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Kate and Gerry McCann called for a full case
review at an emotional press conference. |
KATE and
Gerry McCann yesterday branded the Portuguese police “inhumane” for
their “heartbreaking” failure to investigate new leads in their daughter
Madeleine’s disappearance.
During
an emotional press conference, the couple called for a full case review
and stressed they should not be forced to “beg” for co-operation between
the British and Portuguese authorities.
Speaking
the day after a court upheld a ban on a book which claims Madeleine is
dead, the pair appealed for fresh help from officials to find their
daughter.
Mr
McCann said: “You would hope that the parents of a missing child
shouldn’t have to be here begging for such assistance and that the
authorities would actually do everything in their power in the first
place.”
The
McCanns, both 41, have employed private detectives to search for their
daughter since she went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in May
2007.
They
said there were cases where their investigators had passed leads on to
the Portuguese authorities and Leicestershire Police, their local force,
only for them to be ignored.
Mr
McCann said: “There are certainly instances where information which we
think is very credible and worthy of further investigation has not been
actioned. We’re gutted, it’s absolutely shocking and difficult.”
His wife
added: “It’s heartbreaking, to be honest.”
Asked
about how Leicestershire Police and other authorities responded to
requests for a full independent review of the case, Mr McCann said the
couple had encountered “reluctance”.
He
said: “We don’t think there’s been a systematic review of all the
information and the leads, and that’s something that would be
automatically done in the United Kingdom. I think for a missing British
citizen, that’s what we’re looking for
“We want the authorities to work together. It is an international
case and always has been. We feel that it is fundamental to try to find
Madeleine for a systematic review to take place.”
The couple welcomed the court ruling in Lisbon maintaining a ban
on former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral’s book, Maddie: The Truth
Of The Lie.
The book alleges the girl died in her family’s holiday flat and
her parents faked her abduction, something they strongly deny.
The McCanns said their main motive for challenging Mr Amaral was
the fear that people would stop looking for Madeleine if they thought
she was dead.
The couple are also seeking €1.2million (£1.08million) in compensation
for defamation in separate civil proceedings against the former
policeman in Portugal |
