Daily MirrorRachael Oldfield of the Tapas Seven breaks her silence over McCanns' tormentBy Emily Nash 25/04/2008
Madeleine McCann (PA)
'The night Maddy went was just agonising. There's no way Gerry and Kate were involved'
One of the Tapas Seven has broken her silence to tell of Kate and Gerry McCann's torment when their daughter Madeleine vanished.
Rachael Oldfield, a 36-year-old recruitment consultant, said: "I was there on the night. I spent time with Gerry and Kate during the week before May 3 and after.
"Their emotions and their reactions were just agonising. There's just no way they were involved in anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance.
"If you take the common sense approach and look at timings and the fact they are medics and there are four other medics in the group, they would know what to do to resuscitate a child.
"Anyone with an ounce of common sense would be able to see they couldn't have done it. And I was there and I know they didn't do it."
Her comments were broadcast last night on BBC Radio 4 programme Searching for Madeleine, who vanished from the family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 last year.
Rachael, one of the group of friends who dined with Kate and Gerry, in a nearby tapas bar, also blasted the Policia Judiciaria - Portugal's CID - for "outrageous" leaking of details to the press.
She said: "We were made to understand we could face two years prison for speaking out. There have been these rumours and leaks from sources close to the PJ which we haven't been able to refute.
"We'd have loved to have spoken out and just put the record straight." Rachael also said it was "astounding" Kate and Gerry, who remain formal suspects, had heard so little from the Portuguese police that they could not be sure officers were still hunting for four-year-old Madeleine.
Speaking on the same show, Gerry, 39, said: "We'd like to know what leads are still being followed."
Searching for Madeleine is repeated on BBC Radio 4 at 1.30pm on Sunday 27 April.
