Where to start in the case that has gripped the British public for almost six months now? How do we wade through the mire of speculation, spin and sometimes pure nonsense being bandied about? Should we go out on a limb and mention insinuations of high level, if not political, interference in a criminal investigation? Could the parents be guilty of involvement in their daughter’s disappearance? Will the missing child ever be found? And if so, will she be alive?

The McCann case still dominates the headlines of the UK’s tabloid press. It makes appearances in the broadsheets, albeit the predominantly Tory publications; the Daily Telegraph and The Times. Sky News has a special web-page devoted to the story. Countless forum members and amateur web sleuths daily post their opinions on each and every development.

So let's state the facts we are sure of before we continue. On May 3rd of this year a British child, Madeleine McCann, daughter of Gerry and Kate McCann, was reported missing from the family’s rented holiday villa in Praia de Luz, the Algarve, Portugal. The British media reported it as an abduction.

On May 15th, Robert Murat, an ex-pat Anglo-Portuguese was declared a formal suspect (an aguido) by Polícia Judiciária officers investigating the case. On September 7th and 8th both parents were also declared formal suspects after hours (in the case of Mrs McCann 20 plus hours) of questioning. On September 9th the parents and their two other children, returned to their family home in Rothley, Leicestershire. As far as I can ascertain, these are the bare bones of the affair.

For the British public this story has been confounded by two particular aspects. Firstly, the fact that the Polícia Judiciária are not permitted under Article 68 of Portuguese Penal Code to comment on an investigation while it is still taking place. There is, therefore, very little known or very little that has been or can be substantiated. This, added to general ignorance about the judicial processes and legal systems of other EU states, has fuelled a sense for many that the investigation is haphazard and shrouded in secrecy, if not downright dissimulation. Secondly, in the initial stages of the story the media, particularly the tabloid press, were used - and happy to be used - in an effort to publicise the child’s face in the hope she could be found. All of which no doubt boosted sales and permitted at least some journalists to bask in the warm glow of 'doing good' in the dangerous and sensationalist world many of them seem to inhabit.