Cop ‘leading the hunt for Madeleine McCann’ is already battling London’s knife crime epidemic

SCOTLAND Yard’s hunt for Madeleine McCann is being led by a top murder cop already battling London’s knife crime epidemic, The Sun can reveal.

Det Chief Insp Mark Cranwell has recently been put in part-time charge of Operation Grange, which has cost taxpayers £12 MILLION to date.

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He runs a tiny four-cop team trying to crack a case the Met has been investigating for EIGHT years.

So far it has not made a single arrest - yet was still granted another £300,000 by the Home Office in June.

Meanwhile police are trying desperately to turn back the tide on knife crime in the capital.

Shock figures showed blade offences had soared by seven per cent in the year to June, a record high.

DCI Cranwell is playing a leading role in trying to combat it - making a series of appeals to the public in a raft of recent teenage murders.

RECORD HIGH BLADE OFFENCES

On Tuesday he asked witnesses to come forward over the fatal stabbing of Ben Lines, 20, in Bexley, South East London, on Sunday.

Meanwhile a freedom of information request shows the Operation Grange team he leads is made up of four full-time detectives, including three constables and one sergeant.

The costs are being covered by Special Grant funding from the Home Office, usually available to police forces when they face significant or exceptional costs.

The £12million total spent already is more than double the £5million promised by David Cameron when Operation Grange was launched in May 2011. The task force at its height was 37-strong.

Tens of thousands of pounds have been spent on flights to Portugal and to investigate other sightings around the globe.

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The Met said: “As of 30 September 2019, there are four officers working full time on Operation Grange; one Detective Sergeant, and three Detective Constables.

“The Senior Investigating Officer is Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Mark Cranwell, who does not work full time on the investigation.

“DCI Cranwell reports to Commander Stuart Cundy from the Met’s Specialist Crime command, who has chief officer responsibility for Operation Grange.”

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