BREAKING NEWS: Portuguese judge orders ex-cop Goncalo Amaral to pay Kate and Gerry McCann 250k euros each in libel trial decision

Martin Brunt @skymartinbrunt · 4h 4 hours ago
#madeleine Portuguese judge orders ex-cop Goncalo Amaral to pay Kate and Gerry McCann 250k euros each in libel trial decision.

Martin Brunt @skymartinbrunt · 4h 4 hours ago
#madeleine McCann lawyer says Amaral must pay total of 106,246.58 euros to the couple, which includes interest.

Madeleine McCann's parents win Portuguese libel case and awarded £357k
Portuguese judge orders former police detective Goncalo Amaral to pay Kate and Gerry McCann damages after libel trial over claims in his book, The Truth of the Lie

By Martin Evans, Crime Correspondent3:43PM BST 28 Apr 2015
Goncalo Amaral, the police chief who led the initial investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, has been ordered to pay her parents £357,000 in damages because of hurt caused to them following the publication of his book “The Truth of the Lie”.
The Civil Court of Lisbon also banned further sale of the book in which Mr Amaral claimed Madeleine had not been abducted, but had died in an accident in Praia da Luz.
Kate and Gerry McCann launched a libel action against Mr Amaral, who was sacked from the investigation after several months of blunders, claiming they and their family had suffered emotional and psychological harm as a result of the claims made in the book.

The McCanns - once named arguidos, or formal suspects - were finally cleared in July 2008, when the Portuguese police investigation was shelved for lack of evidence.
But the following month, Mr Amaral who was sacked from the investigation and has since left the police force, published a book accusing them of faking their daughter's abduction to cover up her death in the apartment.


Enlarge this image Click to see fullsize


Kate McCann was visibly angry and upset during the libel trial (Francisco Seco/AP)

In 2010, they won a court battle in Lisbon to ban sales of the book entitled "The truth of the Lie", a ruling that was overturned later that year.
Mr McCann, a heart specialist and Mrs McCann, a former GP, then sought damages for themselves and their twins, plus further damages for the harm caused to the search for Madeleine.
In a 36-page writ, first lodged in June 2009, they described Mr Amaral as a "self-obsessed, manipulative money-grabber" and accused him of libel and breaching their human rights.
Portuguese police closed down their investigation over Madeleine's disappearance in 2008.

But the Metropolitan Police launched their own operation three years later with Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood at the helm.
Scotland Yard said in December that Mr Redwood, who has now retired, was being replaced by Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall.

Ex-Detective To Pay McCanns £75,000 For Libel
Former detective Goncalo Amaral is ordered to pay 106,000 euros (£75,000) to Kate and Gerry McCann in libel damages.

A former Portuguese detective has been ordered to pay 106,000 euros (£75,000) to the parents of missing Madeleine McCann as their long-running libel trial comes to an end.

Goncalo Amaral was accused of making defamatory statements about Kate and Gerry McCann in a book he wrote.

The couple claimed his 2008 book The Truth Of The Lie damaged the search for their missing daughter and added to their anguish.

A civil court in Lisbon ruled against Mr Amaral, and ordered him to pay a total of 106,000 euros in damages to the McCanns.

The couple had been expected to receive around £1m.

Madeleine went missing in May 2007 from the couple's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, Portugal, on 3 May 2007, as Kate and Gerry dined at a nearby restaurant with friends.

Despite a worldwide hunt, the little girl has never been found.

Last year, British and Portuguese police examined patches of ground in the resort, but had no success.

In October 2013, Mr McCann's sister Trish Cameron told the libel trial the couple's pain was "multiplied 100 times" by the book.

Cristobell Author
‏@RosalindaHu
@Rockchic65 its a battle, its not the war - hopefully Goncalo will now get remainder of his earnings on book, and more....... #mccann

Maddie case: Gonçalo Amaral ordered to compensate McCanns
28/04/2015, 15:28

At issue is the book "Maddie: The Truth of the Lie", where the former inspector of the Judicial Police questioned the abduction theory and blames parents for what happened to the child.

