Last updated at 13:32 24 January 2008
Eight key witnesses who told police they saw Robert Murat on the night Madeleine McCann vanished could have named the wrong man, it was revealed yesterday.
A British businessman with access to the Ocean Club complex where she disappeared looks so similar to the police suspect that even Mr Murat admitted: "It could be me."
His lawyer is now set to investigate whether the eight witnesses who said they saw Mr Murat on May 3 could have mistaken the other British expat, Angus Symington, for him.
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Lookalikes: Robert Murat (left) and Angus Symington (right) are the same build and height, both British and both working in property in Praia da LuzThe contradictions were believed to have been a key reason why the father-of-one was named as an official suspect, or arguido, in the investigation on May 14.
Mr Murat, 34, was shown a photograph of Mr Symington and said: "I'm shocked, I'm amazed by the likeness.
"The hairline and the nose, it could be me. Only the chin is different.
"I will show this photograph to my lawyer and I hope he will raise it with the Policia Judiciaria."
There is no suggestion that Mr Symington was involved in Madeleine's disappearance and he is not a suspect in the case.
He sells and manages properties around Praia da Luz, including the Ocean Club, and had legitimate reasons to be in the town on May 3.
His office at Ocean Country Real Estate is a few hundred yards from Kate and Gerry McCann's holiday apartment in the resort, which his father co-founded and still co-owns.
Mr Symington and Mr Murat are of similar age, height and build, both share British backgrounds and they both wear similar glasses.
Mr Murat's uncle Ralph Eveleigh was shown Mr Symington's photograph and exclaimed: "Bloody hell, it's Robert! They're very similar."
But Mr Murat's hopes that the likeness could help him clear his name were dealt a blow last night when Mr Symington said he left Praia da Luz at 6pm on May 3 and was seven miles away at the time of the witness sightings, between 10pm and midnight.
He said: "I categorically wasn't around on the night she vanished. I was at home with my family.
Still missing: Madeleine has not been seen since May 3, 2007The Mail told earlier this month how detectives believed the witnesses could also have mistaken a friend of the McCanns, David Payne, for Mr Murat.
The 41-year-old medical researcher was out searching for Madeleine when the eight witnesses reported seeing Mr Murat, in the hours after Mrs McCann raised the alarm.
But the witnesses included Mr Payne's wife Fiona and their friends Russell O'Brien and Rachael Oldfield, who are unlikely to have mistaken the two men.
The other witnesses were Mark Warner nanny Charlotte Pennington, who said she saw Mr Murat hanging around outside the Ocean Club's reception at about 10pm, and British holiday-maker Jayne Jensen, an unnamed British barrister and two unidentified British tourists who all claim to have seen him around the complex that night.
Mr Murat's lawyer Francisco Pagarete said: "Robert has always said the witnesses were mistaken. He was not there that night."
Mr and Mrs McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "We are confident the accounts of witnesses were given in good faith."
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-510083/Madeleine-Witnesses-mistaken-suspect-Robert-Murat-British-double.html#ixzz13pUAXpvt
