5' 10" (25 May 2007)

5' 8" or 5' 9" (05 June 2007)

5' 7" to 5' 11" (09 June 2007)

5' 8" to 5' 10" (26 October 2007)

5' 9" (28 October 2007)

5' 6" (16 November 2007)

'probably 5ft 8in tall, he was taller than me but not 6ft and so between those two' (19 November 2007)

 

35-40

 

Hair that was short on top (25 May 2007)

Dark hair, parted to one side, slightly longer at the back (05 June 2007)

Dark hair (26 October 2007)

Black hair (28 October 2007)

'Hair.. the one thing that I remember a lot is the hair. He did seem to have quite a lot of dark, reasonably-long-to-the-neck hair' (19 November 2007)

 

White (25 May 2007)

Caucasian (09 June 2007)

Caucasian with southern European/Mediterranean appearance (26 October 2007)

'More local or Mediterranean looking'/'swarthy skin' (19 November 2007)

 

Dark jacket (25 May 2007)

Dark jacket, slightly longer than a suit jacket (05 June 2007)

Wearing a maroon shirt (28 October 2007)

Heavy dark coat (19 November 2007)

 

Beige or golden long trousers (25 May 2007)

Light coloured trousers which may have been beige or mustard coloured (05 June 2007)

Camel-coloured trousers (28 October 2007)

'He was wearing quite a lot of clothes and that's one thing in hindsight again I think was quite odd because tourists when they're abroad, Brits abroad would always have cropped trousers or shorts or something, and he had a sort of a big heavy jacket and trousers on' (19 November 2007)

'He was dressed in that sort of smart casual way European people dress' (19 November 2007)

 

Medium (25 May 2007)

Slim (26 October 2007)

 

Dark shoes (25 May 2007)

Black or brown shoes (28 October 2007)

 

'Carrying, sort of, across the body like that. I suppose in hindsight you'd probably think somebody would carry them more against the shoulder.' (19 November 2007)

 

'I could tell it was a child, and I could see the feet and... feet and the bottom of the pyjamas, and I just thought that child's not got any shoes on because you could see the feet.' (19 November 2007)

 

'the pyjamas had a pinky aspect to them so you presume a girl.'

 

 

