 3rd May 2007. 

The reason why we believe that something happened after 5:30pm is due to the amount of discrepancies between the group members during this time. 

Lies have been told throughout as you have hopefully seen from our other posts, but the group have not had to lie as much as they have had to now, to cover up what actually happened during this time. 

Before we go further in explaining our findings, we will remind you of the timeline the group want us to believe. 

5:30pm

Gerry and Kate McCann collected their children from high tea and take them back to the apartment due to Madeleine McCann being tired. 

When they return to the apartment, they both bathe the children. 

6:00pm

Gerry McCann leaves the apartment to attend men’s social tennis which begins at 6:00pm. 

Kate McCann stays in the apartment with the children. 

6:30pm

David Payne visits Kate McCann to see if she needs help taking the children to the play area, to which Kate McCann said that they were not going to the play area due to tiredness. 

David Payne left the apartment to get ready for tennis and Kate McCann continues to prepare the children for bed. 

7:00pm

David Payne returns to the tennis courts, at the same time Gerry McCann returns to the apartment. 

The rest of the group finish tennis and head back to their apartments to start the bed and bath routine. 

8:30pm

The group go to the restaurant for their meal. 

We will now explain how this whole timeline was created to cover up the time that something happened to Madeleine McCann. 

Before we go in to the full detail, you have to forget everything the group has said above. We do admit, that if you have a quick skim read of the groups statements, this timeline does fit perfectly with what some of the group say. 

What we are interested in, are the group members who don’t follow the above timeline. 

Sometimes these discrepancies found can be genuine forgetfulness, but the majority of the time, these discrepancies that do not follow the same timeline as other members raise major concern. 

Once again, this will be a very long process due to having to go through the statements, but eventually it will provide the evidence of what possibly happened after 5:30pm on the 3rd May 2007. 

To start, we have to remind you of the groups routine during the week;

5:00-5:30PM - CHILDREN ATE AT THE TAPAS
5:30-6:30PM - THE GROUP WENT TO THE PLAY AREA
6:30-7:30PM - THE CHILDREN ARE BATHED
7:30PM - THE CHILDREN ARE PUT TO BED

With this post, we will try and summarise as we go. Due to the fact we have heard the groups story for so long, its hard to forget their lies regarding this time. We will break the statements down to where the group have remembered to lie and where they have admitted the possible truth. 

Also remember, the social tennis time had been changed all week to begin at 6:00pm, and it was men’s social tennis on the Thursday night. 

We will start with Thursday the 3rd May 2007 at 5:30pm.

Remember that Madeleine McCann was at high tea that afternoon. Gerry and Kate McCann collected them after they had finished eating, and supposedly took them back to the apartment due to the fact that Madeleine McCann was TIRED. 

This was the first lie within the groups timeline for 5:30pm onwards.  

We believe that Madeleine McCann was taken to the play area after high tea, as this was the usual routine that the group followed every night, and statements will show that Kate had been in the play area near the tennis courts that evening of Thursday the 3rd May 2007. 

The reason why Gerry and Kate McCann had to lie and state that they had taken her back due to tiredness was to give them a reason for bathing their children at 6:00pm, rather than the usual 6:30pm, and to also give a reason to why they didn’t go to the Millennium restaurant that night. 

From our research, we believe the group had decided to go to the Millennium Restaurant on the Thursday night for their evening meal, but this could not happen due to the outcome of Madeleine McCann between 5:30-8:30pm. 

Jane Tanner stated this in her rogatory interview given on the 8th April 2008 at 10:00am;

We do believe there is a reason to why the group were going to go the Millennium, and that was due to Madeleine McCann’s crying incident on the Wednesday night. We will go in to this in a future post. 

To give a brief summary, something happened on the Wednesday night which raised concerns to Kate McCann. (It wasn’t a lie to prove an abductor had been in the night before)

Therefore, the group were going to go to the Millennium the Thursday night, but they say it was cancelled due to tiredness, which wasn’t true, as we believe Gerry McCann and Kate McCann followed their usual routine that night. 

After 5:30pm, Gerry McCann and Kate McCann took their children to the tennis courts. 

In their statements, the majority do state that Kate McCann was in the apartment with her children, whereas there is a few that do not state the same lie. 

