McCanns
McCanns could face charges over security firm
Kate and Gerry McCann could face criminal charges for using a private security company to investigate the disappearance of their daughter, a senior Portuguese judge has said.
The couple have been secretly receiving advice for more than four months from Control Risks Group, which employs former members of the British intelligence services and special forces.
News of the investigators’ role has led to deep concern amongst the authorities in Portugal, where it is illegal for private detectives to become involved in criminal cases.
A source close to the McCann’s legal team has confirmed the involvement of Control Risks Group but insisted it is simply providing advice on the hunt for Madeleine rather than becoming actively involved in searches in Portugal.
He said: “You can assume that they are doing some things that the Portuguese police can’t do. Nothing illegal is being done in Portugal.”
Antonio Martins, president of the Association of Portuguese Judges, told the 24 Horas newspaper: “It is still up to the state to carry out criminal investigation. That kind of activity has no legal standing. Anything that results from private investigation has no substance.”
The judge said that Mr and Mrs McCann, both 39, from Rothley, Leicestershire, could be charged with “obstruction of justice” if prosecutors find evidence of a parallel investigation. The couple are already official suspects in the disappearance of their daughter from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz 145 days ago.
A high-ranking officer in the Polícia Judiciária, which is investigating the disappearance of Madeleine shortly before her fourth birthday, said that the investigators could be arrested if they are found operating in Portugal. “If they come here they will be running a serious risk of being arrested,” he said.
Carlos Anjos, President of the Judicial Police Inspector's Union, accused to Mr and Mrs McCann of using “diversion tactics”. Mr McCann had previously said that they had decided not to use private detectives.
“This is just another McCann strategy who today say one thing and tomorrow something completely contrary,” said Mr Anjos “This can only be another diversion tactic from the McCanns.”
Meanwhile, the only other official suspect in the case yesterday denied a report that he was seen outside the Ocean Club resort on the night Mrs McCann claimed that Madeleine had been abducted from her bed.
Robert Murat, 33, has insisted he was at home with his mother at their villa 100 yards from the resort where Madeleine was staying. Mr Murat later worked as an official translator for the police investigating Madeleine’s disappearance.
Charlotte Pennington, who worked as a nanny in the Ocean Club resort, said: “He was outside the lobby just before we started on our big search.
“He was adamant that he wasn't there. But he was. He was there in the road, he was just looking. It was about 10.30. He was just watching. I didn't know his name then. But the next day he was our interpreter and I met him then. He didn't take part in the searches, but he was there.”
Miss Pennington, 20, from Leatherhead, Surrey, said she was one of the first people to go into the McCann’s two-bedroom apartment and was interviewed by Portuguese detectives for more than four hours.
Mr Murat insisted today: “I certainly was not there that night. She [Miss Pennington] never saw me. At no point that night was I there outside that apartment. I can confirm that I did translate for her but I did not say anything more.”
Mr Murat said that he had not been accused of being seen at the resort by police until three friends who were staying in Praia da Luz with the McCanns returned to Portugal to give evidence against him at the police headquarters in Portimao.
Portuguese police brought together Mr Murat, from Hockering, Norfolk, and Rachael Oldfield, 36, Dr Russell O'Brien, 36, and Dr Fiona Payne, 34, to compare their versions of events on July 12. The friends told Mr Murat that they saw him at the Ocean Club on May 3.
Mr Murat said: “It was the first I heard of it. I don’t know why they don’t look at the people who were outside the apartment that night. They must have a list.”
A Portuguese newspaper claimed yesterday that British sniffer dogs had searched the British homes of the seven friends who were dining with the McCanns while their daughter was allegedly being abducted.
The unconfirmed report in Jornal de Notícias said that a “cadaver” dog had detected the scent of a corpse on clothing in one of the homes. It was claimed that Portuguese prosecutors are to write to the friends asking them to return for more questioning.
A spokeswoman for Leicestershire police, which is leading the British end of the investigation, said: “As the inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is a Portuguese police investigation it is not appropriate for us to comment on it.
“Our role is to assist the Portuguese authorities, when and if they request it, with UK based enquiries. But because it is a Portuguese investigation, and because of the judicial system there, we are not able to disclose the nature of those enquires.”
A source, who has knowledge of the Leicestershire police inquiry, told the Evening Standard today that officers thought it unlikely that that the couple would be charged.
“It is very unlikely that British police would question the McCanns on behalf of Portuguese now. That would have to be done there,” he said. “It looks like the case is moving away from the McCanns and officers here feel it is unlikely they will be charged. It is not clear how much longer Leicestershire police will be involved in the investigation.”
(Published by Times Online, September 25, 2007)
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