Gerry 100% sure of Kate’s innocence

THE father of missing Madeleine McCann said yesterday he was “100% confident” his wife had nothing to do with her disappearance.

Gerry McCann used his blog on the official Find Madeleine website to speak of the “unending nightmare” of the past week.

He and his wife Kate were declared official suspects by detectives in the case before making the agonising journey back to Britain with their two-year-old twins.

Family friends have said the couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, fear they could be charged over their daughter’s death.

The pressure on them intensified yesterday following unconfirmed reports a sample taken from the boot of the McCanns’ hire car is a “99% match” for the missing girl’s DNA.

Portuguese police handed their file on the case to the public prosecutor yesterday for him to consider whether to bring charges against the couple.

Mr McCann wrote in an emotionally charged blog entry: “We always hoped that we would not have to return without Madeleine and could never have imagined the possibility that we would do so as suspects in our own daughter’s disappearance.

“The pain and turmoil we have experienced in this last week is totally beyond description.

“Kate and I are totally 100% confident in each other’s innocence, and our family and friends have rallied round unflinchingly to support us.”

Since setting up the findmadeleine.com website, Mr McCann has regularly used his blog to hit back at criticism of the couple.

He wrote that he could not comment on any details of the investigation, police interviews or the evidence that detectives put to them.

“Despite the anguish and extreme distress this has caused all of our family, long term no one will be able to doubt how intensely Kate and I have been scrutinised,” he wrote.

“We have absolute confidence that, when all of the facts are presented together, we will be able to demonstrate that we played absolutely no part in Madeleine’s abduction.

“Our primary concern has always been the search for Madeleine and this aspect, that our daughter is still missing, must remain a priority.”

On a positive note, the couple’s twins Sean and Amelie have “settled straight back in” to life in Britain, he said.

Mr McCann continued: “We have had numerous visitors with friends and those in official capacities.

“We have appointed solicitors to advise us and assist our Portuguese lawyer in preparing our defence against any possible charges.

“The sooner this is done, the sooner we can concentrate fully on trying to find Madeleine, which is the most important thing.”

Portuguese detectives appear to be working on a theory that Ms McCann killed her daughter by accident and covered up the death by claiming she was abducted.

Forensic test results received in recent weeks have reportedly boosted this hypothesis.

Portuguese newspapers have suggested she could face charges of homicide by negligence and concealing Madeleine’s corpse.

Mr McCann’s alleged role is not clear, but sources said police believe he might have been an accessory to the killing.

Police are planning fresh searches in Praia da Luz, including digging around the village church of Nossa Senhora da Luz, according to the Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias.

Mr Sousa refused to confirm or deny the report, and there was no sign of searches at the church yesterday.

Mr and Ms McCann faced fresh distress on Monday after social services held talks with police about Sean and Amelie.

It has been reported that tests returned from the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham on a specimen taken from the McCanns’ Renault Scenic showed it was a full match for Madeleine’s DNA.

The results appear to prove the girl’s body was in the boot of the car, which was not hired until 25 days after she went missing.

But Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, spokesman for the police investigation, denied the report to Portuguese journalists.

Mr and Ms McCann are being advised by Michael Caplan and Angus McBride, from London legal firm Kingsley Napley.

A family friend said they were advising the McCanns on “more than just extradition” but would not elaborate.

Grandmother’s heartache

THE grandmother of missing Madeline McCann has said the situation has been “horrendous” in recent days.

Eileen McCann, who owns a pub in St Johnston on the Donegal border, said she was completely behind her son Gerry and his wife Kate, who have been declared official suspects in their four-year-old daughter’s disappearance in Portugal.

Ms McCann said the support from people living in the Derry and Donegal areas has been a comfort to the family.

“I have got loads of friends in St Johnston, very, very good friends,” she said.

“We always keep in touch and we are always there for one another. All the people in St Johnston who know me since we’ve been living there and my children... they know my children wouldn’t do anything that is wrong.”