October 2014
Convicted English paedophile believed to have been in Portugal at the time of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance arrested in Malta
A “notorious” British paedophile suspected of having links to Madeleine McCann’s disappearance is being held in Malta.
Roderick McDonald – on the run after being convicted in 2012 of abusing two girls – was arrested in a dramatic swoop and will be extradited back to the UK.
It is understood the Met will want to speak to the 76-year-old about paedophile gangs in the Algarve in 2007 – when Madeleine vanished from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, aged three.
The Sunday Mirror revealed earlier this year how police were trying to find McDonald after it was claimed he was living on the Algarve back in 2007.
He also raped a girl, eight, in Australia. A source said: “He is a notorious and dangerous sex offender. He’s shown a pattern of disturbing behaviour wherever he has travelled.”
The British girls’ mum said it was “unbelievable” police had missed the chance to quiz the ex-oil rig worker over Madeleine.
She said: “The police knew he was in Portugal around the time she vanished, but let him slip through their fingers.
“They told me they would monitor him. When he fled they didn’t bother telling me. I’m so angry he has been allowed to go on the run.”
Her girls were visiting their dad on his yacht in Brighton, East Sussex, where McDonald – who was on the sex offenders’ register – also had a vessel.
The mum said: “He abused my children when their dad was making tea. I’m lucky they got off relatively lightly in comparison to Madeleine. What’s to say he wasn’t involved in Madeleine’s disappearance? He could have taken her on a boat.”
Before officers on Maltese island Gozo swooped on Monday there was an international warrant for McDonald – previously known as Roderick William Robinson.
He was wanted here having absconded after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a girl under 13, and failing to notify authorities he changed his name, address and was going abroad.
In court in Malta yesterday the paedophile, of Aldershot, Hants, agreed to be extradited and was kept in custody.
Police are probing 18 break-ins at Algarve villas by an intruder from 2004 to 2010.
The attacks stopped around the time McDonald was deported to Australia for raping a girl, eight. He got six months on a plea deal for the assault but, once free, fled to Thailand.
Months later he was sent here after authorities learned of his past. He moved to Brighton, then preyed on the girls.
Police said they did not tell the mum McDonald had fled for legal reasons.
Briton Roderick Robinson when he was arrested in Pattaya, Thailand
