Former RUC officer Jim Gamble hopes it is the ‘end of the journey’ for heartbroken parents of Madeleine McCann

A former Northern Ireland police officer has said he hopes that the heartbroken parents of Madeleine McCann are finally at the “end of their journey” for answers.
Jim GambleJim Gamble
Jim Gamble

German prosecutors, who are investigating the disappearance of the British girl from a holiday resort in Portugal in 2007, said a 43-year-old man is being investigated on suspicion of murder,.

The suspect, who has been named in German media as Christian B, is currently serving a prison sentence.

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He is believed to have been in the area where Madeleine, aged three, was last seen while on holiday in Portugal.

Madeleine McCannMadeleine McCann
Madeleine McCann

Ex-RUC officer Jim Gamble, who served as the senior child protection officer in the UK’s first police investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, said it was the first time in 13 years “when I actually dare to hope”.

He told the BBC News Channel the “circumstantial evidence” that had been shared by the police made the new suspect a “really significant person of interest”.

He said he believed the man “came to light a number of years ago” but was only being made public now because it was a “painstaking” process which began from “a point of chaos” after the initial investigation had been “bungled”.

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In a separate interview on ITV’s This Morning Mr Gamble added: “You have an individual that - we are told - has committed similar offences, the age range of his previous offences are quite wide.

“We know he was in proximity of the crime and this circumstantial evidence is further strengthened by the phone call, cell site analysis that puts his phone in a particular place at a particular time and in immediate proximity to the timeline of the offence.

“Then you look at more circumstantial evidence, in other words the subsequent conduct of an individual.

“The day after we are told that a number plate of a car is changed. So all of that when you bring it together makes him a very, very significant person of interest.”

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“This is about what happened to Madeleine McCann and hopefully we are at the end of this journey.

“This is a substantial and very significant lead. It’s the most hopeful I’ve been in 13 years.”

Mr Gamble was the former chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and now runs the Belfast-based INEQE Group.