Kate & Gerry say 'the truth will out'

EXCLUSIVE THE SEARCH FOR MADELEINE DAY 136

by SIMON WRIGHT 16/09/2007

A FRIEND of Kate and Gerry McCann who was dining with them when Madeleine went missing said last night: "They're not scared of being convicted... they know the truth will out."

Fiona Payne, 34, said the couple still had faith in the justice system despite everything. She said at her Leicester home: "Kate and Gerry are innocent. Finding Maddie is the only thing that still matters.

"I know people are wondering why those of us who were there that night have not given a detailed account of exactly what happened, but we are official witnesses and still have a responsibility to the investigation.

"What the public think did or didn't happen is not important. Kate and Gerry are confident the truth WILL come out and the person responsible for Maddie's disappearance WILL be found. That person is not Kate or Gerry. We are as frustrated as the public that we cannot speak in detail about the minutes leading up to Maddie's disappearance. There is so much to say yet we can't say it. We are still fully supportive of Kate and Gerry and always will be."

Dr Payne - who was on holiday with husband David, 41, their two children and her mother Diane Webster - has given Portuguese police a lengthy statement detailing the movements of everyone in the group as they ate dinner at a tapas bar 50 yards from their apartments.

The Paynes say they arrived at the restaurant at 8.55pm - 25 minutes after Kate and Gerry. But a statement by one of the others in the group - Rachel Oldfield - allegedly says the McCanns arrived two or three minutes AFTER the Paynes. It is thought the discrepancy is one of the many pieces of "evidence" being used by police to bolster their case.