Britons bewildered over twist in Madeleine case

By Anna Tomforde Sep 10, 2007, 17:53 GMT

Back home under a cloud of suspicion, Gerry and Kate McCann remained besieged by the world\'s media Monday amid a plethora of unanswered questions in the search for the truth over what happened to Madeleine. EPA/LUSA

London - Back home under a cloud of suspicion, Gerry and Kate McCann remained besieged by the world's media Monday amid a plethora of unanswered questions in the search for the truth over what happened to Madeleine.

The couple's hope for a respite from the intense media scrutiny of the past four months proved futile, as camera teams from Australia to the US followed them from the Algarve to camp outside their home in the village of Rothley, in Leicestershire.

But at least, after a 'sad homecoming' without Madeleine, they had a 'good night's sleep' and were comforted by the support of relatives and friends convinced of their innocence, a spokesman said.

Behind the scenes, however, the McCann's, who themselves triggered an unprecedented publicity campaign for Madeleine after her disappearance on May 3, remained as busy as ever, hiring top lawyers to fight their case.

While in Britain, the handsome doctor couple still enjoys the sympathy and support of a majority of the population, the Portuguese media have overwhelmingly turned against them, implying that the McCann's had 'fled' the country after being declared suspects in the case.

The dramatic twist in the investigations last week, which led Portuguese police to suspect the parents of 'accidentally killing Madeleine' and then covering up the crime, has, meanwhile, supplied the Madeleine story with the ingredients of a thriller.

Mixed emotions have been unleashed by the possibility that, on the one hand, an educated, middle-class couple could be responsible for such a horrific crime, and led the world by the nose for months, and, on the other, that the - secret - evidence presented by the police in Portugal is not watertight.

'If Kate McCann is charged and convicted, will we ever be able to trust human nature again?' asked the Daily Telegraph, summing up the bewildering impact the case has had on public opinion.

'We are filled with a mixture of admiration and disbelief at the way Kate McCann always appeared so immaculate in public, when most mums would have broken down long ago. We so want to admire her. I hope at the end of this we still do,' ended the commentary, lost for an answer.

In Portugal, by contrast, where the authorities have been angered by barely-concealed British accusations of alleged police incompetence, and by the media circus attracted by the British tourists, the line that the McCanns were probably responsible has consistently been drip-fed to the media.

In addition to all the underlying tensions, it is somewhat ironic that it is British forensic tests on samples provided by Portuguese police which have led to a hardening of the investigations.

The samples of DNA now at the centre of the investigation were taken, according to reports, from the McCanns' holiday apartment and from a car they hired 25 days after Madeleine's disappearance.

Experts in DNA science in Britain have warned that any evidence provided by DNA samples needed to be treated with caution, as 'secondary transfer' could have occurred and DNA was left in the locations concerned from another source.

'DNA is so sensitive that, if you and I met in the street and shook hands and then I went and committed some crime, then I could possibly leave your DNA at the scene,' said Allan Scott, a university lecturer and forensics expert.