Daily Mirror

Give McCanns closure

By Rod Chaytor and Lucy Thornton
25/09/2007


Kate and Gerry McCann (DM)

Kate and Gerry McCann are having to face the heartbreaking realisation they may only emerge from the shadow of suspicion if Madeleine's body is found.

A source close to their legal team said the couple were horrified by speculation that they may never get the chance to prove their innocence because Portuguese police will refuse to formally charge them without the discovery of a body.

He added: "It means they'll have this hanging over their heads. But that's unacceptable because they are innocent. Why should they have this stain on their characters?

"A body not being found is a worst-case scenario because nobody - least of all them - will ever know what's happened. The suggestion that they have to face justice or escape justice is loaded with assumptions of their guilt, which are simply untrue.

"Gerry has always said that the only thing that will ever make him happy is finding Madeleine. They have discussed often the possibility of her being found dead.

"Of course that would be a trauma of dreadful proportions for the family. But nevertheless at least it would give them a sense of being able to understand what has happened and why. And - to use that dreadful American word - a sense of closure."

And in Lisbon, the President of the Public Prosecution Service was echoing the view that charges were unlikely to be brought against the McCanns unless a body is found.

Antonio Cluny told the 24 Horas newspaper: "Without the little girl's body, everything is complicated.

"There have been cases in which it was possible to obtain a conviction without there being a victim but there were confessions. One cannot accuse a person of homicide without there being very strong evidence.

"In the Maddy case, there is no confession and, according to what has been made public, the evidence gathered up until now keeps all leads open - from abduction to homicide or at least to a simple accident."

The McCanns' legal source said Kate and Gerry, both 39, could face a year of nightmarish anxiety as the Portuguese inquiry into four-year-old Madeleine's disappearance grinds slowly on. Under local law, their status as official suspects can continue until May before it is reviewed.

It could then be extended for a further four months. During that time, police are not obliged to charge or exonerate the McCanns.

That means it could be next September before the husband and wife doctors see the threat of prosecution lifted.

The source said: "Kate and Gerry are in this for the long haul. They're not going to be cleared next week. This is a long, drawn-out legal process. They are assuming that this will go the full distance."

But he said the couple did not regret leaving the resort of Praia da Luz, where Madeleine vanished on May 3, to return home to Rothley, Leics, with two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. He added: "They are surrounded by family, friends, their whole network of supporters. It means Sean and Amelie can have a relatively normal life.

"They are a lot more positive then they were two or three weeks ago when they were being questioned. They are working hard, they are focused on two points. Firstly, finding Madeleine and, secondly, clearing their names. In the middle of this is a family who are potentially facing bereavement but who are still in that awful position of not knowing what's happened to their daughter.

"They hope desperately the next phone call is from somebody saying, 'We've found her and she is OK.'

"Every day that passes could be a day closer to her body being found but, equally, it could be a day closer to her coming home. They are living through every parent's nightmare.

"And then to have this extra pressure heaped upon them, of it somehow being suggested they are responsible, when they know in their heart of hearts and can prove they didn't do anything like that - it's the worst situation times 10."

Detectives made Kate and Gerry suspects based on DNA evidence that was allegedly found in the boot of a car they hired weeks after Madeleine vanished. They subsequently admitted it was "not definitive".

It is believed in the next few days police will get further forensic reports from UK experts who analysed the evidence.

Without further developments, Kate and Gerry could be potentially charged with negligence.

But legal experts say that would probably fail as the McCanns claim they regularly checked on their children, who were left in their apartment while the couple ate with friends.

One criminologist said: "They say they left them sleeping and that they checked them regularly.

"If there was vigilance, there would be no intent. No parents control their kids' movements all day long. It would be a pointless accusation."

Yesterday, a source close to the McCanns denied ex-SAS men working for security firm Control Risks Group were "on the ground" in Portugal and Morocco conducting their own probe into Madeleine's disappearance.

But he confirmed CRG was advising the McCanns. He added: "It would be illegal for private investigations to be taking place in Portugal and nothing is being done that is illegal."

The source said "freelance" ex-servicemen were involved in the hunt for Madeleine. He added: "You wouldn't tangle with some of them. They're not pastry chefs, let's put it that way."

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