Pictured: The innocent father who was key suspect in Maddie investigation for SIX YEARS until he was cleared by his daughter's 'frilly pyjamas'

• Mystery Briton even posed in clothes he wore that night to prove innocence
• DCI Redwood described his decision to come forward as 'revelation moment'
• He'd been seen carrying daughter by Jane Tanner, a friend of Gerry and Kate
• Little girl had distinctive frilly pyjamas that he also brought to Scotland Yard
• Turned investigation on its head and moved kidnapping from 9.15pm to 10pm
  

By MARTIN ROBINSON

A British father considered the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann kidnapping for six years blew open the case after coming forward to police with his child's distinctive frilly pyjamas.

The mystery man's involvement was ruled out after detectives realised he was taking his own two-year-old daughter home from a crèche and had not snatched Maddie.

He even agreed to be pictured in the clothes he wore in Praia da Luz, on May 3, 2007, to prove he was the man in the police sketch previously seen as key to cracking the case.

His two-year-old's pink pyjamas, which were described by one of the McCann's closest friends, were also brought to Scotland Yard to help prove his innocence.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2460669/Madeleine-McCann-kidnapping-innocent-British-father-... 

is this the same paper as the other headline ? 

It sounds incredible that someone would keep their childs pj's for 6 years let alone wait 6yrs to come forward with this to help prove his innocence ? 

and should that help prove anyone's innocence ? 

Iza, I've kept some of my kids clothing from when they were that age.  Especially their little grand dad type dressing gowns because they looked so adorable in them.

I too have kept some special clothing including their grade 6 signed jumper and year 12 signed tops. Plus baby shoes. Nothing odd about that IMO. They are keep sakes.

50 mts is not far at all and common pratice to leave children while dining for some cultures. We got left in unlocked cars to sleep when I was a child.

I have too.Though if I was aware that a little girl had gone mising and a prime witness in the investigation (a well publicised case) claimed to have seen a man carry a child around that time I would have done something about it as I would think most people would (to help the case) before 6yrs had passed and at around the same time (before/after? ) that it appears this dubious sighting (from one of their friends) which the parents relied on.. was publicly announced as a red herring.

and of course who knows what is fact and what is fiction .

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@*pepe wrote:

the parents are not amazing, they left their children alone.

 

its all very well for them to point the finger at the police saying they didn't investigate properly - well they didn't parent properly.

 

there would have been nothing to investigate if they had been decent parents and not left their children alone.

 

i'm not convinced they had anything to do with the disappearance, but then i'm not convinced they didn't either.

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I have left my children alone when sleeping... not gone far... we were camping and they were in the tent and I was at the fire... I checked on them every half hour or so... 

I have also stayed at hotels where I have left the kids alseep in the room to go to the office. 

People on holiday should be able to leave children blissfully sleeping in a locked room if they have not gone far.... unfortunalty you can't do that anymore. 

I do not think that they were bad parents for doing that. I think the bad thing was that the child was taken. 

But I totally get where you are coming from.. not everyone would think that leaving them alone is ok. 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing? We camped a lot when ours were young, they were in tents away from the danger of camp fires..............we slept in cars and the back of trucks when we were children, outside in paddocks while our adult relatives slept indoors.

We really have to stop the blame game when these things happen, it deflects from the real perpetrator and excuses them because they were given opportunity.

It's simple here (in Australia) ..it would be considered a crime if parents weren't providing age approprriate supervision 3 children under 5....not suggesting that that makes/made whatever else happened or others did less of a crime 

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Ex-Madeleine McCann police chief seeks to ban media from £1m libel trial The disgraced Portuguese detective accused of hampering the search for Madeleine McCann sought to ban media from the court room as a libel case against him got underway.

The McCanns, who are both 45, were finally cleared in July 2008, when the Portuguese police investigation was shelved for lack of evidence.

But the following month, Mr Amaral who was sacked from the investigation and has since left the police force, published a book accusing them of faking their daughter's abduction to cover up her death in the apartment.

In 2010, they won a court battle in Lisbon to ban sales of the book entitled "The truth of the Lie", a ruling that was overturned later that year.

Mr McCann, a heart specialist and Mrs McCann, a former GP, are now seeking damages for themselves and their twins, Sean and Amelie plus further damages for the harm caused to the search for Madeleine, who would now be ten years old.

In a 36-page writ, first lodged in June 2009, they describe Mr Amaral as a self obsessed, manipulative money-grabber and accuse him of libel and breaching their human rights.

In July Scotland Yard announced a full-scale investigation into the girl's disappearance after identifying 38 potential new suspects and said they had requested assistance from Portugal's Policia Judiciaria.

A team of 37 detectives has spent the last two years examining thousands of documents, witness statements and evidence reports as part of government funded review of the case ordered by Prime Minister David Cameron.

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madeleinemccann/10304279/Ex-Madeleine-McCann-police-chief...

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 could that description be seen to apply to them too ?

which description?

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@***super_nova*** wrote:

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@azureline** wrote:

50 metres from my front door to my neighbours front door. It doesn't seem that far.

So, watching that British re enactment, it appears at least 3 other families left their children alone in their units as well?

At all times Kate speaks about Maddy as  being still alive.  Remember when that little Kiesha diappeared, her parents spoke about her in the past tense?

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I believe that from the restaurant the McCanns had a clear view of the unit. 

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obviously not clear enough....

I can't see how they had a clear view of it from where they were.