Kate McCann slams police chief

Kate McCann has branded "a disgrace" the Portuguese detective who led the hunt for her daughter.

In her first interview since being cleared of involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, Mrs McCann openly criticises Gonçalo Amaral for his role in the inquiry and his decision to write a book about the search.

Mr Amaral, 48, was sacked from the investigation for briefing against Mrs McCann and husband Gerry. The couple were made suspects while he was in charge of the case and had previously declined to speak out against him publicly. But the lifting of their arguido status has freed the McCanns to vent their anger.

In an interview with the Portuguese newspaper Expresso, published tomorrow, Mrs McCann, 40, is asked what she thinks of Amaral and his book, a bestseller in Portugal. She replies: "It's a disgrace."

The McCanns' animosity towards him has long been known in circles close to the couple but until now they have kept their counsel, not wishing to harm the police investigation into Madeleine's disappearance in May last year a few days before her fourth birthday.

But the inquiry has now been shelved after Portuguese authorities ruled there was no evidence to bring charges against either the McCanns or Robert Murat, the only other official suspect in the case, whose status has also been lifted. With no other leads, police have wound up the inquiry.