Kate and Gerry McCann provide depositions to the Lisbon Court.
Kate and Gerry McCann arrive at the Palace of Justice, Lisbon, Portugal, earlier today.
The McCann both delivered personal statements at Lisbon's Palace of Justice today in the libel case brought by them against Dr Gonçalo Amaral. Kate McCann told the court that her son Sean had repeated allegations after hearing them on the radio on the school bus.
"Sean asked me in October, 'Mr Amaral said you hid Madeleine'. I just said that he said a lot of silly things," she said. Mrs McCann also told the court Mr Amaral's claims had done "severe damage" to efforts to find her daughter. She said that when she read the allegations she was "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 also felt anxious and fearful because of the damage I felt it was doing here in Portugal," she said.
Mrs McCann also said she was aware that the couple did not have a high level of support in Portugal, telling the court she found that "distressing and upsetting because we need the Portuguese people to help us to find Madeleine". She said: "It also makes me feel uneasy and uncomfortable when I come to Portugal because I think people are thinking negative or really bad things about us."
The McCann's outside Court after the hearing speak to the gathered Press.
Kate McCann added after the hearing: "It's never too late for someone to come forward with key information. And if this action helps us to reach that step, then it's a positive thing, and that's what we're aiming for."
Speaking outside the court, Gerry McCann also spoke about the couple's efforts to protect their children from press reports related to the case, saying: "Obviously they are not immune to the media. They hear things, they go to school, they hear the radio.
"They hear the theories and Sean has obviously asked Kate explicitly, 'Why did Mr Amaral say you hid Maddie?' - so we will have to deal with that and we are doing everything in our power."
"We hope that the current investigation being run by the Metropolitan Police does lead to a real breakthrough."
He added the couple feared that their daughter's kidnapper could strike again, and said the perpetrator must have laughed at Mr Amaral's claims.
The McCann's are suing Mr Amaral, his publisher and a company that produced a documentary based on his book for 1.2 million euros (£1m) in damages.
No date was set for the next hearing as investigators look into Mr Amaral's financial affairs
Closing speeches are not expected to take place before September.
