Goncalo Amaral claims ‘MI5 hid Madeleine McCann’s body in cover-up after her parents killed her’
EX-PORTUGUESE police chief Goncalo Amaral has claimed MI5 helped cover-up Madeleine McCann's body after her parents accidentally killed her.
The controversial detective made the shocking claims on Aussie TV show Sunday Night, which looked into the unsolved disappearance and suggested Madeleine's body could be hidden in a well on Praia da Luz.
Amaral suggested MI5 "for sure had an involvement", either by helping to hide Maddie's body or covering up the alleged crime.
It comes as Kate and Gerry McCann told of their heartache ahead of the 10th anniversary since she vanished.
When informed of Amaral's latest conspiracy theory by a journalist who suggested he also thinks Gordon Brown was involved, Gerry McCann said: "The less said about Goncalo Amaral the better."
Despite Amaral's bold claims, the programme suggested Scotland Yard’s strongest lead was an employee working within the Ocean Village holiday complex who could have more information they have not yet given to police.
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It also revealed there were a string of burglaries in holiday homes involving sex attacks on young British girls prior to Maddie's disappearance.
Professor Dave Barclay described the area in Praia da Luz as "the most hide-a-bodyable place", while journalist Paul Luckman said there are up to 600 wells in the area her body could be in.
Met Police Detective Inspector Colin Sutton said: "It would be almost impossible to find a body without specific info or intelligence.
"It is a large area of low population, with scrub land and ancient wells. There are areas where humans probably don't go from one year or decade to the next.
"It would be very easy to secret something there and be really confident it wouldn't be found. "
A senior professor also claimed Madeleine could have been knocked down by a drink-driver after leaving the apartment to search for her parents.
Prof Dave Barclay said: "A drink driver would certainly have a motive to conceal a body."
An interview with Gerry and Kate McCann shows the parents recall memories of the night their "world shattered" - and the events leading up to Madeleine's disappearance.
Gerry reveals he looked at his three sleeping children before leaving for dinner and "thought how lucky he was" - with no idea it would be the last time he would lay eyes on his daughter.
Kate went back to check on the kids at 10pm and found the bedroom shutters up and window open.
"I knew instantly she had been taken," Kate admits.
After rushing around the apartment "frantically" she ran back to the Tapas bar the other adults were eating at screaming: "Someone's taken Madeleine."
Speaking about suspicions against them, the couple's spokesperson said Kate and Gerry were warned to show little emotion in interviews by police - turning the "public tide of emotion against them".
Kate said there "wasn't a day for 18 months" where she "didn't cry for an extended period of time".
Gerry added "Kate would howl like a wolf", while he was "just paddling below the surface".
An interview with ex-Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral shows the former lead investigator still suspects the couple.
He said he thought the McCanns had lied about the open window and shutters - and suggests they staged the abduction to cover up accidentally killing her.
Paul Luckman, CEO of The Portugal News and the first journalist on the scene, admitted failings with the Portuguese police's investigation and says people trampled all over the crime scene.
A spokesman for the McCanns previously asked the documentary-makers to hand over any “credible” evidence to police.
They said: “If the Australian TV show contains any credible, fresh lines of inquiry they should, of course, have been given immediately to the police.”
It comes as the tenth anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance nears.
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