The first group member who stated that Kate McCann was at the tennis courts on Thursday the 3rd May 2007 at approximately 6:30pm was Matthew Oldfield in his second statement given on the 10th May 2007 at 4:00pm;

Matthew Oldfield said that when he arrived, Kate McCann was there with the children. 

The CCTV images in the PJFiles, show Matthew Oldfield at the beach bar 

This confirms that Matthew Oldfield, Russell O’Brien and David Payne left the beach bar anytime between 18:13-18:38, as that is when the women leave. 

Therefore, Matthew Oldfield, Russell O’Brien and David Payne must arrive at the tennis courts as they all state at approximately 6:30pm. 

That would mean, that by Matthew Oldfield’s account, Kate McCann was at the tennis courts at approximately 6:30pm with the children. 

Rachael Oldfield in her rogatory interview which she gave on the 9th April 2008 at 10:23am also confirmed that Kate McCann was at the tennis courts before she arrived;

Rachael Oldfield has stated that she knows Kate McCann had been at the tennis courts, and she thinks she would have left when the men arrived. 

From our findings, two members of the group have now said Kate McCann was at the tennis courts when Matthew Oldfield, Russell O’Brien and David Payne arrived. 

Therefore, if Kate and Gerry McCann have lied regarding their routine, which our previous post explains, and some members of the group are saying that Kate McCann was either at the tennis courts when they arrived, or knew she had been there when the Russell O’Brien, David Payne and Matthew Oldfield arrived, it would be safe to assume that Kate McCann was at the tennis courts, following the same routine as they did every night before. 

Madeleine McCann was not tired that night, this was an excuse they used so they didn’t have to go the Millennium restaurant. 

We also came across a statement from Fiona Payne regarding 7:00pm on the 3rd May 2007. 

Fiona Payne stated;

If Kate McCann was supposedly in her apartment with the children at 7:00pm, how would it be possible for her to return with Fiona Payne at 7:00pm?

Kate McCann can only return to her apartment if she left, or was never there to begin with. 

We know from Matthew Oldfield’s statement, that Kate McCann was at the tennis courts when he arrived. 

We also know from Rachael Oldfield statements, that Kate McCann had been at the tennis courts before the women arrived. 

So, excluding Kate and Gerry McCann as they have lied regarding their routine in their first statement given to the Portuguese Police, and taking in to account that three out of the remaining seven say Kate McCann was not where she said she was. 

So if we put this in to the new timeline from their statements we have the following;

5:30pm - Gerry and Kate McCann take the children to the play area
6:30pm - The other men of the group arrive
6:40pm - The women arrive and Kate McCann has left

Even though Rachael Oldfield said that Kate McCann had left when they arrived, it does not mean she went to her apartment, or if she went to her apartment, she did not stay there, as she would have to leave to return again with Fiona Payne at 7pm. 

What we also know from previous an earlier post, is that bath time began at 6:30pm each night. 

As we know from previous statements, members of the group would go in to other members of the groups apartments during, before and after bedtime as states by Rachael Oldfield in a previous post. 

With this being said, there is every possibility that Kate McCann was in another member of the groups apartment.

Due to Fiona Payne saying she returned to Kate McCann’s apartment with Kate McCann, there is every possibility she has been in Fiona Payne’s apartment. 

In our next post, we will discuss the men’s social tennis on Thursday 3rd May 2007. 

Please click the link to go to Part 18 - 6:00pm Men’s Social Tennis, Did the men play? - Part 1

https://akrasiel-theangelofjustice.blogspot.com/2019/12/part-18-600pm-social-tennis-did-men.html?m=1

For future updates follow us on Twitter @akrasiel_angel

Part 16 - Did the men play tennis during the week?

Which group members played tennis during the holiday?

Before we go in to more detail regarding Thursday 3rd May 2007, it is important that we explain who actually played tennis during the week. 

We are led to believe that the men played tennis regularly, and that all the men played social tennis on the Thursday. 

We have reason to believe, from their statements, that this is not true and the men did not play tennis at 6:30pm on the 3rd May 2007. 

This may also cross over in to another event in their timeline for the evening routine. 

We are now going to go through the groups statements were they discuss tennis to show you who actually played and who didn’t.

The first statement we will look at his Matthew Oldfield’s rogatory interview given on the 9th April 2007 at 10:19am, he said the following regarding tennis;

Matthew Oldfield has stated that the original reason why they chose Mark Warner was due to the tennis, and because he had recently started lessons, he thought he would be able to play tennis. 

