The company was reportedly told the
laptop would be sent to Lisbon, and
would be returned within the space
of a week.
But the two leading detectives in
the case, Guilhermino Encarnação and
Paulo Rebelo this week refused to
comment on this latest development.
Newspaper reports this week
meanwhile stated that police had
"recently" requested the permission
of Portimão magistrate Pedro Frias
to access the computer used by Gerry
McCann, despite it having been in
the possession of Portuguese police
for over a month.
Correio da Manhã meanwhile
revealed that access to the laptop
had been granted by Mr Frias, but
only on the condition he was present
when police starting sifting through
the content found on the computer.
Under the Portuguese Criminal
Procedure Code, police can only
access the e-mails of suspects with
the implicit permission of a court
and usually only in the presence of
a judge.
A source close to Kate and Gerry
was later reported by 24 Horas as
saying: "I don't know if police have
this computer or not. The only one
used by Gerry was lent to him, and
not hired out, and it was only used
as a telephone agenda as it was slow
and the keyboard was not English."
In other related developments, Mr
McCann this week wrote on his blog
for the first time after a six-day
absence.
"The media frenzy is gradually
subsiding with just occasional
unsubstantiated reports of
‘evidence' appearing", wrote Gerry
McCann, saying "It is very
encouraging that Mr Rebelo's
officers will be seemingly reviewing
all the material in the inquiry,
which will hopefully identify areas
for further investigation.
"Contrary to some other reports
Kate and I do not accept that
Madeleine is ‘probably' dead.
We know it is a possibility,
however the fact there is no
evidence Madeleine has been
seriously harmed gives us ongoing
hope that she will be found alive",
concluded Madeleine's father.
Separately, the Find Madeleine
Fund has this week revealed details
of an advertising campaign which it
describes as a grass roots strategy,
which aims to appeal personally to
people in their local community. It
is a mixture of newspaper display
and outdoor media. The material will
run through to Christmas in Portugal
and Spain at a cost of around
€120,000.
Earlier, spokesperson for the
McCann family Clarence Mitchell
refuted reports stating Gerry was
not Madeleine's father: "For the
record, Gerry McCann is the
biological father of his daughter
Madeleine.
In a media statement, Mr Mitchell
further stressed: "Kate and Gerry
McCann's lawyers both in Britain and
Portugal would remind editors in
both countries that they are
monitoring such coverage very
closely and will not hesitate from
taking action at the appropriate
stage in either country when and
wherever it is felt necessary."