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Case review: Madeleine
McCann went missing in the
Algarve in May 2007 |
Government lawyers have travelled to
Portugal to meet police and prosecution
officials to discuss new leads in the
Madeleine McCann inquiry.
The trip is the first time that lawyers
from the Crown Prosecution Service have
visited Portugal in connection with
Scotland Yard’s £5 million review of the
case.
Home Secretary Theresa May is now
expected to announce a full-scale Yard
investigation into the disappearance of
three-year-old Madeleine in May 2007.
London’s chief crown prosecutor Alison Saunders and her deputy
Jenny Hopkins flew to Portugal in April
to meet counterparts to discuss leads
identified in the Met’s review.
Last month the Standard revealed that
detectives had identified a list of
potential suspects. Detective Chief
Superintendent Hamish Campbell, who
supervised the review, said there were a
“good number” of people who should be
questioned as well as “further forensic
opportunities”.
The list is thought to number around 20,
including Britons. The potential
suspects are thought to include a
handful of known child-sex offenders who
are believed to have been in the Algarve
when Madeleine disappeared.
The visit by senior CPS lawyers
underlines the belief among senior
detectives that the case could be
solved.
Portuguese police led the search for
Madeleine after she went missing from a
holiday apartment in Praia da Luz while
her parents dined nearby.
The investigation was shelved in 2008
but the Yard launched a Home
Office-funded review in 2011 after David
Cameron intervened at the request of
Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry
McCann. The review team examined
hundreds of thousands of documents from
the Portuguese investigation and
enquiries by a private detective agency
employed by Madeleine’s family and
identified 195 potential leads.
A full Yard investigation would allow
police to interview suspects in Britain
though they would seek the assistance of
the Portuguese to carry out any
enquiries there.
A CPS spokesman said: “We continue to
work with the police on this case.”
A Home Office spokesman said it had
agreed to “provide the Metropolitan
Police with the resources they need”. |