Hair test results boost McCanns
Saturday, 20 Oct 2007 11:44
Madeleine has been missing since May 3rd
A test on hair samples from Madeleine's siblings reportedly proves that they had not been drugged on the day their sister went missing.
The Evening Standard reports that tests show no traces of sedatives in Sean and Amelie's hair thereby apparently backing the McCanns' claims that they had not drugged Madeleine.
The McCanns are suspects in the disappearance of their four-year-old daughter and the Portuguese police have been following a theory that Kate and Gerry transported their child's body in a hired car after accidentally killing her.
Recent tests on the car have returned inconclusive results.
The McCanns' official spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, has refused to confirm or deny the reported results of the test.
He said: "We will not comment on any of the legal aspects of this case.
"Our lawyers are looking at all of the issues raised by the case very closely indeed.
"Kate and Gerry have already made it quite clear that they have never used sedatives on their children," he added.
The McCanns have launched legal proceedings against Tal & Qual, a Portuguese newspaper, which claimed they had killed their daughter.
In a recent statement on his blog on findmadeleine.com, Gerry McCann said: "The media frenzy is gradually subsiding with just occasional unsubstantiated reports of ‘evidence’ appearing. It is very encouraging that Mr Rebelo's [the head of the Portuguese operation[ officers will be seemingly reviewing all the material in the inquiry, which will hopefully identify areas for further investigation.
"Contrary to some other reports Kate and I do NOT accept that Madeleine is 'probably' dead. We know it is a possibility, however the fact there is no evidence Madeleine has been seriously harmed gives us ongoing hope that she will be found alive," he added.
Meanwhile, prime minister Gordon Brown has raised the issue of the search for the missing child with Portuguese prime minister Jose Socrates.
Mr Brown's spokesman said he had a "brief discussion" about the case with his counterpart.