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[This edited version of the report has been prepared by Dr Robert N Moles]

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Settlement of defamation action: this is the report of the settlement of the defamation action concerning the McCann family in respect of publications which have cast aspersions upon their inegrity

On 30 September 2007 Matt Drake in Portimao for the Daily Express reported “McCanns remain defiant as they face questions from UK police”.

He said Determined: Kate and Gerry are prepared for questions.  

Defiant Kate and Gerry McCann last night challenged Portuguese officials to “bring it on” as they faced 40 key questions about the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.

The couple made their stand after it emerged that police had failed to investigate a fresh sighting of a child matching Madeleine’s description in Morocco. Portuguese police are this week poised to send a legal letter to their British counterparts, listing the questions the couple refused to answer during their lengthy interrogation on September 7 and 8. The McCanns say that as soon as they can answer these allegations they will clear their names. Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman, said: “Kate and Gerry have nothing to hide and will co-operate fully with the Portuguese police and any requests they make. They are not afraid of anything that is thrown at them because they are innocent. All they want is to prove their innocence as quickly as possible so the attention can return to finding their daughter. “The lawyers on our side have worked very hard in the past few weeks and are prepared and ready to go. Sadly, we have been told to expect a marathon and not a sprint as the legal process in Portugal can take a very long time.”

Today the Sunday Express can reveal the huge blunders made by Moroccan police who failed to act on a possible Madeleine sighting. Hotelier James Valarino, 65, from Gibraltar, is certain he saw the missing four-year-old in the clutches of a European man at a market in Tangiers on August 8. The sighting has given fresh hope to her parents that their daughter could still be alive 150 days after she vanished. Last night Mr Valarino said: “I was shopping near the Old Medina about five in the afternoon when I saw a man acting nervously as he carried a little girl with blonde hair. “At first I thought nothing strange of it because the man looked like he was the child’s father but when I got closer I saw her face and knew immediately it was Madeleine McCann. “She was barefooted and he was trying to buy some shoes from a stall. I got closer to try to call her by her name but the man saw me and rushed off.

“The poor little child looked distressed and unhappy. She was clearly undernourished and appeared to be frightened of the man. “He was very white, overweight and about 5ft 10in with fair hair. He looked to be in his mid-30s and appeared to be from northern Europe as he was so pale. I heard him ask the stall owner about children’s shoes in English and it sounded like his native tongue. “He was carrying the youngster on his hip and stood at the stall for about five minutes. I did not get the chance to see her eyes but I have followed her story from the day she went missing and I am certain it was her. I only wish I had been brave enough to say something to him.”

The father of four had to wait until he returned to Gibraltar the following day to report what he had seen because Moroccan police said they could not understand him. After making a statement in Gibraltar, Mr Valarino heard nothing more and feared the sighting had been overlooked. Then last week four sightings of Madeleine in Morocco emerged and despite the fact that one was ruled out, private investigators working for the McCanns are believed to be following the trail in Tangiers and Marrakech, where the first sighting was made on May 9.

Last night Mr Valarino said: “I cannot believe that the police have not been back to ask more questions. “We must do everything we can to find her and stop the suffering her poor parents are going through. “What are the police doing? It is unbelievable that they can ignore anything that might save her life. My interview only took half an hour and they hardly seemed interested.”

Last night Gibraltar CID said any information would have been passed to the Portuguese detectives leading the inquiry. Portuguese public prosecutor Luis Bilro Verao ordered the Portuguese police to send the letter to British police, who will then decide how and where the questions will be posed. Since being named as official suspects in the four-year-old’s disappearance the McCanns have endured a hate campaign fuelled almost daily by leaks from police in the Algarve. Unable to defend themselves publicly because of Portugal’s secrecy laws the couple have suffered in silence amid fears they are being framed for killing Madeleine and disposing of her body.

The list of questions that is expected to arrive by Wednesday are believed to focus on two hours on a trip they made to the Spanish city of Huelva on August 3, three months after Madeleine vanished. It is claimed that police are said to be suspicious of the time during which the McCanns vanished from the view of accompanying journalists. They reportedly suspect that Madeleine died in the holiday apartment and that her parents hid the body and moved it three months later on the trip to Spain. The 39-year-olds will also be asked to explain why traces of the toddler’s DNA were discovered in the wheel-well of the Renault Scenic they hired 25 days after her disappearance. Other questions will focus on claims the couple gave their children sedatives to help them sleep.

The couple insist they have not killed their daughter and believe that Madeleine’s abductor has smuggled her into North Africa on a ferry from Tarifa in southern Spain.

Source: 30 September 2007 Matt Drake in Portimao Daily Express “McCanns remain defiant as they face questions from UK police”.

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