Crucial new details of the day Madeleine McCann went missing can be revealed today.
According to sources, Gerry McCann asked one of their friends to check on Kate and the children while he had a tennis lesson.
Mr McCann spoke to David Payne shortly before 6.30pm while playing on the court at the Mark Warner Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz.
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Concerned: Gerry asked a friend to check on Kate and the children |
The source said: "David Payne saw
Madeleine at around 6.30pm.
"He popped in because Gerry wanted to make sure Kate was OK. Gerry was playing tennis and David said he was going past.
"I expect it was said [by Gerry] as: 'If you are heading back that way, stick your head in and see if Kate is all right'.
The exchange between Mr Payne and Mr McCann had fuelled Portuguese suspicions about Mrs McCann's frame of mind on the day Madeleine disappeared.
Detectives in Portugal suspect she killed Madeleine by accident and that Mr McCann helped her cover up the death - which is vehemently denied by the McCanns as a smear.
But Mr Payne's evidence now forms part of the Portuguese investigation.
It is part of new details of the day which can be revealed for the first time.
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Smears: Portuguese police
have suggested Kate was
struggling |
A source close to the McCanns has revealed further details of events as they unfolded in the hours before Madeleine went missing from her family's holiday apartment on 3 May.
The source said Mrs McCann went jogging around Praia da Luz while Madeleine and twins Sean and Amelie played in the resort's children's club.
The McCanns then took the children for tea before Mr McCann went for an hour-long tennis lesson - starting at 6pm - with the resort's coach.
During that time, Mrs McCann was alone with the children in their two-bedroom apartment bar the crucial few minutes during which Mr Payne made his visit.
Mr Payne is understood to have told police he found Mrs McCann happily coping with her three children, including Madeleine.
Mr Payne, 41, is bound by Portuguese secrecy laws and cannot speak out about the events on that night.
But today he said: "Kate is a fantastic mum. She can cope. She is a very able person."
Mr Payne, who has known the couple for at least five years, added: " I have never witnessed anything untoward in all that time."
The source said there was now a fear Portuguese police may have misinterpreted Mr McCann's request as some indication his wife was struggling with the children and needed help.
But the source said Mr Payne, a senior research fellow in cardiovascular sciences, had "never given the impression this was a woman stressed out".
The source added: "The impression I get was Kate was having a lovely time with the children."
The evidence of Mr Payne, 41, and the McCanns' dining companions that night - dubbed the "Tapas Nine" - is vital in clearing the couple of any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance.
It is understood that none of their friends has been interviewed by Portuguese police since giving official witness statements back in May.
Portuguese newspapers claim police want to interrogate them again and that a judge has given the go-ahead.
I have seen nothing to suggest she had any problems with coping, no suggestion of post natal depression etc. The PJ (or their press) are doing nothing but inventing or even deliberately misinterpreting what they are seeing. If it was not so tragic it would be amusing that the differences in culture are so enormous here!
- Miriam Oppenheim, Madrid, Spain, 18/10/2007 10:38
If my child was missing and I was suspected of being involved I would be DEMANDING the police interview me. I certainly wouldn't leave the country a few days after being named a suspect.
- John, London, 18/10/2007 10:43
Amazing, they can afford tennis lessons but not a nanny to look after the kids whilst they are out!
- Loris, Milan, 18/10/2007 10:45
I wish these two could find their missing child.
- Leanne, UK, 18/10/2007 10:49
If this means clearing Gerry and Kate of any involvment in their daughter's disappearance, the seven friends from the Tapas Nine should be interviewed without further delay. I am only surprised that this has not been done before!
- Pip, United Kingdom, 18/10/2007 10:51
This is ridiculous. To base their case around trying to prove that Kate McCann was a struggling mother is just unbelievable. All three children look happy, healthy and well looked after. I highly doubt that so many of the McCanns friends would lie on their behalf if they clearly knew Kate was not coping well with her children. In fact most mums cope even better on holiday because they are feeling very relaxed. The PJ clearly do not have enough evidence and are pushing and waiting for Kate to crack. This family is innocent and the PJ need to begin the searches that they keep claiming they are about to start. LOOK FOR MADELEINE!
- M, UK, 18/10/2007 10:58
To Loris in Milan.
Tennis lessons were included in the price of the holiday. The price of the holiday was also on a half-board basis, breakfast and lunch included in price.
- Mar, UK, 18/10/2007 11:40
Will they ever leave this family alone and get on and find their daughter...
- Sithe, Glasgow, 18/10/2007 11:56
Who asks for a friend to check up on the wife to see if everything's OK if absolutely everything already is OK? Noone I know.
- Joe, Liverpool, 18/10/2007 12:02
Pip,
Does it occur to you that that might be the last thing the PJ want to do? They've got themselves on a hook, and are desperately looking for a way off it.
However, re-interviewing the "Tapas Seven", and getting the claimed inconsistencies cleared up, showing them to be minor misunderstandings would leave them with no case, and looking very, very stupid...
- Andy Dawson, Crowthorne, Berks, 18/10/2007 12:12
- Andy Dawson, Crowthorne, Berks, 18/10/2007 12:12
I'm sick and tired of reading comments claiming the McCanns are innocent and the Portuguese are incompetent. Mistakes may have been made - this was a small town with a force inexperienced in such a crime. But we simply don't know what happened and the Portuguese are correct to pursue the leads no matter how unpalatable they are.If they ignored all these outstanding questions then they truly would be incompetent and be compounding their early errors.
