Police raid home with picture of Madeleine McCann on wall after tip-off

Officers raided a remote home in Co Donegal after a recent tip-off, but were stunned when they burst into the house only to find the picture of the missing child on a wall in the house

Police raided a home after receiving an anonymous tip-off that may have lead them to Madeleine McCann – but were left disappointed.

Officers searched a remote home in Donegal but were stunned when they burst into the house only to find the picture of the missing child on a wall in the house.

Following the raid, Irish police contacted Interpol to inform them of the bizarre discovery.

Checks were then made in a bid to determine where the man in the Donegal case was, when little Madeleine went missing in the resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal, on May 3, 2003.

Madeleine’s disappearance sparked one of the biggest missing persons cases in living memory, but no trace has ever been found of the child.

However, following checks, officers were satisfied that there was no connection with their man and the missing girl.

A Garda source told the Irish Mirror there was no way the man could have been in Portugal at the time Maddie disappeared.

“It was a full-scale operation as we were fearful the man would destroy any potential evidence we were trying to gather before we arrested him,” they said.

“However, nobody was prepared for the picture of Maddie McCann in the house. It was very unusual to say the least considering the circumstances.

“We had to make all the relevant checks but are satisfied that this man had nothing to do with that particular case.”

It is understood a genuine reason was given by another person in the house for the picture of the missing child.

Gardai did remove a number of items from the house following the raid including a laptop computer.

A man has appeared in court in relation to the Garda raid.