The latest WikiLeaks cables reveal that British police helped "develop" evidence against Madeleine McCann's parents after their daughter's disappearance.

Britain's ambassador to Portugal, Alexander Wykeham Ellis, reportedly made the claim to his American counterpart on September 21, 2007 – two weeks after Portuguese police named Gerry and Kate McCann as suspects.

In a diplomatic cable marked confidential, the US ambassador reported: "Without delving into the details of the case, Ellis admitted that the British police had developed the current evidence against the McCann parents, and he stressed that authorities from both countries were working co-operatively."

Those who blame the McCanns may leap on this as new evidence that it wasn't just the Portuguse authorities who suspected the coulpe. However, it was well known at the time that British police contributed to the investigation. We provided the cadaver dog to search the appartment. Our Forensic Science Service provided the scientific evidence which led to the arrests and the subsequent speculation.

It was much later when the FSS report was released, among all the other police documents, that we could read for ourselves that scientists had advised the Portuguse police that the forensic evidence was inconclusive.

The McCanns remained under suspicion until July 2008 when Portuguese police shelved the inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance.
A spokesman for the McCanns dismissed the leak as an "historic note" and said the Portuguese had since made it clear there was no evidence to implicate the couple.