Gerry McCann: 'I wish I'd stayed with Madeleine'

Madeleine McCann’s father told an American magazine how the world turned “all black” in the days following his daughter’s disappearance.

In an in-depth interview with Vanity Fair, Gerry McCann recalled wishing he had spent “five minutes longer” when he went to check on Madeleine and her young brother and sister.

He told contributing editor Judy Bachrach: “I wish I hadn’t gone to the tapas bar. I wish I’d stayed in the apartment that night. I wish I’d stayed in the room when I checked on her five minutes longer.”

He added the world became “all black, with maybe tiny points of light.”

Mr McCann also spoke about the many theories surrounding the youngster’s disappearance which have circulated in the media.

He said: “Kate killed her in frenzy, Madeleine was sedated by us, she fell down the stairs – in which case you would have thought they’d have found her body. I’ve heard all that!

“There have been a huge number of theories in the media. But what I want to know is – who told them all that?”

The piece also carries a comment from Jon Corner, a family friend.

He said he was with Kate McCann in Portugal in August and she had told him she wished she could “roll back time” to the day before the abduction.

He said Mrs McCann had told him: “I would slow down time. I would get a really good look around and have a really good think. And I’d think: Where are you? Who are you? Who is secretly watching my family? Because someone was watching my family very, very carefully. And taking notes.”

Ms Bachrach also spoke to Robert Murat, the other official suspect in the investigation besides the McCanns.

He told the magazine: “All I can say is that I am innocent. There is no way I was at the resort that night. Full stop. I was in my mother’s kitchen until 1am. Yes, we are a kitchen kind of family. I spent the night at the house.”