Date of Diligence: 2007.05.06
Location: DIC Portimao
Name: MARTIN SMITH

The witness states: 
• That he comes to the process as a witness. 
• Being of Irish nationality, he does not understand Portuguese in its written or oral form and is accompanied by an interpreter. 
• That he has an apartment in Luz, Lagos, located in the Estela da Luz Urbanizaco, A1C. This apartment is co-owned by a friend whose name is L*** O*****. He normally visits Portugal three times a year. When here, he stays in the apartment. Concerning this period, he states that he arrived in Portugal on the 30th of April, 2007, with a booked return date of May 9, 2007. He arrived at Faro airport and flew out from Dublin. 
• Concerning the facts under investigation, on the 3rd of May, he went with his family to the Dolphin restaurant in Praia da Luz where they dined. Around 21H00 they left the restaurant and headed toward "Kelly's Bar"; about a 50 metre distance from the restaurant, following the path, as it is very short. The walk took him a few minutes. In "Kelly's Bar" they consumed some drinks. They left that establishment around 21H55 as his son was due to return home very early the next day. This bar is located on Calheta Street. 
• After leaving the bar, he travelled in the opposite direction and reached a set of stairs which gave access to Rua 25 de Abril (25th of April Street). On this artery they followed a second street, parallel to Rua 1 de Maio (1st of May Street) whose name he does not remember. He was heading toward his apartment (Estrela da Luz complex) which is located a little above the street that crosses the primary school. As he reached this artery, he crossed an individual holding a child. He notes that it is normal to see people carrying children, especially during the holiday season. This individual was walking the downward path, in the opposite direction. He is not aware where this person was headed. He only saw him as they passed each other. He assumed it was a father and daughter and thought nothing more of it. 
• Urged, states that when he passed this individual, it must have been around 22H00. He did not know at the time that a child had disappeared. He only became aware of the disappearance of the child the next morning, from his daughter in Ireland. She had sent him a message or called him regarding what had happened. At this point he thought that MADELEINE could have been the child he saw with the individual. 
• Regarding the individual he states that: he was Caucasian, around 175 to 180m in height. He appeared to be about 35/40 years old. He had a normal complexion, a bit on the thin side. His hair was short, in a basic male cut, brown in colour. He cannot state if it was dark or lighter in tone. He did not use glasses and had no beard or moustache. He did not notice any other relevant details partly due to the fact that the lighting was not very good. 
• He was wearing cream or beige-coloured cloth trousers in a classic cut. He did not see his shoes and cannot describe the colour or form of the same. 
• He states that the child was female, about four years of age as she was similar to his granddaughter of the same age. It was a child of normal complexion, about a metre in height. The child has blonde medium-hued hair, without being very light. Her skin was very white, typical of a Brit. He did not look at her eyes. As she was asleep and her eyelids were closed. 
• She was wearing light-coloured pyjamas. He cannot state with certainty the colour. She was not covered by any other cover or sheet. He cannot confirm whether she was barefoot but in his group, they spoke about the child having no cover on her feet. 
• Urged, he states that the individual did not appear to be a tourist. He cannot explain this further. It was simply his perception given the individual's clothing. He states that the individual carried the child in his arms, with her head laying on the individual's shoulders to the right of the deponent. He adds that he did not hold the child in a comfortable position. 
• Having already seen various photographs of MADELEINE alongside her images on television, states that she may have been the child he saw. He cannot state this as fact but is convinced that it could have been MADELEINE. Indeed, this is the opinion of his family.
• Questioned, says that the individual did not speak nor did the child as she was in a deep sleep. 
• States that it is not possible to recognise the individual in person or by photograph. 
• Adds that in May and August of 2006, he saw ROBERT MURAT in Praia da Luz bars. On one of these occasions, he was inebriated and spoke to everyone. He did not use glasses at this time. He also states that the individual who carried the child was not ROBERT. He would have recognised him immediately.
• At being asked, states that he was accompanied by his wife, MARY SMITH and his son, PETER SMITH, his daughter-in-law, S***, and his grandchildren of 13 and 6 years of age (children of PETER) T**** and C***, his daughter AOIFE (12 years of age) and his other two grandchildren (A******* (10 years old) and E***** (four years old). These are children of his daughter B***** who was in Ireland.
• States also that when he passed this individual mid-street, traffic is minimal or non-existent. 
• He adds that the group passed him some metres away so that they could make out the individual from various distinct positions. 
• He has added a sketch indicating the direction of the locale and the sighting. 
• He has no other elements to offer the investigation. 
• And nothing more was said. He reads and finds it in conformity, ratifies and signs together with the interpreter.

Drogheda family hit out over Madeleine case clue coverage Drogheda Independent

 

 

A DROGHEDA family who may hold vital clues as to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have hit out at media distortion of evidence that they have given to Portuguese police.

 

Maple Drive man Martin Smith, his wife and his children had just left the Kelly bar, which is located approximately 400 metres from the McCanns' apartment at the Ocean Club between 9.50-10pm on the night Madeleine disappeared.

 

They returned to Ireland the next day, and because the reported abduction times didn't originally match, they never had cause to examine their journey that night.

 

As it emerged that Madeleine was abducted around the same time, one of the family members had a flashback of the moment some time later and encouraged the others to jog their memory.

 

They remembered passing a man walking towards the beach with a child in his arms.

 

Other than his approximate height and the fact that he was wearing beige clothes they cannot be more specific than that. 'We are annoyed at how vague our description is,' said the family member.

 

The family contacted the Portuguese police and flew back over to give evidence.

 

However, contrary to media reports, Mr Smith had not seen chief suspect Robert Murat in a bar the evening that Madeleine was abducted. 'He definitely didn't see him on the night in question,' said a family member.

 

The family are also mystified at reports that he knows Mr Murat. 'They met once in a bar about two years ago. My dad would only know Mr Murat by sight,' said the family member. 'However, from what he knows, he can say that the man who was carrying the child was not Robert Murat.'

 

 

PRIVATE detectives hunting for Madeleine McCann are to quiz an Irish family who may have been the last to see her alive.

