Maddy Detectives Hunt for British DJ

By ED HARRIS

PRIVATE detectives searching for Madeleine McCann are hunting a Briton who fled Praia da Luz after being accused of grooming an underage girl for sex, it emerged today.

The part-time barman and DJ, Christian Ridout, allegedly sent a 12-year-old girl obscene text messages while working in an expat bar near where Madeleine disappeared.

But Mr Ridout also known as DJ Shifty hurriedly left Portugal after the girl’s mother discovered the messages.

The mother of the 12-year-old said: “He was sending my daughter messages offering to pick her up from school and suggesting the most disgusting sex acts.” Although his departure came some time before Madeleine’s disappearance in May, Mr Ridout’s name was immediately handed to police by concerned locals. A spokesman for Gerry and Kate McCann said that the Spanish detective agency they had hired Metodo 3 was seeking more information on the missing man.

By coincidence, the Ridout family were neighbours of the family of Robert Murat, one of the suspects in the Madeleine hunt, when the Murats lived in the nearby village of Almadena..

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