THE BRITISH laboratory analysing several DNA samples taken from the McCanns holiday apartment and two cars hired by the group told The Resident on Tuesday it cannot comment on whether the results have already been sent to Portuguese authorities.
A spokesman at the Forensic Science Service, in Birmingham, said: “That is not for us to comment on, I am afraid. That would be with the Portuguese police”.
He said that they deal with various samples and some can take a day to analyse and others can take several weeks, depending on whether specialist techniques are used.
Judicial Police Spokesperson for the Madeleine McCann case, Olegario Sousa, told The Resident: “I do not have any new information about this”, adding that he was in contact with officers in the Algarve and was awaiting information from them but he did not say when this information is likely to arrive. He later said: “We are all waiting for news” on the test results, adding that patience was important at this stage.
Tranquilizer medication
Reports in Wednesday’s Portuguese national newspaper Correio da Manhã claim that Judicial Police officers found a syringe with tranquilizer medication on a bedside table in the McCanns apartment, where Madeleine went missing.
However, there is no indication when this is alleged to have been found. The Resident spoke to Sousa, who said that he could not confirm nor comment on any press reports.
It has been widely reported that Gerry McCann stormed off a television set during an interview with Spanish television, after the host asked him about the blood that was allegedly found in the apartment. He left Kate on the stage on her own but returned later to complete the interview in a calmer state.
Low key campaign
Earlier this week, Gerry McCann told the Edinburgh Film Festival the media campaign to find Madeleine McCann will be scaled down and take on a “low-key format”.
He acknowledged he and Kate had initially sought publicity but feels there is now a lack of control and that the family had deliberately tried to withdraw from the spotlight.
“Unfortunately the human interest side of this is enormous now and that’s been very difficult.”
This sort of coverage led to Kate McCann saying on Saturday that she was “horrified and deeply upset” over comments made by Sandra Felgueiras, a news presenter for Portuguese television station, RTP.
Allegedly Felgueiras alluded to the fact that Kate may have killed her own daughter, according to a report in Friday’s Daily Express.
It was alleged that the McCann family were ready to sue in an effort to protect their reputations but they have now drawn back from taking legal action.
Felgueiras said: “If the McCanns presume that this is an accusation against them, then that is their assumption, not mine. My conscience is completely clear.”
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