The interviewer then asked him if they had to sign up to these activities;

Matthew Oldfield stated that the guys signed up for sailing and windsurfing, and he decided to not sign up for the same lessons, but he would go and sail at the same time as the other men of the group who have signed up for those activities. 

The interviewer then asked Matthew Oldfield if he had played tennis everyday. 

Matthew Oldfield stated that he did not play tennis everyday. 

Matthew Oldfield stated that he probably had two or three lessons. (If you are interested, google search “liars number”)

The interviewer then asked Matthew Oldfield what days he played tennis;

Matthew Oldfield has stated that he played tennis on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Matthew Oldfield stated that it rained on Wednesday and this was the reason why he didn’t play in that specific day. 

Now that we have shown what Matthew Oldfield has stated in his rogatory interview the reason they chose Mark Warner was originally for playing tennis. 

Matthew Oldfield stated he did not sign up for tennis, but he played two or three lessons, and these were on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday night, and that he didn’t play on Wednesday as it was raining. 

As we know from previous posts, the women had social tennis in the evening, so tennis wasn’t called off completely, but he would not have played this night due to it being women’s tennis. This night he would have possibly bathed the children due to Rachael and the other women playing tennis, and bath time being at 6:30pm. 

Matthew Oldfield was asked in his interview, who did he spend more time with out of the group;

Matthew Oldfield stated that he spent more time with Russell O’Brien and David Payne during the holiday, whereas he didn’t spend much time with Gerry McCann or Kate McCann, and that they had tennis lessons and tennis groups. 

Matthew Oldfield filed then discusses tennis on the Monday;

Matthew Oldfield is not too confident if he actually played tennis on the Monday. 

The next time Matthew Oldfield discussed tennis was regarding the Thursday afternoon;

Matthew Oldfield stated that Jane Tanner and Rachael Oldfield played tennis on the Thursday afternoon. 

This is confirmed in other group members statements, but we will go through them later on, we do not want to make it too confusing by jumping from one group member to the other. 

We will eventually look at the other group members statements and we will reference it back to the statements we have already discussed. 

Further on in Matthew Oldfield’s statement, he confirms once again that Rachael Oldfield played tennis. 

Matthew Oldfield also stated;

We have seen this statement before from Matthew Oldfield in a previous post regarding the groups routine. Matthew Oldfield has stated the SOME people might play tennis. He has not stated that he played tennis himself, as he only describes himself playing in the play area with the children while Rachael Oldfield is playing tennis. 

Continuing on with Matthew Oldfield Oldfield’s statement, he confirmed the following about Jane Tanner and Rachael Oldfield;

Once again Matthew Oldfield had confirmed that Jane Tanner and Rachael Oldfield played tennis together while Matthew Oldfield and Russell O’Brien went sailing. 

Matthew Oldfield then confirms that after Jane Tanner and Rachael Oldfield had played tennis in the morning, then once again Rachael Oldfield and Jane Tanner played tennis in the afternoon:

Apart from Matthew Oldfield saying towards the beginning of his interview that they booked the holiday originally for tennis, and said that he had played on the Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, we still haven’t come across any part of his statement to confirm this so far. 

Matthew Oldfield eventually discusses the tennis on the Thursday 3rd May 2007 evening;

So before we go on to men’s social tennis on the Thursday night we will summarise our findings from Matthew Oldfield and will continue with the other groups statements regarding tennis through the week. 

Matthew Oldfield has stated in his rogatory interview that the holiday was originally booked for tennis. 

When Matthew Oldfield was asked if he had played tennis he replied with no, but said he had played on the Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. 

Matthew Oldfield discussed who played tennis in his statement, and only spoke about Jane Tanner and Rachael Oldfield and the games they played. 

Matthew Oldfield did not discuss anything in regards to any games that he played during the week. 

The next group member’s statement we looked at was Russell O’Brien’s. The first thing he discusses regarding tennis was the following;

Russell O’Brien has stated that on the Sunday he played a bit if tennis, but he wasn’t all that bothered about playing tennis. 

Russell O’Brien then discussed other members of the group who played tennis;

Russell O’Brien has stated that Jane Tanner, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann played tennis. 

Once again, further on in his statement he discusses tennis again;

Russell O’Brien confirmed once again that Jane Tanner played tennis while he was out sailing on the Tuesday. 

