Lawyers acting on behalf of Kate and Gerry McCann and Gonçalo Amaral admitted in Lisbon on February 10 that evidence ignored by police investigators could pave the way for the Madeleine Case to be reopened.
Isabel Duarte, representing the McCanns, said that there was “evidence that could compromise the Polícia Judiciária’s investigation” and pave the way for “the reopening of the Madeleine Case”.
The firebrand lawyer, who caused a sensation in the highly-charged court room in her passionate summing up deliberations by using emotive words such as vultures, crows and vampires attracted to the “smell of fresh meat”, when talking about Gonçalo Amaral’s book, the author, its publishers and a television channel, said that she had attempted to show that the PJ had “undervalued successive sightings of a child”.
“What I saw was various relevant pieces of information, photographs, some of them shocking, similar to the girl, places and car number plates,” she said, which the McCanns had not been called in to identify, but which could show that a girl like Madeleine could have been in Spain or Italy.
Isabel Duarte said that French, Spanish and British investigators had confirmed that the leads “were promising” but that the Portuguese investigators “didn’t take them seriously and follow them up”.
In a statement outside the court house, Gerry McCann said that the couple would be delighted if the case was reopened.“We have no problem with that but what we need is real investigation not dismissal,” he said as both issued a fresh plea for the Portuguese to come forward with any information about Madeleine.
Chris Graeme
