02 October 2007
Mail Online
Portuguese police have again come under fire for their laid back and unprofessional attitude in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann.
The man leading the world's biggest missing child inquiry, Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral, is working as little as four-and-a-half hours a day.
And he has been enjoying boozy lunches- despite a mountain of uninvestigated sightings of Madeleine McCann.
According to the Sunday Mirror newspaper there have been 252 possible tip-offs about the little girl's whereabouts - but the vast majority have yet to be checked.
It has also been reported that he was overheard in a cafe brazenly accusing the McCanns of killing Madeleine.
The conversation was a breach of the judicial secrecy rules which prevent Kate and Gerry from defending themselves against police leaks.
Amaral is himself under investigation for allegedly helping to cover up a police beating carried out to extract a confession from the mother of another missing girl.
He strenuously denies covering up the alleged abuse said to have been carried out by three of his colleagues.
The investigations problem's increased when the official police spokesman in the Madeleine case quit over the way the McCanns were treated.
Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa resigned in disgust at the way fellow officers were briefing "friendly" Portuguese journalists behind his back.
The couple, who have not returned home to Rothley, Leics, vehemently deny having anything to do with their daughter's disappearance.
Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry want to cooperate with the Portuguese police and would hope that they and their resources are being deployed as effectively as possible at all times."
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