Files on Madeleine probe examined

Documents made public from the exhaustive inquiry have already revealed that detectives claimed the young girl's DNA had been found in her parents' hire car, despite a British scientist's warning days earlier that tests were inconclusive.

A family friend accused Portuguese officers of trying to extract a confession from Madeleine's father, Gerry McCann, by lying about the results of forensic analysis.

The Portuguese authorities released the police files on Monday after lifting the period of judicial secrecy in the case.

Journalists were handed DVDs containing copies of thousands of pages of evidence from the case outside the court in the Algarve town of Portimao.

The dossier includes details of the lines of inquiry pursued by detectives, forensic reports, pictures of the bedroom where Madeleine was sleeping before she disappeared, witness statements and transcripts of interviews with Mr McCann and his wife Kate.

Among the files is an email dated September 3 2007 written by senior British forensic scientist John Lowe to Detective Superintendent Stuart Prior, head of the UK side of the investigation.

Mr Lowe, from the major incidents team at the Birmingham-based Forensic Science Service (FSS), said it was impossible to conclude whether a sample from the McCanns' hire car came from their daughter Madeleine.

Four days later Portuguese detectives named Mr and Mrs McCann as "arguidos", or formal suspects, in the child's disappearance, citing forensic evidence as grounds for their suspicions. And they categorically told Mr McCann in interview that his daughter's DNA had been found in the family's Renault Scenic hire car.

A friend of Mr McCann said it seemed clear that the Portuguese police were trying to force a confession from him. The friend added: "It would appear they were seeking to apply pressure by overstating the evidence that they had - and frankly it is a scandal."