I SAW MAN CARRYING MADDY
McCann friend's guilt at 'not noticing' abduction
A WOMAN who believes she saw Madeleine McCann being carried away was racked with guilt last night.
Thinking the tot was the man's own child, the friend of parents Gerry and Kate made no attempt to stop him.
A source said: "The family believe this was Madeleine being taken. The woman feels dreadful guilt that she was the last person to see her and didn't do anything. But the family do not blame her."
Yesterday it was claimed child porn was found on the computer of the only suspect in the case, Briton Robert Murat, 33. The witness was on her way to join Gerry and Kate McCann for dinner near their apartment in Praia da Luz at about 9.30pm on May 3 when she saw the suspect.
He was hurrying away from the area clasping a child wearing pink pyjamas similar to those worn by Madeleine, then three.
The man was white, of medium build, aged 35 to 40 and 5ft 10ins. He wore a blue jacket and beige trousers. Our source said: "The woman thought it was odd but believed it was the man's own child. He was walking urgently, neither running or walking slowly."
Dismissing the thought, the witness went on to dinner. Earlier the McCanns had regularly checked Madeleine and twins Sean and Amelie, two, sleeping in their nearby room.
But at 10pm Kate, 38, discovered Madeleine was missing and frantically raised the alarm.
The friend instantly realised what she had seen and within hours had given a statement and description to the authorities.
But astonishingly the significance of her sighting was apparently missed. The source said: "Officers who took the description did not seem interested. They just seemed to have filed it away.
"The woman returned to the UK where police said she was the principal witness."
Because of Portuguese laws which forbid the release of details of an investigation, the sighting could not be publicised.
It was not until Saturday - 22 days after Madeleine vanished - that a description of the suspect was issued after the probable intervention of Chancellor Gordon Brown. Since then it has generated hundreds of calls to police. Already there have been reports of a possible second sighting of a man carrying a child in Praia Da Luz that night.
Desperate to have the details released Gerry, 38, had held talks with Mr Brown.
The two fathers, both Scots, were said to have had an "instant connection". Mr Brown lost daughter Jennifer Jane who was born prematurely in January 2002.
Heart specialist Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, told the Chancellor in detail of the couple's frustrations about the slow-moving Portuguese investigation. In particular, he stressed their concern that their friend's sighting had not been made public.
In days the Portuguese authorities had made a remarkable U-turn. Kate, still holding Madeleine's pink Cuddle Cat, yesterday urged the public to come forward.
She said: "Was this man seen anywhere else in or near the town with a child, or what appeared to be a child? Which direction was he heading in? Did he have a vehicle?"
A spokesman for the McCanns said: "I can confirm that telephone conversations have taken place between Gerry McCann and Chancellor Gordon Brown.
"During them, Mr Brown offered both Gerry and Kate his full support in their efforts to find Madeleine, although details of the conversations will remain private.
"The talks took place against the background of the Chancellor's earlier offer to help when he met and spoke to other members of the McCann family in the UK."
The Treasury refused to confirm that Mr Brown had personally intervened to get the Portuguese police to change their minds.
guardian