- Martin, Manchester, 18/10/2007 12:17
- Sally, England, 18/10/2007 12:23
David Payne said he saw Madeleine at 6.30 pm. By this time, Kate would have been very busy, as most mums of young children will know, in getting all three children ready for bedtime and settling them down. It wouldn't have left her much time to do anything else before leaving to join their friends at the Tapas Bar.
- Janet, Manchester, 18/10/2007 12:36
I am upset with the writer Anne Enright who is using her public position to influence dislike about Kate McCann.
Leave them alone already- the McCanns have suffered enough. It's true if Kate McCann were an ugly fat lady- perhaps people would have pity for them. Instead look at the public. I am quite disgusted with everyone from the Portuguese media to British writers. I never realized how vicious MANY people are.
- Elinor Warsh, Montreal Canada, 18/10/2007 12:44
Ok, investigate the parents but to leak (often untrue) information to pressurise a quick outcome and gain financial reward is corrupt. This persecution of this couple is horrendous. I certainly will not book our family holiday there.
- Christine, Derry, Northern Ireland., 18/10/2007 12:54
It's funny how gut instincts take over when a story does not add up. It's obvious that this couple wanted to pursue a lifestyle of their own. Placing children in nurseries etc. Instead of playing tennis McCann should have been looking after his kids.
Very few photos of the McCanns with their children and any that exist like Mrs McCann pushing a trolley with the twins looks forced and unlike doting parents.
It must be hard for the police to follow lines of inquires when misled from the start.
- J, UK, 18/10/2007 12:58
I am so fed up with seeing the McCanns' faces in the papers every day. For goodness sake, they are becoming more publicised than the Bechkams in all honesty.
Sorry, but my sympathy lies solely with Madeleine, not their irresponsible parents. Cruel to say, but totally honest.
- Philip Thomas, Llanelli, Wales, 18/10/2007 13:01
If Gerry was concerned about Kate, why didn't he check? Also, I doubt Kate got that stressed, the children were in the creche most of the time.
- Jw, Hants, UK, 18/10/2007 13:14
Refusing to answer so many questions posed by the PJ undoubtedly led the PJ to believe the McCanns have something to hide. If you're innocent and want the PJ to focuse on finding Madeleine surely you answer any and all questions? Refusal to do so is bound to cause concern and raise doubts about the parents.
- Anne, UK, 18/10/2007 13:46
Oh for crying out loud! So Gerry asks his mate to stop by the apartment and check on his wife and kids. Caring husband and father? No - everyone now thinks that there must have been something wrong! So now Gerry went off to play tennis after disposing of his daughter's body in the basement and probably sat down and had a large ice-cream afterwards before skipping back to the apartment.
Will people start listening to their own comments over all of this, and see how pathetic some of them really are?
- Cara, Surrey, 18/10/2007 13:51
Philip, Wales; good point.
- Carmen, London, 18/10/2007 13:57
This situation is going the way the death of Diana is going. Information is coming out in dribs and drabs. If everything was to come out at once, everyone would be wiser, and not re-form their opinion every day
- Victor Arram, UK, 18/10/2007 14:06
So he thought to check on Kate but they did not think to check properly on their children?
- Kelly Fisher, Halifax, 18/10/2007 14:46
My sympathy is with the children.
- Julie, Wales, 18/10/2007 14:58
Why must there always be something sinister attached to every comment.
Maybe it was an entirely innocent 'look in on my wife and kids' request as he had been out for a period of time and felt a bit guilty at leaving them?
- Sassy, San Pedro, Spain, 18/10/2007 15:00
If police examined every sentence people said everyone would look suspicious. I too am tired of seeing the parents' photo. We know what they look like, and it is far more important to see a photo of the child. None of this helps this little girl, whom I am hoping is still alive somewhere.
- Isabelle, London, 18/10/2007 15:06
Crucial new details always come from an unknown "source". Until a name is added to the information I think it should all be taken with a pinch of salt.
- Gina, Spain, 18/10/2007 15:14
My sympathy is very much with the McCanns. It is not THEIR fault that one or more members of the police team keep (illegally) leaking defamatory views to the press. The McCanns' reputation is being ruined by the likes of 24 Horas and any small prospect of having some sort of viable future after the loss of their child is being removed. The press and their police "source" are going to drive Kate McCann to a breakdown or worse, or cause some nutcase to attack her. This is barbaric.
- Stevie, Oxford, 18/10/2007 15:37
There's literally thousands of parents need more scrutiny about their behaviour with their children before any finger is pointed towards the McCanns. Have strength Gerry & Kate, Madaleine will be found! Everyone stay vigilant, it could be YOU that finds her!
- Tom Mcmaster, Shiremoor,Newcastle, 18/10/2007 16:00
Can't they keep quiet for a day without coming up with new 'information'?
- A., Bournemouth, UK, 18/10/2007 16:29
Philip in Wales - I would rather see the McCanns' faces than the Beckhams' any day of the week. At least Mrs McCann has a proper job!
- J Franklin, Bexley, 18/10/2007 16:30
Stop all this media hype, it's doing nobody any good at all. Allow the investigators to just get on with the task. All will be revealed in time.
- Gordon, Almeria, Spain, 18/10/2007 16:52