Russell O’Brien then discussed tennis on the Wednesday;

Russell O’Brien stated that he went to watch Jane Tanner play tennis on the Wednesday, she was also playing with Kate McCann and Rachael Oldfield. 

Russell O’Brien then reached the point of tennis on the Thursday night;

As we have said earlier, we will not go in to the tennis on the Thursday until we have finished of who actually played tennis through the week. 

Russell O’Brien then discusses a time he was at the tennis courts and another holiday guest was present. 

Russell O’Brien stated that this holiday maker spoke to Gerry McCann more, as Gerry McCann had played tennis with the holiday a lot more than what Russell O’Brien had. 

Further on in his statement Russell O’Brien confirms once again that Jane Tanner played tennis;

Russell O’Brien does state that after Jane Tanner had finished playing tennis, he himself then went with his daughter to play tennis. 

Immediately after the above statement, he then stated the following;

Russell O’Brien has now stated that he watched tennis with his daughter rather than playing tennis. 

Russell O’Brien then stated that Jane Tanner spent more time with Gerry and Kate McCann;

Russell O’Brien has confirmed that the reason Jane Tanner spent more time Kate and Gerry McCann was due to her playing tennis more. 

The last thing before summarising Russell O’Brien’s statement was regarding the Thursday night;

Russell O’Brien stated that Gerry McCann was playing tennis at 6:00pm on Thursday. 

We still won’t go in to Thursday tennis at the moment, as we want to show who played tennis during the week before we do. 

From our findings so far in Russell O’Brien and Matthew Oldfield’s statement, is that neither Matthew Oldfield or Russell O’Brien described in any detail times that they actually played tennis during the holiday. 

So far, it can be confirmed from what Matthew Oldfield and Russell O’Brien have said is that Jane Tanner, Rachael Oldfield, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann played tennis regularly. 

We will now continue with David Payne’s rogatory interview to see what he said regarding the tennis. 

David Payne gave his rogatory interview on the 11th April 2008 at 10:26am. 

The first time David Payne discusses tennis in his interview is towards the beginning, he states;

David Payne has stated that himself and Fiona Payne signed up for water sports, whereas other members of the group were more interested in the tennis. 

What we have shown so far from previous statements, Matthew Oldfield hardly played tennis, Russell O’Brien said he was no bothered with tennis, and David Payne has said that he signed up for water sports whereas other members of the group had signed up for tennis. 

The group members we are aware of so far who played tennis are, Kate McCann, Gerry McCann, Rachael Oldfield and Jane Tanner according to the statements we have already discussed. 

The next discussion David Payne has regarding tennis was the following;

David Payne has stated that Dianne Webster had a tennis lesson at least one day during the holiday, Jane Tanner would play tennis, as well as Rachael Oldfield, whereas Matthew Oldfield and Russell O’Brien were more interested in the water sports the resort had to offer. 

David Payne then stated the following regarding social tennis during the week;

David Payne has stated that if they weren’t playing tennis, they tended to watch, and at approximately 6:30-7:00pm they’d give the children their baths.  This statement crosses over with the groups routine during tennis which we have discussed in previous posts, and will touch on again in future posts. 

David Payne also stated the following about Kate and Gerry McCann;

David Payne stated that Gerry and Kate McCann knew other couples who were on holiday due to playing tennis with them. 

David Payne also stated that Gerry McCann made friends with the other people who played tennis, due to the fact that Gerry McCann played tennis a lot. 

David Payne is discussing the Thursday night tennis in this statement, so we will not go in to too much detail regarding this. This statement confirms that Gerry McCann was playing tennis with other holiday makers during the holiday. 

David Payne struggles in his statement when talking about playing tennis himself during the holiday;

When David Payne was asked the direct question if he had played tennis at any other time other than the Thursday evening, he replied with;

David Payne admits that there was one evening where had a try at the fastest serve evening, and he is sure that there must have been another time he had had a knock about, but he cannot specifically say which days or when he played these other games. 

This is everything that David Payne said about tennis during his rogatory interview. 

So far, from Matthew Oldfield’s, Russell O’Brien’s and David Payne’s interviews, we do not have any confirmation that these men played tennis on a regular basis. 

We can confirm that Jane Tanner, Rachael Oldfield, Gerry McCann and Kate McCann all played tennis regularly, and that Dianne Webster had one tennis lesson we know of so far. 