 

Martin Smith, his wife and children told cops they saw a man carrying a little blonde girl in Praia da Luz on the night Maddie vanished.

 

Investigators from the Metodo 3 agency hired by Maddie's parents Gerry and Kate are preparing to travel to Ireland to interview them.

 

The family, from Drogheda, Co Louth, believe they saw the man taking the sleeping tot down to the beach at the Portuguese resort.

 

The Smiths were leaving Kelly's Bar — 400 metres from the McCanns' apartment — between 9.50 and 10pm on May 3 last year.

 

They flew home to Ireland the next day, but when the times of Maddie's abduction were revealed, the family remembered seeing a man, 5ft 7in to 5ft 9in tall and dressed in beige, carrying the child.

 

Significantly the description matches that given by Jane Tanner, 37, a friend of the McCanns.

 

Mr Smith, who has already spoken to Portuguese cops over the sighting, said yesterday: "I'd talk to anyone to move this investigation on. I think about Maddie every day."

 

He added: "I found the Portuguese cops not to be the most efficient bunch."

 

His wife Mary, 59, said: "We saw a man carrying a blonde child. It was just such a normal thing to see in a holiday resort — we didn't think anything of it at the time."

 

The Sun reported on Monday how Metodo 3 — which is costing the Find Madeleine Fund £300,000 — plan to blitz Morocco after several leads pointed to the country.

 

 

A family who may have seen Madeleine McCann being abducted could provide vital evidence in the search for the missing four-year-old.

 

The group saw a man walking towards the beach in Praia da Luz while carrying a child at the time Madeleine vanished, exactly eight months ago.

 

Portuguese police have taken statements from the family, who live in Drogheda, Ireland.

 

Now detectives hired by Madeleine's parents want to speak to Martin Smith and his family. The Smiths were leaving Kelly's Bar just before 10pm when they saw a man carrying a child 500 yards from the McCanns' apartment.

 

Kate McCann, 39, raised the alarm about her missing daughter at around 10pm.

 

The Smiths are thought to have described the man as white and 5ft 7in to 5ft 9in tall. His top clothing was obscured by the child. That description matches a suspect seen walking away from the apartment at about 9.15pm by Jane Tanner, a member of the "Tapas Seven" group of friends who were on holiday with the McCanns.

 

She saw a man carrying a child wearing pink pyjamas similar to those worn by Madeleine.

 

The McCanns' spokesman said yesterday: "Our detectives are being very methodical and I am quite sure that this family will be on their list."

 

The eight-month deadline means suspect Robert Murat, 34, hopes to be formally cleared today.

 

 

 

AN IRISH holidaymaker has spoken publicly for the first time of his disturbing encounter with a man carrying a child wrapped in a blanket on the night Madeleine McCann disappeared.

 

Now investigators hired by Madeleine's parents hope Martin Smith and his family can provide a crucial breakthrough.

 

Speaking from his home in Drogheda, Co. Louth, Mr Smith recalled the sighting, which is strikingly similar to one by a friend of the McCanns, Jane Tanner. In hindsight, the retired Mr Smith said, the mans rude behaviour should have aroused his suspicions.

 

He explained: "The one thing we noted afterwards was that he gave us no greeting.

 

"My wife Mary remembered afterwards that she asked him, 'Oh, is she asleep?' But he never acknowledged her one way or another.

 

"He just put his head down and averted his eyes. This is very unusual in a tourist town at such a quiet time of the year."

 

Their description of the barefoot child and the man, who wore beige trousers, echoes that of Miss Tanner, who said she saw a man carrying a sleeping child away from the McCanns apartment about 9.15pm.

 

Though the Smith family believe they met an almost identical man closer to 10pm, the coincidence prompted them to contact police after they returned to Ireland. Mr Smith said: "Luz is such a small place and so quiet, we felt a duty to tell police and let them decide if it was important."

 

Last night, McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said detectives from the Spanish agency Metodo 3 now hoped to speak to the family. "Metodo 3 is being very methodical, working through a number of people they think might be able to help them, and this family will be on their list."

 

On the night of the disappearance, Mr Smith was dining with his wife in the Dolphin restaurant in Praia Da Luz, where they are frequent visitors.

