The Papers: New suspect in Madeleine case \'biggest break yet\'
Newspaper headlines: New suspect in Madeleine McCann case 'biggest break yet'
By BBC NewsStaff
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The news that a new suspect has been identified in the case of Madeleine McCann, 13 years after she disappeared in Portugal, makes several front pages. The Daily Express says the new "prime suspect" is a 43-year-old German man who was known to be in Praia da Luz when the girl disappeared. The blond-haired suspect had a 30-minute phone conversation with a "mystery caller" the night Madeleine went missing, the paper adds.
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The Daily Telegraph says friends of Kate and Gerry McCann have called the new line of inquiry the biggest development in the case since Madeleine went missing 13 years ago. The Telegraph reports that the suspect is a "multiple" child sex offender serving a lengthy jail term, and he first came to the attention of Metropolitan Police officers after the 10-year anniversary appeal in 2017. It is understood that British and German police have interviewed the suspect in jail but he has declined to help with their inquiries, the paper adds.
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The Daily Mail calls the new development a "bombshell", and poses the question: "Have they found the man who took Maddie?" The paper says the suspect was renting a "ramshackle farm building" two miles from Praia da Luz where the McCann family were staying. German police also suggested there may have been other people involved who are still at large, the paper adds.
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The Sun also poses a question in its headline, asking whether a yellow and white VW camper van linked to the suspect was used in Madeleine's disappearance. The paper devotes several pages to the new development, and also focuses on the "mystery call" the suspect received on his mobile an hour before the three-year-old vanished.
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The i newspaper says police have released mobile phone numbers in a bid to "pin down" the suspect's movements. It also reports that Madeleine's parents have welcomed the new development and said they "will never give up hope" of finding her alive but "whatever the outcome may be, we need to know".
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The Daily Star describes the suspect - who has not been named by police - as a "German drifter". It reports that Scotland Yard is launching a joint appeal with German and Portuguese police with a £20,000 reward for information that leads to the conviction of the person responsible for Madeleine's disappearance.
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Like many papers, the Daily Mirror shows a photo of the suspect's camper van, one of two vehicles linked to him that police want more details about.
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The Times also reports on the case, saying German police believe the suspect broke into the McCanns' holiday apartment and spontaneously committed the kidnapping. But its top story is on Boris Johnson's plan to quarantine everyone entering the UK for two weeks from Monday. Leading scientists have warned the plan makes "no sense", the Times says, adding the government's group of scientific advisers were not consulted on the decision.
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The Metro's front page leads with a grim statistic, reporting that the number of people who have died in the UK with coronavirus has now reached 50,000. The paper says the total comes after new figures from Scotland were released and added to the data from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The paper says Prime Minister Boris Johnsons insisted he was "very proud" of the government's handling of the virus.
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Several papers, including the Guardian, picture actor John Boyega at a protest in London showing support for US demonstrations over the death of George Floyd. The paper's top story says the government's push to reopen primary schools in England on Monday "has fallen flat", saying figures show thousands of schools did not open. In large parts of the north-east of England, not a single primary school opened, the paper says.
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The Financial Times reports that the government is struggling to rebuild stockpiles of medicine that have been depleted due to the pandemic. According to the paper, a senior official said Health Secretary Matt Hancock has agreed that a stockpiling plan needs to be fixed by the end of June, in case a Brexit trade deal is not reached by the end of the transition period at the end of this year.