A British father named yesterday as the first official suspect in the kidnapping of Madeleine McCann broke his silence last night to deny his involvement.

Speaking to Sky News, Robert Murat said that he had been made a scapegoat by the police. “This has ruined my life and made things very difficult for my family both over here and in Britain,” he said.

“The only way I can survive this is if they catch Madeleine’s abductor.”

Mr Murat, 33, had hitherto declined all press requests for interviews despite playing a key translating role in police efforts to find Madeleine.

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He said that he had discovered that he was under surveillance on Sunday night and had decided to cofront the local police. He spent 19 hours with them and said that he had been cheered by the announcement that they did not have enough evidence to arrest him.

He added that he was happy for police to search the hard drive of his computer as he was confident that they would not find any evidence.

Police have removed items from the villa where Mr Murat lives with his mother, Jennifer, including two computers and a mobile phone. Mrs Murat said that officers had also emptied a shredder and attempted to piece together the paper.

In an interview with a broadcast journalist, Mrs Murat added that on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance she had arrived home at 8pm to find her son in the house. The mother and son then spent the evening together, chatting and having a meal.

Mr Murat’s girlfriend and her husband were also questioned yesterday as forensic science teams and police dogs examined the Algarve villa.

Detectives from the PolÍcia Judiciária spent 15 hours searching of the villa. “The main purpose was to collect information allowing us to locate and bring back young Madeleine,” Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said.

The police declined to say what evidence was alleged to link the property developer to the abduction.

Mr Murat has been given the formal status of “arguido”, or suspect, over the abduction of Madeleine from her family’s apartment in Praia da Luz 13 days ago. His German girlfriend, Michaela Walczuch, and her Portuguese husband, Luis Antonio, remained “witnesses”.

Asked whether Madeleine would be found soon, Mr Sousa said: “We are trying to do all the efforts to find where she is. We are hopeful that this will be over in the near future.”

Mr Sousa said that an alleged link between Madeleine and Mr Murat had emerged last weekend. But Mrs Murat insisted that her son had become an innocent victim of his own efforts to help the police.

She said that he had called to say: “I am innocent. I am very upset.” Her son had been working closely with the investigation. He was employed as a police translator for witnesses including the missing child’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.

Mrs Murat also played a big role in the voluntary search by local residents. Her home, the villa Casa Liliana, is less than 100m from the apartment from where Madeleine was abducted. There are direct views between the properties.

Mr Murat had been telling friends that he was missing his own daughter, the same age as Madeleine. She moved back to Britain with her mother after the parents failed to build a new life together in Portugal.

Geoffrey Livock, 71, who lives near the Murats, said that Madeleine and their daughter looked alike. “At first glance you would think they were twins,” he said.

Mr Murat’s uncle, Ralph Eveleigh, said that the suspect had nothing to do with Madeleine’s abduction. “Jenny has told me he was eating dinner with her the night Madeleine disappeared so he can’t be involved. It’s ridiculous to blame him,” he said.

Police were alerted to concerns about Mr Murat by British journalists who had met him. They said that he was increasingly interested in the detail of the investigation and had made claims about his role in the search.

The Murats are well known in Praia da Luz, where Mr Murat’s mother ran a bar, Ancora, in the Sixties and more recently worked as an estate agent. Mr Murat worked at a number of estate agents in Praia da Luz and the neighbouring town of Lagos.

He met Ms Walczuch, in her early thirties, while they both worked at the Remax agency. She continued to live in the same Lagos apartment as her husband, a pool maintenance worker, and their eight-year-old daughter.

Mr and Mrs McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have made no comment about the new developments. They attended Mass in Praia da Luz, led by Father Paul Seddon, the priest who married them and baptised Madeleine.

The service was an opportunity for friends who had travelled to Praia da Luz with the McCanns to bid farewell. The couple, with their twins, are determined to stay until Madeleine is found.

Hunt goes on

Justice system in Portugal

— The system for investigating and prosecuting crime is similar to France and Italy

— Crimes are reported to a regular police authority, the PSP in the cities or GNR in rural areas, who undertake a preliminary investigation. The case may then be referred upwards for a public prosecutor to supervise proceedings. Major steps in the investigation must be authorised by an investigating judge

— Investigation performed by the judicial police, a specialised unit that gathers evidence of serious crime to submit to court

— Accused is charged by a public prosecutor before an investigating judge

— All parties are bound by a duty of secrecy. Proceedings made public only after a defendant has been charged

— Secrecy can be lifted by an investigating judge to “clarify the truth”. The authorities may provide the press with reports about a continuing investigation to prevent the commission of another offence and to avoid public unrest

Source: Association of Chief Police Officers

Disappearance timetable

Saturday, April 28 Gerry and Kate McCann bring their children Madeleine, 3, and twins Sean and Amelie, on holiday to Praia da Luz

Thursday, May 3 Madeleine disappears from flat as the couple dine in the Ocean Club resort

Monday, May 7 Mrs McCann makes a television plea for Madeleine’s return as police say they have “not ruled out” the possibility of abduction

Tuesday, May 8 Two experts from Britain’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre fly to Portugal to help the investigation

Thursday, May 10 The McCanns questioned as witnesses by police

Tuesday, May 15 Robert Murat named as formal suspect

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