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

SUNDAY EXPRESS (front page): “MADELEINE – News call for Scotland Yard probe”
Are Scotland Yard for hire? Benazir Bhutto. And McCann? Have the discovered who killed Rhys Jones yet?

“Retired Chief Superintendent Dai Davies, former head of the Yard’s Royal Protection unit, says that if the Yard can send detectives to probe the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, then they should also fly to Portugal to try and solve the Madeleine mystery”

He says:

“The Portuguese investigation has quite simply not solved the crime and it is now looking increasingly likely that it will be shelved. I would suggest that this is the time to call on the Yard to take the lead and to get them to form a team of detectives to work on the case”

Retired copper suggests his old boys are the best – Read all about it!

GLASGOW SUNDAY MAIL: “Police Ready To Clear McCanns Over Maddie”

“Police in Portugal are set to clear Kate and Gerry McCann as suspects, it was claimed last night”

A fact claimed by “insiders” who say “officers did not have a shred of evidence against the 39-year-old couple”

The McCanns’ spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, says: “This report is extremely encouraging”

SUNDAY PEOPLE: “Kate and Gerry ‘in the clear’”

“Police do not have a shred of evidence against Gerry and Kate McCann and they are set to be cleared as suspects, it was claimed yesterday. The couple’s status as ‘arguidos’ in the case of missing daughter Maddie, four, will be lifted unless they make ‘screaming contradictions’ in a new police quiz, said Portugal paper Expresso”

How does Expresso know? The paper does not say

SUNDAY MIRROR: “McCann cops: No evidence”

“A review of the case by homicide experts from the Judicial Police has turned up no proof that Kate and Gerry McCann played a part in four-year-old Madeleine’s disappearance.

“Attorney General Fernando Pinto Montiero told respected Portuguese newspaper Expresso: ‘The couple’s legal status will be considered at the appropriate moment, depending on various elements still to be obtained’”

Says Expresso: “They will only remain arguidos (suspects) if there are screaming contradictions revealed in the answers to the letters sent to England”

DAILY STAR ON SUNDAY: “MCCANNS TO BE CLEARED”

“Last night the McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the sooner they are questioned the better”

He says: “There won’t be any screaming contradictions and hopefully the emphasis can then be put on finding Madeleine, who we believe is still alive”

Says the paper: “Legal letters outlining the 40 questions are to be sent to the Home Office this week. Interviews are then likely to be carried out by detectives from Leicestershire police, the McCanns’ local force”

Says Gerry McCann’s brother John McCann: “Any sensible person realises Madeleine was abducted. We didn’t anticipate being in this position after nine months”

THE SUNDAY TIMES: “Madeleine McCann and Metodo 3: Private eyes, public lies”

“Paid £50,000 a month to find Madeleine McCann, the Spanish detective Francisco Marco said he hoped to have her home for Christmas. He issued this photofit of a suspect last month; it set off a media frenzy, but Portuguese police say it has ‘no credibility’. Christine Toomey turns the tables on a private eye who is anything but…

An interview with Francisco Marco. His company is being paid £50,000 a month by the McCann’s fighting fund

“We won’t answer any questions about Maddie. Maddie is off limits – is that understood?” Marco’s cousin Jose Luis, another of the agency’s employees, warns me sternly”

But they are not the police. What can they not talk about the big case? It was Mr Franciso who told he’d find Madeleine by Christmas – last Christmas

“I cannot ask him to clarify what he did say, or whether talking about an ongoing investigation is potentially detrimental. Instead, I am left to discuss the matter with a handful of other private detective agencies in Barcelona, the private-eye capital of Spain. What they tell me is disturbing”

Marco walks in. Does he bring his Maddy dolly? And:

“Marco slaps on the table a 144-page pre-prepared dossier of articles written in the Spanish press about himself and M-3. He goes on to list some of those in the city he says I have already been speaking to about his company. Had my movements been monitored? If so, why would a private detective agency be interested in this at a time when they were supposed to be tirelessly searching for the most famous missing child in the world?”

Fame.

“In most of the many pictures of himself included in the material he hands me”
Metodo 3 is the most famous private detective agency in Europe

“He seems eager to please. He summons a female assistant on several occasions to bring me material, including a book he has recently written, to illustrate what he is talking about. Even when I make it clear this is not necessary – aware that these distractions eat into the time we have to talk – he insists, partly showing off”

Then:

“When I ask about his background, Marco summons her [secretary] to photocopy the first pages of his doctoral thesis on private investigation: he has a master’s degree and a PhD in penal law”

DAILY TELEGRAPH: “McCanns to be cleared as no evidence found”

Attorney General Fernando Pinto Montiero told Expresso: “The couple’s legal status will be considered at the appropriate moment, depending on various elements still to be obtained.”

Madeleine McCann: Money. Speculation. Sensation. A child is missing…

Posted: 10th, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann. Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0