Gonçalo Amaral confirms he will appeal the damages decision to higher Court.

[G-Unit]

They stopped him

Too late. They waited a year before trying to ban his book. It was on sale in many countries and the ban only applied to Portugal, then it was overturned. More copies were sold due to the publicity generated. You can ban a book, but you can't erase the thoughts of those who read it. Suing him just gave his thesis more publicity and more integrity. It suggested to some that he had hit a nerve.

[Mr Gray]

Too late. They waited a year before trying to ban his book. It was on sale in many countries and the ban only applied to Portugal, then it was overturned. More copies were sold due to the publicity generated. You can ban a book, but you can't erase the thoughts of those who read it. Suing him just gave his thesis more publicity and more integrity. It suggested to some that he had hit a nerve.

very few in the Uk have heard about the book..AFAIAC....they had no choice but to sue...no choice at all

[stephen25000]

very few in the Uk have heard about the book..AFAIAC....they had no choice but to sue...no choice at all

NOPE.

No, it was about two things, REVENGE and MONEY.

[Mr Gray]

NOPE.

No, it was about two things, REVENGE and MONEY.

we all have our opinions

[Eleanor]

If Amaral had stopped at The Book then I doubt that The McCanns would have bothered to sue.  But he went on and on and on, getting worse by the week, and into outright accusations.  Until it became obvious that he wasn't going to stop.  In fact I think he wanted to be sued to encourage sales and even to write yet another Book.
It doesn't appear to have occurred to him that The Portuguese Courts would sequester his money and his assets.  But then if he hadn't had such a bad record with debts, then they might not have done.  He probably thought that his debt history would never come out.

[Brietta]

Too late. They waited a year before trying to ban his book. It was on sale in many countries and the ban only applied to Portugal, then it was overturned. More copies were sold due to the publicity generated. You can ban a book, but you can't erase the thoughts of those who read it. Suing him just gave his thesis more publicity and more integrity. It suggested to some that he had hit a nerve.

If the book had been a factual account of events ... the Drs McCann would have been behind bars.  The proof that it is a tissue of lies and innuendo lies in the fact they are walking free and have been able initially to continue the search for Madeleine which had been abandoned ... and eventually by dint of untiringly keeping up the pressure on her behalf ... succeeded in having the case into her disappearance officially re-opened.

In the interim Mr Amaral, until very recently, had carved out an enviable standard of living as a result of becoming a media personality on the back of a book about a missing child giving details of ...

• the botched investigation for which he bears responsibility,
• asserting without a shred of proof that she was dead
• that her parents were responsible in some way ... and had covered up her death by hiding her body

It is risible that this mercenary individual has built a following on the myth that he 'sacrificed' his career and family to enable 'justice for Madeleine'.
No-one has done more to obstruct the search for her due to incompetence and greed.

That SY and the PJ are still working through some of the witnesses and the people who were in the vicinity when Madeleine vanished shows that there was work still to be done in an investigation which had been pushed in the entirely wrong direction.

That the Portuguese courts have found in favour of her parents in this matter should tell people something.

That Mr Amaral's star appears to be on the wane in Portugal as a result of that and the renewed efforts being put into the search for Madeleine is another factor worth consideration.

I think a person who single handedly had such a malign influence on the search for Madeleine McCann ... was bound to "hit a nerve" with the people who were doing all that was humanly possible to look for her.

[Eleanor]

Whether or not Amaral's antics affected the search can only be a matter of opinion since we don't know who might to might not have reported information.
But that isn't really the point.  Amaral did Libel The McCanns and he did cause them great distress.
The amount is only commensurate to how much he made in what was a Civil Case.

[Lace]

NOPE.

No, it was about two things, REVENGE and MONEY.

Can I ask you a question Stephen?    Would you be happy to let a book circulate saying that you drugged your child then covered up her death,  then hid her body and said she had been abducted?

[stephen25000]

Can I ask you a question Stephen?    Would you be happy to let a book circulate saying that you drugged your child then covered up her death,  then hid her body and said she had been abducted?

2  Salient points.

First, mccann was willing to forgive a fictional abductor.

Second, the nature of Madeleine's disappearance is undetermined.

[Mr Gray]

2  Salient points.

First, mccann was willing to forgive a fictional abductor.

Second, the nature of Madeleine's disappearance is undetermined.

as usual you have not answered the question...if the crime is undetermined then amaral has no right to say the parents done it

[Angelo222]

as usual you have not answered the question...if the crime is undetermined then amaral has no right to say the parents done it

That's very true davel, that's why it is a thesis.

[Eleanor]

That's very true davel, that's why it is a thesis.

Was Amaral purporting a Thesis when he said, several times, that The McCanns disposed of the body of their Daughter?

[Angelo222]

Was Amaral purporting a Thesis when he said, several times, that The McCanns disposed of the body of their Daughter?

That was a contention.  Despite what Mr Amaral might write or say, there is no way he can know for sure what happened to Maddie.  Only those involved directly in her disappearance, assuming such a person or persons exist, can know the answer to that mystery.

[Mr Gray]

That's very true davel, that's why it is a thesis.

it wasn't a thesis...he said he could prove maddie died in that apartment...his book was called the "truth"

[Mr Gray]

That was a contention.  Despite what Mr Amaral might write or say, there is no way he can know for sure what happened to Maddie.  Only those involved directly in her disappearance, assuming such a person or persons exist, can know the answer to that mystery.

but amaral did claim he knew for sure....