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Exclusive: Brit cops to quiz Kate McCann
Brit police want Kate to answer ALL 40 questions...
Doubt cast on evidence of dogs that smelt death...
Party did NOT drink 15 bottles of wine at bar

Kate McCann will be quizzed by British detectives within the next 48 hours and will again be asked: Did you kill Madeleine and what did you do with the body?

Kate, already under unimaginable pressure, will be grilled by officers from Leicestershire Police on behalf of Portuguese detectives.

She will face detailed interrogation on the 40 questions put to her by Portuguese police who are convinced she killed Madeleine accidentally, then conspired with husband Gerry to cover up the death by faking the four-year-old's abduction.

Plans for the fresh police interview came on another day of extraordinary developments in which it emerged:

PORTUGUESE police want the couple to return there to take part in a Crimewatch-style reconstruction of the night Madeleine disappeared.

A TEAM of up to 20 Leicestershire police officers are said to be looking into the McCanns' private lives on behalf of their Portuguese colleagues.

THE inquiry turned dramatically against the McCanns when two British police sniffer dogs detected the scent of death in their holiday apartment

CURTAINS in the flat - said to have had blood on them - were washed after Madeleine's disappearance

GERRY'S brother John insisted the McCanns and their seven friends did NOT get through 15 bottles of wine the night Madeleine vanished as has been claimed.

McCANN pal Jane Tanner's claim to have seen a man walking away with a pyjama-clad child wrapped in a blanket has been categorically ruled out by Portuguese police as mistaken.

The questions Kate is to be asked will include the ones she refused to answer when she was declared an official suspect in the inquiry on September 7, claimed Portuguese paper Jornal de Noticias yesterday.

It reported that Portuguese judge Pedro Daniel Dos Anjos Frios last week gave investigators in the Algarve permission to make the interview request through Europol - the Europewide police organisation.

That interview with British police could take place as soon as Tuesday, the paper reported.

Kate, 39 - who yesterday remained at home in Rothley, Leics, with the family - is understood to have declined to answer a number of questions 10 days ago on the advice of her Portuguese solicitor.

Portuguese police also want their British counterparts to seize the original copy of Kate's diary, in which the mum-of-three allegedly complains that Gerry, also 39, did not do enough to help her with boisterous Madeleine and their twins, Sean and Amelie, two.

The judge is said to have declared the diary "potential evidence" on Friday in a meeting with police and prosecutors at Portimao court.

Portuguese police made photocopies of the diary while the McCanns were in Portugal in the hope of finding clues about Kate's state of mind.

Unbelievably, Portuguese police now want the McCanns and their group of friends to fly back to Praia da Luz to enable the reconstruction to take place.

Investigators want Kate and Gerry to take part in or advise police on their movements as the event is staged.

It would be filmed and distributed to TV stations in an attempt to jog memories and, possibly, put still more pressure on the couple.

Police are now said to be planning new searches guided by mobile phone satellite technology.

It has enabled them to pinpoint where the McCanns and their friends were from calls they made to each other the night Madeleine disappeared.

The new searches are expected to focus on the McCanns' Algarve holiday complex, The Ocean Club, and the area leading to the sea.

Other searches are thought to be planned in a forested area north of the town of Lagos near to where the McCanns were staying.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Mirror has learned of the dramatic moment which led to Portuguese police turning on the McCanns.

It came when springer spaniels Eddie and Keela - loaned by South Yorkshire Police in early August, 13 weeks after Madeleine vanished - picked up the scent of a corpse in the McCann holiday apartment.

Sniffer dogs allegedly "smelt death" on Kate's trousers - explained by her friends as due to her work as a GP.

But friends of the McCanns were dismissive of the revelations - saying the evidence would be inadmissible in court because it was not corroborated and the scent the dogs were following could have been anyone's.

One friend said: "The police change their tune every day and feed information left, right and centre to try and smear Gerry and Kate. It is quite appalling and distracts attention from the search for Madeleine."

It has also been alleged that curtains behind the sofa had traces of blood which were found to have been washed when they were taken away and analysed.

The dog evidence - combined with the finding of particles of Madeleine's DNA and hair in the McCanns' hire car - led to police declaring Gerry and Kate official suspects.

A police incident room is now in place in Leicester where up to 20 officers are said to be following up on requests from their Portuguese counterparts.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has also spoken to the Chief Constable of Leicestershire, Matt Baggott, twice in the past fortnight about developments in the case.

Our source said: "The police have assured the Home Secretary that the evidence the Portuguese police are gathering is legitimate and the investigation is progressing.

"The British police and the Portuguese are working very much hand in hand each day."

He added: "The Portuguese have told British police that Kate's diary shows she had trouble controlling the children. British officers are therefore being asked to look into Kate's background to see if she had any history of depression or if there are any signs she has struggled to cope with looking after her kids."

This has enraged the McCann family, who say Kate is a brilliant and calm mum.

The source said: "The police have also been asked to locate Kate and Gerry's medical records to see if there are any potential hereditary health conditions which would make it dangerous for Maddy to be given a sedative.

