Monday June 25, 2007

By Padraic Flanagan

THE chief suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been driven to the brink of suicide, his family said yesterday.

Father-of-one Robert Murat is the sole suspect in the investigation into the four-year-old’s disappearance 53 days ago from a Portuguese holiday apartment.

Banned by law from commenting on the case, the businessman has asked his family to speak out and protest his innocence. His plea came as police in Malta appeared to dash hopes Madeleine was on the holiday island, after investigations into at least 18 alleged sightings proved fruitless.

In Praia da Luz, the Algarve resort where the McCanns were on holiday when Madeleine was snatched, Robert Murat’s aunt was insisting DNA evidence will reveal her nephew was not her abductor.

Sally Everleigh, 56, said: “Robert is completely innocent but his life has been ruined by the most ing and cruel allegations imaginable. His only crime was wanting to do anything he could to help.

“As a father himself, he knew Kate and Gerry McCann must have been going through hell.”

She claimed Murat, 33 – whose daughter Sofia is Madeleine’s age – had been on the verge of killing himself after he was arrested 11 days after the toddler vanished. Mrs Everleigh also denied reports child pornography was found on a computer seized by Portuguese police during a raid on the home he shares with his mother Jenny, 71.

Mrs Everleigh said Murat had only met the McCanns very briefly to offer them his help and had never set foot in their apartment.

She said: “He says he would happily take a lie detector test to prove his innocence.

“He has had hate mail – really awful stuff – and he thinks he will get physically attacked in the street. Robert has gone through some very dark moments and wondered if there was any point carrying on.

At times he has been so low we have worried he is suicidal.”

Murat, who has lived in Portugal since breaking up with wife Dawn two years ago, will remain an official suspect until Portuguese police formally hand back paperwork linking him to the inquiry.

Police in Malta received three fresh reports on Saturday from people claiming to have seen a girl resembling Madeleine. They follow at least 15 similar reports there.

A spokeswoman for Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, said the pair would not become “emotionally involved” unless sightings were officially confirmed.