McCanns in `final say` legal fight over officers claims
The parents of Madeleine McCann have launched a new appeal in a bid to “silence” a retired Portuguese police officer who accused them of faking her abduction and lying about their daughter`s disappearance.
Jun 3, 2016
By Nick Hudson
The parents of Madeleine McCann have launched a new appeal in a bid to “silence” a retired Portuguese police officer who accused them of faking her abduction and lying about their daughter`s disappearance.
Former detective Goncalo Amaral was told to pay Kate and Gerry McCann £436,000 in libel damages and costs after penning a book in 2008 claiming they covered up Madeleine`s death.
But in April the ruling was overturned by three judges, meaning Mr Amaral did not have to pay the couple compensation and could republish his best-seller, The Truth Of The Lie.
Gerry and Kate McCann lodged a new legal bid on May 23 at Portugal`s Supreme Court which will have the final say on whether the former detective should pay damages.
The parents who have been searching for their daughter for nine years hope the appeal will bring an end to their seven-year legal fight against Mr Amaral, it is reported.
If unsuccessful, their hefty legal bill could come from the Find Maddie Fund, which was set up after their three-year-old daughter vanished in Portugal in 2007.
Three appeal judges ruled in Mr Amaral`s favour on April 19, saying he had a right to express his opinions, according to a 16-page judgment posted online.
They argued that Mr Amaral`s own views “overruled any duty of confidentiality” he had as a former chief officer heading the Madeleine McCann investigation once the case files, made available on the internet by Portuguese authorities, were put into the public domain.
This would have meant that the McCanns did not receive a penny of the original libel damages. Publisher Guerra e Paz is expected to republish the book, adding to the £316,000 the former officer has already earned from the title which claimed Madeleine had died in the flat and the McCanns had faked her abduction to cover up the tragedy.
The couple is concerned that the continuing legal action against Mr Amaral could “wipe out” the money they have put aside for this investigation, they said.
Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has hinted that the investigation into Madeleine`s disappearance the UKs highest-profile missing persons inquiry could be wound up within months.
He said detectives are now following only one line of inquiry. And he admitted that unless new evidence is forthcoming, the inquiry will be brought to an end.
In a personal intervention on the disappearance, Sir Bernard told LBC: “There`s been a lot of investigation time spent on this terrible case.
It`s a child who went missing, everybody wants to know if she is alive and if she is where she is. Sadly, if she is dead, then we need to give some comfort to the family.
The remaining line of inquiry is centred around a letter asking for assistance sent from MPS investigators to the Portuguese Public Prosecution Service in July 2015.
Sir Bernard said: “There is a line of inquiry that remains to be concluded and it`s expected that in the coming months that will happen, before adding: “If somebody comes forward and gives us good evidence we will follow it. We always say that a missing child inquiry is never closed.”
The Home Office set a budget for this years investigation of just under £95,000. But this is expected to only cover the first half of the financial year until the autumn.
The sum will just about pay for salaries of the four-person team working on the case down from a high point of 29 but puts into serious question other vital incidentals such as flights to Portugal and expensive forensic work.
<