|
Post by Admin on Jan 23, 2015 15:07:40 GMT
A Portuguese judge concluded the couple were “emotionally hurt” by the former-detective’s book about the tragedy. She also highlighted that Goncalo Amaral appeared to including information from official files of the investigation in his book. Kate and Gerry McCann are suing Mr Amaral for £1 million over allegations in his 2008 book The Truth of the Lie. The detective headed the first police investigation into the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine who vanished from an Algarve resort in May 2007. He published his book three days after the Portuguese shelved inquiries into the case. Last year, the McCanns told a court in Lisbon they were left “devastated and crushed” by claims in the book. In The Truth of the Lie, Mr Amaral accused them of faking their daughter’s kidnap to cover up her death in the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz. His allegations were also the basis of a Portuguese television documentary. During her emotional testimony, Mrs McCann said: “I believe that’s what’s in Mr Amaral’s book and the documentary is very distressing to adults. To a child it could be very damaging.” Asked how she felt after reading the book, she said: “I was devastated. It made me feel quite desperate because of the injustice I felt towards my daughter and our family as a whole. “It was very painful to read and I felt sad for Madeleine. I also felt anxious and fearful because of the damage I felt it was doing in Portugal.” During a private hearing yesterday, Judge Maria Emilia Melo e Castro ruled in favour of the McCanns by acknowledging the hurt the book had caused them. She also concluded Mr Amaral’s book had reproduced extracts from police files. But she also is also believed to have dismissed a claim by the McCanns that the book effectively halted new police inquiries into what happened to their little girl. Yesterday’s hearing, attended by lawyers for the McCanns and Mr Amaral, is the latest stage in the long running-legal saga which began in October 2013. It took place to discuss which facts had been proven in the case. No date has yet been set for a full judgment but the McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, hope it will be next month. Inquiries by Portuguese police and Scotland Yard detectives into the truth about Madeleine’s disappearance are continuing.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Apr 30, 2015 5:38:46 GMT
Kate and Gerry McCann urged the public to continue searching for daughter Madeleine after the hunt received a huge cash boost when they won £358,000 in libel damages. Goncalo Amaral, the police chief who led the initial investigation into the youngster’s disappearance, wrote a book claiming the McCanns covered up their daughter’s death. He was ordered to pay the family damages of €500,000 (£358,000) along with an extra £76,000 to be paid in interest dating back to January 2010. Kate McCann said: “We’re absolutely delighted and so very happy.” And she and Gerry added in a statement: “We would like to remind people that there is still a little innocent girl who is missing and that those responsible for her abduction remain at large. “We want to emphasise that the action was never about money. It was entirely focused on the libels on our other children and the damage that was done in the search for Madeleine.” Kate and Gerry, who have 10-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, went on: “A lot has changed in the six years since we launched the action and we are pleased that there is still an active investigation in both Portugal and the UK.” Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “Obviously this was the right verdict. "It has been far too long but I am very pleased for Kate and Gerry, Sean and Amelie, that morally the right has been reached.” Amaral’s book “The Truth of the Lie” accuses the McCanns of faking their daughter’s abduction to cover up her death in the apartment. The McCanns launched a libel action in 2009 claiming their family had suffered emotional and psychological harm as a result of the claims made in the book. Kate and Gerry, once named arguidos - a Portuguese term similar to formal suspect, but without being arrested or charged - were finally cleared in July 2008 after being interviewed several times by Portuguese detectives.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 21, 2015 5:32:19 GMT
Goncalo Amaral said he had been the victim of “an attack against freedom of expression”. He added: “I am a free man and like any other citizen in this country I have the right to express my opinions.” Mr Amaral, 55, has been told to hand over £357,000 after accusing Kate McCann, 47, and her husband Gerry, 46, of covering up their missing daughter’s death in his best-selling book. The ex-officer, who headed the initial investigation into Madeleine’s 2007 disappearance, is appealing the ruling by a Portuguese judge. He claimed he had been “tried over an offence of opinion”. Mr Amaral said the damages would bankrupt him. He added: “My life is gone. I’m only alive due to my heart.” He told Portuguese weekly magazine Nova Gente everything in his book was contained in official police files. Yet the judge’s ruling meant the McCanns were “worth more than any Portuguese citizen dead or alive” and “above any god or divinity” in that they could not be “criticised, ridiculed and satirised”. He said: “Look at the discussions about the terrorist attacks against French newspaper Charlie Hebdo. “With my book I did not defame, nor did I have the intention to defame anyone, but merely to report what happened during the first five months of the investigation thus replying to the attacks against my good name and my professional dignity.” Mr Amaral plans to countersue the McCanns. He said: “It is a fact that they lost their daughter but that doesn’t give them the right to sue anyone or to be compensated.” The McCanns, who sought £1million damages, told the libel hearing they were “devastated” by his allegations.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jun 7, 2016 22:46:45 GMT
Paulo Pereira Cristovao, a pal of disgraced ex PJ detective Goncalo Amaral, was accused by a co-defendant of helping to mastermind two of the home raids on the opening day of the trial on Wednesday. Nuno Vieira Mendes said he and Pereira Cristovao waited outside both properties while alleged accomplices with false search warrants went in posing as police officers and stole thousands of pounds. He also told a court in Lisbon trying 18 people including the ex police officer that he tried to get him involved in a third operation on the Algarve he described as a "debt collection".
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Nov 15, 2018 18:17:08 GMT
A detective who led the hunt for Madeleine McCann has made £350,000 from a book on the case that slurred the missing girl's parents- but they are determined to make him pay. Court documents show retired Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral made more than £350,000 from his book The Truth of The Lie and a DVD spin-off. He claims Madeleine died in an accident at the Algarve apartment in 2007 and her parents covered up the crime, according to The Sun. Kate and Gerry are currently battling him at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to prevent him cashing in on the disappearance of their daughter.
|
|