ABOVE: Private investigators hired by the McCanns fear Raymond Hewlett could take his secrets to the grave

A PAEDOPHILE wanted for questioning over missing Madeleine McCann has been struck dumb by throat cancer.

Raymond Hewlett’s lawyer says he can no longer speak and private investigators hired by the McCanns fear he could take his secrets to the grave.

The 64-year-old’s lawyer Detley Wagner said: “He could not talk to them even if he wanted to. He is not long for this world.”

Investigators have been trying for months to interview Hewlett, who has multiple convictions for offences against children. Now they urgently want him to reveal what he knows before he dies.

He was in the Algarve when three-year-old Madeleine was snatched from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in May 2007.

And he resembles a suspect with a pock-marked face seen lurking around the flat at the time.

ABOVE: Paedophile Raymond Hewlett is wanted for questioning over missing Madeleine McCann

Hewlett has been quizzed by Brit police over a sex assault on a child three decades ago. But he has refused to co-operate with detectives acting for the McCanns.

When private eyes Dave Edgar and Arthur Crowley – both ex-policemen – went to see him they were turned away from the hospital in Aachen, Germany, where he was being treated.

Medics have now sent him home to die. McCanns spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “Until Hewlett agrees to see our investigators he will remain of interest to them. We urge him to help.’’

Though private eyes suspect Hewlett was not directly involved in the abduction, they believe he knows who was.