McCanns face child neglect charges for leaving Madeleine alone on night she disappeared

Kate and Gerry McCann could still face charges of neglecting their daughter Madeleine, official documents reveal.

The first published court ruling on the 13-month investigation shows Portuguese police have not ruled out neglect, abduction, or that Madeleine was killed and her body hidden.

Mr and Mrs McCann, both 40, strenuously deny any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

They have also rejected claims that they neglected their three children by leaving them in their holiday apartment while they went out for dinner with friends.

The documents show the police inquiry still covers homicide, abandonment, concealment of a corpse and abduction.

The charge of abandonment carries a maximum ten-year jail sentence in Portugal, but only if prosecutors can prove the McCanns intended to neglect Madeleine.

The couple have repeatedly insisted they believed Madeleine, then three, and their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie were safe in the apartment in Praia da Luz. They were eating only 50 yards away, which enabled them to check on the children regularly.

Details of the continuing investigation were revealed in court documents released by the Supreme Court of Justice in the city of Evora.

Public prosecutor Jose Magalhaes e Meneses had applied to the court for permission to seize the mobile phone records of the McCanns and their friends, the so-called Tapas Seven.

Investigators are interested in 18 text messages allegedly sent from an unidentified number to Mr McCann between May 2 and 4 last year. Madeleine vanished on May 3. Police also wanted details of calls made between April 28, when the group arrived in Portugal, and September 9, when the McCanns left the country to return to their home in Rothley, Leicestershire.

But the request was refused by the Supreme Court, which published its ruling. Such publication is unusual in Portugal, where police investigations are covered by strict judicial secrecy laws.

Explaining the decision, Judge Fernando Ribeiro Cardoso said: 'The details of the content of the messages can only be subjected to interception in real time, with due judicial authorisation.'

The McCann's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said they were pleased the documents showed police had not abandoned the theory that Madeleine was abducted.

He added: 'If there is any suggestion of neglect charges being considered that will be vigorously denied because the legal advice that Kate and Gerry have received, both in Portugal and Britain, is that everything they did that week was well within the bounds of reasonable parenting.'

Mr Mitchell said Mr McCann had no knowledge of the texts allegedly sent to his phone on May 3 and 4.

He said he only received a few calls to his mobile in the six days before Madeleine's disappearance.

Missing: Madeleine McCann

The charge carries a maximum 10-year jail sentence.

The McCanns, both doctors from Rothley, Leicestershire, have strongly denied negligence saying they were having dinner just 50 yards from where their daughter was taken.

Details of the investigation were yesterday revealed in a court judgement, explaining why Portuguese prosecutor Magalhaes e Meneses was refused access to the content of 10 mobile phones - believed to belong to Kate and Gerry and their seven friends.

Investigators were particularly interested in 18 text messages allegedly sent from an unidentified mobile number to Mr McCann between May 2 and 4 last year.

Mr Meneses also asked for a full list of all the calls made between members of the McCanns' holidaying group from when they arrived in Portugal on April 28 and when the McCann's left on September 9.

Judge Fernando Ribeiro Cardoso refused the request for the calls and texts, and in his written judgement revealed the directions of the continuing investigation.

He wrote: 'In the case files pending in the Public Prosecution Services... they are investigating the disappearance of M.M. and the eventual carrying out of the crimes of abduction, homicide, exposure or abandonment of a child and concealment of a corpse.'

Anguish: Gerry and Kate McCann are being investigated for allegedly neglecting Madeleine

The youngster disappeared from the couple's holiday apartment in Praia de Luz on May 3 last year while they dined with friends a short distance away.

Members of their group would return to the apartment at regular intervals to check on Madeleine and her twin siblings.

The youngster's fifth birthday was on May 12.

Clarence Mitchell, the couple's spokesman, said Kate and Gerry vigorously deny neglecting Madeleine and welcome the news that abduction is a line of inquiry.

He said: 'This court document outlines the areas of the investigation and in no way suggests Kate and Gerry will be facing any such charges.

'Equally we have heard nothing officially to suggest any such area of investigation is being considered.

The view from the tapas bar to the McCann's apartment in the bottom left of the picture

'However we do note that abduction is apparently one of the parameters and we welcome that because that is what Kate and Gerry and their friends have said and that is what happened.

'If there is any suggestion of neglect charges being considered that will be vigorously denied because the legal advice that Kate and Gerry have received both in Portugal and Britain is that legally speaking everything they were doing that week was well within the bounds of responsible parenting.'