Before we continue with the groups rogatory interviews regarding tennis, we are going to look at the final male member of the group, Gerry McCann. 

Gerry McCann did not give a rogatory interview, therefore we only have his Portuguese witness statements and his arguido interview to use. 

In Gerry McCann’s first statement given on the 4th May 2007 at 11:15am he said the following;

Gerry McCann has confirmed that himself and Kate McCann played tennis, this agrees with what the other group members have stated so far. 

Gerry McCann did not state anything else in his first statement regarding tennis. This was due to the fact that it was a very brief statement, and it concentrated on the time Madeleine McCann was supposedly abducted rather than the holiday as a whole. 

In Gerry McCann’s second statement given on the 10th May 2007 at 3:20pm, he confirmed;

Gerry McCann stated that himself and Kate McCann had tennis lessons during the week, Monday-Thursday. 

Gerry McCann also stated that he played tennis with other holiday makers who were not part of their group of friends. 

Gerry McCann stated that one of the holiday makers he played with often was Jeremy Wilkins (Jez).

Gerry McCann then approaches the Thursday evenings tennis on the 3rd May 2007, he states the following;

We will not go into too much detail regarding this part of the holiday as it will be discussed in a future topic. 

Gerry McCann confirms he played tennis on the Thursday 3rd May 2007 with Dan Stuk, the tennis coach, Julian Totman, a holiday maker, and Brian Curtis, another holiday maker. 

Gerry McCann does not state anything else regarding tennis in his second statement, except for the men’s social on Thursday. 

Gerry McCann has described who he played men’s social tennis with on the Thursday, but he has not discussed any of the other men of the group playing tennis. 

The last statement of Gerry McCann’s we looked at was his arguido interview. Gerry McCann did not state anything about the other men of the group playing tennis apart from the Thursday night, which we will discuss in a future post. 

To conclude out findings so far from the men if the groups statements;

Apart from Matthew Oldfield who stated that he played tennis on the Monday and Tuesday, and Gerry McCann, who played tennis daily, no other male member of the group has been described as playing a full tennis game or lesson. 

We will now look through the females rogatory statements to see what they say regarding the tennis during the week, Sunday to Wednesday. 

We have started with Jane Tanners rogatory interview given on the 8th April 2008 at 10:00am. 

Jane Tanner confirms that she signed up for tennis lessons during the week. 

Jane Tanner said that the reason she signed up for tennis was because Kate McCann had signed up for it and she believed that it would be something nice to do. 

Jane Tanner also confirms that these lessons were with Kate McCann were in the morning. 

Jane Tanner is asked again about when she signed up for tennis;

Jane Tanner has now confirmed that herself, Kate McCann and Rachael Oldfield signed up for tennis lessons. 

Because Jane Tanner has confirmed what the make members of the group have said regarding Jane Tanner, Rachael Oldfield and Kate McCann playing tennis, we are not going to look through her statement for the times she played, we will continue looking through her statement to see if she discusses any of the men playing tennis during the week. 

In her statement, Jane Tanner confirms that Russell O’Brien was at the tennis courts on Wednesday with his daughter;

Jane Tanner states that Russell O’Brien watched her play tennis, she does not state that Russell O’Brien played tennis. 

Jane Tanner also confirmed that Matthew Oldfield was not at tennis on the Wednesday;

Jane Tanner states that Matthew Oldfield spent the majority of his time at the beach due to him being a keen sailor. 

Jane Tanner does not state anything else regarding the men playing tennis during the week apart from the Thursday night. 

We will now take a look at Rachael Oldfield’s rogatory interview which she gave on the 9th April 2008 at 10:23am. 

Due to the majority of the group confirming Rachael Oldfield played tennis, and this can be confirmed from the tennis guest sheet, we are going to look for times that she talks about the men of the group playing tennis.  

Rachael Oldfield stated the following regarding tennis on the Sunday;

Rachael Oldfield stated that on the Sunday, herself, Gerry McCann, Kate McCann and Jane Tanner all played social tennis. 

Rachael Oldfield did not state that any of the other members of the group played tennis on the Sunday evening. 

Rachael Oldfield continued discussing tennis after the statement above;

Rachael Oldfield stated that herself and Matthew Oldfield had a tennis lesson on the Wednesday, but this was changed to Thursday, which also agreed with Matthew Oldfield’s. 

Rachael Oldfield then stated that before their tennis on Thursday, the group “knocked around” on the tennis courts with everyone else.

