Madeleine mother 'to be suspect'

Kate McCann is being questioned by Portuguese police as a suspect
Kate McCann - mother of missing four-year-old Madeleine - will be formally declared a suspect by the Portuguese police, the family has said.
Mrs McCann has arrived for her second police interview in 24 hours. It is thought she will be made an "arguida".

This would allow the authorities to put certain questions and give her the legal right to remain silent.

Gerry McCann will be questioned later. Both deny any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance on 3 May.

A large number of journalists and members of the public were outside the police station in Portimao, Portugal, to watch Mrs McCann arrive by car.

Looking relaxed and dressed in a white sleeve-less top and pink cardigan, she entered the building accompanied by a family friend. Mrs McCann did not speak to reporters.

Her lawyer had arrived at the police station shortly before. He also refused to comment.

She is stunned and disappointed

John Corner
McCann family friend


Kate McCann's anguish

It is understood that Portuguese police have told Mrs McCann they have 22 questions they want to ask her during this interview although they have not told her what they are.

A McCann family spokesman said: "Just before the session ended last night, the police made it clear they had some further questions to ask which would require her to be in arguida status rather than just witness status."

The spokesman added: "She is shocked and surprised in several ways. First of all that such an accusation could be made against her.

"And obviously she is concerned that such a line of investigation can become a distraction from further attempts to find Madeleine."

Lawyer present

Family friend John Corner, who spoke to Mrs McCann on Thursday night, said Kate thought the police believed she murdered her daughter.

Mr Corner, who is godfather to the couple's twins, told the Today programme: "She is stunned and disappointed. Really disappointed, not only to be at this stage a suspect but I think the realisation that they're not actually looking for Madeleine I think is almost a double whammy."

Speaking from Glasgow, Mrs McCann's brother-in-law John McCann said: "We just need to see what exactly is going to develop in Portugal.

"We just want to see exactly what the Portuguese police are saying. We cannot believe the line that they are going down - we just find it unbelievable."

Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, disappeared from the family's holiday apartment while her parents were eating in a nearby restaurant.


Madeleine was last seen on 3 May

Mrs McCann had previously been interviewed before by police the day after Madeleine disappeared, but yesterday was the first time her lawyer had been present.

She was questioned as a witness until after midnight on Thursday. Police have previously said the McCanns are not suspects.

In a statement released before her interview yesterday, she appealed to her daughter's abductors, saying: "It is not too late - please let her go or call the police."

She said: "We came to Portugal an ordinary family of five. We just want to know what happened on 3 May and want to be able to go home one family, reunited."

Mrs McCann will become the second formal suspect in the case. The first was Robert Murat, a British man living locally. He has not been arrested or charged.

Mrs McCann's husband Gerry, originally from Glasgow, is expected to be questioned on Friday afternoon about Madeleine's disappearance from an apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve. It's is not known whether he too will be questioned as a suspect

Blood traces

Samples, including suspected traces of blood, have been recovered from the McCanns' holiday apartment.

The UK's Forensic Science Service has spent the past month analysing them.

Portuguese police spokesman Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa

A British man questioned in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been released by police in Portugal, Sky News has learnt.

Robert MuratCrime correspondent Martin Brunt said: "I've spoken to Robert Murat's mother. She says he was released some time over night.

"He is now staying with friends. She has advised him not to go back to their villa at Praia da Luz..

"She spoke to him by phone briefly and he is very upset. He believes the police are trying to find an Englishman to blame."

The Murats' villa is 100 metres from where four-year-old Madeleine was abducted. Forensic officers and sniffer dogs began examining the property on Monday morning.

Mrs Murat told Brunt that computer and communications equipment had been removed.

Brunt said: "There is nothing to suggest this morning that police are any closer to finding Madeleine.

"But I do say that from other police sources we got the impression that there is - and I don't know where this stems from - a growing confidence that they will still find Madeleine alive."


The Murats' villaRobert Murat is one of many people who have been interviewed over the disappearance of Madeleine. He has not been arrested or charged.

Brunt said: "We know from our own sources that Robert Murat has been under some kind of electronic surveillance by police, probably for more than a week.

