British police 'preparing to seek McCann possessions'

Speculation is mounting today that prosecutors in the Madeleine McCann case want to secure more items from the family as they continue to hunt for evidence against them.

There are claims that British police are preparing to seek possessions from Kate and Gerry McCann, on behalf of the Portuguese authorities, though the force in their home county, Leicestershire, England said last night it was not aware of any such request.

Sources close to the investigation said yesterday that police want to examine Mrs McCann’s private diary for clues.

Detectives have passed their 4,000-page dossier of evidence against the couple to Algarve-based public prosecutor Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses.

He immediately ordered that the 10 lever-arch files should go before a criminal instructional judge, understood to be Pedro Daniel dos Anjos Frias.

Reports in Portugal said the prosecutor had made a number of requests of the judge, among them that he approve the seizure of the diary.

One newspaper reported that the authorities took it last week, along with correspondence belonging to the McCanns.

The judge is being asked to approve seizure of the documents retrospectively to comply with laws prohibiting “abusive interference in their private lives”, the Jornal de Noticias said.

The diary will help police “understand the couple’s habits” and supply clues to the investigation, the paper reported.

Police also intend to seize some of Madeleine’s toys for forensic analysis, according to another newspaper.

Among them will be Cuddle Cat, a pink stuffed animal which Mrs McCann has been seen clutching almost continuously since the young girl went missing, the Diario de Noticias said.

Mr McCann’s sister, Philomena McCann, said the possibility that police might seize the toy was a “disgrace”.

“It would be extremely distressing for Kate because she has seen it as a symbol of her daughter since she went missing,” she added.

Family spokesman David Hughes could not confirm the report, but said he believed Cuddle Cat had already undergone forensic testing.

The McCanns announced yesterday that they would not use money raised for the fund to find Madeleine to pay for their legal defence.

They are facing the prospect of being charged over their daughter’s disappearance after police named them as “arguidos”, or formal suspects, during questioning last Friday.

In response the couple have appointed top lawyers in Portugal and Britain.

Donations totalling more than €1.5m have so far been received for Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned, according to the official campaign website.

The fund – which for legal reasons is not a charity – has four objectives, one of which is to “provide support, including financial assistance, to Madeleine’s family”.

There was controversy about whether or not Mr and Mrs McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, would use money from the fund to pay their legal costs after it became clear they were under suspicion.

Mr Hughes said: “Gerry and Kate’s view is that if they take money from the fund it might be that 90% of people who made donations aren’t bothered about it. But if 10% of people are bothered about it, they don’t want to upset them.

“They want to take the controversy out of the situation.”

In a statement yesterday evening, the fund announced it would not pay the couple’s legal fees, although it stressed “Gerry and Kate have not asked for those costs to be paid”.

It could take the judge weeks to go through the massive dossier of evidence against the McCanns, who returned to Britain on Sunday, a family friend said yesterday.

Citing a number of legal sources, the friend said the family had been advised that in submitting the papers to the judge, the prosecutor was probably either seeking further guidance or applying for the authority to carry out more searches.

There is widespread speculation about the contents of the files the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) – Portugal's CID – formally passed to the prosecutor on Tuesday.

Intense attention has focused on what police found in the hire car rented by Madeleine’s parents 25 days after she went missing.

Senior sources linked to the investigation told Portuguese journalists that they discovered “bodily fluids” – not blood – with an 88% match to Madeleine’s genetic profile in the boot.

Police also found so much of the girl’s hair in the car that it could not have been transferred from a blanket or clothes, and must have come directly from her body, one source said.

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

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 the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, where Madeleine went missing 132 days ago, including digging around the village church of Nossa Senhora da Luz, according to Portuguese newspapers.

The prosecutor is said to want to seize Mr McCann’s white laptop computer, which he used to write his blog on the findmadeleine.com website, sources told Portuguese journalists.

Meanwhile, the hire car, a silver Renault Scenic, is being kept in a “safe place” in Portugal while they look into having their own forensic tests carried out on it, a family friend said.