Madeleine 'suspect' urged to help

12 April 2012

A convicted paedophile should "see sense" and co-operate with private investigators searching for Madeleine McCann, a spokesman for the child's family has said.

The McCanns' investigation team wants to interview 64-year-old Raymond Hewlett in the next few days in the hope he can shed some light on the little girl's disappearance.

Hewlett is alleged to have been staying near the McCanns' holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal, when she went missing in May 2007.

UK-born Hewlett, who previously lived in Blackpool and Telford, is reportedly being treated for throat cancer in hospital in the German city of Aachen,

He was jailed several times for sexually assaulting young girls and is now wanted for questioning by British detectives in connection with a separate indecent assault.

The McCanns hope that once officers from West Yorkshire Police have questioned the former soldier, their investigators will speak to him, despite reports he is seriously ill in intensive care.

Clarence Mitchell, Kate and Gerry McCann's spokesman, said: "Mr Hewlett has denied any involvement in Madeleine's abduction.

"Our investigators hope he will see sense and co-operate by giving them whatever information is needed so they can eliminate him from the investigation. It's clear the man is ill and it is clear he has information that our investigators need. It is also clear that our investigators will be speaking to him in the near future."

It is understood that before the McCanns' team can speak to Hewlett, British officers will interview him in connection with an indecent assault in 1975.

Sources close to the investigation say they think both interviews will take place in "a matter of days, not weeks".

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