Latest on the Madeleine tragedy

Mr Mitchell added that the release of the confidential police documents was a "blatant and timed smear campaign", designed to coincide with the McCanns' efforts to promote a child alert system in Brussels.

But journalist Nacho Abad denied that he had been party to any deliberate timing over the release of the statements, telling Sky News: "I made them public when I got them."

The transcripts show Mrs McCann told police about a conversation she had with Madeleine on the morning she vanished.

"While we were having breakfast, Madeleine said: 'Mum, why didn't you come when we were crying last night?'," she said.

She added: "Gerry and I talked about it for several minutes and decided to watch over the children more carefully at night."


Gerry and Kate McCann in BrusselsFriends of the McCanns said the couple had been "puzzled" by Madeleine's remark as she had not apparently been crying when they called in for regular 20-minute checks from the restaurant across the pool where they dined each night during their holiday.

They said one of the McCanns' friends, Rachael Oldfield, had been in the adjoining flat - on the other side of Madeleine's wall - all evening and heard no crying.

The couple also insist Madeleine was not speaking angrily and they did not take it as a reproach.

Her reference to "we" is understood to have referred to Madeleine and her younger brother Sean.

Friends said they now believe the comment could even be a clue that an intruder was in the flat on the night of May 2 and briefly disturbed Madeleine and Sean before fleeing.


The McCanns' holiday apartmentThe leaked excerpts also reveal that two days before Madeleine's disappearance two workers repaired the Persian blinds of the room where the children slept.

On the night Madeleine went missing, Mr McCann said he returned to the apartment by his usual route after his wife raised the alarm.

"I looked everywhere, I returned to the children's room and started to think about what could have happened," he said.

"To my surprise, I realised that I could lift up the Persian blind without effort and almost without any noise."

Mr McCann also reported that the angle of the door had changed earlier on in the evening when he had checked on his children - who were all sleeping.

Reporting from the McCanns' home town of Rothley in Leicestershire, Sky correspondent David Crabtree said the McCanns were upset that the transcript leak had caused diversion in their campaign.

"They still believe that Madeleine is alive and out there somewhere, and that is what they want to focus on," he said.

"They want a full inquiry to be undertaken, not only within the Portuguese police and the judicial system but also by Leicestershire police who have been helping the Portuguese officers."