Now we're fighting for our lives

ANGUISHED dad Gerry McCann fought back last night after he and wife Kate were named official suspects over Maddie, and declared: "We're entirely innocent. But now we're fighting for our lives."

The 39-year-old heart surgeon vowed to take on the Portuguese legal system and insisted: "We did NOT kill our daughter! We WILL clear our name and we will NOT give up on Madeleine."

And it was revealed early today that the couple are to leave Portugal this morning, with their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie.

The McCanns spokesman said: "It is emphasised that their return is with the full agreement of the Portuguese authorities and police."

Earlier Gerry confessed the couple are bracing themselves for still more shock twists in the four-month investigation. And he revealed how he:

BACKS wife Kate 100 per cent.

FEARS cops are under too much pressure to come up with a result.

HARBOURS serious doubts about the Portuguese legal system- which tried to wheedle a confession out of Kate by offering her a light jail sentence.

KNOWS that, amazingly, under local laws they may have cobbled together enough to charge them.

Despite his refusal to buckle under the growing pressure, Gerry admitted: "We thought we were in our worst nightmare but now it just keeps getting worse and worse.

"It's such a vulnerable position. It's appalling. We've never had to say it until now...but we did not kill our daughter. I never believed it would come to this.

"But when the paranoia sinks in, you're under severe pressure and things are going down a certain line, then it does look bad.

"In a system that you don't know and you don't really trust it's incredibly frightening."

Gerry spoke out after he and Kate endured a tense grilling by detectives and were officially labelled 'arguidos'-Portuguese for suspects.

The couple were quizzed in the town of Portimao-30 miles from the Praia da Luz holiday apartment where Madeleine vanished on May 3-for a total of 24 hours.

Legally, Gerry is now barred from talking about the detail of the inquiry.

He is not allowed to explain why police now suspect him, or rebuff the new evidence they believe they have unearthed more than 100 days after Maddie went missing.

Although he is "absolutely confident" there is no evidence to link him and Kate with any suspicion of murder, Gerry admitted the latest twist of events had left him with "anxieties".

"I don't need to tell you how things don't stack up," he said.

"I know 100 per cent Kate could NOT have done anything. I know that's true from what I did that night.

"And in terms of what Kate knows about me, I was away from her for just ten minutes."

Gerry and Kate, who continues to hold on to Maddie's favourite Cuddle Cat toy for comfort, have always said that they put their three children to bed in the apartment at 7pm.

They told police that at 8.30pm they went for a meal with a group of friends in the family resort.

Each adult in the party of nine took turns to check on the children.

Gerry denied he would have had time to hide a body, if as police suggested, he or his wife had killed Maddie by accident.

"As I said, I was away from the table for ten minutes," he said. "Six minutes of that was spent speaking to another guest I met as I came out from checking on Madeleine.

"All of this can come out. And it doesn't stack up." But friends fear there is now evidence that raises suspicions about the McCanns' chronology of events.

They worry that any apparent discrepancies in timings are being given undue weight by police.

Nevertheless they are convinced such doubts can be blown out of the water.

And Gerry could only say: "I hope that the due diligence and processes will win through in the normal way and not the need for a result."

He said the Portuguese police's attitude towards him and Kate had shifted in the last five weeks.

There has been a steady stream of slurs against them in the local and national Portuguese press.

The Leicester couple's family in the UK believe these came directly from police sources.

The McCanns now fear the cops may be about to arrest and charge them. Gerry told us: "Our lawyer said the weight of it is that, under the Portuguese legal system, they've got enough to move forward against us."

Then he revealed they may consider flying in a crack legal team from the UK to assist their Portuguese advisor.

But he confessed he is frustrated they are not allowed to use any of the £800,000 Madeleine Fund- boosted by celebrity appeals including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and soccer star David Beckham-to pay their mounting legal bills.

"It seems like a disaster that we've got this huge donated fund and now we're not allowed to use it for legal costs because we're under suspicion," said Gerry.

"I never really imagined we'd be in this situation.

"And it could get worse I suppose. But ultimately if it comes to that, sooner or later, there'll be a formal process whereby we can rebut things in court. Then it will all come out.

"We'd have to be patient but ultimately we'll have the opportunity to have all of the evidence examined and discover the whole picture about what happened.

"And that's what's sustaining me. At least now we've got a clearer view of what we're up against whereas what we had before was smear and innuendo.

"We know what we have to fight now. The problem is we DO have a fight, but before I wasn't quite sure.

"You get paranoid when there's a political shift. Because of the amount of pressure there's been on the Policia Judiciaria, and all the criticism, you always wonder how far they'll go.

"Now I've seen what they've got I'm actually clearer in my mind why they've shifted and treated us so differently.

"I'm still concerned with their perception of the evidence, but that's for us to sort out with legal support." Gerry then voiced their other big concern now that the spotlight has turned on him and Kate.

"It's a real double-edged sword," he said. "While this investigation focuses on us it's NOT focusing on looking for Madeleine."

He admitted the last few days of gruelling police interviews had been draining on the couple.

But he said that despite everything Kate was coping under the strain.

"I'm thinking clearer this morning," he added. "What we're negotiating with the police is to be allowed to go home to the UK.

"We're desperate to get back for the kids' sake and for emotional reasons.

"It's not that we're running away. If there are two people in the world that can't run away it's us. Anyway, we have to move accommodation because the lease on our villa is up this week.

"The trouble is I don't know how long all this is going to take. It's four months already. Everything is slow. It's just the culture. Kate's not too bad, though. In fact, she's pretty resilient.

"But when we were trying to decide whether to return to Britain that's when this smearing started in the papers. And Kate just thought, 'They want us out!'

"I said, 'Kate, there's no point in staying if it's counter-productive.'

"She realised that was right but the thought of returning home brought back all the emotions of pain almost as bad as the first few days after Maddie vanished. That sense of loss and the thought of never seeing her again.

"Kate gets that more than I do. It's still intermittent grief and pain."