DNA error by British experts led to McCanns being accused

Tag : two for one

There is also strong condemnation of the police for paying too muchattention to the media and evidence given by the dining friends theTapas seven is criticised as they are accused of contradicting eachother.

The report also talks about two key witnesses. One who contactedthe police on 26 May saying he saw Mr McCann carrying Madeleineaway from the apartment on the night she disappeared laterretracted his statement.
The other witness spoke of the behaviour of the McCanns throughouttheir stay in Portugal.

According to the report, the police vis- ited 443 homes in thearea, sightings were examined and ruled out and they also looked atall land, sea, and air escape routes.
The report says there is a strong belief by both British andPortuguese police that Madeleine is dead.

As they waited for news of the report, the McCanns were aiming tospend today as routinely as possible.

Mr McCann, a consultant cardiologist, intended to ' go to work as nor mal' at the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester.

Madeleine vanished only six days before her fourth birthday on 3May last year. Her parents, both 40, launched an internationalcampaign to search for her.

Fourteen months on, the Policia Judiciaria is no closer discoveringwhat happened to her.
It is understood that even if the case is shelved, the files willbe periodically reviewed and could be reopened if new evidenceemerges.

Blunders: Kate and Gerry McCann became suspects after the BritishForensic Service reported that DNA found in their hire car belongedto Madeleine
Once they are cleared, the McCanns, who have two other children,twins Sean and Amelie, will fight for access to all the policedocumentation to give to their own private investigators so theycan continue the search for their daughter.

The couple have already secured access to some of the files on thecase after Leicestershire police agreed to share 81 pieces ofinformation with them - relating to tip-offs and possible sightings- received in the early stages of the investigation last year.

The two parties reached the compromise at the High Court in Londonearlier this month.

Clarence Mitchell, the spokesman for the family said: ' The hope is that they will be given access to the files. This willbe a chance to reinvigorate the case.'
The McCanns' private investigators, Spanish-based Metodo 3, as wellas a British-based agency will now conduct their own inquiries.

Madeleine vanished from her family's holiday apartment in the OceanClub, Praia da Luz, as her parents dined in a tapas restaurant withfriends nearby.

The third arguido Algarve property consultant Robert Murat, 34, isalso expected to have his 'arguido' status lifted.

Despite Portuguese legal moves, the McCanns were also bracingthemselves today for more emotional turmoil as the policeman incharge of the original investigation was revealed to be publishinga 'tell-all' book this week.