Bid to rid Madeleine McCann's parents of suspect status

Oct 9 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

LAWYERS acting for the Liverpool-born mother of Madeleine McCann are fighting to have her suspect status removed.

Last night it was revealed that the McCanns’ legal team had travelled to Portugal in a renewed effort to have Kate McCann and her husband Gerry’s “arguido” status lifted.

The couple, both aged 39, were named as arguidos, or formal suspects, in the disappearance of their four-year-old daughter by Portuguese detectives in August.

Last week, the Daily Post reported Mrs McCann’s fears that the cloud of suspicion brought on by the arguido status could hang over them for months.

The former Notre Dame pupil, who grew up in Allerton and Anfield, said she believed she may still be a suspect in eight months’ time, the anniversary of her daughter’s disappearance.

Their legal team have now met their Portuguese counterparts to discuss the case, and a family friend said lawyers were exploring all possible avenues to ensure the arguido status was lifted as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the McCanns’ official spokesman rejected a newspaper report suggesting the results of DNA testing had kept the couple “in the frame” in Madeleine’s disappearance.

Clarence Mitchell said: “We cannot comment on anything that goes to the heart of the investigation, but Kate and Gerry have nothing to hide.

“Any material that may have been found by police in Portugal can be wholly and innocently explained.”

Madeleine, from Rothley, in Leicestershire, went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 while her parents dined at a nearby tapas bar.

Mr Mitchell said a campaign of TV adverts to be shown in Morocco was now “ready to roll”, as was a poster campaign in Spanish supermarkets.

Despite being declared suspects in the disappearance of their own daughter, Mr and Mrs McCann have repeatedly insisted they believe Madeleine could still be alive.

Mrs McCann says she still hangs on to the hope that her daughter is still alive and hopes the media campaign will re-focus efforts to find her.

There have been a series of reports of possible sightings of Madeleine in Morocco following two sightings of a blonde girl matching Madeleine’s descrip- tion in Marrakech in May.

carolineinnes