Suspect sighting in Madeleine McCann case was false lead, say police as they follow new line

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have shifted the emphasis of their inquiry after discovering that a notorious presumed sighting of the girl being taken away from her holiday apartment was a false lead.

Detectives from London’s Metropolitan police (the Met) now believe that a man with dark, collar-length hair seen carrying a pyjama-clad child almost outside the McCann family’s apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, at about 9.15pm on 3 May 2007 was in fact an innocent British holidaymaker returning his own child from a night creche.

In the light of what police describe as “a revelation moment,” altering six years of thinking about the case, investigating officers now believe Madeleine could have been taken up to 45 minutes later in the evening.

The discovery had brought “a shift of emphasis”, said Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, leading the investigation: “We’re almost certain now that this sighting is not the abductor. But very importantly, what it says is that from 9.15pm we’re able to allow the clock to continue forward. In doing so, things that were not seen as significant or have not received the same attention are now the centre of our focus.”

Video: BBC's Crimewatch reconstruction

Inquiries are now centred on another man - whom police have been unable to identify - seen carrying a blond child, believed to be wearing pyjamas, close to the Ocean Club complex at about 10pm that night. The family who saw him provided two e-fit images of the man more than five years ago. However, the sighting was viewed as too late to be significant - which is why the e-fits were only released publicly on Sunday.