MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann DAILY MIRROR (front page): “WE’VE SPENT £1M HUNTING FOR MADDIE.” Kate and Gerry McCann Exclusive: We’ve spent £1m hunting Maddy - EXCLUSIVE McCanns vow to keep searching THE SUN: “McCanns spend £1m on Maddie search” - Not exclusive. THE MIRROR: “The couple have shielded the twins from what few facts are known about Madeleine’s disappearance in May last year.” A few facts? There is only one fact: a child disappeared. Gerry revealed: “They realise Madeleine is not here but they don’t know the details.” What details? DAILY MAIL: “Kate McCann: We’ve spent £1m trying to find Madeleine” Speaking about their spending on the...

MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann THE HUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER: “Time to close book on a tragic chapter” Hilarie Stelfox speak to her readers: They may have been guilty of neglect - and I certainly wouldn’t have left my children alone in a holiday apartment at that age - but that doesn’t make them murderers. Further revelations are planned by the former head of the investigation in Portugal but I, for one, am now tired of the slurs and innuendo and will not be buying the book written by Goncalo Amaral, who is simply capitalising on the case. Any more of this and Stelfox will put a parodist out of a...

MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann THE SUN: “McCanns’ delay on Maddie files” LAWYERS for Kate and Gerry McCann are still waiting to see Portuguese police files on daughter Madeleine’s disappearance, their spokesman said yesterday. Clarence Mitchell added: “We hope to get notification from the court early next week.“ DAILY MAIL: “Platell’s People: Is this the best way to help Maddie?” It’s Amanda Platell. Let’s have a heated debate about our Maddie. Platell is watching the parents: With a face like stone to hide a breaking heart, Gerry sat clutching his wife’s hand under the table. ‘It has been devastating to witness the detrimental effect being named as suspects has had on the search for...

MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann THE GUARDIAN: “The Panama Mystery - Mr and Mrs Canoe’s case fascinates but can’t match crime fiction’s satisfying motives and denouement” Mark Lawson does so love a good ending to a work of fiction and fact. A super-fiction. Take care you don’t confuse the two. In his piece Lawson name checks them all: John and Anne Darwin, Radovan Karadzic, Fred and Rose West, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, Ian Huntley, Harold Shipman and… As the trial was coming to a close, I was at the Harrogate Crime-Writing Festival, and newspapers were reporting the latest developments in the Madeleine McCann case. Bingo! Where were you? One of the reasons for the huge popularity of crime fiction is that...

MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann Portuguese prosecutors have shelved the investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance. Kate McCann, Gerry McCann and Robert Murat are not longer official suspects. Fernando Jose Pinto Monteiro, Portugal’s Attorney-General, told police to halt the investigation into of Madeleine’s disappearance. A statement released by his office confirmed that it had decided to “close the file on the investigation concerning the disappearance of the minor Madeleine McCann due to lack of evidence that any crime was committed by the persons placed under formal investigation”. But it’s not the end of the matter. And Madeleine McCann returns to the nations’ front pages: DAILY MIRROR (front page):...

MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann Today Portugal’s attorney general, Jose Pinto Monteiro, is to make a statement about the Madeleine McCann case. Reports that the inquiry into her disappearance will be shelved. This means Kate McCann, Gerry McCann and Robert Murat – the three named suspects – might be cleared. But what crime occurred? Kidnap? Murder? Paedophilia? Neglect? The Portuguese police have never been able to say for sure. The BBC has its man in Portugal. It’s “live” from Portugal. And we are watching the parents. DAILY MAIL (front page): “New agony for Kate as Maddie detective cashes in” Kate and Gerry McCann are expected to be told today that the inquiry into their daughter’s disappearance is being...

MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann SUNDAY PEOPLE: “We’ll savage bungling cops on Oprah [Winfrey] show - CLEARED McCANNS VOW TV ONSLAUGHT” Cleared? “At noon tomorrow a judge will formally lift the cloud of suspicion.” Is that a fact? The couple are likely to focus their fury on top cop Goncalo Amaral, who was kicked off the Madeleine case last October following allegations of incompetence and attacks on his British police counterparts. “I’LL NEVER HAVE MY LIFE BACK – MURAT” - ‘I don’t know if I will ever be able to shake off the stigma of being ‘that Maddie man‘.” “People say there is no smoke without fire and there may always be some who still doubt me. I have to live with...