Networked Knowledge - Media Reports

[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 4 November 2007 the Daily Mail / Herald Sun reported Madeleine: “DNA in hire car came from corpse”.

It said that new forensic tests appear to support the theory that Kate and Gerry McCann could have been involved in daughter Madeleine's disappearance. Sources say the results from a second batch of testing, conducted at a laboratory in Birmingham, include the discovery of the girl's DNA - believed to have been obtained from Madeleine's bodily fluids and hair -- in the McCanns' hire car which was rented 25 days after she went missing. Tests on bodily fluids found in the hire car are understood to show they came from a corpse and that the body was moved. Sources also indicate the volume of material found is too great for it to have been transferred via Madeleine's toys or clothing. It is also believed that the tests have produced no evidence to indicate the involvement of any other person.

Madeleine disappeared from the family's Algarve holiday apartment at Praia da Luz six months ago. She was six days away from her fourth birthday. The McCanns were named as suspects by Portuguese police in September, soon after the first batch of forensic results were sent to Portugal. But they strongly protest their innocence and insist their daughter was abducted as they dined with friends nearby. The McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said yesterday: "Kate and Gerry are entirely innocent and have nothing to hide. We have always maintained whatever material or evidence the police may have can be wholly and innocently explained." Both sets of tests were carried out by the Forensic Science Service.

There has been no official comment on the findings either in Portugal or Britain, but a source confirmed that the results had all now been passed on. "The Portuguese know all that has been found," said a person close to the investigation. "The material that has been tested is still in the UK and it is possible that there will be requests for further work to be carried out." All the test results were obtained from analysis carried out on material gathered either from the McCanns' hire car, their holiday apartment or other parts of the holiday complex. Paulo Rebelo, the new Portuguese police chief in charge of the inquiry, visited the McCanns' holiday apartment last week and is said to be re-examining all aspects of the case.

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