Madeleine McCann Missing-Praia Da Luz, Portugal 3/05/07 #2

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Wyks...it has  been very confusing with this case....I still feel in my heart that she is alive..

[Toler]

Goncalo Amaral, the detective sued over Maddie, is to visit UK
By Mail On Sunday Reporter
Last updated at 11:50 PM on 09th January 2010

The Portuguese detective being sued by Kate and Gerry McCann over his allegations about their role in their daughter’s disappearance has been invited to give a talk in Britain.
Goncalo Amaral, who led the police investigation, is due to speak to a conference next month in Nottingham organised by the Madeleine Foundation, which claims the missing girl was not abducted.
Madeleine, then three, disappeared during a family holiday to Praia da Luz in May 2007.

Next week, Amaral is due to appear in a Lisbon court to fight a £1million libel action brought by the McCanns over his book on the case.

In it, he accused the couple of neglecting their children, questioned their need to employ a spokesman and claimed British police were ‘too close’ to them.
Amaral, 49, authorised making the McCanns official suspects, or arguidos, in their daughter’s disappearance, but was later sacked after criticising British police involvement in the case.

A source close to the McCanns said they were ‘concerned’ by his visit.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1241897/Madeleine-McCann-detective-Goncalo-Amaral-visit-UK.html

[Toler]

McCanns return to Portugal for libel trial of detective who led Maddie investigation
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 1:34 PM on 11th January 2010

 Kate and Gerry McCann will return to Portugal today for the libel trial of the former Portuguese detective who led the investigation into their daughter Madeleine's disappearance.
The couple launched legal action against Goncalo Amaral after he published a book questioning their account about what happened to the young girl, who was three at the time of her disappearance in May 2007
Mr and Mrs McCann, both 41, from Rothley, Leicestershire, will fly to Lisbon today ahead of the three-day trial, which is due to start at the main civil court in the Portuguese capital tomorrow.

 Kate and Gerry McCann, pictured outside a Lisbon court at an earlier hearing, will return to Portugal today for the libel trial of the former Portuguese detective who led the investigation into their daughter's disappearance
It is understood that they plan to attend all the hearings, but do not intend to go back to the Algarve resort where Madeleine vanished more than two-and-a-half years ago.

 Missing: Madeleine McCann disappeared in May 2007
Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: 'I can confirm that Kate and Gerry McCann will be returning to Portugal on Monday to attend the resumption of the Amaral trial on Tuesday at the main civil court in Lisbon.
'The details of their travel plans and itinerary will at their request remain private.'
Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3 2007 while her parents dined with friends nearby.
Four months after her disappearance, Mr and Mrs McCann were made 'arguidos', or formal suspects, in the case but this was lifted when the investigation was shelved in July 2008.
Mr Amaral at first led the Portuguese inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance. But he was taken off the case in October 2007 after criticising the British police in a newspaper interview.
In his book Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie, which was published in July 2008, Mr Amaral claimed that Madeleine was dead and questioned the McCanns's account that she was abducted.
 Libel trial: Goncalo Amaral at first led the investigation but was taken off the case in October 2007 after criticising the British police in a newspaper interview
A Portuguese judge granted an injunction in September last year banning further sale or publication of the book.
The former policeman was also prohibited from repeating his claims about Madeleine or her parents.

The McCanns travelled to Lisbon for the opening of the libel trial in December but the hearing was adjourned until this week after Mr Amaral's lawyer failed to turn up for health reasons.

The couple have previously said any money awarded in damages by the courts would go towards paying for private investigators to look for their daughter.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1242323/Madeleine-McCann-McCanns-return-Portugal-libel-trial-detective-led-Maddie-investigation.html#ixzz0cJZYQdIz

[cookie]

thanks for the updates Toler!

[Nut44x4]

Madeleine McCann 'Died In Holiday Apartment'
1:30pm UK, Tuesday January 12, 2010

A report into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, signed by a police chief, said she had died in the family's holiday apartment, a court has been told.To view this content you need Flash and Javascript enabled in your browser.

The lawyer in charge of the original inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance said the report was signed by Tavares De Almeida, who was chief inspector of police at the time Madeleine vanished.

