Leicester MercuryThursday, January 14, 2010, 09:30
McCanns fight back at detective's accusations
Gerry and Kate McCann arrive at court in Lisbon
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By lsteelyard staff reporter
Gerry McCann came out fighting yesterday after sitting through two days of court hearings where he and his wife were accused of faking the abduction of their daughter Madeleine.
Mr McCann defended the couple's decision to take legal action over a book and TV documentary by former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral. He insisted there was no evidence to support Mr Amaral's claims that Madeleine died in her family's Algarve holiday flat on the night she vanished in 2007.
A visibly frustrated Mr McCann spoke to reporters outside the main civil court in Lisbon, where Mr Amaral is trying to overturn a ban on publishing his book.
"Over the last two days, we've heard a lot about Mr Amaral's thesis that Madeleine is dead," he said. "And I also hope you've heard that there is absolutely no evidence to support that thesis. A thesis without evidence is meaningless and that is what we are challenging."
It was the second time Mr McCann, 41, from Rothley, has spoken to reporters outside the court.
On Tuesday, a senior detective told the hearing police made the McCanns "arguidos", or suspects, in the case after concluding Madeleine died accidentally and her parents covered up the death by inventing a kidnapping.
Chief Inspector Tavares de Almeida said he believed Madeleine died in her family's holiday apartment on the day she went missing. He told the court the main evidence for this was the findings of British police sniffer dogs sent to Portugal to examine the flat.
The McCanns' lawyer Isabel Duarte challenged the claim, arguing the sniffer dog results did not constitute proof and were not allowed as evidence in the case.
Ricardo Paiva, the Policia Judiciaria detective who acted as a liaison officer for the McCanns, told the hearing his view of the case changed after Mrs McCann, 41, rang him to tell him about a dream. She was very upset and gave him the impression that she thought Madeleine was dead and could be on a hillside near Praia da Luz, the court was told.
Ms Duarte said Mrs McCann raised the issue with the Portuguese police after seeing a number of cars going up the hill.
Yesterday, a former senior detective called as a witness by Mr Amaral dismissed the theory that Madeleine was abducted. Francisco Moita Flores, a criminologist and a writer who is now the mayor of Santarem, near Lisbon, told the court it would be impossible to pass a child through the window of the McCanns' holiday flat.
Ms Duarte argued the police files reached no conclusion about the window and said there were other ways Madeleine could have been taken from the apartment.
A Portuguese judge granted the McCanns an injunction in September last year banning further sale or publication of Mr Amaral's book. He was also prohibited from repeating his claims about Madeleine or her parents.
The case will continue today.
