Key members of 'team McCann'

2 May 2008 11:57am

The family, friends and professionals who rallied around Kate and Gerry McCann after their daughter went missing have been dubbed "Team McCann".

Ranging from sisters and priests to lawyers and millionaire businessmen, they have helped the couple in the search for Madeleine and the battle to clear their names.

These are the McCanns' key supporters:

The press officers

Clarence Mitchell has become the public face of Mr and Mrs McCann since Portuguese police named them as formal suspects in Madeleine's disappearance.

He flew out to Portugal to act as the couple's chief adviser for a month shortly after the young girl vanished, but only took over as their full-time spokesman in mid-September.

Mr Mitchell is a former BBC journalist who reported on the royal family and major crime stories including the Fred and Rosemary West killings and the murder of Milly Dowler.

After nearly 20 years at the corporation he left in 2005 to become director of the Government's media monitoring unit.

In mid-May the Foreign Office sent him out to the Algarve to help the McCanns deal with the massive media interest in their daughter's disappearance.

The couple had already been provided with press officers - first crisis management PR expert Alex Woolfall and then senior government spokeswoman Sheree Dodd.

When Mr Mitchell returned to the UK in June, his place was taken by Liberal Democrat activist Justine McGuinness, who was described as the McCanns' "campaign manager".

Ms McGuinness was spokeswoman throughout the turbulent days of early September when a succession of negative stories in the Portuguese papers were followed by the couple being made suspects.

She stood down shortly after they flew back to Britain on September 9 and was replaced by Mr Mitchell, who has become known for his robust and passionate response to any criticism of the McCanns.

The British legal team

Thanks in part to the generosity of their supporters, the McCanns are represented by some of the UK's top lawyers.

The couple's legal affairs are co-ordinated by Edward Smethurst, the in-house solicitor for their wealthy benefactor Brian Kennedy.

Mr Smethurst said in November he was "completely convinced" of their innocence and simply wanted to see that justice was done.

When the McCanns returned from Portugal in September they consulted respected London law firm Kingsley Napley, which lists rogue trader Nick Leeson and former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe among its past clients.

Partners Michael Caplan QC and Angus McBride advised Mr and Mrs McCann.

Mr Caplan, an expert in extradition and international law, represented Chilean dictator General Pinochet in proceedings when Spain tried to have him deported to face murder charges.

He is one of only a handful of solicitors to have been appointed Queen's Counsel, a title normally reserved for barristers.

Mr McBride's background is in criminal defence and he has expertise in protecting the reputations of high-profile people and companies.

He has represented a number of Premiership footballers, including Chelsea captain John Terry, and acted in the Stevens Inquiry into police collusion between security forces and loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland.

The McCanns were also represented by Adam Tudor from renowned defamation law specialists Carter-Ruck in their recent successful libel action against Express Newspapers.

The Portuguese legal team

When detectives summoned Mr and Mrs McCann for further questioning in early September, the couple took with them one of Portugal's star lawyers.

They attended the Policia Judiciaria headquarters in the Algarve town of Portimao accompanied by Carlos Pinto de Abreu.

Mr Pinto de Abreu had previously launched a defamation claim against the Portuguese newspaper Tal & Qual on behalf of the McCanns over a story claiming police believed they killed their daughter.

The Lisbon-based lawyer speaks English and is an expert in human rights and criminal law.

Shortly after the McCanns were named suspects, it was announced that Rogerio Alves, an old friend of Mr Pinto de Abreu, would join their legal team in Portugal.

The financial backers

The McCanns' plight has attracted the backing of a number of wealthy benefactors.

Sir Richard Branson has donated £100,000 to their legal costs and Cheshire-based entrepreneur Brian Kennedy is paying for their private detectives, spokesman and legal co-ordinator.

Immediately after Madeleine went missing, there was a groundswell of sympathy for her parents that led to politicians, sports stars and business leaders expressing their support.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling, footballer Wayne Rooney and music mogul Simon Cowell all contributed to a £2.5 million reward for information leading to the young girl's safe return.

