MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

DAILY MIRROR front page: “YOU’RE STILL PRIME SUSPECTS – McCanns’ fury at police chief warning”

“Kate and Gerry McCann were furious last night after learning they are still prime suspects in daughter Madeleine’s disappearance”

It is now the 105th time Kate and Gerry have reacted with fury of been furious in a tabloid setting

“The couple’s hopes of being cleared today were crushed when police chief Paulo Rebelo asked a judge to extend their arguido status because detectives are sticking to their belief that they accidentally killed the four-year-old”

This was predictable. Robert Murat also remains a suspect

Says McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell: “They are frustrated and angry. Frustrated because, yet again, there appears to be no movement in the case when they know they are innocent. They will continue to push for their arguido status to be lifted”

The Correio da Manha newspaper “claimed Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, could be charged with perjury and wasting police time”
But don’t the police waste enough of that themselves?

“They have been warned by their legal team they may have to go to the European Court of Human Rights to get their arguido status lifted”

Human rights? What of Madeleine’s rights?

DAILY EXPRESS front page: “MADELEINE - McCANNS ARE MAIN SUSPECTS SAY POLICE”

“Kate and Gerry McCann were dealt a crushing blow last night when a police report accused them of killing their daughter Madeleine”

Says a friend: “They are not the prime suspects. As we understand it, the report talks about the police’s continued belief that Madeleine died accidentally in the apartment and that is why Kate and Gerry remain arguidos. It also talks about Robert Murat remaining an arguido and it discusses the possibility of her being abducted. Well, they can’t have it both ways”

No..?

Says Clarence Mitchell: “Throughout 2007 we have declined to comment on speculation in the Portuguese press. We will follow the same policy in 2008. If this report is true, however, and this interim police report exists, then we believe it contains nothing new. It is simply a restatement of the current position of the police. And we note that it not only discusses Kate and Gerry as arguidos, but also continues to name Mr Murat as an arguido. Crucially it also accepts the possibility that abduction took place”

The green shoots of hope…

THE SUN front page: “McCANN AGONY GOES ON – 246 after Maddie vanished, cops name Kate and Gerry as…PRIME SUSPECTS”

“ANGUISHED Kate and Gerry McCann are facing up to living as suspects over their daughter’s disappearance for another TWENTY years, it emerged yesterday”

Maybe…

Kate and Gerry are “both 39-year-old doctors”

Fact!

DAILY MAIL: “Police ’still think McCanns killed Madeleine by accident’ - and they will be suspects for 20 years”

“A secret police dossier has accused Kate and Gerry McCann of accidentally killing their daughter and hiding her body, it was claimed yesterday. The couple faked four-year-old Madeleine’s abduction, according to a leaked report on the eight-month police investigation”

Lawyer Edward Smethurst, who is co-ordinating the McCanns’ defence, says: “Any report about the leaked document we believe is completely without substance. We think it arises out of pure speculation on the part of the Portuguese papers”

Kate and Gerry McCann are “doctors”

THE SCOTSMAN: “Madeleine’s parents could be under suspicion for 20 years, says judge”

“The prospect of the case dragging on for years was reinforced yesterday by the president of the National Union of Portuguese Judges, Antonio Martins, who said: ‘No-one knows what type of crime was committed. If it was homicide, the investigation can only be shelved after 20 years; if it was kidnap, 15 years’”

On we go…

THE OBSERVER: “After a year in which the torment of Madeleine McCann’s family has dominated the British media, the trials of the Lees - and the hope the new image has given them - seem particularly acute”

The story: “Katrice disappeared on her second birthday from a supermarket in Germany, where her father was serving as a soldier. Her mother turned away for a few moments to fetch a pack of crisps for the girl’s party and when she looked back Katrice was gone”

Twenty six years ago…

FOX NEWS: “Missing Madeleine McCann: Irish Witness ‘Clears’ Murat”

Says Martin Smith, who was on holiday in Praia da Luz: “I told police it was definitely not him because the man wasn’t as big as Murat - I think I would have recognised him because I’d met him several times previously. He was wearing beige trousers and a darker top. We all put him in his early 40s and I didn’t think he was Portuguese”

The Speculation Commented Upon

Posted: 4th, January 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann. Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0