"So it looks as though police had been waiting to swoop on the villa and talk to Mr Murat."

As well as Mr Murat, a German woman and a Portuguese man were also interviewed until late on Monday night.

A source close to the investigation said they were not under arrest but questioned as potential witnesses.

Mr Murat had become familiar to journalists in Praia da Luz since Madeleine was snatched from her family's holiday flat 12 days ago.

He told reporters he had a daughter the same age as the missing girl who looked very similar to her.

He lives with his mother Jenny, who is believed to own the villa being searched.


Madeleine: Missing for 12 daysShe has been running a stall on the seafront appealing for information about Madeleine's disappearance.

Mr Murat, who described himself as half-Portuguese, said he was helping the McCanns as a translator.

But journalists became suspicious and went to the Portuguese police with their concerns last week.

Sunday Mirror journalist Lori Campbell reported Mr Murat to local officers as well as to the British Embassy and Leicestershire Police.

She said: "Basically, he surfaced on Friday afternoon last week and was walking around as if he was somebody official.

"But when questioned about it, he was very vague about his position. He said he just volunteered to help the police with their investigation."

Local newspapers are reporting that two vehicles are being examined by police - one a green German VW van, the other a Hyundai car. Both had pictures of Madeleine in their windows.

Madeleine was snatched from her bed on May 3 while her doctor parents Gerry and Kate, from Rothley, Leicestershire, were dining in a tapas bar opposite their apartment.

A reward of more than £2.5m is being offered for information leading to her discovery.

The home of a British man is being searched by police looking for missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal on May 3.
The man, Robert Murat (pictured), has been taken to a police station.

Robert MuratHis mother has told Sky News that he has not been arrested. She said no trace of Madeleine had been found at the villa.

Portuguese police said that more than one person was being questioned but that no one had been formally arrested.

The property is just 150 yards from the apartment where Madeleine's family were staying, in the southern Portuguese resort of Praia Da Luz.

The house, known as Casa Liliana, was sealed off with tape by police while men in white suits and masks began a search inside. They are believed to have drained the villa's swimming pool.

Police guards were on the doors outside.

Sky News Correspondent Ian Woods said the property being searched belonged to British woman Jennifer Murat and her son Robert Murat.

Mr Murat has been assisting journalists in their coverage of the disappearance of the four-year-old British girl.

He was pictured on Sky News during the search for Madeleine wearing a light-coloured shirt and dark glasses. Sunday Mirror journalist Lori Campbell alerted police over her suspicions about him.

Woods said: "Robert Murat has been very well known to the media from day one because I have been asking for anyone who was a good Portuguese speaker to come to the scene.

"He had been acting for three or four days as an interpreter and a go-between with the police."

Woods added that Mr Murat had joked about how he had become the prime suspect in Madeleine's disappearance.


Still missing: Madeleine McCannMs Campbell told Sky: "It was just very reminiscent of the Soham murders, that was my first thought. He was hanging around, asking us questions and maybe trying to find out what we knew."

She said that when she alerted Portuguese police that a man had raised her suspicions, they said "we know who you are talking about" before she had mentioned his name.

Mr Murat is believed to have a good relationship with local police and has been seen laughing and joking with them. He told journalists that he was interested in the case of the missing girl because he has a four-year-old daughter of his own who looks similar to Madeleine.

He is believed to be separated from his wife, who is thought to live in Norfolk with their daughter.

Sky News Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt described how he had spoken to Mr Murat's mother about the search..

Brunt said: "She's obviously very shaken. She says her son hasn't been arrested but has been taken to the main police station."

She said that no trace of Madeleine had been found and that she expected police to make a statement confirming this.

Gaynor De Jesus, who has been working as a translator for Sky News, went to school with Mr Murat and played with him as a child, but had not seen him for years until last week.

She said: "I do know that he has been the official translator for the police. All witness accounts, everything that's been coming into them, he has had first-hand information."

Madeleine was taken from the apartment where her family had been staying while on holiday, sparking a massive police investigation and a worldwide media appeal.