 

The couple were with their daughter Aoife, their son Peter and his wife Sile,as well as four grandchildren Tadhg, Cole, Aisling and Eimear.

 

All nine met the man holding a child but their recollection differs slightly from Miss Tanner's.

 

"In the image she gave, the man was holding the child forward in his arms. The man we saw had put the child over his shoulders. But Luz was very, very quiet at that time of the year and the likelihood of two young children being carried around like this is very small.

"Also, our timings are a bit different. She saw the man at 9.15pm. We say 9.45or 9.50pm and the sighting was only a five-minute walk from where the child was staying.

"I dont know if this information will help the McCanns. We kept interested in whats going on but we tried to avoid the limelight."

 

The father of six yesterday said the Irish family would do anything they could to help the McCanns find their missing daughter.

 

"We have not been contacted by the private detective hired by the McCanns, and have had no contact with the investigating police since May 26 last year.

 

"But anything we can do to help try to solve it, we will." Recalling the event she witnessed, Mr Smith said it was some time before the family realised they could be star witnesses

 

"We were out the night it happened. My son and his family were leaving on the Friday and we were going for a family meal. We went home about 9.50pm and we heard nothing at all about Madeleine McCann until the next day.

 

"I was taking my son Peter to the airport and on my way back, I heard that a kidnapping had happened in the village of Luz.

 

"We were looking at all the commotion on Sky News and we really felt quite helpless.

 

"We had two grandchildren with us at the time, aged four and five, and it had a terrible effect on them.

 

"They all wanted to sleep in the same room as us until we went home on the Wednesday.

 

"We were home two weeks when my son rang up and asked was he dreaming or did we meet a man carrying a child the night Madeleine was taken. We all remembered that we had the same recollection. I felt we should report it to the police.

 

"I rang the Portuguese police and they took a statement from me on the phone.Then they asked me to make a statement to gardai, which I did in Drogheda two weeks after the disappearance.

 

"Two days later, Leicestershire police got on to us and said they wanted to speak to all nine of us. But we felt there was no point dragging grand children and the whole lot out to Portugal so just my eldest son, Peter, and youngest daughter, Aoife, and I flew to Luz to make a statement.

 

"The police were fairly busy and the station was pretty typical. They didnt seem to be the most efficient police you ever came across but they are probably no different to police anywhere else. We were interviewed separately and told them what we saw, and showed them on the map where we met the man and child.

 

"We spent the whole day there from 10.30am to 7pm with an interpreter. That day, May 26 last year, was the last time we had any contact with the investigation.I remember clearly because it was my wedding anniversary.

 

"I told them we went for dinner at the Dolphin Restaurant and then went on to have just one drink in Kelly's bar, just 50 yards away.

 

"We would normally have stayed out longer but my son and his family were going home the next day.

 

"As we made our way back to our apartment in Estrella da Luz, we met a guy with a child that appeared to be asleep.

 

"It looked like a blonde child, and I thought she might be four years old, as she was the same size as my grandchild who was with us.

 

"It was around 9.55pm and it was getting dark and he was looking downward so I couldnt tell you exactly what he looked like.

 

"None of us was 100 per cent sure what he was wearing but we all told police he was wearing beige trousers and a darker top. We all put him in his early 40s. I didnt think he was Portuguese." Insisting he knew chief suspect Robert Murat visually for years, Mr Smith told police the person he saw carrying a child could not be him.

 

"I told police it was definitely not him because the man wasn't as big as Murat. I think I would have definitely recognised him."

 

 

An Irish tourist who saw someone carrying a child in a blanket on the night Madeleine McCann disappeared insists that the mystery man was not Robert Murat.

 

Martin Smith, from Drogheda in Co Louth, was on holiday in Praia Da Luz with his family when they bumped into the man just before 10pm on May 3 last year.

 

The Smith family's suspicions were aroused because the man made no response when they asked if the barefoot child was asleep.

 

"He just put his head down and averted his eyes, which is very unusual in a tourist town at such a quiet time of the year," said Mr Smith.

 

Initially the Smith family thought nothing more of the encounter - and even the next day when the story broke they still didn't make the connection.