Gonçalo Amaral was ordered to pay 500,000 euros to the McCanns. The decision of the Civil Court of Lisbon was known on Tuesday and also prohibits the former Inspector of Judicial Police continue to sell the book on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

According to the SIC Notícias, the court decision, taken following a procedure for damages initiated by the parents of Maddie, will also require the publisher to return the existing copies of the book Maddie: The Truth of the Lie . The Valentim de Carvalho producer, which reproduced a documentary based on the book, is also prohibited from continuing to sell copies of the film.

The former inspector of the Judicial Police (PJ) Gonçalo Amaral was ordered to pay 500,000 euros to the parents of Madeleine McCann, for damage caused by the publication of a book entitled 'Maddie: The Truth of the Lie', said Tuesday the agency Lusa the lawyer of British couple. The civil court sentenced Gonçalo Amaral "payable to each of the first [Kate McCann and McCann Gearald] the indemnity amount of 250 thousand euros plus default interest at the legal rate of interest civilians, since January 5, 2010, until full payment ". Interest for late payment, according to the lawyer of the McCanns, are located at the moment in 106,000 euros. In addition to this payment, the court also ordered the ban on the sale and new editions of the book, even prohibiting new editions of the DVD, as well as the sale of the book's copyright and DVD. This process creeps in court for more than five years, with successive postponements of trial sessions and an attempted extrajudicial settlement between the parties, which was never realized

LM ‏@Rockchic65 3h3 hours ago
Now it's over, we can look forward to @SoniaPoulton's documentary... Let 'em chew on that one! Hope they choke on it. #McCann

Parents of Madeleine McCann 'WIN libel trial against Portuguese detective': Officer 'is ordered to pay the couple £75,000'
Goncalo Amaral wrote book claiming British toddler had died in accident
McCanns told court they were left 'devastated and crushed' by the book
By SIMON TOMLINSON FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 15:51, 28 April 2015 | UPDATED: 16:08, 28 April 2015

View comments
A former Portuguese detective has been ordered to pay £75,000 to Kate and Gerry McCann after a long-running libel trial, it was reported today.
Police chief Goncalo Amaral ran the initial investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal in 2007.
He went on to write a book in which he claimed the toddler had not been abducted, but had died in an accident in Praia da Luz

The Civil Court in Lisbon ruled the book titled The Truth Of The Lie had caused hurt to the family, it was reported by Sky News.
The couple had hoped to receive around £1million.
The McCanns told the court last summer they were left 'devastated and crushed' by his book, which sold around 120,000 copies before it was withdrawn when the couple won an injunction against the ex-police chief.
Mrs McCann, 47, said Madeleine's twin siblings Sean and Amelie, now ten, knew Mr Amaral had written a book but didn't know the detail.

She told the court last July after applying to make a statement: '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 by the judge 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.'

BBC UK

Madeleine McCann's parents win libel payout

A Portuguese court has awarded the parents of missing Madeleine McCann damages of £357,000 after a libel trial.

Kate and Gerry McCann sued ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral, who led the search for their daughter, following claims he made about them in his book.

Mr Amaral has also been ordered to pay interest in excess of £70,000.

Madeleine went missing in the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz in 2007, aged three.

The former police officer can appeal the ruling.

In his book - The Truth Of The Lie - Mr Amaral wrote that the McCann's had hidden their daughter's body and faked an abduction after she died in an accident.

The McCanns said the claims exacerbated their anguish and discouraged people from coming forward with information after Madeleine disappeared.
Kate and Gerry McCann pictured at the libel trial in Lisbon last year

The book, published in 2008, has been a bestseller in Portugal.

The McCanns were originally seeking 1.25m euros (almost £900,000) in damages from Mr Amaral, his publisher and a company that produced a documentary based on his book.

Idiot hounder:

Deeply saddened at reading those headlines. Doesn't tally with the earlier pronouncements from the Portuguese courts. From those I expected Amaral would have to pay something for the items found against him but nothing of that magnitude.

