UK paedophile to be quizzed on Madeleine

Published on Friday 22 May 2009 23:38

BRITISH police are preparing to interview a convicted paedophile in Germany who is being investigated over Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

Raymond Hewlett, 64, is alleged to have been staying near the McCanns' holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal, when she went missing in May 2007.

UK-born Hewlett, a former soldier who lived and worked in the north of Scotland in the late 1990s and has also lived in Blackpool and Telford, was jailed several times for sexually assaulting young girls.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed yesterday they were seeking him in connection with an indecent assault in 1975.

"We have made contact with the German authorities. We are just waiting for clearance so we can actually go and speak to him regarding that incident," a spokeswoman said.

Two retired UK detectives hired by Madeleine's parents to search for their daughter hope to interview Hewlett with the help of British police.

A source said: "A proper police force such as West Yorkshire may get first crack. It's then a question of us liaising with the police to see what access we can get."

But the source added: "He is one of a number of possible leads that we are looking at. We are not going to give it any more weight than that. We are being quite cautious on this."

Questions were raised about Hewlett's time in Portugal by a couple who met him on holiday. Alan and Cindy Thompson said the sex offender was living with his wife and six children in a converted Dodge truck travelling from campsite to campsite in the Algarve and southern Spain.

Hewlett allegedly told the couple he was approached by some "Gipsy tourists" offering to buy his daughter just before Madeleine went missing.