Rachael Oldfield stated that herself and Matthew Oldfield had a  tennis lesson at 11:00pm.

Rachael Oldfield stated that Kate McCann was sat with her while she waited to play tennis with Matthew Oldfield. 

Rachael Oldfield then discussed the Thursday afternoon, just after lunch;

Rachael Oldfield has stated that on the Thursday afternoon, she played tennis with Jane Tanner for an hour while Gerry and Kate McCann watched her play. 

Rachael Oldfield then stated that Grace was still sleeping, and therefore she returned to the apartment, after which, Russell O’Brien and Matthew Oldfield went down to the beach. 

Rachael Oldfield then discussed the Thursday night tennis in her statement, which we will discuss in the future. 

Further on in her statement, Rachael Oldfield returned to discussing the tennis during the week;

Rachael Oldfield, so far, is the only member of the group to confirm one tennis game that Matthew Oldfield played during the holiday. This was on the Monday or Tuesday but not both days. 

Rachael Oldfield stated that she played tennis with Matthew Oldfield, Gerry McCann and Kate McCann on the Monday or Tuesday afternoon. 

Rachael Oldfield did not discuss anything more regarding tennis during the week in her rogatory interview. 

To summarise our findings so far;

Gerry McCann - Played tennis daily

Kerry McCann - Played tennis daily

Rachael Oldfield - Had tennis lessons and played with Jane Tanner, Gerry McCann, Kate McCann, and one lesson in the afternoon with Matthew Oldfield. 

Jane Tanner - Played daily

David Payne - Said he had a go of the fast serve one evening. 

Russell O’Brien - Did not play tennis during the week. Said he was not bothered about tennis, no-one can confirm he has played a game. He preferred to do water sports. 

Matthew Oldfield - Played one lesson with Rachael Oldfield, Gerry McCann and Kate McCann. 

Dianne Webster - Played a game of social tennis with the women. 

We still have Fiona Payne’s rogatory interview and Dianne Websters rogatory interview to go through in regards to who played tennis during Sunday to Monday. 

So, looking at Fiona Payne’s rogatory interview, which she gave on the 10th April 2007 at 8:55am, she stated;

Fiona Payne has stated that they booked Mark Warner as the group were quite sporty. 

Fiona Payne and David Payne enjoyed doing the water sports, whereas she states the other were into tennis. 

As we know from the groups previous statements, not all the other group members were there for tennis. 

Matthew Oldfield and Russell O’Brien had both said they had signed up for water sports and Matthew Oldfield only had a tennis lesson once according to himself and Rachael Oldfield. 

Fiona Payne then continued her interview;

Fiona Payne discussed the social tennis evenings. She stated that while some were partaking in tennis, the others would be with the children and they would take turns on watching the children in the play area. 

Fiona Payne does state in a previous post, that the children would be taken back during tennis by the group members who weren’t playing.

Fiona Payne then discusses her and David Payne’s sailing lessons;

Fiona Payne stated that through the tennis, the other couples got more friendly with other holiday makers, whereas according to other group members statements not everyone had been playing tennis during the week. It tended to be the women who played the majority of games, and Gerry McCann also played quite regularly. 

Fiona Payne stated that it was herself and David Payne who took the sailing lessons, whereas in previous statements from Jane Tanner, Matthew Oldfield and Russell O’Brien, that Russell O’Brien also attended the sailing lessons. 

Fiona Payne then discusses social tennis during the week;

Fiona Payne does not specifically say who played tennis and what night.

In our opinion, the interesting part of this statement is where Fiona Payne is struggling to remember what night the women’s tennis was on.

As we know from previous statements, the women’s social tennis was on the Wednesday, this is when all the women played and her partner, David Payne took their children for their bath, which she did remember within this statement further on in her interview;

Fiona Payne clearly remembers women’s social tennis was on the Wednesday afternoon, so why was she struggling with the days it was on. 

In our opinion and from the findings so far, the reason why Fiona Payne struggled with what night women’s tennis was actually on, is because every night apart from Thursday, as it tended to be the women playing tennis, as the men have hardly bee mentioned at all regarding playing tennis, other than the men’s social, which we will be posting about next. 

When Fiona Payne was asked a direct question regarding if she played tennis on the Sunday night, which would have been the first full day in Portugal, she stated the following;

Fiona Payne cannot clearly state if she actually played tennis on the first full day.