Jose Magalhaes e Menezes also revealed that text messages sent by Kate and Gerry McCann were intercepted by police who were suspicious about their role in their daughter's disappearance.

But the texts were not considered as part of the investigation because a judge would not allow it.

Mr Menezes was the first witness called at a libel trial brought by the McCanns against former police chief Goncalo Amaral. His book claimed Madeleine had died in the family's apartment in the holiday resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007.

But Mr Menezes said he thought the probability of Madeleine being alive was 50/50.

He said the decision to designate the McCanns 'arguidos' - or suspects - was taken by police after sniffer dogs brought to Portugal from England had carried out their searches.

Giving evidence, Mr de Almeida said that the dogs identified blood and the smell of a human body inside the dining room of the holiday flat and in the car the McCanns were using.

The animals also found a scent on a piece of cloth in a flat rented by the McCanns after they left the apartment.

One of the dogs was in a nervous, excitable state, and wanted to get into the room, according to a report by British police, said Mr de Almeida.

The McCanns are seeking £1m compensation and a final ruling preventing Mr Amaral from repeating the claims he made about them.

The McCanns' lawyer told the court that the couple were prepared to give evidence but only after Mr Amaral had done so.

The case may now last longer than its expected three days because a new witness - named as Luis Frois - is being called by the McCann team.

Mr Amaral was in charge of the investigation launched when Madeleine McCann disappeared shortly before her fourth birthday.

He was taken off the case the following October after criticising British police in a newspaper interview.

Mr and Mrs McCanns' status as arguidos was lifted when the investigation was shelved in July 2008.

The same month, Mr Amaral published a book called Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie, in which he called into question the McCanns' account that she had been abducted.

Arriving in Lisbon, Mr McCann said: "No-one can be allowed to say that our daughter can't be found without very good evidence. That's what this court case is about."

Mrs McCann said: "We're looking for justice."

The couple, both 41, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have said that any damages awarded to them would go towards paying for private investigators to look for their daughter.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Madeleine-McCann-Kate-And-Gerry-McCann-Arrive-In-Lisbon-For-Start-Of-Goncalo-Amaral-Libel-Trial/Article/201001215519468?lpos=World_News_First_World_News_Article_Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15519468_Madeleine_McCann%3A_Kate_And_Gerry_McCann_Arrive_In_Lisbon_For_Start_Of_Goncalo_Amaral_Libel_Trial

[Nut44x4]

Madeleine McCann's death 'covered up by parents who faked kidnap', court hears

Madeleine McCann died in an accident in her family's Algarve holiday apartment and her death was covered up by her parents who then concocted a tale of kidnap, a Portuguese court was told.

Published: 10:30PM GMT 12 Jan 2010
Kate and Gerry McCann, both 41, were in court to hear how the detectives leading the investigation into their daughter’s disappearance believed they had lied to hide the truth.

“She died in the apartment as a result of a tragic accident and the parents simulated an abduction after failing to care of their children,” Tavares de Almeida, former chief inspector at Portimao police station during the initial months of the investigation, told the court in Lisbon.

“These were the conclusions of a police report signed by me on September 10 2007,” he added.

The allegations against Kate and Gerry McCann, both 41, were presented in court on the first day of a hearing to challenge the publication of a book written by Algarve detective Goncalo Amaral.

Lawyers for the detective, who led the team that made the McCanns arguidos – suspects – in their daughter’s disappearance, called witnesses to support the claims outlined in his book. The McCanns arguido status was lifted after ten months in July 2008 when the Attorney General ruled there was no evidence against them.

The pair, from Rothley, Leics, came face to face with their detractor for the first time since they were officially made argiuidos in September 2007, four months after they daughter vanished days before her fourth birthday.

Mr Amaral, 50, led the initial investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 2007 while her parents dined with friends at a tapas bar nearby. He was sacked from the case, which remains unsolved.

His book, entitled “The Truth of The Lie”, published in July 2008 claims that Madeleine died in the apartment and questions her parents’ account of events that evening.

It became a bestseller in Portugal selling more than 200,000 copies and went on to be published in six languages and made into a documentary film.

