For five
months the identity of the
Mark Warner
employee who was looking after Madeleine
in
Praia da Luz's Kids Club in the hours
before her disappearance has been a
closely held secret.
She
was
witness
to the McCanns' movements
during the week they were on holiday in
Portugal and fed Madeleine less than
three hours before she disappeared.
On the
morning after Madeleine's disappearance
it is believed she even told
Portuguese
police of a man she had seen acting
'suspiciously' around the
apartments.
Today
we can reveal her identity as
20-year-old
Catriona Baker, the daughter
of a nurse and draughtsman from
Manchester.
The
McCanns believe Ms Baker is a key
witness in the defence that they are
assembling with the aid of a team of
lawyers and investigators.
Ms
Baker has told friends she is convinced
of the McCanns' innocence. She is still
in contact with
Kate McCann and was said
by friends to have been hit hard by her
charge's disappearance, even being
offered trauma counselling by Mark
Warner Holidays.
Intriguingly, Ms Baker revealed to one
friend - spoken to by this newspaper -
that she told Portuguese police of a man
she saw acting strangely near the
apartments in the days leading up to
Madeleine's disappearance on
May 3.
She
was interviewed for just three hours by
police on the morning after Madeleine's
disappearance. This compares with the
four-and-a-half hours endured by
Charlotte Pennington, another nanny at
the resort who was witness to Kate's
'hysterical' reaction to Madeleine's
disappearance.
The Mail on Sunday has also learned that within 24 hours of that interview Ms Baker was dispatched by Mark Warner to take up a new position in the Greek resort of San Agostino along with four other members of staff.
They were all linked to the seven holidaymakers who had eaten in the resort's tapas restaurant with Kate and Gerry McCann on the night of Madeleine's disappearance.
It is believed Ms Baker has since been reinterviewed by both British and Portuguese police but she has been told not to comment on the investigation.
The young nanny, described as 'fun and vivacious', has been deeply affected by Madeleine's disappearance, telling friends of nights without sleep and a complete loss of appetite.
Writing to one concerned friend nine days after Madeleine disappeared, she admitted: 'I was her nanny, so it's been tough for me, you wouldn't recognise me.
'It's hit me so hard I've hardly slept or eaten. My mum came to see me, but transferring me to "San Ag" has put me back at stage one as I am so stressed again.
'Love you loads, thanks for writing. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch, I have not been out of the house much.'
To another she added: 'Thanks so much for your support ... I am trying to cope, but not really liking "San Ag"... I don't plan on staying here. If they don't send me back to Portugal. I'll go home.'
She
had been introduced to Gerry and Kate
McCann on the first evening of their
holiday at the Ocean Club resort as
Madeleine's designated nanny and had
developed a 'good relationship with the
couple and especially with Madeleine',
according to a friend.
On the day Madeleine disappeared Ms Baker had spent nearly six hours with the toddler, along with five other children aged between three and five. Two of those are believed to have been the children of the McCanns' friends, David and Fiona Payne.
Madeleine and her two-year-old twin siblings, Sean and Amelie, were placed in the resort's Kids Club, where Ms Baker worked, at around 10am while their parents took a stroll before collecting them at 12.30pm for lunch back at the apartment.
In the
afternoon, the McCanns played tennis
while Madeleine went back to her nanny
at the children's club, who gave her tea
at 5.30pm. Madeleine, Sean and Amelie
were picked up by their parents at 6pm.
Ms Baker was not with the McCanns when the alarm was sounded over Madeleine's disappearance just before 10pm. However, she joined the search shortly after 11pm after completing her duties as a night babysitter.
Mark
Warner did not return Ms Baker to
Portugal from Greece and she has since
left the company. She is now a live-in
nanny looking after three children. Her
location is being withheld on the
request of the McCanns.
Ms Baker refused to comment about the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, adding: 'I don't want to go through it again.'
So, if the nanny had such a good relationship with the McCanns and especially Madeleine, why on Earth did they not use her for night sitting services.
- Julie, Wales, 13/10/2007 21:29