'Madeleine's parents are victims of witch-hunt'

London: The parents of missing Madeleine McCann are the victims of a "witch-hunt", the former boss of the Metropolitan Police said yesterday.

In an article published in the News of the World, Lord Stevens said there was no hard evidence to suggest Kate and Gerry McCann murdered their daughter.

"There's absolutely no chance that the parents of Madeleine McCann would be charged with her murder in this country," he said.

"It would be an outrageous miscarriage of justice if they were.

Flimsy evidence

"I've been a detective at the most senior level for 30 years and have never seen such a witch-hunt, or one based on such flimsy evidence."

Stevens - who retired as Metropolitan Police commissioner in 2005 after five years in the post and more than 40 years in the force - spoke of the "sheer inadequacy of the police investigation".

He said the McCanns should have been treated as prime suspects from the outset and that the apartment from which the four-year-old vanished should have been "sealed off and barred to anyone but specially trained police and forensic scientists".

During his tenure, Stevens headed inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the death of Princess Diana and alleged football bungs.