County suspect in Maddy hunt

A convicted paedophile being investigated in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is a former Shropshire man, the Shropshire Star can reveal.

Raymond Hewlett was staying near Praia da Luz, in Portugal, when the three-year-old went missing in May 2007, according to reports.

He is formerly of Wellsfield, Woodside, in Telford.

Read the full story in today's Shropshire Star

Former car dealer Hewlett, 64, has been jailed several times, the longest for six years, for sexual offences against young girls.

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, said Hewlett was a line of inquiry being looked at by investigators working for the couple from Rothley in Leicestershire.

The alarm was raised about Hewlett by a couple who met him while on holiday in Portugal, according to newspaper reports.

Alan and Cindy Thompson said Hewlett was living with his wife and six children in a converted Dodge truck travelling from campsite to campsite. Mr Thompson, 56, said: "Hewlett befriended us but kept quiet about his terrible past. We were mortified and disgusted to discover the truth."

Conversation

They described a conversation in which Hewlett said he was approached by some "Gipsy tourists" offering to buy his daughter just before Madeleine went missing on Thursday, May 3, 2007.

Mrs Thompson, 47, said: "We didn't think too much of this at the time. Ray and his family led a desperate hand-to-mouth lifestyle and someone may have thought he'd be tempted to sell one of his six children. They also recalled him mentioning a "business" trip to Morocco, where there were several alleged sightings of Madeleine in the months after her disappearance.

Earlier this week, the Thompsons contacted Hewlett to question him. Hewlett told the Thompsons he had done nothing wrong, according to reports.

Hewlett told them he was at a market in the Portuguese town of Fuseta, 30 miles from Praia da Luz, when Madeleine disappeared. He said: "We drove there on the Saturday. As I drove out there I saw police going the other way. So it's all very clear for me. I know exactly where I was. I wasn't anywhere near there. Where did you get that I was there?"

Hewlett said when he left the market he returned to a campsite in Tavira, where he was staying.