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05-30-2008, 04:26 AM
By Vanessa Allen
Last updated at 11:07 PM on 29th May 2008
Kate and Gerry McCann could still face charges of neglecting their daughter Madeleine, official documents reveal.
The first published court ruling on the 13-month investigation shows Portuguese police have not ruled out neglect, abduction, or that Madeleine was killed and her body hidden.
Mr and Mrs McCann, both 40, strenuously deny any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.
They have also rejected claims that they neglected their three children by leaving them in their holiday apartment while they went out for dinner with friends.
The documents show the police inquiry still covers homicide, abandonment, concealment of a corpse and abduction.
The charge of abandonment carries a maximum ten-year jail sentence in Portugal, but only if prosecutors can prove the McCanns intended to neglect Madeleine.
The couple have repeatedly insisted they believed Madeleine, then three, and their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie were safe in the apartment in Praia da Luz. They were eating only 50 yards away, which enabled them to check on the children regularly.
Details of the continuing investigation were revealed in court documents released by the Supreme Court of Justice in the city of Evora.
Public prosecutor Jose Magalhaes e Meneses had applied to the court for permission to seize the mobile phone records of the McCanns and their friends, the so-called Tapas Seven.
Investigators are interested in 18 text messages allegedly sent from an unidentified number to Mr McCann between May 2 and 4 last year. Madeleine vanished on May 3. Police also wanted details of calls made between April 28, when the group arrived in Portugal, and September 9, when the McCanns left the country to return to their home in Rothley, Leicestershire.
But the request was refused by the Supreme Court, which published its ruling. Such publication is unusual in Portugal, where police investigations are covered by strict judicial secrecy laws.
Explaining the decision, Judge Fernando Ribeiro Cardoso said: 'The details of the content of the messages can only be subjected to interception in real time, with due judicial authorisation.'
The McCann's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said they were pleased the documents showed police had not abandoned the theory that Madeleine was abducted.
He added: 'If there is any suggestion of neglect charges being considered that will be vigorously denied because the legal advice that Kate and Gerry have received, both in Portugal and Britain, is that everything they did that week was well within the bounds of reasonable parenting.'
Mr Mitchell said Mr McCann had no knowledge of the texts allegedly sent to his phone on May 3 and 4.
He said he only received a few calls to his mobile in the six days before Madeleine's disappearance.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1022703/McCanns-face-child-neglect-charges-leaving-Madeleine-night-disappeared.html
Last updated at 11:07 PM on 29th May 2008
Kate and Gerry McCann could still face charges of neglecting their daughter Madeleine, official documents reveal.
The first published court ruling on the 13-month investigation shows Portuguese police have not ruled out neglect, abduction, or that Madeleine was killed and her body hidden.
Mr and Mrs McCann, both 40, strenuously deny any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.
They have also rejected claims that they neglected their three children by leaving them in their holiday apartment while they went out for dinner with friends.
The documents show the police inquiry still covers homicide, abandonment, concealment of a corpse and abduction.
The charge of abandonment carries a maximum ten-year jail sentence in Portugal, but only if prosecutors can prove the McCanns intended to neglect Madeleine.
The couple have repeatedly insisted they believed Madeleine, then three, and their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie were safe in the apartment in Praia da Luz. They were eating only 50 yards away, which enabled them to check on the children regularly.
Details of the continuing investigation were revealed in court documents released by the Supreme Court of Justice in the city of Evora.
Public prosecutor Jose Magalhaes e Meneses had applied to the court for permission to seize the mobile phone records of the McCanns and their friends, the so-called Tapas Seven.
Investigators are interested in 18 text messages allegedly sent from an unidentified number to Mr McCann between May 2 and 4 last year. Madeleine vanished on May 3. Police also wanted details of calls made between April 28, when the group arrived in Portugal, and September 9, when the McCanns left the country to return to their home in Rothley, Leicestershire.
But the request was refused by the Supreme Court, which published its ruling. Such publication is unusual in Portugal, where police investigations are covered by strict judicial secrecy laws.
Explaining the decision, Judge Fernando Ribeiro Cardoso said: 'The details of the content of the messages can only be subjected to interception in real time, with due judicial authorisation.'
The McCann's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said they were pleased the documents showed police had not abandoned the theory that Madeleine was abducted.
He added: 'If there is any suggestion of neglect charges being considered that will be vigorously denied because the legal advice that Kate and Gerry have received, both in Portugal and Britain, is that everything they did that week was well within the bounds of reasonable parenting.'
Mr Mitchell said Mr McCann had no knowledge of the texts allegedly sent to his phone on May 3 and 4.
He said he only received a few calls to his mobile in the six days before Madeleine's disappearance.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1022703/McCanns-face-child-neglect-charges-leaving-Madeleine-night-disappeared.html