Portuguese police apologise to the McCanns over their handling of Madeleine's disappearance in 2007

30 October 2023, 07:37 | Updated: 30 October 2023, 08:03

Madeleine went missing from a holiday complex in the Algarve in May 2007
Madeleine went missing from a holiday complex in the Algarve in May 2007. Picture: Alamy

By Asher McShane

Police in Portugal have apologised to the parents of Madeleine McCann for the way they handled the investigation into her disappearance.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Madeleine went missing from a holiday complex in the Algarve in May 2007.

Portuguese police travelled from Lisbon to London earlier this year to meet with Gerry McCann. They apologised for the way the case was handled and the way the family was treated, the BBC reports.

The McCann family has not commented on the apology.

The couple were made suspects in September 2007 - four months after their daughter’s disappearance.

Both were questioned by police and they remained under suspicion for years in Portugal, despite having the ‘suspect’ status lifted in 2008.

Kate and Gerry McCann
Kate and Gerry McCann. Picture: Alamy

Read more: Madeleine McCann suspect 'begs friends to support him in court' over child sex charges

Read more: Child rape trial against Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner can go ahead, German court rules

Police in Portugal now believe the initial investigation was not properly conducted, with insufficient importance being given to missing children - and that her parents’ position as foreigners was not appreciated.

German authorities believe 46-year-old German national Christian Brueckner killed Madeleine McCann.

Brueckner was living near the Praia da Luz resort when the McCann family was on holiday there and spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017.

He was made a formal suspect by Portuguese prosecutors in 2022.

He is currently serving seven years in Germany for drug trafficking and the rape of a 72-year-old woman.

In 2012, Scotland Yard detectives said they believed Madeleine could still be alive, released an age-progression picture of how she might look as a nine-year-old, and called on the Portuguese authorities to reopen the case, but Portuguese police said they had found no new material.

Months after Scotland Yard launched its own investigation, Operation Grange, into Madeleine's disappearance in 2013, Portuguese police confirmed that a review of their original inquiry had uncovered new lines of inquiry, and they reopened the case.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Steam and exhaust rise from different companies on a cold winter day.

UN scientists warn it is ‘crunch time’ to avoid further global warming as climate policies ‘moving in wrong direction’

Exclusive
Waste water flows out of an outflow waste water pipe into the river in Devon UK

Water company fines will be used to clean up rivers, lakes and seas, government confirms

Energy bill discounts of £150 will be extended to another 2.7 million households to help with fuel costs next winter.

Millions more households to get £150 energy bill discounts as government extends scheme to help with fuel costs

‘I like to make decisions at the last second': Trump continues to mull US strike but suggests Iran could visit White House

‘I like to decide at the last second': Trump continues to mull US strike but suggests Iran could visit White House

A bag from Primark, found in the Weija Ashbread landfill, an older textile dump site sited on the Densu river, upriver from the protected wetlands, outside Accra, Ghana.

'This is dangerous': Discarded clothes from UK brands including Next, Asda and M&S found in protected Ghana wetlands

School crossing lollipop sign

Lollipop man ordered to stop high-fiving crossing children

Dame Diana Johnson said “there is absolutely no place for violent, misogynistic and harmful content online”, after several MPs urged the Government to expand the definition of “extreme pornographic images”.

‘No place for violent content online,’ says policing minister in pornography ban pledge

Missing Jay Slater witness found 'holidaying' in Tenerife as inquest hears Jay, 19, died with alcohol in his system

Friend of missing Jay Slater witness reveals details of 'two knives' carried by teen on the night he died in Tenerife

Devastating new footage has emerged showing the lone survivor of the Air India plane crash carrying the coffin of his younger brother, who died in the fatal disaster.

New video shows heartbreaking moment lone Air India survivor limps as he carries brother’s coffin at funeral

Claire Boyd underwent surgery in a bid to address a long history of abdominal pain

Family walks out of inquest after coroner rejects malnutrition in hospital death

Inquests into the deaths of the women, who were both born in Pakistan but lived in Maltsby, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, were opened on Wednesday.

Sisters drown in pools on popular Snowdonia route, inquest told

A police cordon blocking the inside lane of the northbound carriageway on the M1 motorway near Bucknalls Lane overpass in Hertfordshire, where a man's body was found by road workers on Monday.

Horror crash sees M1 closed 'in both directions' with emergency services including air ambulance in attendance

Bruce Springsteen performs on stage

First look at upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic starring Jeremy Allen White divides fans

Liz Kendall, Work and Pensions Secretary and Labour MP for Leicester West spoke to LBC's Tom Swarbrick.

Liz Kendall unable to say how much the changes in the Welfare Bill announced today will end up costing

Exclusive
Brexit has unleashed ‘backstreet medicine’ across Britain, warns leading pharmacist

Brexit has unleashed ‘backstreet medicine’ across Britain, warns leading pharmacist

The record breaking ticket was bought in Munster. It is still unclaimed

'Have a cup of tea and let it sink in': Lottery bosses message to record Euromillions winner as prize yet unclaimed