 

"We were home two weeks when my son rang me up and asked was he dreaming or did we meet a man carrying a child the night Madeleine was taken," said Mr Smith.

 

"We all remembered the same recollection, and I felt we should report it to the police.

 

"We've all been beating ourselves up that we should have made the link sooner, if only we'd remembered the next day. But the Portuguese police said you see these things on holiday all the time."

 

The Smiths did contact the Portuguese police once they had returned to Ireland, but say they have had no contact with the officers investigating the case since May last year.

 

"I rang the Portuguese police and they took a statement from me on the phone," said Mr Smith.

 

They asked me to make a statement to the Gardai, which I did, and two days later Leicestershire police got on to us.

 

"My eldest son, Peter, my youngest daughter, Aoife, and I then flew to Luz to make a statement. They didn't seem to be the most efficient police you ever came across - and that was the last time we had any contact with the investigation.

 

"I don't know if this information will help the McCanns, but anything we can do to help try to solve it, we will.

 

"We were looking at all the commotion on Sky News and we really felt quite helpless. We had two grandchildren with us at the time and it had a terrible effect on them - they all wanted to sleep in the same room as us."

 

But Mr Smith is certain that the man he and his family saw that night was not Robert Murat, who is still officially an "arguido" in the Madeleine McCann investigation.

 

"I told police it was definitely not him because the man wasn't as big as Murat - I think I would have recognised him because I'd met him several times previously.

 

He was wearing beige trousers and a darker top. We all put him in his early 40s and I didn't think he was Portuguese."

 

Mr Smith's sighting is similar to the one reported by Jane Tanner, a friend of the McCann family.

 

A spokesman for the McCanns said detectives from the Spanish agency hired to investigate the case are now hoping to speak to the Smiths.

 

Retired Mr Smith, 58, does not wish to appear on camera in order to protect his family from media intrusion.

 

 

 

Other new information revealed in the files includes the account of one witness who reported seeing a man carrying a young girl with blonde hair on the night of the disappearance. He later told the police the man could have been Madeleine's father.

 

Martin Smith, 58, on holiday at the time, was interviewed by detectives in Portugal and his native Ireland but the line of inquiry was later discarded.

 

Four months after his initial statement Mr Smith contacted the police to say he had seen Madeleine's parents arriving back in Britain on BBC News, and the way Mr McCann carried one of the couple's twins reminded him of the man he had seen in Portugal.

 

When detectives replayed video footage of the couple's arrival at East Midlands airport, the witness said he was 60-80% sure that the man he passed was Gerry McCann.

 

But this was later dismissed by prosecutors because at the time of the reported sighting, shortly before 2200, Gerry McCann was sitting in the Ocean Club's tapas bar with other members of his party.

 

 

 

 

Gerry was also in a "sighting" 

 

On 26 May, Martin Smith, an Irishman described by the Leicestershire police as a "decent" man who was not looking for fame, came to Portugal to give a statement to the PJ and tell them what he saw on the night of 3 May 2007, at around 10.00 p.m., in a street in Praia da Luz: a man carrying a child in his arms, with the child's head resting on the man's left shoulder.

The image he saw: a man approximately 175 to 180 cm tall (5' 9" to 5' 11"), 34/35 years old, short brown hair, and carrying a blonde girl wearing pyjamas "roughly four years of age", has never gone out of his head, he said.

On 20 September, the Irishman once again contacted the authorities. He was "distressed", going on to explain that when he saw the McCanns on the TV news on 9 September getting off the plane that had just landed in England, now as "arguidos" he sensed that he was witnessing a "repeat of the events of the night" on which he had seen the man "carrying the child back in Portugal". The way Gerry was carrying one of his children, Sean, whose head was resting on his shoulder, was "exactly" the same way the unidentified man in Portugal carried his child.

The PJ asked for more information. On 23 January Mr. Smith gave another statement to the police in Drogheda, Ireland. He repeated that he was 60 to 80 per cent sure that the man he had seen carrying a child in Praia da Luz was Gerry.

In the final report on the investigation, the PJ guarantee, however, that at the time Smith says he saw Gerry in the street, Madeleine's father was sitting at the table in the Tapas restaurant in the Ocean Club.