After a year long campaign the McCanns succeeded in getting a temporary injunction banning further sales and it was withdrawn from shelves last September. The couple believe that the book is damaging the search for their daughter by asserting that she is already dead and are suing for liable.

They are expected to ask a judge for around £1million in damages which they will use to pay for their own continuing hunt for their daughter, who they believe was kidnapped and could still be alive and being held somewhere.

Mr de Almeida told the court: “We have always spoken of a tragic accidental death – not homicide. The McCanns did not kill her but they concealed the body,”

Mr de Almeida, who worked under Amaral and was also taken off the case in September 2007, said the decision to designate the McCanns 'arguidos' was made by police after sniffer dogs brought to Portugal from England had carried out their searches.

Giving evidence, Mr de Almeida said that the dogs had identified blood and the scent of a human corpse inside the childrens’ bedroom and the dining room of the McCanns’ holiday flat.

The animals also reacted to traces on a piece of cloth in a villa rented by the McCanns after they left the apartment and in the boot of a rental car hired by the family several weeks after Madeleine disappeared.

Mr de Almeida also complained that Portuguese police efforts to investigate the McCanns had been frustrated by their British counterparts. “We were told that the UK would not accept any investigation of the McCanns – there was a lack of cooperation,” he said.

But later he said that the theory that the parents had covered up Madeleine’s death as outlined in Amaral’s book was one reached by British police on the ground in Portugal too.

“This wasn’t something invented by Amaral,” he insisted. “It was a conclusion reached by the team of Portuguese investigators as well as British police.”

Mrs McCann wearing a dark coloured floral dress sat impassively in the front row of the court room beside her husband. The pair held hands and exchanged occasional whispers and nods as they were passed notes by interpreters informing them of court proceedings, which were carried out in Portuguese.

Mr Amaral, dressed in a dark suit and purple tie, was seated at the bench beside his legal team, fifteen feet away from the couple. He spent much of the proceedings with his eyes closed avoiding the direct gaze of the McCanns.

Tuesday’s court hearing in the Portuguese capital was an opportunity by Mr Amaral to have the temporary injunction against publication of his book overturned. Neither he nor the McCanns will be called to give evidence in the hearing which is expected to last a minimum of three days.

A third witness said the turning point of the investigation came following a tearful call from Mrs McCann who, after a dream, told police where to search for her daughter’s body.

Police Inspector Ricardo Paiva, who acted as a liason between the McCanns and Portuguese police in the days following their daughter’s disappearance told the court he had received the phone call in late July 2007.

“Kate called me, she was alone as Gerry was away and she was crying,” he said. “She said she had dreamt that Madeleine was on a hill and that we should search for her there.

“She gave the impression that she thought she was dead – it was a turning point for us.”

The senior detective said the land was searched but nothing was found. “That is when we decided to send the specialist dogs in. British police informed us about how they could detect the scent of death.”

He admitted that the police had been suspicious of the McCanns from the start of the investigation. “They disobeyed our request to keep quiet about the details of their daughter’s disappearance while we conducted our investigation. Instead they turned it into a media circus and that gave rise to some suspicions.”

He said that the McCanns should have faced prosecution for leaving their children alone. “They should have been pursued for neglect. People have been arrested for far less – even in the UK.”

The case continues.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/portugal/6974917/Madeleine-McCanns-death-covered-up-by-parents-who-faked-kidnap-court-hears.html

[Nut44x4]

Kate dreamt Maddie’s body was on a hillside

Published: Today
KATE McCann had a dream in which she saw the body of missing daughter Madeleine on a hillside above their holiday resort, a court heard yesterday.
And after she told Portuguese cops of the nightmare, they became convinced the little girl had been KILLED rather than abducted.

The McCanns' Portuguese police liaison officer Inspector Ricardo Paiva even called it "the turning point of the investigation".

His description of the dream was among a series of wicked claims made about Kate and husband Gerry, both 41-year-old doctors, at Lisbon's Palace of Justice.


Texts

The devastated parents held hands and looked emotional as a judge heard wild allegations they:

KNEW all along that Maddie, nearly four when she disappeared, had died in an accident in their apartment in May 2007.

SIMULATED a kidnapping and concealed the girl's body.

