Madeleine suspect gives DNA to police over 1975 inquiry

Published on Friday 29 May 2009 00:28

A CONVICTED paedophile linked to the Madeleine McCann investigation has given a DNA sample to UK police, it was reported yesterday.

Raymond Hewlett, 64, voluntarily gave a sample of his DNA to police in Germany after detectives investigating a 34-year-old incident requested the sample.

He gave a saliva sample in his hospital bed at the University Clinic in Aachen, where he is being treated for throat cancer, according to the German newspaper Bild. The sample relates to an investigation by West Yorkshire Police into incidents that occurred in 1975.

A West Yorkshire force spokesman said earlier that they "actively wanted to speak to" Hewlett in relation to their ongoing investigation into the 34-year-old case.

He added: "We want to speak to him in relation to an incident in 1975. We have requested a saliva sample to be taken on our behalf as part of our inquiry. It is a routine matter for us."

UK-born Hewlett, a former soldier who previously lived in Blackpool, is said to have been staying an hour's drive from the McCanns' holiday flat in Praia da Luz in Portugal when Madeleine vanished on 3 May, 2007.

She was nearly four when she went missing while her parents dined with friends nearby. Despite a massive police investigation and worldwide publicity, no clue to her whereabouts has been found.