Madeleine McCann's father says 'lucky' to survive media attention

Madeleine was three years old when she vanished in 2007 from the apartment in Portugal where her family was holidaying.

It triggered a massive global search and nearly two decades of unrelenting media attention, but the case remains unsolved.

McCann said in the rare interview that he and his wife Kate were "lucky we survived" press intrusion that left him feeling like he was "drowning".

"Journalists coming to the house, photographers literally ramming their cameras against our car window when we had two-year-old twins in the back, who were terrified," he recalled.

McCann also alleged that the press "repeatedly interfered" with the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance.

The media "published material which should have been confidential, should be passed on to the police, witness statements, many other things that have gone out.

"So if you were the perpetrator, you knew a lot more than you should have done -- and as a victim, as a parent, it's absolutely dismaying," he added.

- Push for regulation -

The McCanns are among more than 30 people who have reportedly signed a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging his Labour government to resume an inquiry into media practices.

The so-called Leveson Inquiry was established in 2011 following a scandal in which journalists at the now defunct News of the World hacked the phones of high-profile Britons, including a murdered schoolgirl.

The probe led to the establishment of a new press regulator, but a second phase to study relationships between journalists and politicians and the police was cancelled by the previous Conservative government and has not been restarted by Labour since it won power in July last year.

"It's not acceptable to me now, more than a year on, that Leveson and press regulation is no longer a priority," said McCann.

Madeleine's father added that he felt a Polish woman who falsely claimed to be his daughter and was convicted last month of harassing his family had been egged on by some press outlets.

"A lot of media channels exploited her early on, putting her on front pages," he said of 24-year-old Julia Wandelt, who was acquitted of a more serious charge of stalking.

The prime suspect in Madeleine's disappearance, Christian Brueckner, has never been charged in the case. He was released from prison in Germany in September after serving a sentence on separate rape charges. 

McCann said that after 18 years "the hope is slim" that he will find Madeleine "but it's not extinguished".

"We need to find out what's happened to her."

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