"Officers are being asked to check up on statements given by friends of the McCanns because they are not positive the timings they have been given are right. It is likely many friends will be asked to give new statements within the next few days."

The source explained: "Gerry has answered no comment to every question he has been asked and the view among the Portuguese Police is that he and Kate must respond to a number of unanswered questions."

Meanwhile, sources in Portugal agree the McCanns' friends, including Jane Tanner, also face a second round of questioning in the next few weeks.

Last night, Jane was reported to be at the top of the police reinterrogation list.

Detectives are said to have concluded that information she gave them about seeing a man running away from the McCanns' apartment with a pyjama-clad child in a blanket, was false.

The information formed the basis of a police e-fit. However, there is no suggestion the McCanns' friend was deliberately lying.

And last night John McCann defended his brother Gerry and sister-in-law in an interview with Portuguese weekly Expresso.

He said the McCanns and their friends drank only "four or five" bottles of wine the night Madeleine disappeared - not the 15 bottles previously reported.

news@sundaymirror.co.uk

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The senior Portuguese detective jointly in charge of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is set to face a criminal hearing into an alleged cover-up involving another missing girl.



Chief Inspector Goncalo Amaral has been accused of concealing evidence that the mother of eight-year-old Joana Cipriano, who disappeared in the Algarve three years ago, was tortured by police into confessing she had killed her daughter, whose body was never found.

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Police to quiz Maddie's mum's priest

Portuguese police reportedly want to question a priest to whom Kate McCann turned for assistance after the disappearance of her daughter Madeleine.

The Daily Mail reports that detectives will put pressure on Fr Jose Pacheco to break his Catholic vow of silence

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‘Inappropriate’ Maddy ribbons are taken down

HUNDREDS of ribbons of hope for missing Madeleine McCann have been removed from railings at the Town Church after calls from the public that they were no longer appropriate.

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Maddy judge: Let me speak

Lawyers plan to shoot down allegedly crucial evidence that sniffer dogs detected the "scent of death" on Kate McCann.

They will cite a similar case in America where a judge threw out evidence from a so-called cadaver dog in a murder case as no more reliable than "the flip of a coin".

Solicitors will use it to build a firm defence in the event that Kate and Gerry are charged over the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine, four, on May 3.

Back in Portugal, the investigation took a new turn yesterday as the judge reviewing the police evidence looked set to lift the lid on the case.

Judge Pedro Daniel dos Anjos Frias asked magistrates' permission to be able to "speak freely" about the probe into the McCanns.

It is thought that he will make a public statement within days if Portugal's Superior Magistrates Council allows him.

It raises the prospect that charges may be brought against the couple.

Yesterday Kate and Gerry, attending mass at their local church in Rothley, Leics, got a major boost when Sir Richard Branson, who has backed them from the start, pledged £100,000 to their legal fund. He also hopes to convince his rich friends to donate up to £1million.

Kate was grilled by Portuguese police after a British cadaver dog picked up a "scent of death" on items including her clothes and Madeleine's favourite soft toy Cuddle Cat.

The mum was reportedly shown a video of the springer spaniel "going crazy" when it went up to the Renault Scenic hired by the McCanns after Madeleine disappeared.

She was asked to explain why the dog had reacted in that way in the car and also in family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.

Her lawyers say the smell could have transferred to her clothes during her work as a GP when she comes into contact with dead bodies. They have spoken to lawyers for Eugene Zapata, currently on trial in Dane Country, Wisconsin, accused of murdering his wife 31 years ago.

Cadaver dogs picked up the "scent of death" when they searched his hire car, storage lockers, his homes and a landfill site.

But US Circuit judge Patrick Fielder ruled the evidence unreliable and therefore inadmissible in court.

The McCanns' legal team hope to use the judge's ruling to expose cracks in the Portuguese investigation.

A source said yesterday: "Any so-called evidence the police think they have against Kate and Gerry can be utterly explained.

"There are wholly innocent reasons for everything that the police may have found which gives them cause for suspicion."

Judge Frias's decision to speak openly about the investigation comes after the press badgered the court with letters asking for more information.

Under Portuguese law he will not be able to talk specifically about the evidence.

However he will be able to discuss the progress of the prosecution, legal matters surrounding the case and be far more frank about the level of police evidence.

The source said: "Kate and Gerry have nothing to hide and are making sure they are well equipped to defend themselves come what may. The more transparent and public the case is, the better it will be for all concerned."

The source revealed that the police only asked Kate about the sniffer dog during her interrogation.

She and Gerry, both 39, were not asked about the alleged discoveries of Madeleine's hair and DNA traces in the Renault but learned about them through leaks. Portuguese police are now drawing up a list of questions for them but they may be interviewed by British cops.

Police have contacted all those who used the Renault car after Madeleine vanished on May 3 and before her parents hired it 25 days later, a Portuguese newspaper claimed.

