Madeline McCann Case Given to Portuguese Prosecutor

[waichingliu81]

Portuguese police hand Madeleine case to prosecutor
Reuters
By Henrique Almeida Reuters - Monday, September 10 01:35 pm

LISBON/ROTHLEY (Reuters) - Portuguese police said they would hand evidence against the parents of missing 4-year-old Madeleine McCann on Monday to the public prosecutor, who would decide whether to charge them.

Gerry and Kate McCann returned to Britain on Sunday after police named them as suspects last week.

"The papers are being prepared and will be handed over to the public prosecutor today," Portuguese police spokesman Olegario de Sousa told Reuters on Monday.

He would not discuss details of the evidence, in accordance with Portugal's secrecy laws in criminal investigations.

"The prosecutor will then have to decide whether he has enough evidence to charge the McCanns or whether the police need to carry out more inquiries or gather more evidence," he said.

If the prosecutor decides there is sufficient evidence to charge the McCanns with involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, he could ask that the couple return to Portugal and possibly then order their arrest.

The prosecutor could also decide there is insufficient evidence to do anything and may ask police investigators to find more evidence.

MCCANNS WILLING TO RETURN

Gerry and Kate McCann, both 39, returned to Britain on Sunday four months after Madeleine went missing while on holiday in the Algarve.

The couple have consulted lawyers in Britain after the Portuguese police declared them formal suspects on Friday, she added. Detectives questioned the couple for hours but did not charge them.

Police changed their line of inquiry after receiving partial results of forensic tests on evidence collected from various sites including the holiday apartment from which Madeleine vanished on May 3.

Kate McCann told a Sunday newspaper detectives pressured her to confess to having accidentally killed her daughter.

"They want me to lie. I am being framed," she was quoted as saying in the Sunday Mirror. "They are basically saying, 'If you confess Madeleine had an accident and that I panicked ... I'd get two or three years' suspended sentence.' It is ridiculous. The worst nightmare."

The couple are at home in the village of Rothley, Leicestershire, with crowds of journalists camped outside.

However, they are ready to face more questioning in Portugal and will fly back from time to time regardless of the police investigation, Madeleine's aunt Philomena McCann said.

"They absolutely will co-operate with the police," she added. "They are more than prepared to undergo more questioning.

"It is their intention, regardless of whether they are asked ... to return at regular intervals to try and put pressure on the Portuguese police to change the direction of the investigation to look for Madeleine alive."

She told the BBC: "The Portuguese have turned this investigation round and they are no longer looking for a live child; they are assuming on spurious evidence that Madeleine is now dead.

"We don't agree with that in any shape or form. We want the investigation changed round to look for Madeleine alive, as we reckon she is."

(Additional reporting by Darren Staples and Kate Kelland)

kate: "They are basically saying, 'If you confess Madeleine had an accident and that I panicked ... I'd get two or three years' suspended sentence.' It is ridiculous. The worst nightmare."

ridiculous? oh please . of course they should be charged. any parent regardless of their class status who selfishly and stupidly neglects their own children should face the consequences. it happens to low income family couples more than rich ones, and yet why one rule for the rich? the mccanns are a deluded bunch, if their shameful behaviour by means of parading themselves in front of the world's media is anything to go by.

this couple are a disgrace

[coffield3]

I cant wait till this case gets sorted, for poor maddy. I cannot believe the parents have returned home with their child "still missing" over there. They seem to calm for the situation.

[waichingliu81]

Originally Posted by coffield3

I cant wait till this case gets sorted, for poor maddy. I cannot believe the parents have returned home with their child "still missing" over there. They seem to calm for the situation.

i think that people, not just in the uk but around the world want to see justice done. btw Coff, did you give money to the fund? because i didn't give them one penny seeing as they are already using the funds to fight the charges made against them by the portugese police

[coffield3]

No i didnt give to funds.

[Ireneparalegal]

My understanding is that they are not allowed to touch the funds since they are now considered suspects in the case.

[waichingliu81]

Originally Posted by coffield3

No i didnt give to funds.

good to hear that

[waichingliu81]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

My understanding is that they are not allowed to touch the funds since they are now considered suspects in the case.

but i have this sneaking suspicion irene that kate and gerry mccann will resort to this action as the pressure of this case takes a toll on them and besides, if and when it goes to court i doubt they'll use the wages they've earned as doctors to fight these charges. there was and is a reason that fund was set up and anyway, what use is money in relation to finding a missing child- a child of whom these idiots abandoned and yet of whom were stupid and naive enough not to hire a babysitter to look after their children?

it is not normal that when a child goes missing, the parents or the family would set up a fund in the name of their son or daughter and ask people to donate money to that fund, is it?