'Murat WAS there the night Madeleine disappeared' says new eyewitness

A witness has come forward to say Robert Murat was at the holiday complex on the night Madeleine McCann vanished despite his claims to the contrary.

The Briton, 33, was the first person to be named as a suspect after the girl disappeared.

He has always maintained he was at his villa 150 yards away on the evening of 3 May. But Charlotte Pennington, 20, a nanny at the Mark Warner resort who helped organise the first frantic hunt for the girl, said: "He (Murat) was outside the lobby just before we started on our big search.

"He was adamant that he wasn't there. But he was. He was there in the road, he was just looking. It was about 10.30. He was just watching

"I didn't know his name then. But the next day he was our interpreter and I met him then. He didn't take part in the searches, but he was there."

Murat has insisted that he was at his home nearby throughout the evening of Madeleine's disappearance. Portuguese sources have claimed that he will soon be told that he is no longer a suspect.

Pennington added: "I was in the apartment less than five minutes after they found that Madeleine had gone.

"When we were coming out we saw Kate and she was screaming: 'They've taken her, they've taken her!'

"I was standing right in front of her outside the apartment's back door, in the alleyway. I was very close to her.

"It might not have been the first thing she said. But she definitely said it.

"I was one of three Mark Warner staff who saw her shouting it. They have all given statements to the Portuguese police saying that."

The "they've taken her" version of events was first given in the Portuguese press two days after Madeleine disappeared on May 3.

It remained unchallenged until last Thursday when a source close to the McCann family claimed Kate had actually shouted: 'Madeleine's gone!'

Miss Pennington flew out to start work at Praia da Luz on April 28 - the same day that the McCanns arrived.

She had worked for Mark Warner on two previous occasions.

She was employed as a nanny in the Ocean Club resort's Baby Club, looking after children aged four to 12 months.

However, she also came into close contact with Madeleine, her two-year-old sister and brother Amelie and Sean, and their parents, both doctors aged 39.

She dismissed claims that the McCanns were not seen for six hours leading up to the disappearance.

She said: "I was helping give the children high tea. The twins were there and Madeleine and both parents.