McCanns get new spokesman

The new spokesman for the parents of missing British four-year-old Madeleine McCann said yesterday it was ludicrous to suggest they were guilty of harming her.

Gerry and Kate McCann are trying to clear their names after Portuguese police named them as formal suspects in the disappearance of their daughter four months ago.

Since their return to England last Sunday, the McCanns have faced intense media speculation about their role in the case.

"To suggest that they somehow harmed Madeleine accidentally or otherwise is as ludicrous as it is nonsensical," Clarence Mitchell, referring to accusations in British and Portuguese media, told reporters outside the McCanns' house.

"The focus must now return to Madeleine and move away from the rampant, unfounded and inaccurate speculation of recent days," said Mr Mitchell, who resigned his job as a government official to represent the McCanns.

He declined to answer questions from journalists at the time but later told Sky television the McCanns had no plans to return to Portugal in the near future.

He also said he was not being paid either by the McCanns or their support fund but that expenses were being met by one of the couple's "generous financial backers".

The couple have denied any involvement in their daughter's disappearance on holiday in southern Portugal on May 3 and say they are convinced she is still alive.