Separately, Madeleine's Fund was launched on May 16 to pay for finding the child, supporting her family and bringing her abductors to justice.

Although Mr and Mrs McCann are both doctors, they are comfortably off rather than rich and needed to use some money from the fund for two mortgage payments on their home while they were still in Portugal and not working.

By late September the fund had amassed over £1 million in donations from companies, wealthy supporters and ordinary people who had been moved by the case.

When police made the couple suspects in Madeleine's disappearance on September 7, some of their backers withdrew their assistance.

And on September 12 the board of Madeleine's Fund announced that the money would not be used for the McCanns' legal costs.

But shortly afterwards Sir Richard reiterated his support, saying he trusted the couple "implicitly" and wanted to ensure they had a fair trial if they ever appeared before a Portuguese court.

Edinburgh-born millionaire businessman Mr Kennedy, owner of the Latium Group and the rugby union team Sale Sharks, also made public his backing for Mr and Mrs McCann.

He said he would pay for Mr Mitchell to act as their spokesman and provide the services of his in-house lawyer, Mr Smethurst.

Mr Kennedy is also paying a monthly retainer of £8,000 a month to Spanish private detective agency Metodo 3, who have been tasked with searching for Madeleine.

The family

Mr and Mrs McCann both come from close-knit working-class Catholic families.

They have drawn great strength from their relatives, at least one of whom has been with them almost constantly since Madeleine disappeared.

Mr McCann is from Glasgow and his wife from Liverpool, but they met while working as junior doctors at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow.

Family members have helped the couple in a variety of ways - from practical things like looking after their other two children to acting as directors of Madeleine's Fund.

They have also been mobilised to give media interviews at key times, such as immediately after Madeleine went missing and when Mr and Mrs McCann were made suspects.

Mr McCann's sister Trish Cameron, from Dumbarton near Glasgow, spent much time with the couple in the Algarve and often cared for their twins Sean and Amelie.

She gave journalists one of the first accounts of Madeleine's disappearance and was with the McCanns when they were re-interviewed by detectives in September.

Another sister, Philomena McCann, from Ullapool in north-west Scotland, has often been outspoken in her criticism of the Portuguese police.

Mr McCann's brother John McCann, a pharmaceuticals salesman from Glasgow, is one of the directors of Madeleine's Fund.

Another director is Mrs McCann's uncle, Brian Kennedy, a retired headmaster who is no relation of their millionaire benefactor.

Mr Kennedy, who lives down the road from the McCanns in Rothley, Leicestershire, in particular supported the couple after they returned to Britain from Portugal in September.

Mrs McCann's parents, Susan and Brian Healy, from Allerton, Merseyside, have defended their daughter from criticism that she was a bad mother by leaving Madeleine alone on the night she disappeared.

The priests

The McCanns have found solace in their faith since Madeleine's disappearance.

Both the missing girl's parents were raised as Catholics, although Mr McCann has admitted he is a less devout believer than his wife.

The couple were regular visitors to the church of Our Lady of Light in Praia da Luz after Madeleine's disappearance, and their family priest flew out to Portugal to support them.

Father Paul Seddon, of St Richard's Parish in Atherton, Greater Manchester, married the McCanns in 1998 and baptised Madeleine in 2003.

He said he travelled to the Algarve to be with the couple not so much as a priest but as a friend.

The priest helped with everything from handling the correspondence that poured in from around the world to cooking and doing the dishes.

While they were in Portugal the McCanns also became close friends with the local Anglican priest, Haynes Hubbard, and his wife Susan.

Father Hubbard, who was born in England but has lived in Canada most of his life, arrived in the Algarve to take up a new post just days after Madeleine went missing.

Mrs McCann and Mrs Hubbard became particularly close because they have children of a similar age.

© The Press Association