25th March 2014
Madeleine McCann clue: British paedo was on the loose when Maddie disappeared Mirror investigation reveals that sicko David Reid was hiding in the Algarve at the time Madeleine McCann was snatched from Praia da Luz
A British paedophile jailed in the UK for sick sex attacks on children was hiding out on the Algarve when Madeleine McCann vanished.
David Reid fled his home and moved near Praia da Luz where she was snatched in 2007.
One of Reid’s victims had warned the pervert would not be able to contain his sick urges if allowed anywhere near children and could strike again.
The paedophile was hiding out on the Algarve at the time Madeleine McCann was snatched from Praia da Luz in 2007.
He had fled his home in Northern Ireland in a bid to hide his sordid past after being jailed for sexually abusing a string of young girls and a boy.
Speaking in 2006, one of his victims chillingly warned: “He’s a paedophile who will offend again. It’s part of his being. He’ll never change.
“Get your kids and family away from him. Never put temptation in front of him. He just won’t be able to resist it.”
Reid moved to the seaside resort of Carvoeiro, 30 miles from Praia da Luz, in 2004 after being freed from jail.
The same year the sleepy town was targeted by a lone child sex attacker who broke into apartments belonging to British holidaymakers, often abusing young girls in their beds.
Reid was completely unmonitored by the authorities while in Portugal because he was released from prison before the Sex Offenders’ Register was set up.
Three years after he settled in the Algarve, three-year-old Madeleine disappeared as her parents Kate and Gerry ate nearby with a group friends.
Carvoeiro is one of three resorts, including Praia da Luz, targeted by a prowling paedophile who is suspected of abusing five youngsters, aged seven to 10.
The sex attacks happened between 2004 and 2006 while the break-ins were reported up to 2010. Police believe they are likely to be linked to Madeleine’s disappearance.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is spearheading the new UK police search for the missing youngster, said the sex attacks in Carvoeiro were at the “high end” in terms of seriousness.
The officer added that the man they are hunting “has a very unhealthy interest in young, white girls who he attacks whilst they are on holiday in their beds”.
Reid’s girl victims in the UK were white. The pervert died last year of cancer at the age of 61 or 62, according to locals in Carvoeiro – where he had been attacked in a bar after his sick past was exposed.
In most of the cases, as with the Madeleine kidnap, there was no sign of a forced entry and nothing was taken.
And in six of the 12 incidents the man sat on the children’s beds. In four he went on to commit serious sexual assaults. Most of the break-ins occurred in the off season when Reid was in the area.
The attacks took place within a 37-mile radius of Praia da Luz. Witnesses said the suspect smelt of smoke, was tanned and had dark hair. Reid was a chain smoker with dark hair who was tanned.
It is believed he could be on a list of 38 potential suspects currently being probed by British police. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “No comment can be made on this ongoing investigation.”
Vile Reid got three years in 1995 for indecent assault and gross indecency in Belfast. After fleeing to Carvoeiro, which is popular with British ex-pats, he took up casual bar work and became a singer.
One local said residents had no idea about his perverted past and he was well-liked.
The former bar worker said: “He auditioned in England to come over to Portugal and work full time as the in-house musician at one bar. When he arrived in 2004 there was no suggestion of his past history at all and he made sure not to mention it.
“He was brought over and worked weekdays and weekends, hosting events at the singalongs. He was a good guitarist, and seemed like a good guy.” While keeping his vile past a closely guarded secret, Reid worked in several bars and became a popular member of the ex-pat community, mixing with the locals using his chatty, easy-going manner. He made his live act a hit in the town.
His lack of police monitoring meant he could roam the area without arousing suspicion. When a Mirror reporter recently questioned local police, an officer denied any knowledge of the sex attacker, despite him living just five minutes’ walk from their headquarters.
But Reid’s history finally caught up with him in 2006 when news of his convictions broke amongst the ex-pats. He suddenly became an outcast, with only the regulars at one bar willing to mix with him.
One ex-pat, who asked not to be named, said: “When everyone found out what had happened there was a lot of anger in Carvoeiro.
“But they kept him on at the bar, even after they knew what he’d done. The bar started losing business. The takings went down because nobody wanted to go in and watch a paedophile play guitar and try to entertain people. Nobody was interested. They allowed him to keep his job for two weeks before someone went in and attacked him. He was playing one night sitting in the corner when someone came in and punched him off his bar stool.
“That was when they finally let him go.” Reid then worked as a part-time builder, living in a small house on a cliff-top overlooking the resort. Hoping the outrage over his past crimes would have died down, his bosses at the bar hired him again, months later.
But it was the same story in the tight-knit ex-pat community, and people refused to drink in a bar hosting the pervert. He was again axed.
The Mirror’s findings raise questions about whether Reid associated with groups of other paedophiles on the Algarve around the time Madeleine vanished.
Portuguese authorities may now conduct further inquiries to establish Reid’s movements around the time of her disappearance.
He is believed to have died from an undiagnosed cancer after collapsing at his home in August.
But his family last night said they were not aware of his death.
The Madeleine investigation took a new turn last week when DCI Redwood revealed the lone prowling paedophile link on BBC’s Crimewatch last week.
But blundering Portuguese police had failed to consider the prolific pervert as a suspect in the hunt for the youngster because the attacks were spread out across the Algarve.
Officers working on Operation Grange – a review into the Madeleine case – are in possession of the DNA of the intruder following one of his attacks.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-clue-british-paedo-3285796