Irisheyes smiling ‏@LoveRandomleigh
@xxxxxFernxxxxx Amoral is the reason the antis tweet the shite they do. It all starts with him. Now it's over thank god #McCann

Madeleine McCann's parents win libel damages in trial of police chief
Gonçalo Amaral, who led investigation for missing girl in Portugal in 2007, is found guilty of libelling Gerry and Kate McCann and ordered to pay €500,000

A former Portuguese police chief has been ordered to pay the parents of Madeleine McCann €500,000 (£357,953) in libel damages after accusing them of faking their daughter’s abduction.

Gonçalo Amaral, who led the botched police search for the three-year-old in 2007, has been on trial at Lisbon’s Palace of Justice over claims he made in a book about Madeleine’s disappearance.

Gerry and Kate McCann told the trial last year of their “pain and devastation” at being accused of hiding their daughter’s body.

Kate and Gerry McCann criticise former police chief who led hunt for Madeleine

In a lengthy ruling on Tuesday, Amaral was found guilty of libelling the pair and ordered to pay them €250,000 each in damages. The judge also banned further sale of his book, the Truth of the Lie.

The retired officer, axed from the Madeleine investigation after several blunders, vowed earlier last year to countersue the McCanns. Writing on Facebook, he said he would launch “a lawsuit against the McCann couple and others to be compensated for enormous damage they caused me – moral, professional and financial”.

He added: “The time to judicially react to those who put my privacy, intimacy, freedom of expression and opinion and survival at stake is approaching. They have tried to assassinate me civilly. But due to the support and solidarity of all of you, they were not successful.”

Giving evidence in the libel trial last year, Kate McCann told how her son asked if she had hidden his missing sister’s body after hearing Amaral’s claims. She said she and Gerry had taken advice from a child psychologist on how to answer questions asked by Sean, nine, and his twin sister Amelie.

Kate added: “They know Mr Amaral has written a book and about the documentary. They obviously don’t know the detail. We had advice from a child psychologist. He told us to let the twins lead the conversation so if they ask a question try to answer it honestly. I believe what’s in Mr Amaral’s book and the documentary is very distressing to adults. To a child it could be very, very damaging.”

Describing the moment Sean asked her about Amaral’s claims, Kate said: “Sean asked me: ‘Mr Amaral said you hid Madeleine, didn’t he?’ It was October last year. I just said: ‘He did. He said a lot of silly things.’”

She told the judge, Maria de Melo e Castro, that Amaral’s claims were even more damaging because they could prevent potential witnesses from coming forward with information if they believed his insistence that Madeleine is dead.

Libel payout for Kate and Gerry McCann after book claims they hid Madeleine's body

By Tom_Mack  |  Posted: April 28, 2015

Kate and Gerry McCann are set to receive £357,000 in damages after a former police chief accused them of hiding the body of their missing daughter Madeleine.

The couple, from Rothley, took legal action after Goncalo Amaral published The Truth Of The Lie in 2008 - a defamatory view of what he thinks happened based on the investigation he led into the three-year-old's disappearance.

A Portuguese court has ordered him to pay Kate and Gerry a quarter of a million euros each in damages following a libel trial.

Mr Amaral has also been ordered to pay more than £70,000 in interest.

Madeleine went missing in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in 2007 while her parents were dining with friends at a nearby restaurant.

Gerry found Madeline was missing when he returned to the family's holiday apartment to check on Madeline and the couple's two young twins.

But Mr Amaral wrote that the McCann's had hidden their daughter's body and faked an abduction after she died in an accident.

The book was a bestseller in Portugal and the McCanns were originally seeking almost £900,000 in damages from Mr Amaral, his publisher and a company that produced a documentary based on his book.

The couple claimed the book added to their anguish and discouraged people from coming forward with information after Madeleine disappeared.

The court has banned all future sales of the book and ordered the producer of the TV documentary not to sell any more copies of the film.

The former police chief will have the right to appeal.

In the 52-page document, seen by The Portugal News shortly after the ruling was released, repeated references are made to the fact that the date of the release of Amaral’s book (24 July 2008), took place only three days after the Portuguese Attorney-General’s office decided to shelve the case.

