Gerry McCann and Kate McCann Remain Prime Suspects



Gerry and Kate McCann's hope of being cleared over their daughter's disappearance appeared crushed today after they were reportedly named as prime suspects in a new police dossier.

There had been hopes that the couple's status as official suspects could be lifted in coming days. But they may now remain under suspicion for years, after Portuguese detectives submitted an interim report to prosecutors.
Police are keeping to their theory that the McCanns could have accidentally killed three-year-old Madeleine and then disposed of her body.

Under new Portuguese laws - still largely untested - there had been a suggestion that files on the case could be made public today on the eight month anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance. The deadline prompted hopes the official suspects - or arguido - status could then be removed.

Robert Murat

Robert Murat's lawyer has said it would be 'cruelty' if he is not cleared over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

But according to Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha, the Policia Judiciaria will hand over an interim report in which the McCanns remain at the centre of inquiries.

The dossier will also include the possibility Madeleine was abducted from the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on 3 May - adding to confusion in the case and reinforcing the view that Portuguese police have no real idea what actually happened to the girl.

The insistence on naming the parents comes despite growing concern that forensic evidence from their apartment and hire car is flawed. Portuguese police sources had suggested the evidence was far from conclusive. The McCanns, both 39, maintain their innocence.

The only other official suspect, Robert Murat, had also hoped he would be cleared in the next few days, but this hope appeared to be dashed by the report's contention that Madeleine might have been abducted.

Correio da Manha added that the police report would contain a request to reinterview the McCanns and their friends - known as the Tapas Nine - in Britain in coming weeks. After those interviews the McCanns' lawyers are expected to apply for arguido status to be removed.

The dossier has been dismissed by the McCanns' advisers as "pure speculation".

Edward Smethurst, the lawyer conducting the McCanns' defence, said: "We have received no information to suggest that the court file is going to be opened today and indeed we believe it's likely that it will be some time before the court file is made available."

Referring to media coverage of the police dossier, he added: "Any report about the leaked document we believe is completely without substance. We think it arises out of pure speculation on the part of the Portuguese press."

The McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: "If this interim police report exists it appears to say nothing new. It apparently maintains the position that Kate and Gerry remain arguidos. I also note that it says the exact same thing about Mr Murat.

"More importantly it says that abduction is a possibility as well, as we have maintained all along.

"All we will say is that this appears to be nothing new and the police appear to be restating their current position.

"We hope that once the police realise there is no case against Kate and Gerry that they will lift their arguido status."

Mr Murat's lawyer, Francisco Pagarete, said he had not received notification today of the court file's publication.

He said: "I have had no letter from the public prosecutor. I don't know if they are going to ask for a postponement of the secrecy law or not.

"When the prosecutor arrives at a decision, he writes it down and sends me a letter telling me of the decision. The postman has been and left me no letter."

The McCanns have been told by their lawyers they may have to go to the European Court of Human Rights to have their arguido status lifted.

The prospect of the case dragging on for years was reinforced today by the president of the National Union of Portuguese Judges.

Antonio Martins said: "The problem is that no-one knows what type of crime was committed. If it was homicide the investigation can only be shelved after 20 years, if it was kidnap 15 years."

It emerged today the McCanns have hired a detective who investigated a 7/7 suicide bomber. Noel Hogan is conductinga "cold case" review.

The former Met detective superintendent, who runs the agency Hogan International, in Farnham said: "I have been reinterviewing witnesses that were out in Portugal at the time."

It is understood these include friends of the McCanns.

Hogan International was investigating Jermaine Lindsay in the run-up to the 7 July attacks in London in 2005 after a bank became alarmed by his spending patterns.

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Kate and Gerry McCann Hires British Cold-Case Detective Noel Hogan


Kate and Gerry McCann have hired a former Met Police officer to carry out a "cold case" review into Madeleine's disappearance.

Noel Hogan, a former CID detective, has spent hundreds of hours interviewing British witnesses in the case.

He has also gone through each witness's existing statements line by line. Among those he has interviewed include the socalled "Tapas seven" who were on holiday with the McCanns in Praia da Luz last May.

He is also thought to have taken Kate and Gerry McCann through their own statements in minute detail.

Mr Hogan spent eight years in the Met where he reached the rank of detective superintendent.

Since 1986 he has run his own detective agency in Surrey, Hogan International, which claims to have extensive experience dealing with missing-person cases.

Mr Hogan had been investigating one of the 7/7 suicide bombers before the terror attacks in 2005 after the man's bank became suspicious of his spending patterns.

When contacted by the Daily Mail, Mr Hogan confirmed that he had spoken to many of the holidaymakers now back in Britain.

He said: "I have been reinterviewing a number of the witnesses that were out in Portugal at the time."

He added that his investigation would tie in with the enquiry being conducted by the Spanish detective agency Metodo 3 in Barcelona.

Since four-year- old Madeleine's disappearance, well-wishers have contributed over £1million to the fund to help find her.

The McCanns have spent much of this money on Metodo 3, which is being paid £50,000 a month to lead the search for their daughter.

However, the couple are understood to have become increasingly disillusioned with the firm, after its head detective Francisco Marco made a series of wild public statements.

Mr Marco claimed to know for a fact that the missing toddler was being kept in North Africa and would be home by Christmas.

But yesterday a source close to the family said that Kate and Gerry were keeping faith with Metodo 3 in spite of their concerns.

But the source confirmed that they have also authorised the employment of Mr Hogan to coordinate the UK end of the investigation.

The McCanns' official spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, declined to comment.

Metodo 3 are currently trying to re-interview an Irish family who said they saw a man carrying away a child on the night Madeleine disappeared.

Martin Smith and his family-from Drogheda in Co. Louth, told police about the sighting - which is strikingly similar to one by a friend of the McCanns, Jane Tanner.

They described a barefoot child and a man wearing beige trousers walking towards the beach in Praia da Luz, about 400yards from the McCanns' holiday apartment.

However, they said that the man was definitely not official suspect Robert Murat, whom they had met before and would have recognised.

Mr Smith even flew back to Portugal to give evidence but said he had not been contacted by police since making a statement in May.

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