Madeleine McCann

T. he parents of Madeleine McCann have lost the latest stage of their legal battle over comments made by a retired Portuguese detective claiming they were ...

We hope that, with the help of the public, hard work and diligence we can eventually find those responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance and bring them to justice.” “We took action for one and only one reason: Mr Amaral’s unfounded claims were having a detrimental impact on the search for Madeleine.” Lawyers for Kate and Gerry McCann argued that Portuguese authorities had breached their right to respect for a private and family life in the way the courts there dealt with their libel claims against Goncalo Amaral.

Lawyers for Kate and Gerry McCann argued that the Portuguese authorities had breached their right to respect for a private and family life in the way the courts ...

Mr Amaral was ordered to pay the McCanns €500,000 in libel damages by a Lisbon court in 2015, but the decision was overturned and then thrown out by the Portuguese Supreme Court in 2017. "It followed that the national authorities had not failed in their positive obligation to protect the applicants' right to respect for their private life." The court added: "The information had thus been brought to the public's attention in some detail even before the investigation file was made available to the media and the book in question was published. Instead, this was "a result of the suspicions expressed against them, which had led to their being placed under investigation" and had led to intense media attention and controversy. Lawyers for Kate and Gerry McCann argued that the Portuguese authorities had breached their right to respect for a private and family life in the way the courts there dealt with their libel claims against Goncalo Amaral. Any damage to Kate and Gerry McCann's reputation would have arisen not from the detective's book but from the fact that they had been suspects in their daughter's disappearance, the European Court of Human Rights ruled.

He has also been stating that the current prime suspect, sex offender Christian Brueckner, had nothing to do with Madeleine's case. The McCanns sued Mr Amaral ...

In May this year, the McCanns said it was essential they find out the truth A German public prosecutor ordered an inquiry into him in June 2020, shortly after he was jailed for raping a 72-year-old woman in Portugal. The McCanns now have three months to appeal against the decision. Kate and Gerry McCann, of Rothley, were made suspects in the case for a short time after the then three-year-old went missing in 2007, but no action was taken against them. That case was being argued in the European Court of Human Rights. The McCanns sued Mr Amaral over the 2008 book and won, but a higher court overturned the decision to award the couple a six-figure sum.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday against the parents of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann, saying that Portugal had given them a ...

The parents were questioned by police as formal suspects that autumn. "The focus is now rightly on the search for Madeleine and her abductor(s). In 2015, a Portuguese court ruled in their favour, ordering Amaral to pay them damages.

Kate and Gerry McCann sued Mr Amaral, who led the police search for Madeleine in 2007, over comments he made alleging they were involved in her ...

[hristian Brueckner was declared a suspect in the case by Portuguese officials in April ](/news/central/2022-04-22/madeleine-mccanns-parents-release-statement-as-formal-suspect-declared)as a 15-year legal deadline approached, and he has been under investigation by German officials for two years. Regardless of outcome, Madeleine will always be our daughter and a truly horrific crime has been committed. It said: "While the Court understood that the book's publication had undeniably caused anger, anguish and distress to the applicants, it did not appear that the book, or the broadcasting of the documentary, had had a serious impact on the applicants' social relations or on their legitimate and ongoing attempts to find their daughter." The ECHR said: "The Court considered that, even assuming that the applicants' reputation had been damaged, this was not on account of the argument put forward by the book's author but rather as a result of the suspicions expressed against them, which had led to their being placed under investigation in the course of the criminal investigation (the prosecutor's office decided to take no further action in July 2008) and had led to intense media attention and much controversy. [Leicestershire](/news/central/topic/leicester), argued that Portuguese authorities had breached their right to respect for a private and family life in the way the courts there dealt with their libel claims against Goncalo Amaral. [European Court of Human Rights](/news/topic/european-court-of-human-rights) found the couple’s reputation had been damaged by the fact that they were made official suspects in the case for a short time, rather than Mr Amaral’s comments.

The three-year-old vanished during a family holiday to Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 2007.

It said: “While the Court understood that the book’s publication had undeniably caused anger, anguish and distress to the applicants, it did not appear that the book, or the broadcasting of the documentary, had had a serious impact on the applicants’ social relations or on their legitimate and ongoing attempts to find their daughter.” The ECHR also found that the claims did not appear to have impacted on the McCann’s “social relations” or their campaign to find their daughter. “It followed that the national authorities had not failed in their positive obligation to protect the applicants’ right to respect for their private life.”

MADELEINE McCann's parents have lost a libel battle against a former policeman that accused them of being involved in their daughter's disappearance.S.

