The parents of Madeleine McCann felt compelled to make an impassioned declaration of their innocence yesterday, as they returned to Britain under a darkening cloud of suspicion.

“We have played no part in the disappearance of our lovely daughter, Madeleine,” Gerry McCann said moments after stepping off a flight from Portugal.

The thrust of the Portuguese police inquiry, which seemed to have floundered for months, is now that Mr and Mrs McCann have killed their daughter and hidden her body. It is thought that forensic material taken from the floor of Madeleine’s bedroom and the boot of a hire car suggests that she had suffered harm.

The couple stood side by side, cradling their twins, Sean and Amelie, as Mr McCann described the police’s focus on them as “deeply disturbing”. They are prohibited from discussing details of the investigation after being classified as official suspects.

Portuguese newspapers reported that the McCanns had refused to answer 40 questions that were put to them by detectives during lengthy interviews last week. The couple apparently feared that they could wrongly implicate themselves if they did so.

Mr and Mrs McCann planned to return home at some point this week. They decided on Saturday evening to fly home immediately, after being given permission, in an attempt to restore a sense of normal family life for their twins.

“They had been in discussions with the authorities on Saturday to talk about coming home,” a friend said. “They are not running away.

“It’s a change of location. They are very keen to help the police and, if they are needed back for questioning, they will come back.”

Mr and Mrs McCann yesterday consulted Michael Caplan, QC, an expert in international criminal law who prevented the extradition of General Pinochet, the former President of Chile, to Spain. They also spoke to Angus McBride, another partner in the international law firm Kingsley Napley.

A friend of the family said: “They have met with them to obtain further advice on their return to the UK. It is envisaged their role will be to provide UK legal advice and to assist and liaise with their lawyers.”

Mr and Mrs McCann, who are both doctors, face a lengthy period of uncertainty, with Portuguese law allowing police up to a year to conclude their investigation after classifying someone as a suspect.

The new direction of the inquiry into Madeleine’s disappearance and suspected death is being shaped largely by the results of scientific tests conducted by the British Forensic Science Service. Experts at the FSS laboratories are examining DNA material recovered from the McCanns’ holiday apartment and a hire car that they rented weeks after Madeleine went missing on May 3.

Results of those tests are being communicated to the Portuguese authorities by Leicestershire Police, which has a team of officers working on the case. Scientific analysis of the material is expected to continue for several weeks.

The McCanns were given permission to return to their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, on Saturday and booked their flights on the Internet. The lease on their villa in Praia da Luz was due to expire tomorrow.

The return journey was something they have said repeatedly that they were dreading, their greatest fear being that, having gone on their holiday as a family of five, they would have to return to Britain as a family of four. Mrs McCann was said to have wept on the flight back to Britain.

The family’s journey generated huge international media coverage. As dawn broke yesterday, about 70 reporters, cameramen and television film crews gathered outside the family’s rented villa. Just after 7am the family emerged to begin the hour-long journey to Faro airport. They travelled in the Renault Scenic hire car that they have continued to drive despite police claims that it has yielded significant scientific evidence.

The McCanns intend to retain the car, storing it at Faro airport, and may commission their own forensic examination of the vehicle in due course.

With the family out of the country and classified as suspects, there was speculation that the Portuguese police would be able to wind down the case. During questioning last week, Mrs McCann had said that she was being framed, adding: “Police don’t want a murder in Portugal and all the publicity about them not having paedophile laws here, so they’re blaming us.”

(Published by Times Online, September 10, 2007)

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