DNA test for Madeleine suspect

A former Shropshire paedophile linked to the Madeleine McCann investigation has given a DNA sample to police, it has been reported.

Raymond Hewlett, 64, voluntarily gave a sample of his DNA to police in Germany after a request from UK detectives investigating an incident from 1975.

Hewlett, who used to live in Wellsfield, Woodside,Telford, gave a saliva sample to police at his hospital bed in the University Clinic, Aachen, where he is being treated for throat cancer, according to German newspaper Bild.

The sample relates to an investigation by West Yorkshire Police into incidents which occurred in 1975.

A police spokesman said that officers "actively wanted to speak to" Hewlett in relation to their investigation into the 34-year-old case.

UK-born Hewlett, a former soldier who now lives in Germany, is said to have been staying about an hour's drive from the McCanns' holiday flat in Praia da Luz in Portugal when the little girl vanished on May 3, 2007.

Madeleine was almost four when she went missing while her parents dined with friends nearby.

Despite a massive police investigation and huge publicity worldwide, she has not been found.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "We are looking for him (Hewlett).

"We want to speak to him in relation to an incident in 1975. We have requested a saliva sample to be taken on our behalf as part of our inquiry. It is a routine matter for us."

When questioned by reporters outside hospital in Aachen earlier this week, Hewlett denied having anything to do with Madeliene's disappearance.

He also offered to speak to British investigators working for her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.

He was jailed for kidnapping a schoolgirl in Cheshire while living in Telford and also has several convictions for offences against young girls.

The Portuguese authorities yesterday announced they were not reopening the case despite suggestions that Hewlett might have been in the area when Madelene vanished.

They said the case would be reopened only when "concrete and credible" facts justified such a move.

By Peter Johnson