filed its one and only report of the libel trial at just after midnight on Friday.
This is it:
Published at 12:01AM, September 13 2013
The mother of Madeleine McCann wept in a Portuguese court yesterday at the start of a £1 million libel claim against the detective who led the search for her missing daughter.
Kate McCann, her husband Gerry and their twins Sean and Amelie, 8, are suing Gonçalo Amaral over a book in which he argues that Madeleine was killed accidentally and implicates her parents in her alleged death. The McCanns say that their daughter was abducted days before her fourth birthday from her bedroom in their holiday villa in Praia da Luz in May 2007.
Mr Amaral published Maddie: The Truth of the Lie three days after Portuguese police closed the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance. They said there was no evidence that her parents were involved.
The McCanns say the claims in the former chief inspector’s book have hampered the search for their daughter and poisoned Portuguese public opinion against them. They believe that Madeleine was kidnapped and is still alive. The McCanns, both doctors from Rothley, Leicestershire, had unsuccessfully tried to ban the book, which has been turned into a Portuguese television film.
Kate McCann, 45, who is not expected to give evidence, wiped tears from her eyes as the court heard how she broke down and wept when Madeleine disappeared.
Susan Hubbard, the wife of the Anglican priest at the church in Praia da Luz, told the court that Mrs McCann had been “devastated” by the claims in the book and film. She said that the actors who played the couple portrayed them as “crazy, heavy drinkers”.
Emma Loach, who made a Channel 4 documentary about Madeleine’s disappearance, said that Mr Amaral’s book and television programme meant the Portuguese public were deterred from helping to find the missing girl.
Ms Loach, the daughter of the film-maker Ken Loach, told the court: “Kate realised the people she needed help from now thought Madeleine was dead and [her parents] were implicated.”
Mr Amaral was removed from the Madeleine inquiry in October 2007 after he accused British police of helping her parents to cover up their role in their daughter’s death.
Scotland Yard said in July this year that it had identified 38 potential suspects in the case and opened a new international inquiry after a review of evidence ordered by David Cameron. It was reported yesterday that Scotland Yard had advised the McCanns not to appear in court to avoid antagonising the Portuguese authorities and public.
Mr Amaral, 56, will argue that under Portuguese law he is entitled to make the claims.
The hearing continues today.
The very last line: the hearing continues today.
But no further reports.
Why not?
Has Snr Santos' frank admission that Madeleine could be alive torpedoed Amaral's case?
Has he, in fact, caved in?
