Why SHOULD we help find Maddie, ask Portugal's police chiefs as they ridicule Scotland Yard claims of new leads on missing girl

Why SHOULD we help find Maddie, ask Portugal's police chiefs as they ridicule Scotland Yard claims of new leads on missing girl

   Met Police made upbeat announcement about new leads on Thursday
   Portugal's Attorney General has since poured scorn on Met investigation
   David Cameron welcomed the inquiry as the case 'still shocks the nation'

By Nick Fagge In Praia Da Luz

PUBLISHED: 22:36 GMT, 5 July 2013 | UPDATED: 22:59 GMT, 5 July 2013

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Still alive? Madeleine McCann disappeared aged three in Portugal

Still alive? Madeleine McCann disappeared aged three in Portugal

Portugal's top lawyer yesterday poured scorn on Scotland Yard’s investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Attorney General Joana Marques Vidal said officers from London had no right to operate in Portugal and cannot question, interview or arrest anyone.

Her comments are in stark contrast to the Metropolitan Police’s upbeat announcement on Thursday of ‘genuinely new’ leads in the six-year-old case and that arrests could be made within weeks.

Detectives say they are preparing to swoop on 38 suspects – including 12 Britons – in Portugal and other parts of Europe.

Scotland Yard says it has asked the Crown Prosecution Service to submit an International Letter of Request to enable a team of officers to pursue inquiries in Portugal.

But Mrs Marques Vidal said she has received no British request for mutual legal assistance in an inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine – meaning the Met has no right to pursue inquiries.

Her spokesman said: ‘We have not received any request for mutual assistance with regard to the Madeleine McCann case.

He added that even if British police are allowed to travel to Portugal to ‘help the sovereign authorities’ carry out the ‘request for mutual assistance’, Met officers ‘cannot conduct any interviews or any other action in Portugal’.
Kate McCann, Madeleine's mother, holding a picture of her daughter in 2010 in one of her many appeals for information

Anguish: Kate McCann, Madeleine's mother, holding a picture of her daughter in 2010 in one of her many appeals for information

Meanwhile Portugal’s detective unit, the Policia Judiciaria, said its officers would assist the British inquiry, but added they would effectively work to rule – only carrying out their duties to the letter of the law.

Pedro do Carmo, deputy national director of the unit, told the Daily Mail: ‘We are available to co-operate with the British authorities but only under terms of Portuguese law and within the time period allowed under Portuguese law.’

More...

   Millionaire child abuser and girlfriend accused of trying to extort £2.5m from missing Madeleine McCann's parents are arrested in Portugal hideout
   Scotland Yard targets 12 British suspects in new investigation into disappearance of Madeleine McCann as top detectives says there is no evidence to suggest she is dead

Portuguese detectives have condemned any deal between London and Lisbon as ‘political b*******’.

One said: ‘British police may be allowed to sit in on the interviews, with the prosecutor’s agreement, but they must not interfere or ask questions themselves. And if this deal does exist politics should not be allowed to interfere with justice. That is b*******.’
Kate and Gerry McCann marking the fourth anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance

Ongoing battle: Kate and Gerry McCann marking the fourth anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance

Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from an apartment in the resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, while her parents, Kate and Gerry, were having dinner at a restaurant nearby with friends.

The shambolic inquiry into her whereabouts was shelved in 2008 and Portuguese authorities have refused to re-open the case, saying there is no new evidence.

Scotland Yard began their own Home Office-funded review in  2011, going over files compiled by the Portuguese authorities and private detectives hired by Mr and Mrs McCann.

Met Police teams have travelled to Portugal 16 times to share their findings with Portuguese detectives, and lawyers from the CPS visited Lisbon last month to discuss the case.
On the case: Scotland Yard has launched its own inquiry

On the case: Scotland Yard has launched its own inquiry

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the inquiry, has said he believes there is a possibility that Madeleine is alive.

David Cameron yesterday welcomed the announcement that the Met had launched their own inquiry. He said: ‘It is welcome because they say that there is new evidence, new leads to follow, new things to be done.

‘It was a case that did shock and still shocks the nation and if an answer can be found we should try to find it.’

Usual crap!! Let's bash the police once more!!