Maddie "was snatched by Belgian Paedophile Ring" - Police Files Say

British police received intelligence suggesting Madeleine McCann could have been snatched to order by a Belgian paedophile ring, official case files revealed tonight.

Someone connected to the ring took a photograph of the little girl on holiday in Portugal and forwarded it to a “purchaser” in Belgium, according to information gathered by London's Metropolitan Police.

The intelligence is contained in an email dated March 4th sent to Leicestershire Police and forwarded to Portuguese detectives.

It was included in an appendix contained in a massive dossier of thousands of pages of police evidence in the Madeleine case made public this week.

John Shord, from the Metropolitan Police’s CO14 clubs and vice intelligence unit, wrote in the email: “Intelligence suggests that a paedophile ring in Belgium made an order for a young girl three days before Madeleine McCann was taken.

“Somebody connected to this group saw Maddie, took a photograph of her and sent it to Belgium.

“The purchaser agreed that the girl was suitable and Maddie was taken.”

The source of the intelligence was anonymous and it is not clear how reliable it was.