Isabel Duarte had argued that Amaral used privileged information in the book, with the court ruling that Amaral's freedom of expression was limited by his position as a former police detective and lead investigator in the case.

This is shocking news. How can this have happened? When we were reading the reports of the trial it looked as though the judge was really on to them and was not to be persuaded by the show they were putting on. To me it just seems a complete turn around. Is this judge another person that was told what the outcome had to be? Just like the Met and everyone else that has been involved in this case.

Quote from: Alfred R Jones on Today at 07:08:24 PM
Good to see you've retained your sense of humour. If you want a real laugh though go take a read through some of the Stud Muffin's old posts about the Libel Trial.

Humpty Bumpty ‏@RealHumptyB 3h3 hours ago
Today's #McCann court verdict likely to be appealed. Need our best people, MI5/MI6 if nec, in discussions pre further listings.

Jerry Lawton@JerryLawton
#McCann parents say lawsuit "never about money" but about "libels on our other children" & "damage...done in the search for Maadeleine"

Jerry Lawton @JerryLawton · 3h 3 hours ago
Judge ruled Amaral played on status as police officer to present personal opinions and claims about #McCann case as fact

I realise the haters are in shock, having been told by the pretendy 'court reporters' that everything was going swimmingly, and having been given hope by Pied Pipers talking bollox about TOAST, but they seem quite incapable of processing today's information.

I hate to invoke Godwin's Law, but they're like the last of the fanatical nazis, still convicted tomorrow was going to bring a Miracle Weapon, while the Red Army parked its tanks over their bunkers.

Oh, and speaking of TOAST, one hears that Bullsh*t has flounced after today's humiliation. Probably to the nearest off-licence, if allegations made elsewhere are correct.

Madeleine McCann: Kate and Gerry urge public to continue search for missing daughter after damages victory

19:56, 28 April 2015 By David Collins

Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral was ordered to pay the family a total of £434,000 after his book claimed the parents covered up her death

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.

Three days later Amaral’s book was published in Portugal.

Kate and Gerry lodged a 36-page writ in June 2009 describing Amaral as a “self -obsessed, manipulative money-grabber” and accused him of libel and breaching their human rights.

Speaking today, their Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte said: “It was never about the money. It was about stopping awful lies being printed, which hindered the search for Madeleine.”

As the couple prepare for the agonising eighth anniversary of Maddie’s disappearance this Sunday, Isabel said: “This verdict could not have come at a better time for them.

“I informed them immediately by email and Kate wrote back to say they were absolutely delighted and so very happy.

“Those were her words. She really believes it can help the chance of finding Madeleine alive because their accuser suggested the little girl was dead.

“This is the news we have been waiting for after six long years.

“We were always confident of a victory but in recent months had a few doubts. But the fact that Mr Amaral has now been silenced is very good news.

“He has to hand all copies of his book and the DVD to Kate and Gerry. Nothing he has produced about Madeleine can ever be on the shelves again. There is a total ban and that is all my clients ever wanted.”

She added: “I now hope and pray that they can find their daughter. That was always our goal and with Mr Amaral being silenced there is now more of a chance.

“They want the money to go into the fund to find Madeleine.

“The case has been very hard work but worthwhile and an important victory for my clients.

“I think they expected this decision. Mr Amaral’s book which was available across the world was very harmful to the search for Madeleine.

“I am happy and relieved for Kate and Gerry. They never deserved to be put through this extra agony.”

Maddie, who would now be aged 11, vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz in May 2007. She was aged three and just days away from her fourth birthday.

Judge Maria Emilia Melo e Castro announced her decision in a 52-page document today.

She ruled 84 facts had been proven, including that Amaral’s book caused the McCanns “rage, desperation, anguish and worry and insomnia” by claiming Madeleine had died in their Algarve holiday apartment and they had faked her abduction to cover up the tragedy.

She concluded 14 facts had not been proven, ruling Amaral’s statement in his book had not led to Portuguese police halting their search for Madeleine.

Amaral and publishers Guerra & Paz have been given 60 days to hand over any remaining copies of the book.

