A CONVICTED paedophile, who lived in Todmorden in the 1970s, and was investigated in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, has died.

Raymond Hewlett, 64, died of throat cancer and was cremated at a pauper’s funeral in Germany, where he lived.

Shortly before he died, Hewlett admitted that he was staying near Praia da Luz, Portugal, when the three-year-old went missing in May 2007.

He looked similar to pictures of a suspect seen near her apartment, but always insisted he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

Hewlett has been jailed several times for sexual offences against young girls.

In September 1972, Hewlett abducted a 12-year-old girl and took her on to moors near his home in Todmorden where he incapacitated her with a rag soaked in paint thinners and sexually assaulted her.