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THE parents of missing Madeleine McCann now believe she was drugged before
being snatched by an abductor, it was claimed last night.
Madeleine’s grandmother said the family now accepted there was a chance the
little girl had been sedated before being carried out of the holiday apartment
in Praia da Luz almost five months ago.
Eileen McCann – Gerry’s mother – said it was the only explanation for why
Madeleine did not scream when she was taken from her bed.
Her dramatic claims came on a day when the Portuguese police said they were
finally close to proving the three-year-old was drugged on the night she went
missing.
Detectives have allegedly recovered a single strand of her hair from behind a
sofa in the McCanns’ holiday apartment and believe it holds the key to
unlocking the case.
The sample is being analysed by toxicologists at the Forensic Science Service
laboratory in Birmingham
and results are expected within days. The Policia Judiciaria are confident this
will support their theory that Madeleine died on the night of May 3 as a result
of an overdose of sedatives or other drugs.
And in a surprise move, the McCann camp last night said it too now accepted
that Madeleine may have been drugged.
Eileen McCann, 69, said: “I really believe they [whoever took her] gave her a
drug. There is no way they carried her out of there without her waking. If she
was taken when she was sleeping by somebody she did not know, she would have
screamed the place down.”
The McCanns have vehemently denied giving their children anything stronger than
Calpol and have insisted they had no sedatives of any sort with them on holiday.
But the police have always felt it was possible that the McCanns, who are both
doctors, could have been sedating their children so that they could go out and
dine with their friends undisturbed.
A PJ source said: “It is interesting that the McCanns are now saying they think
their daughter was drugged. It is suspicious that they have found an
explanation just as the evidence begins to build.”
The hair sample is regarded as significant because it was recovered next to
tiny specks of blood, which are thought to belong to Madeleine.
It was discovered during a second set of searches at key locations in Praia da
Luz in July, involving sniffer dogs.
Detectives believe the strand, which is said to have all-important cells from
the follicle still attached, was shed either at the point of death or soon
afterwards.
They are hoping this will provide a much more accurate forensic picture than
other DNA evidence collected and will eventually justify their decision to
declare Kate and Gerry arguidos, official suspects, and accuse them of killing
their daughter. But experts in the field have cast doubt on whether such
forensic evidence could form a case against the McCanns.
Robin Hoole, who worked for the FSS laboratory in Birmingham, said: “Forensic evidence does not
prove a case. So far, there does not seem to be much of a case against them. If
they are charged, they can probably present a strong defence for how
Madeleine’s DNA came to be in the car and apartment.”
Allan Scott, a lecturer in forensic science at the University of Central
Lancashire said: “Forensic evidence is always
contextual. You have got to keep an open mind.”
Meanwhile, the McCanns are preparing for a new round of TV interviews focusing
on Spain and Portugal. A
publicity push is also in the offing and a TV campaign in Arabic is planned for
Morocco,
where there have been possible sightings of Madeleine. The McCanns are
restricted on what they can say by Portuguese law. |
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