Breaking News - McCanns return to the UK

jimd2

The parents of Madeline have returned and Gerry made a statement. His voice was breaking up as you could imagine.

What a nightmare for a family to go through. I would say that the next time they go for a family holiday that there is one country that wont be on the list.

Wonder how long it will be until they feel up to going back to work.Their profession being that they are doctors will make that a bit more difficult.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6985454.stm


Madeleine parents back in Britain
Madeleine McCann's parents are back in the UK, after leaving Portugal saying they had "played no part in the disappearance" of their daughter.
Kate and Gerry McCann, both 39, have been named as formal suspects over the four-year-old's disappearance in May.

Speaking at East Midlands Airport, Mr McCann said they had returned to the UK for the sake of their twins and asked for their privacy to be respected.

In newspaper interviews, they also said police were trying to frame them.

'Ordinary life'

Madeleine went missing from the family's holiday apartment on 3 May.


The Portuguese police have the objective of solving this crime
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith

Family spokeswoman Justine McGuinness said the McCanns had left Portugal with the full consent of the Portuguese police.

"They are returning to Britain after careful thought. They wish to reintroduce the twins as much as possible to ordinary life," she said.

"Their heartfelt plea is that the search for Madeleine should continue and people remain vigilant."

A police cordon had been set up to allow their silver Renault Scenic to drive through the media camped at the foot of the drive way to their villa as they left for the airport.

The BBC's Richard Bilton, in Portugal, said they were then "vigorously pursued" by reporters up to, and through the airport to a plane filled with journalists.

At East Midlands Airport, police and security have been stepped up and are limiting the numbers of press that will greet the couple.

Their decision to leave Portugal came after a dramatic turn of events in the case.

Test results

The McCanns had planned to leave this weekend, but that was put off after they were named as suspects, or "arguidos", by Portuguese police - a move which allows detectives to ask them certain questions, and also gives them the right to remain silent.


ARGUIDO/ARGUIDA STATUS
Officially a suspect
Bestowed by police or requested by individual
Right to remain silent
Right to a lawyer
Must report to police every five days

Early on Sunday they decided to stick to their original plan, but they could be asked to return to Portugal at a later date for further questioning.

As formal suspects - a status they may hold for eight to 10 months - the McCanns would be obliged to comply.

No bail conditions, travel restrictions or charges have been imposed on the couple, who had been questioned separately for more than 24 hours.

Police in Portugal are now waiting for the results of tests being carried out on forensic evidence by the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham.

'Pressure to confess'

During an 11-hour interview, detectives suggested to Mrs McCann that traces of Madeleine's blood were found in the family's hire car.


The family say this is impossible as they did not rent the vehicle until 25 days after Madeleine disappeared.

Mrs McCann told the Sunday Mirror that during the interview, Portuguese police put her under pressure to confess that she killed her daughter by accident.

She said that police "want me to lie - I'm being framed".

Speaking on Friday, before she was made an arguida, she added: "Police don't want a murder in Portugal and all the publicity about them not having paedophile laws here, so they're blaming us."

'Worst nightmare'

Her husband Gerry told the News of the World that Portuguese officers were looking for a quick end to the case and were exploiting apparent discrepancies in the couple's account of what happened.

He said: "In a system that you don't know and don't really trust it's incredibly frightening."

Mr McCann said he and his wife had thought they were "in our worst nightmare but now it just keeps getting worse and worse".

Due to legal restrictions on police under Portuguese law, they are unable to respond to the claims made by the McCanns.

However, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said she is satisfied with the way Portuguese police have conducted the investigation.

She said she was "clear that the Portuguese police have the objective of solving this crime".

"This is a difficult situation, it's an ongoing investigation but I'm confident that we share the objective of finding Madeleine and that's the most important thing," she told BBC One's Sunday AM.

The UK would continue to provide specialist forensic help as well as supporting the family, she added.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/6985454.stm

Published: 2007/09/09 11:34:26 GMT

© BBC MMVII

Huggles

UGH there is a specific thread for this.

yayamark

i couldnt care less about the mccanns this is a media driven excercise and im not taking part. let them get on with their own private lives and everyone else get on with theirs.

mike65

i couldnt care less about the mccanns this is a media driven excercise and im not taking part. let them get on with their own private lives and everyone else get on with theirs.

+1 actualy plus +100000000000

Mike.

Terry

Here's a small tip for you before you start another thread.

Have a look around. See if there are any other threads on the same subject before you post.

Now this may come as a surprise to you, but quite a few people here have been following this story intently. So much so that a few threads were merged into one big thread. and it's on the first page of this forum too.
See if you can find it.
Here's a clue. It has the name "McCann" in the title.