The judgement also bans them from publishing new editions of the book.

Kate, 47, from Rothley, Leics, said Madeleine’s twin siblings Sean and Amelie, now ten, knew about Amaral’s allegations, which also formed the basis for a subsequent TV documentary.

Asked by the judge 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.”

She went on to accuse Amaral, thrown off the Madeleine McCann investigation in 2007 for criticising British police, of “consistently smearing” her and Gerry.

She believes the book may have stopped people coming forward with information about their daughter’s whereabouts.

Amaral, 56, earned around £286,000 from his book and a TV documentary.

He always denied defamation, insisting what he wrote was based on case files which had already been made public.

His lawyer Miguel Cruz Rodrigues claimed in the last open court hearing in December the McCanns had taken legal action against his client “to rid themselves of guilt for their negligent conduct” in leaving Madeleine and her siblings alone.

He also claimed their lack of cooperation with the Portuguese police authorities had led to the archiving of the investigation in 2008.

In that hearing Ricardo Correia Afonso, representing the McCanns, told the court: "What he published distorted the facts, and as a result the parents were judged and sentenced by public opinion.

"His book is written like a novel and that's exactly what it is. The book and the DVD were produced to convince whoever saw or read them that the parents are guilty."

Fatima de Oliveira Esteves, representing publisher Guerra e Paz at the same hearing, said Amaral "appeared to have invented" large parts of the book but argued: "The fact is those children were left alone and because of that fact one of them disappeared. Anxiety and depression were caused by the disappearance of the child, not because of the book."

Portuguese prosecutors reopened their probe into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance last year and are conducting a separate investigation to one led by Scotland Yard.

Win ‏@winnower1 3h3 hours ago
@suttonnick 'Tried to frame' ??? I hope Dr. Amaral sues every British rag that publishes the lies about him. Every damn one of you. #McCann

Louise ‏@siamesey 3h3 hours ago
@siamesey if so, it is the entire reason they plowed ahead w Damages despite losing Libel. Lets not forget #McCann lost the libel case!

Carla Spade ‏@CarlaSpade 3h3 hours ago
@siamesey What libel case? #McCann haven't lost a libel case?
2:52 PM - 28 Apr 2015 · Details

Louise ‏@siamesey 3h3 hours ago
@CarlaSpade yes, they have. This award today is DAMAGES, an entirely separate legal action. #McCann

What wonderful news!

How typical that the anti McCann fools got the whole gist of the latest hearings wrong because they were so blinded by the hatred they have in themselves for the parents of a missing child that they believed the complete rubbish spouted by the liar who pretended she was reporting the court case accurately?

How typical of the anti McCanns that gibbering idiots like Winnower and JillyCL are still unable to see what absolute MUGS they are for getting taken in by the publicity machine that followed Amaral?

And how typical that when the chips are down for their saintly hero, people like the blubbering (and blubbery) Joana Morais simply run away. Cowards and charlatans or fools and sheep. That is the structure of the Amaral fan club and it is falling apart as we watch.

Not a shred of intelligence left among them. Riddled with obscene freaks, wind up merchants like that US drug guzzling surfer, and morons who believe whatever they are told just so long as it fits their sick fantasies.

This was always on the cards because the truth was obvious about the lies which Amaral told and in particular because as I have made clear for years now the most telling fact about his book was that it was written while he was a serving police officer. He broke every rule in the book and JillyCL and Winnower know that no matter how many times she stuck her head in the sick bucket to hide from the reality.

I hope the McCanns now use this validation of their position to go after others whose role in the saga of lies and libel is also great. I think particularly of some of the Twitter trolls and of the woman from Canada. After all Twitter is now supportive of the silencing of those who break the rules of free speech (and yes there are rules regarding free speech) and Canada is a very appropriate jurisdiction for legal action. Ms Taylor probably knows exactly what I mean by that statement.

Cristobell Author ‏@RosalindaHu 11 mins11 minutes ago
@JohnnyWatergate Delicious irony, they made him broke, so now he can't pay them! There is a God, lol. #mccann