The Sun
Lucy Hagan
The cop leading the Maddie hunt was blasted yesterday after he and two colleagues spent two hours boozing - at lunchtime.
Chief inspector Olegario Sousa downed wine and whisky with fellow Portuguese officers as a restaurant TV screened Maddie's anguished parents at a Berlin press conference.
A British snapper was ARRESTED after he spotted Wednesday's long lunch in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, where Maddie vanished.
He was held at a police station for four hours and had his camera confiscated. An onlooker told how Sousa - who has appeared on TV fronting the inquiry - relaxed with officers including detective Goncalo Amaral.
The witness said:
"When I left, one was still slumped in his chair." Asked whether it was acceptable for cops to drink wine and whisky at lunch, Sousa insisted yesterday: "It is my free time. What does it have to do with you what I drink or what I eat?
"I drink what I want to drink when I can drink. Have you seen anyone drunk? Have you seen any action deterred by that?"
The missing girl's aunt Philomena said:
"If it were detectives from Scotland Yard there would be absolute uproar."