As the second anniversary of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance approaches, a former Merseyside police detective tells Greg O’Keeffe why her parents should never abandon the search

WITH quiet dignity and total determination, Albert Kirby solved one of Merseyside’s most shocking murders.

Now the Merseyside detective who brought James Bulger’s killers to justice has spoken of his frustration at the missed opportunities in the search for Madeleine McCann.

The retired former commander of the Serious Crimes Squad believes a “golden chance” went begging last year when the McCanns decided not to travel back to Portugal to help stage a reconstruction of the night their daughter vanished.

Speaking ahead of the McCanns’ forthcoming appearance on US chat show Oprah Winfrey, alongside a new Channel 4 Cutting Edge documentary, he explained how he thinks the case will now develop.

Mr Kirby, who flew to the Algarve in the hope of offering his expertise on the abduction shortly after it happened on May 3, 2007, insists there is still every reason that Madeleine’s family can hold onto their hope she will be found alive.

He says: “Unfortunately, I feel they wasted a golden opportunity 12 months ago on the anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance when the family decided against co-operating with the Portuguese authorities in doing a reconstruction.

“OK, that was 12 months down the line from when she went, but that could have prompted a lead, maybe from people now in different parts of the world who might have seen something.

“The idea is similar to what the BBC do with Crimewatch when they regularly stage reconstructions of crimes which have happened in the past.

“Then, within that appeal, the police are able to release information which is factually correct and that can prompt new witnesses.

“It is something which the detectives hunting for the murderer of Rhys Jones used to great effect.

“By releasing information during their inquiry, for instance about the type of bike the killer used on that night, they were able to gather as many witnesses as possible.

“In the early days of the Madeleine case, too much misinformation got out over in Portugal.

“I don’t blame the press for that false information getting out, though, because of the lack of information given to them to publish by the Portuguese police.

“You have got to bear in mind that the inquiry was not conducted in any way, shape or form in a manner which has proven so successful in this country.

“Portuguese law prevented the police from being able to release information and using witnesses for appeals, and this was a major problem.

“I went out there and saw Sousa, who was the guy in charge, and he was held back by the conditions under which they had to work.

“They lost an awful lot of opportunities. The first 24 and 48 hours of a case like this are the most crucial, and they were not getting enough information out then.”

He welcomes the news that former detectives in Britain are now on the case.