Yorkshire PostMcCanns sue over 'offensive' Madeleine claimsPublished Date: 18 May 2009
THE parents of Madeleine McCann were preparing yesterday to sue the disgraced former Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral.
Kate and Gerry McCann said they were taking action over comments made in the media by the man who previously led the inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance.
In a statement, the parents of the missing girl said: "We – together with our three children Madeleine, Sean and Amelie – are taking this legal action against Goncalo Amaral over his entirely unfounded and grossly defamatory claims – made in all types of media, both within Portugal and beyond – that Madeleine is not only dead, but that we, her parents, were somehow involved in concealing her body."
The decision was taken in a bid to prevent further publication of Amaral's "deeply offensive" book The Truth of The Lie, his television documentary and his "disgraceful thesis" that the parents were involved in their daughter's disappearance.
The statement continued: "The primary reason for our legal action is simple: to stop any negative effect that these absurd and deeply hurtful claims may be having on the ongoing search for Madeleine.
"We can no longer stand back and watch as Mr Amaral tries to convince the entire world that Madeleine is dead.
"Nor can we allow this blatant injustice to Madeleine, with its obvious risk of hindering our attempts to find her, to continue.
"Mr Amaral's entirely unjustified claims have not only brought indescribable devastation and suffering to our lives, they have hugely compounded the already immense pain and anxiety we have endured since Madeleine's abduction."
The couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, recently marked the second anniversary of Madeleine going missing from their holiday flat in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, on May 3 2007, just days before her fourth birthday.
They will join families of other vanished youngsters today to mark International Missing Children's Day.
The event on London's South Bank will publicise the plight of the mothers and fathers left wondering what happened to their children many years after their disappearance.
The McCanns' UK lawyer, Edward Smethurst, said the first step in their legal action will be to apply for a gagging order at Lisbon's main civil court.
He said: "Proceedings are being issued as we speak.
"We're applying for an injunction to prevent further publication of the book and anything to do with its contents.
"There is no evidence that Madeleine is dead. Therefore not only is this book damaging and libellous, but it's also damaging the search for Madeleine."
He added that he was confident the injunction would be granted.
"It is absolutely achievable," he said.
"There has been a lot of libel and slander which is affecting Gerry and Kate greatly.
"The reason we're taking action at this stage is that it's harming the search for Madeleine."
Also taking part in the International Missing Children's Day event will be the mother and sister of Katrice Lee, who was two when she disappeared from a Naafi shopping complex in Paderborn, Germany, on November 28, 1981.
Police officers from Hampshire and Lancashire Police involved in the searches for Damien Nettles and Paige Chivers will also attend. Damien was 16 when he went missing after a night out in Cowes on the Isle of Wight on November 2, 1996, and Paige was 15 when she vanished from Blackpool on August 22 2007.
