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Madeleine: She was abducted
six years ago in Portugal |
Scotland Yard is to take control of the
Madeleine McCann case from the
Portuguese authorities, the Daily Mail
can reveal.
In a significant development, Home
Secretary Theresa May has agreed to fund
a full-scale Metropolitan Police
investigation into Madeleine’s
disappearance in Portugal six years ago.
It follows a two-year, £5million Met
review of her disappearance.
This has identified more than 20
potential suspects and dozens of new
leads – but despite the progress made by
the review team, the Portuguese
authorities have refused to reopen their
inquiry. Officials in Portugal say that
under the country’s laws they can only
reopen the case if there is new
evidence, and the new leads do not
provide sufficient grounds.
But Met detectives insist their leads
could, if properly investigated, result
in new evidence and perhaps the case
being solved.
With no sign of the deadlock being
broken, the Met asked Mrs May to provide
Home Office funding for a Scotland Yard
investigation into Maddie’s
disappearance.
It is understood she has approved the
request. It is not known how much
additional funding was sought but it is
believed it could run into millions of
pounds. A statement announcing the
Met-led investigation is expected in the
next few weeks.
It will endeavour not to upset the
Portuguese authorities, who – privately
at least – are likely to be unhappy
about playing second fiddle to British
police.
Under the plan, Yard detectives will
seek the assistance of the Portuguese to
carry out some inquiries on their
behalf. British police do not have
jurisdiction in Portugal but they have
the right to investigate and prosecute
any British suspects who might be linked
to Madeleine’s disappearance.
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Taking over: Scotland Yard
is to take control of the
Madeleine McCann case from
the Portuguese authorities |
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Partnership: It is
understood that Scotland
Yard would ask Portuguese
authorities to put any
suspect on trial |
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Sources said that should Scotland Yard
gather sufficient evidence to prosecute
a foreign national who lives overseas,
they will ask the Portuguese authorities
to put the suspect on trial. Madeleine
was nearly four when she went missing
from her family’s holiday apartment in
Praia da Luz on the Algarve in 2007 as
her parents dined with friends nearby.
The shambolic Portuguese inquiry was
shelved in 2008 but Scotland Yard began
a Home Office-funded review in 2011
following the intervention of David
Cameron.
He had been lobbied by Madeleine’s
parents, Kate and Gerry McCann – who
were falsely accused by Portuguese
police of being behind her
disappearance.
Officials said the progress made by the
Yard review vindicated Mr Cameron’s
decision to intervene.
Last year the officer in day-to-day
charge of the review, Detective Chief
Inspector Andy Redwood, said his team
had identified 195 potential leads.
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A review by the Met police
identified 20 potential
suspects and dozens of new
leads into the disappearance
of Maddy McCann |
It emerged last month that the review
had identified more than 20 people ‘of
interest’, including Britons, who have
not been eliminated from the case.
Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish
Campbell, who supervised the Met’s
review said there were a ‘good number’
of individuals who should be questioned.
Well-placed sources said at least 20
potential suspects – including a number
of Britons who were in the Algarve at
the time of Madeleine’s disappearance –
had not been properly eliminated. One
authoritative source said last night:
‘These people include a couple of known
child sex offenders who are thought may
have been in the Algarve when Madeleine
disappeared. More work needs to be done
on establishing their movements around
the time she vanished. It cannot be
disputed that the Portuguese police
investigation was very poor.
‘They put all their eggs in one basket
in terms of the McCanns being
responsible for Madeleine’s
disappearance. When they were rightly
eliminated, they simply closed the
inquiry rather than starting again.’
It is understood that, contrary to some
media reports, the Portuguese inquiry
did identify everyone who was staying at
the Ocean Club when she vanished. Most
were British tourists.
The Yard is ‘tidying’ up this aspect of
the initial inquiry, trying to nail down
people’s movements there.
The fact that so many investigative
opportunities were missed has galvanised
British detectives who believe there is
a real possibility they could unravel
the mystery.
Last month, the Mail revealed how as
part of the review, Yard detectives had
flown to Switzerland to probe the
movements of one of the country’s most
notorious child snatchers, Urs Hans von
Aesch.
The 67-year-old was one of many
potential suspects dismissed prematurely
by Portuguese police.
Von Aesch kidnapped and murdered a
five-year-old girl in his native
Switzerland less than three months after
Madeleine was abducted. He took his own
life after killing his victim, who
looked remarkably like Maddie. |
