Further Reading

Sunday 23 September 2007

UK forensic experts slam police probe into McCanns

Daily Mail Headline; says; 'British forensic experts have sent Portuguese police an email angrily complaining at the way evidence in the Madeleine McCann inquiry has been 'wildly misused', according to sources close to the investigation. The Forensic Science Service criticises detectives for overplaying the results of its tests and leaking information – most of it inaccurate, it claims – to the Portuguese media. The relationship between the FSS and the Policia Judiciaria has now deteriorated to such an extent that it is unlikely any further forensic tests will be carried out in Britain.

What most troubled scientists was the way the Portuguese interpreted 'inconclusive' DNA evidence from the Renault Scenic hired by the McCanns 25 days after Madeleine disappeared. Portuguese police are still understood to want forensic psychologists to analyse Kate McCann's Bible. They are said to be suspicious that passages relating to 'forgiveness' have been underlined and may be incriminating.

But a source close to the McCanns' legal team said: 'Most of the references to forgiveness in the Bible relate to forgiving other people. In any case, Kate maintains that she did not underline the passages herself. The Bible was given to her in Portugal and they were already underlined.'

Police also want graphologists to analyse handwriting in the Bible's margin which they feel is suspicious and could belong to Kate.