Key players in the McCann case

Clarence Mitchell
The former BBC journalist was appointed early on in the investigation to be the McCann's official spokesman. He represented them in the immediate aftermath of the incident after being sent to Praia da Luz by the Foreign Office. He has spent considerable time with the family, organising their trips across Europe, and, according to Gerry McCann, the couple's visit to Rome to meet the Pope. As a BBC reporter, he covered the wars in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq as well as the royal family �?a role which coincided with the death of Princess Diana.

Michael Caplan QC
Caplan is one of the two lawyers the McCanns have hired to defend them against suggestions that they might have been involved in their daughter's disappearance. A part-time judge in the crown court and a chairman of the police disciplinary appeal tribunal, he has a reputation in the profession for reliability and tenacity. In Chambers UK 2007, A Client's Guide to the Legal Profession, he is described as "the weapon of choice for battleship cases". This is not the first time Caplan has dealt with big media interest cases. An expert in extradition and international criminal law, he prevented the extradition to Spain of former Chilean president General Augusto Pinochet when he was arrested in the UK in 1998. He also defended the captain of the dredger Bowbelle, whose collision with the Marchioness on the Thames in 1989 resulted in the deaths of 51 people.

Angus McBride
The other lawyer hired by the McCanns, McBride, like Caplan, is a partner in the legal firm Kingsley Napley. He is a leading criminal solicitor with expertise in dealing with the media and protecting reputations of accidental celebrities such as the McCanns. McBride has represented actor Chris Langham, who was jailed for downloading child porn, and defended various professional footballers, including John Terry and two other Premier League players accused of rape in 2003.

Carlos Pinto de Abreu
Abreu is one of Portugal's best-known lawyers with a reputation for taking on controversial cases. He lodged the McCann's libel action against Portuguese newspaper Tal & Qual, which said they were police suspects after it was believed they administered their daughter a fatal drug overdose. The Lisbon lawyer has offered his services to the McCanns for free. He also applied to the district attorney for a change in the couple's formal status from "witnesses" to "assistant" in the investigation, thus allowing them to know more about it. He is the president of the human rights committee for the Portuguese bar association.

Philomena McCann
Gerry's sister, a high school teacher from Scotland, often speaks to the press on the family's behalf. She has become well known for her fiery personality and colourful Glaswegian vocabulary, but occasionally strays off-message. She told Sky News that Portuguese police –who she has been critical of �?had offered Kate a two-year sentence in return for admitting accidental manslaughter. Gerry McCann was still being interviewed by police, and Philomena had got the story somewhat garbled (they did not offer a plea bargain, but were exploring the possibility of accidental death).

Jill Renwick
Renwick, who has known the couple since they all worked together at a Glasgow hospital more than a decade ago, played an integral role in alerting the media of Madeleine's disappearance early on. Renwick spoke to Kate at 7am on the morning after Madeleine vanished. She described the anguish of the missing girl's mother as she pleaded for help, saying that they had been abandoned by searchers after scouring the resort all night. Renwick mobilised the McCann's wider circle of friends. This led to phone calls to GMTV, the CID, defence secretary Des Browne and Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark. She also stopped John Brown, brother of the prime minister, who lived on the same street as her and asked him to bring it to the PM's attention.

Calum MacRae
The 18-year-old internet expert runs the Find Madeleine website which has attracted more than 400,000 unique users and helped to raise more than £1m in donations for the campaign.

Esther McVey
The former GMTV presenter and Conservative parliamentary candidate has known Kate McCann since they did their A-Levels together. She is a trustee and spokeswoman for the Madeleine Fund.

Father Haynes Hubbard
The Anglican priest at the church of Nossa Senhore da Luz, in Praia da Luz, and his wife, Susan, have become close friends of the McCanns.

The 'tapas seven'

Dr Matthew Oldfield and his wife, Rachael
Have known the McCanns since Matthew Oldfield and Gerry McCann worked together in Leicester. They have a two-year-old daughter. Matthew was the last to check on the children (but did not actually see Madeleine), about 30 minutes before the alarm was raised at 10pm. The hospital consultant, along with his wife, also claimed he saw the prime suspect, Robert Murat. Rachael was the one who told Jane Tanner that Madeleine had disappeared.
Dr Russell O'Brien and his partner, Jane Tanner
The couple live in Exeter. Russell works at the Peninsula Medical School at the University of Plymouth. They have two children. The older one �?a girl - is the same age as Madeleine and was ill on the night of the disappearance Russell was away from the restaurant for about half an hour while he attended to her. He said Murat was outside the McCann's apartment that night. Jane provided the most crucial evidence to the investigation when she said that at about 9.15pm �?45 minutes before Kate McCann raised the alarm, she went to check on her children, and she saw a man carrying a little sleeping girl walking away from the vicinity of the McCann's apartment. At the time, she thought nothing of it. The girl was wearing pink and white pyjamas, like Madeleine was wearing. Tanner has since said she believes the child was the four-year-old daughter of the McCanns.

Dr David Payne and his wife, Dr Fiona Payne
David Payne is 41 and is a Fellow in Cardiovascular Science at Leicester University. Fiona is 34 and also a doctor. David was the last non-family member to positively see Madeleine alive in Praia de Luz at 6.30pm that evening, when he went to check on her and Kate while Gerry McCann played tennis. Fiona Payne also told police she saw Murat. The couple are the only ones reported to have used a baby monitor that night.

Dianne Webster
The mother of Fiona Payne.