Click [here](https://www.thesun.co.uk/sellyourvideo/) to upload yours. [He released a book](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2791401/kate-and-gerry-mccann-warn-ex-cop-goncalo-amaral-not-to-publish-his-new-book-in-britain/) and subsequent TV documentary called [The Truth Of The Lie](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8738452/madeleine-mccann-portuguese-cop-amaral-memoir/) in which he cruelly alleged the McCanns faked Maddie's abduction to cover their tracks after she had been accidentally killed. "The focus is now rightly on the search for Madeleine and her abductor(s). Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? We pay for your stories! [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or call 0207 782 4368. [Madeleine](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2238940/madeleine-mccann-investigation-latest-theories/) had died in [the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2941709/apartment-in-praia-da-luz-madeleine-mccann-vanished-from-sold-to-british-gran-for-255000-half-the-asking-price/) and her parents faked her abduction to cover up the tragedy. [Kate and Gerry lost their 14-year libel case against Amaral](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/19860746/madeleine-mccann-parents-lose-court-case-portuguese-detective/) after a long legal battle at the European Court of Human Rights. [Netflix](https://www.thesun.co.uk/topic/netflix/) documentary, [The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8637550/disappearance-of-madeleine-mccann-netflix-doc-pic-maddie-playing-snatched/). [McCanns lost a subsequent appeal](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2750157/furious-gerry-kate-mccann-court-battle-with-cop-was-never-about-winning-money-but-about-stopping-maddie-cover-up-smears/) in Portugal's Supreme Court in February 2017. [Gerry](https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/gerry-mccann/) and [Kate](https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/kate-mccann/) killed their daughter. [Madeleine McCann](https://www.thesun.co.uk/who/madeleine-mccann/) went missing from the Ocean Club holiday complex in [Praia da Luz](https://www.thesun.co.uk/where/praia-da-luz/) on May 3, 2007.

But Kate and Gerry McCann said the focus is now rightly on the search for their daughter and her abductor(s).

“It followed that the national authorities had not failed in their positive obligation to protect the applicants’ right to respect for their private life.” It said: “While the Court understood that the book’s publication had undeniably caused anger, anguish and distress to the applicants, it did not appear that the book, or the broadcasting of the documentary, had had a serious impact on the applicants’ social relations or on their legitimate and ongoing attempts to find their daughter.” Lawyers for Kate and Gerry McCann had argued that Portuguese authorities had breached their right to respect for a private and family life in the way the courts there dealt with their libel claims against Goncalo Amaral.

Lawyers for Kate and Gerry McCann argued that Portuguese authorities had breached their right to respect for a private and family life in the way the courts ...

The court also said that the McCann’s right to respect for their private and family life had to be balanced against Mr Amaral’s freedom of expression. It said: ‘While the Court understood that the book’s publication had undeniably caused anger, anguish and distress to the applicants, it did not appear that the book, or the broadcasting of the documentary, had had a serious impact on the applicants’ social relations or on their legitimate and ongoing attempts to find their daughter.’ Lawyers for Kate and Gerry McCann argued that Portuguese authorities had breached their right to respect for a private and family life in the way the courts there dealt with their libel claims against Goncalo Amaral.

The parents of Madeleine McCann have lost the latest stage of a battle over legal judgements made about claims from a Portuguese police detective.

It also said that, in its ruling, Portugal's Supreme Court had not "made comments implying any guilt... In a judgement on Tuesday, however, the court said that the couple were already public figures before Mr Amaral's book was published and that any damage to their reputation had been caused by the fact they had been declared suspects, not Mr Amaral's claims. In their case at the European Court, the couple said the Portuguese courts had failed to uphold their right to a private life and their presumption of innocence.

Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old girl from Rothley, Leicestershire, went missing from the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz on the Algarve on 3 ...

The quartet would be definitively ruled out in April 2017, before the UK government said it would continue to fund the investigation until 2020, having already admitted it had cost £10m in its first four years of operation. That same month, BBC Crimewatch released an e-fit image of a man of particular interest who had been seen in Praia da Luz with a child matching Madeleine’s description in May 2007. On 2 October, chief inspector Goncalo Amaral was removed from the case and transferred after alleging that the British police were only interested in pursuing leads favourable to the McCanns. Despite being listed as suspects (a designation that would linger until the following July), the McCanns were allowed to return to Britain on 9 September. Back in Britain, Gerry McCann issued a video that November in which he speculated that his family had been watched by a “predator” during their stay at Praia da Luz. By 30 May, the case was such a cause celebre that they were being flown out to meet the Pope at the Vatican in [Sir Phillip Green](/topic/sir-phillip-green)’s Learjet. A day later, chief inspector Tavares de Almeida of the Policia Judiciaria in Portimao signed a nine-page report concluding that Madeleine McCann had died in their apartment as a result of an accident, that the tapas dinner and rota checks on the McCann children had been part of a planned cover-up, that the family’s friends had helped to mislead the police and that the McCanns had concealed the body and then faked an abduction. The individual in question was spotted by Jane Tanner, one of the McCanns’ dining companions, who said she had seen a Mediterranean man with dark hair and beige trousers carrying a child close to the apartment when she went to check in on her own children. By August, Madeleine has been missing for 100 days and police admitted for the first time that she may never be found. [Kate McCann](/topic/kate-mccann) took her turn and returned to her apartment at 10pm, she raced back to the restaurant screaming “Madeleine’s gone! The children were left behind sleeping in their respective apartments with the doors unlocked and a rota system in place among the parents to ensure that someone returned every half-hour to check on them. We are very grateful to the police for their continued efforts.”