Fiona Payne states that they had a knock about on the Sunday, but she doesn’t actually specify if it was a game being played at the time she was their, by her describing it as “Had a knock”, we believe there wasn't an actual game being played by the group. 

There was nothing else said regarding the other group members and tennis apart from the Thursday night. 

We noticed after looking through the groups statements, no other group members state that Fiona Payne played tennis. Apart from the women’s tennis on the Wednesday night, were all the women played and David Payne took “OUR KIDS” back to the apartment, and the “HAD A KNOCK” on Sunday. 

From our findings so far, we believe that during the week, Sunday to Wednesday, Russell O’Brien and David Payne didn’t play tennis, they possibly had a quick go, as David Payne said in his statement, but from their statements, no-one can confirm any of the men playing in the evening. 

We also believe that Fiona Payne did not stay at the social tennis after the children had played in the play area.

The reason that makes us believe this, is how she struggles to remember the days regarding social tennis.  She cannot remember specific social tennis games during the week apart from women’s social tennis, because that would be the only game she had to play. 
There is also this part of Fiona Payne’s statement that gives us reason to doubt she played tennis at all, not even the women’s social. 

Fiona Payne stated that she joined in with the other women, which would mean a game was already in play.

Fiona Payne states that the people who were playing tennis were Jane Tanner, Rachael Oldfield, Dianne Webster, Kate McCann and herself. 

Fiona Payne does not state that anyone else was there until she is asked who Kate McCann was playing against, this is when Fiona Payne, once again struggles to explain who was there.

Fiona Payne then states there were other holiday makers there and two instructors also making up the numbers. 


How can there be so many people playing women’s social tennis when Fiona Payne said that they had requested to change the times because it was mainly their group who played social tennis. 

Therefore, with Fiona Payne originally stating who was playing tennis when she joined in, and with her saying they requested the change in times for the tennis because they were the MAIN ones playing, and that she also struggled to name who Kate McCann played with. We believe she is lying about playing tennis. 

There were four women already playing tennis, Dianne Webster, Kate McCann, Jane Tanner and Rachael Oldfield, she said she joined in, but she cannot remember who played against Kate McCann, she just states “we all sort of played each other really”

If this was true, and they actually had played each other, then when Fiona Payne was asked, who did Kate McCann play against, she would have at least said that she played against her for some time, instead she struggled to name one person who played against Kate McCann. 

We are not saying that Fiona Payne was not at the tennis courts during the women’s tennis, we are just stating that we don’t believe Fiona Payne played tennis at all during the week, except for maybe the odd “knock about”

This may not seem relevant at this stage, but it will become relevant in a future post. 

The last member of the group we looked at was Dianne Webster who was interviewed on the 11th April 2008 at 10:26am. 

We have left Dianne Webster’s until end. The reason for this, is in her second statement, it was proven that she lied regarding Russell leaving the table. Dianne Webster could not remember anyone else leaving at the same time as Russell O’Brien,  or anything regarding Jane Tanner leaving as well, but she was told to lie about this, so Russell O’Brien had an alibi, and she gladly went along with the lie. 

At the moment, with what we have shown, everything seems pretty normal, the women played tennis, the majority of the men didn’t play tennis, apart from Matthew Oldfield, only Gerry McCann, out of the male members of the group played tennis daily, so why does Dianne Webster state the following;

Dianne Webster has stated that “sometimes the men would go off and play tennis in the afternoon”. 

From all the statements we have gone through, the only man who played tennis in the afternoon was Gerry McCann. 

Dianne Webster also stated at the end “you could actually go and book a court snd play tennis.” Whereas Fiona Payne had stated this;

Why has Dianne Webster felt the need to say that the MEN sometimes play tennis and to add emphasis to the lie she said they could book the courts. 

Due to this, we will not be going through Dianne Webster’s statement regarding the men playing tennis, as the majority of her discussion relates to the Thursday evenings tennis. 

We will explain this in our future post regarding the tennis on Thursday night. 

In our opinion - THE CRITICAL TIME

Please click the link below to go to Part 17 - Thursday 3rd May 2007 - What happened after 5:30pm  

https://akrasiel-theangelofjustice.blogspot.com/2019/12/part-17-thursday-3rd-may-2007-what.html?m=1

For future updates follow us on Twitter @akrasiel_angel