Monday, December 12, 2011

Cops Booze Shame - By The Sun's Lucy Hagan

8 June 2007


The cop leading the Maddie hunt was blasted yesterday after he and two colleagues spent two hours boozing - at lunchtime. Chief inspector Olegario Sousa downed wine and whisky with fellow Portuguese officers as a restaurant TV screened Maddie's anguished parents at a Berlin press conference.  A British snapper was ARRESTED after he spotted Wednesday's long lunch in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, where Maddie vanished.  He was held at a police station for four hours and had his camera confiscated.

An onlooker told how Sousa - who has appeared on TV fronting the inquiry - relaxed with officers including detective Goncalo Amaral. The witness said: "When I left, one was still slumped in his chair."

Asked whether it was acceptable for cops to drink wine and whisky at lunch, Sousa insisted yesterday: "It is my free time. What does it have to do with you what I drink or what I eat? "I drink what I want to drink when I can drink. Have you seen anyone drunk? Have you seen any action deterred by that?"

The missing girl's aunt Philomena said: "If it were detectives from Scotland Yard there would be absolute uproar."