Private detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are examining reports that a convicted British paedophile lived an hour's drive from the area where she vanished, reports the Guardian today.
A few paragraphs in however, the story turns out to be actually a report on a report, in this case from the Daily Mirror, which has published a photo of the man in question.
So, will the detectives be interviewing every other person with convictions for child abuse who lived within a 30-mile radius of Praia da Luz in May 2007?
I do hope so, otherwise it might seem a bit like a vendetta against one bloke by a nasty British red-top intent on fingering someone, anyone, for Madeleine's disappearance to sell more newspapers.
I am not defending anybody who commits crimes against children, but everyone deserves a fair trial, which this sort of reporting will compromise – not to mention run the risk of setting off a gaggle of bonkers Mirror-waving vigilantes.