Day 130 - 10/09/2007 Monday

Day 130 - 10/09/2007 Monday

 

 

The last few days have been incredibly busy and of course, unbelievably stressful and emotionally draining.

 

On Friday Kate and I were made ‘arguido’- official suspects in Madeleines disappearance. We cannot comment on any details of the investigation, interviews or any evidence that has been presented to us. We could never possibly have imagined being put in this unbearable situation. No specific charges have been presented at this point and there has been no restriction on our movements imposed.

 

Despite the anguish and extreme distress this has caused all of our family, long term no one will be able to doubt how intensely Kate and I have been scrutinised. We have absolute confidence that, when all of the facts are presented together, we will be able to demonstrate that we played absolutely no part in Madeleines abduction. Our primary concern has always been the search for Madeleine and this aspect, that our daughter is still missing, must remain a priority for the investigation.

 

On Saturday we asked the Portuguese police if they had any objection to us coming back to the UK. We had assured them that we will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and of course will return as requested and for our own emotional reasons. We decided to fly back on Sunday as we had originally planned and all of our family spent the rest of the evening helping us to pack.

 

On Sunday we left for the airport at 7am with huge media attention. Camera crews followed us all the way to the airport, and the whole experience, like much of the last four months was incredibly surreal. The flight itself went quickly with Sean and Amelie constantly active and excited about returning to Leicestershire. We always hoped that we would not have to return without Madeleine and could never have imagined the possibility that we would do so as suspects in our own daughters disappearance. The pain and turmoil we have experienced in this last week is totally beyond description. Kate and I are totally 100% confident in each others innocence and our family and friends have rallied round unflinchingly to support us. We would like to thank everyone else for the support we have received since we came home.

 

We have had very mixed emotions since coming back to our own home. It is very comforting to have such familiar surroundings and our own belongings and the twins have settled straight back in as if they have never been away. We have had

 

numerous visitors with friends and those in official capacities. We have appointed solicitors to advise us and assist our Portuguese lawyer in preparing our defence against any possible charges. The sooner this is done the sooner we can concentrate fully on trying to find Madeleine, which is the most important thing through this unending nightmare.