McCanns 'couldn't have done it'
2007-09-09 18:32
Rothley - Locals in this small British village to which Kate and Gerry McCann returned on Sunday rallied around the family, offering their support while angrily protesting the couple's innocence.
Residents of Rothley, a smart village in Leicestershire, east central England, said they could not believe suggestions that missing toddler Madeleine McCann was murdered by her mother Kate.
Carrying their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, the couple returned by plane from Portugal to Britain - the first time Kate McCann had been to the family home since May 3, when Madeleine vanished from their holiday apartment.
The large house was surrounded by photographers and watched over by news helicopters as the couple's car pulled onto the drive.
The 39-year-old McCanns, a hospital cardiologist and his family doctor wife, have been named as formal suspects by the Portuguese police.
The couple vehemently denied involvement after they landed at the nearby East Midlands Airport, and the idea that Kate McCann could have been behind whatever has happened to their daughter has angered their fellow villagers.
'It stinks'
"I don't think for one minute she could do it," Sandra Reynolds told AFP, adding she was disgusted to find out the McCanns had been named as formal suspects.
"I was really upset when I saw that on the news. Honestly, it stinks. I feel confident after all this time she couldn't have done it."
Joe Norladge, 21, said: "I don't think they've done it. She was looking so depressed when it happened. She's so thin and so stressed. And anyway, why would she have done it? It doesn't look plausible."
A family, who did not want to give their names, who were sat eating desserts outside the Red Lion, one of the five pubs that serve the 3 000 Rothley residents, supported the McCanns' decision to return to Britain.
The father said it seemed the Portuguese public had turned against the couple, particularly in Praia da Luz, where they have remained based since the toddler vanished from the south coast resort.
"I would be very, very surprised if she was declared guilty. I don't think they could have done it. They are innocent," he said.
"I really have a strong feeling it's better for them to be back in England. They've lost a lot of support of the local people in Portugal.
"In the village, they really have our support 100%."
Innocent until proven guilty
His eldest teenage daughter added: "Until they are proven guilty they are innocent.
"The mother looked too upset right after the disappearance of Maddie to have killed her."
Other villagers said the people of Rothley should give the family the time, space and support they would need as they try to rebuild their lives back in Leicestershire.
The McCanns said they wanted to bring some semblance of normality back into the lives of their twins after four months in limbo in the Algarve.
"The first thing we have to do is leave them alone. We have to show them our support. I would write her a letter, for example," said Carol Johnson.