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MADDY: MUM
FACES TEN YEARS IN JAIL
ANGUISH:
Stress shows on Kate McCann's face
THE mother of
Madeleine McCann could be jailed for up to 10 years for
abandoning her children, it emerged last night.
Kate and her
husband Gerry face being put behind bars even if they are
cleared of any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
A lawyer
yesterday accused the couple of committing the crime of child
abandonment simply by leaving their three children alone in
their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.
Under
Portuguese law, the maximum penalty is 10 years in prison if the
victim is a dependant and dies as a result of being abandoned.
Lawyer Jose Olimpio, aged 42, said: “The fact the McCanns were
made arguidos means that there are justified suspicions against
them of committing a crime.”
Mr Olimpio
claimed the Portuguese penal code states that placing a person’s
life in danger by abandoning them is punishable with a jail
sentence of between one and five years.
But the
sentence rises to between three and 10 years if the victim is a
child and the crime is committed by a parent or guardian.
The McCanns
have admitted regularly leaving their children – Madeleine, Sean
and Amelie – alone in their apartment at the Ocean Club while
they went for dinner with friends.
But last
night their official spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: “They
have committed no offence under Portuguese, British or any
country’s laws.”
News of the
possible charges came as the couple faced a further setback in
the fight to clear their names over accusations that they were
involved in Madeleine’s disappearance.
Reports in
Portugal claimed it could be a further six months before they
are re-interviewed by police, although the 39-year-old doctors
from Rothley, Leicestershire, say they are ready to be quizzed
again about Madeleine’s disappearance on May 3.
But the
official process to allow detectives to interrogate them is
progressing at “a snail’s pace” because of red tape.
Madeleine’s
parents refused to answer up to 40 questions in a gruelling set
of interviews with police in Portugal when they were named as
arguidos or formal suspects in September.
The couple
faced accusations that Madeleine died as a result of an accident
and they disposed of her body with the help of their friends.
Police believe re-interviewing the couple and their seven
holiday friends could provide the key to unlocking the Madeleine
mystery.
Detectives
have prepared a legal letter outlining 100 questions for the
McCanns, their friends and relatives. But it must now pass
through a complicated chain of officials before the questions
can be put to them in fresh interviews in Britain.
The local
state prosecutor is at the moment waiting for forensic test
results from a Birmingham laboratory before sending the letter
on to a judge.
The judge
will in turn send it to the Attorney General in Lisbon. It will
then pass through the Justice Ministry to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, who will pass it on to the British Foreign
Office.
But the
complicated process does not stop there. The Foreign Office will
send it to the Ministry of Justice, who will pass it on to the
Lord Chancellor’s office before British police are asked to
carry out the interview.
The scale of
the convoluted legal process became clear a day after Portugal’s
Attorney General said Madeleine was almost certainly dead. |
