UK cops 'built case' against McCanns

2010-12-14 13:11

Johannesburg - Comments attributed to Britain's ambassador to Portugal appear to contradict the widespread perception at the time that Portuguese investigators were the driving force behind the treatment of Kate and Garry McCann as suspects in the case of their missing daughter, Madeleine, reported The Guardian newspaper on Monday.

Classified US diplomatic cables released by whistleblowing website WikiLeaks reveal that British police helped "develop evidence" against the parents of the missing girl while they were being investigated by Portuguese police as suspects in the disappearance, reports the British Guardian newspaper.

According to the newspaper, this was revealed in an exchange between the US ambassador to Portugal Al Hoffman and his British counterpart Alexander Wykeham Ellis in September 2007 - two weeks after Kate and Gerry were declared suspects by Portuguese police.

"Without delving into the details of the case, Ellis admitted that the British police had developed the current evidence against the McCann parents, and he stressed that authorities from both countries were working co-operatively," the paper cites a cable as saying.

The McCanns have always denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance in May 2007 from the holiday apartment in Portugal where they had left their three children in bed while they went to a nearby restaurant.




 

- News24