Madeleine parents head back to UK

Sunday, 9 September 2007

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have begun their journey back to the UK after leaving their villa in Portugal.

Kate and Gerry McCann had said they would "not run away" from Praia da Luz but wanted to return to Rothley, Leics, for the sake of their twins.

In newspaper interviews, the couple, both 39, accused the Portuguese police of trying to frame them after they were named as formal suspects or "arguidos".

The four-year-old disappeared from the family's holiday apartment on 3 May.

Media scrum

The McCanns pulled out of their drive way at about 0710 BST through a gauntlet of reporters.

Their faces looked impassive as they were lit up by strobe light flashes from cameras.

A police cordon had been set up to allow their silver Renault Scenic to drive through the media camped at the foot of the drive way to their villa.

They took about an hour to reach Faro airport.

Their flight was due to leave at about 0930 BST, and the McCanns are expected to make a statement when they arrive at East Midlands Airport.

The decision to leave comes after a dramatic turn of events in the case.

The McCanns had planned to leave this weekend, but that was put off after they were named as suspects by Portuguese police - a move which allows detectives to ask them certain questions, and also gives them the right to remain silent.

But in the early hours of Sunday morning they decided they would keep to their original plan and fly back to the UK.

'Incredibly frightening'

During an 11-hour interview, detectives suggested to Mrs McCann that traces of Madeleine's blood were found in the family's hire car.

The family say this is impossible as they did not rent the vehicle until 25 days after Madeleine disappeared.

Mrs McCann told the Sunday Mirror that during the interview, Portuguese police put her under pressure to confess that she killed her daughter by accident.

She said that police "want me to lie - I'm being framed".

Speaking on Friday, before she was made an arguida, she added: "Police don't want a murder in Portugal and all the publicity about them not having paedophile laws here, so they're blaming us."

'Worst nightmare'

Her husband Gerry told the News of the World that Portuguese officers were looking for a quick end to the case and were exploiting apparent discrepancies in the couple's account of what happened.

He said: "In a system that you don't know and don't really trust it's incredibly frightening."

Mr McCann said he and his wife had thought they were "in our worst nightmare but now it just keeps getting worse and worse".

Due to legal restrictions on police under Portuguese law, they are unable to respond to the claims made by the McCanns.

Mrs McCann's parents said that the couple were returning to the UK "with the full agreement of the Portuguese authorities and police".

No bail conditions, travel restrictions or charges have been imposed on the couple, who had been questioned separately for more than 24 hours.

Police in Portugal are now waiting for the results of tests being carried out on forensic evidence by the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham.

If the evidence throws up further questions that they want to put to the McCanns, the couple may be asked to return to Portugal for questioning.

Despite their departure, they remain suspects and would be obligated to comply.

Under Portuguese law, they may also remain suspects for many months to come.

Robert Murat, the only other person given "arguido" status in the case, has remained a suspect for almost four months.