The McCanns yesterday released pictures of Kate's parents Brian and Sue Healy and Gerry's sister Trisha Cameron reading some of the 1,000 letters of support arriving daily.
Mirror

Madeleine: The case against the McCanns begins to crumble guardian

Kate and Gerry McCann send to US for help against evidence of sniffer dogs timesonline

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Ray of hope for Maddy parents
18/09/2007

A judge's decision to block police demands to return Kate and Gerry McCann to Portugal for further questioning is the clearest indication yet that the case against them is flawed.

Detectives - convinced the couple accidentally killed their four-year-old daughter Madeleine then disposed of her body - had been pinning their hopes on getting them back to face another grilling.

But Judge Pedro Daniel dos Anjos Frias raised the McCanns' hopes that the police's case, based on DNA samples from their hire car and holiday apartment, is falling apart. He turned down the police request and boosted the chances of no charges being brought against the couple.

The news came as the couple's new spokesman, former government spin doctor Clarence Mitchell, insisted they had nothing to do with Madeleine's disappearance. He said all the "evidence" in the police's 4,000-page dossier has "innocent explanations".

And the McCanns were also encouraged by news last night that Gordon Brown has developed a personal interest in the case.

Judge Frias now wants the couple to be quizzed by British police in their home town of Rothley, Leics.

The second round of interviews with Kate could come as early as next Tuesday.

Portuguese police were last night arranging for the official request documents to be sent to the UK. There is now expected to be a delay in the investigation as preparations are made.

A source said: "What normally happens is that it takes a few days, or even weeks, because quite often it is not possible to translate judicial terms and the letters return with requests of clarification." Leicestershire police will be sent a list of questions Portuguese authorities want cleared up. They are expected to ask Kate about 40 points she refused to answer during her 11-hour grilling in Portugal.

Portuguese detectives are understood to be keen to sit in on interviews as observers. But police sources said the likelihood of that was "very low".

Interviews could also be carried out with the seven British friends who were staying with the McCanns when Madeleine disappeared from the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz on May 3.

A spokesman for the couple said: "We have been in touch with our lawyers. They assure us we have had no requests to date for any further questioning, either from the Portuguese police or in the UK."

A British police source said it would be "unusual" for officers to carry out interviews for a foreign force but stressed "anything is possible" in a major inquiry.

Kate and Gerry, both 39, went jogging yesterday before meeting advisers at their home. Kate later went for a drive with two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

The couple have hired Mr Mitchell to spearhead the campaign to find Madeleine.

A former BBC journalist, he stunned bosses at the Central Office of Information by suddenly quitting his £70,000-a-year post as head of the Media Monitoring Unit.

Gerry was impressed with Mr Mitchell during a stint as their spokesman in Portugal during the summer.

He also accompanied the couple on trips to Rome, Berlin, Amsterdam and Morocco highlighting Madeleine's disappearance.

Gerry said: "We are delighted Clarence has returned to work with us. He did a great job supporting us during the weeks following Madeleine's disappearance.

"We appreciate his continuing support during this difficult time."

Mr Mitchell, 46, who lives in Bath, said last night: "They are an ordinary family caught up in extraordinary circumstances. I am utterly convinced they have nothing to do with the disappearance of their daughter.

"There are wholly innocent reasons for any of the so-called evidence the police may or may not have. They are happy to explain those at an appropriate point.

"But because of the legal situation they are constrained from commenting."

On his internet blog yesterday, Gerry thanked the public for all the cards and flowers that had flooded in since they returned home.

He said: "It means so much to us to know so many people have not been deceived by all the rumour, innuendo and the wild speculation.

"Most importantly the search for Madeleine carries on and our family have not given up hope that we will find her."

I do not think Kate and Gerry have anything to do with the disappearance of their beloved daughter. The Portuguese police are sick and have given up on the case. This is why they are now pointing the finger at the parents.

Mirror

Madeleine Cop 'Quits Over Slurs'

The official police spokesman in the Madeleine McCann inquiry has reportedly quit the case.

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Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa is said to have quit in disgust at the way the missing girl's parents have been treated by his men.

Sky sources said Portuguese police had given their counterparts in the UK 40 questions they want the couple to answer.

SkyNews

MADELEINE: POLICE CASE FALLS APART

THE case against Madeleine McCann’s parents was on the verge of collapse last night after Portuguese police were refused permission to re-interview them.

The investigating judge, who is examining 4,000 pages of evidence, has ruled that any further interrogation should take place in the UK. The dramatic move, which means Kate and Gerry will not be forced to return to Portugal immediately, has led to speculation that the case against them is about to be thrown out.

But the slurs go on, with reports that police are looking at Kate’s medical records. They believe she took sedatives as a result of depression while she struggled to control Madeleine.

Yet in Britain an expert rejected suggestions fatal traces of the sedatives could have been discovered in Madeleine’s hair or in specks of her blood. Allan Jamieson, one of the UK’s top DNA specialists, said it was impossible to tell the concentration of a drug from a dried blood spot.

Speaking on the Tonight With Trevor McDonald programme, he also dismissed the suggestion that it would be possible to tell if a person had taken sedatives by examining a sample of their hair.

DailyExpress

McCanns' DNA dossier to demolish Portuguese police's 'pathetic' evidence 19/09/07
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