McCanns could face Madeleine neglect charge

The parents of Madeleine McCann could face charges of neglecting their daughter on the night she disappeared, it has emerged.

The first official confirmation that the couple could face “abandonment” charges came in court documents revealing the areas Portuguese investigators are considering and published on The Times’ website.

The police inquiry also covers possible abduction, homicide and concealment of a corpse, the documents say.

Clarence Mitchell, the couple’s spokesman, emphasised the court papers did not mean such a charge would materialise.

He said the couple vigorously denied neglecting Madeleine and welcomed the fact that abduction was also being considered by detectives.

He said: “This court document outlines the areas of the investigation and in no way suggests Kate and Gerry will be facing any such charges.

“Equally we have heard nothing officially to suggest any such area of investigation is being considered.

“However we do note that abduction is apparently one of the parameters and we welcome that because that is what Kate and Gerry and their friends have said and that is what happened.

“If there is any suggestion of neglect charges being considered that will be vigorously denied because the legal advice that Kate and Gerry have received both in Portugal and Britain is that legally speaking everything they were doing that week was well within the bounds of responsible parenting.”

A neglect charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years. But it is understood for such a charge to stand up the prosecutors would have to show the McCanns intended to neglect Madeleine.

The youngster disappeared from the couple’s holiday apartment in Praia de Luz on May 3 last year while they dined with friends a short distance away.

Members of their group would return to the apartment at regular intervals to check on Madeleine and her twin siblings.

The youngster’s fifth birthday was on May 12.

The court documents also reveal the public prosecutor sought access to text and phone messages from 10 mobile telephones thought to belong to the McCanns and seven of their friends.

Investigators also wanted to see the content of 18 text messages allegedly sent to Mr McCann from an unidentified number, 14 on May 2 and four more on May 4.

The documents are part of the appeal made by prosecutor Magalhaes e Meneses after a court refused him access to the content of the group’s telephone messages, The Times reported.

Mr Meneses also asked for a full list of all the call made between members of the McCann’s holidaying group from when they arrived in Portugal on April 28 and when the McCann’s left on September 9.

The Supreme Court has rejected the prosecutor’s appeal against the ruling and the documents set out its reasons, The Times said.

Mr Mitchell told the paper Mr McCann had no knowledge of the texts referred to and received a handful of calls on his mobile in the days before his daughter disappeared.