mirror.co.uk

Judge refuses to order McCanns back to Portugal

By Mirror.co.uk 17/09/2007

The judge in the Madeleine McCann case has rejected a request to have Kate and Gerry McCann brought back to Portugal for further questioning, it was claimed today.

Instead, British police are likely to be asked to re-interview the McCanns, according to reports in Portugal.

Judge Pedro Daniel dos Anjos Frias has rejected a request from prosecutors to bring the McCanns back to Lagos, where they were questioned intensively by Portguese detectives before flying home to Lincolnshire.

Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha claims the police will now ask British detectives to put around 40 questions to the McCanns on their behalf.

Lawyers acting for Kate and Gerry McCann say they had received no request for new questioning "to date".

A McCann family spokeswoman said: "We have been in touch with the lawyers to try and get a steer on what is in the Portuguese papers.

"They assure us we have had no request to date for any further questioning, either from the Portuguese police or in the UK."

Article linked in index