SENT each other "suspicious" texts after Maddie went missing.

WERE "involved" in the child's disappearance in the opinion of a British crime profiler, and SHOULD have been charged with neglect because they left Maddie and her younger twin siblings Sean and Amelie in the Praia da Luz apartment while they dined out with friends.

The claims came from Portuguese cops in a case brought by their ex-boss Goncalo Amaral, the officer who led the initial investigation into the Maddie mystery.

He is seeking to overturn a ban on his book The Truth of the Lie, in which he makes similar allegations to those heard in court yesterday.

The McCanns, who have always maintained Maddie was snatched and is still alive, won a legal order barring the book in September.

They say it is libellous and harms the search for the little girl.

And they are poised to launch a £1million damages claim against Amaral.

Yesterday a spokeswoman for the couple said they were "hurt" by the courtroom claims.

But she added: "However, they know what really happened so they are confident. They just want to find their daughter."

Insp Paiva told how tearful Kate told him about her dream in a phone call two months after Maddie vanished - and asked cops to search the hill she had "seen".

He said: "She gave me the impression she thought Madeleine was dead." He added police combed the area but found nothing.

Quizzed by the McCanns' lawyer Isabel Duarte, Paiva admitted Kate told him Maddie might be on the hillside as she had seen a lot of cars heading there.

He said sniffer dogs were then brought in from Britain.

Chief Insp Tavares Almeida repeated allegations the dogs found the scent of a body in Maddie's bedroom, the apartment's lounge, the McCanns' hire car and on a piece of clothing in a flat to which they later moved.

Asked how Maddie might have died, he said: "We always spoke of a tragic accidental death, not homicide. The McCanns did not kill her but they hid the body."

Local public Prosecutor Jose Magalhaes e Menezes told how police suspected Kate and Gerry texted each other immediately after Maddie's disappearance.

They asked to see the messages but were turned down by the authorities on the grounds of "human rights to freedom".

Asked if he thought Maddie was dead or alive, he replied: "50-50." The case continues.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2805709/Kate-McCann-dreamt-Maddies-body-was-on-a-hillside.html

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I do believe Madeleine McCann is dead...dead from day one. I also believe the parents are responsible/know what happened/etc. I also need to say that reading all the reports in the last few days makes me feel like the National Enquirer is helping them out with their reporting, lol.

[Toler]

 Gerry McCann angrily dismissed Portuguese detectives' claims that his daughter Madeleine is dead as he arrived at court today.

Senior officers involved in the case told a hearing in Lisbon yesterday of their belief that the little girl died in her family's holiday flat and that her parents faked her abduction.
Returning for a second day of evidence, Mr McCann and his wife Kate insisted that none of the claims were new.
 'These claims are nothing new': Gerry and Kate McCann arrive at the Lisbon court today
Mr McCann was asked by a Portuguese reporter whether it was worth the emotional cost for the couple to attend the court case.
He replied: 'Do you have children? Anyone who has children would go through the same process.'
Lisbon's main civil court is hearing an attempt by former police chief Goncalo Amaral to overturn a ban on his book questioning the McCanns' account of what happened to Madeleine.
 
Accused of libel: Goncalo Amaral, former coordinator of the Portuguese Judicial Police, arrives at the court today
Speaking as he arrived at the court building hand-in-hand with his wife, Mr McCann seized on public prosecutor Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses's testimony yesterday that it was '50-50' whether the child is dead.
Mr McCann said: 'The most important thing yesterday was what the prosecutor said, there is absolutely no evidence that Madeleine is dead and there is absolutely no evidence that we were involved in her disappearance.
'That is the conclusion of the process and that is what we are here debating - the conclusions of the process versus the conclusions of the book.'
Chief Inspector Tavares de Almeida told the court yesterday he believed that Madeleine died in her family's apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on the day she went missing.
He said the main evidence for this was the findings of British police sniffer dogs sent to Portugal to examine the flat.

Mr McCann said the evidence of the police witnesses called by Mr Amaral's lawyers did not surprise him.
'Why would we be shocked? We are not denying the existence of the dogs or anything else,' he said.
'It's evidence we're interested in. There is no evidence that Madeleine is dead, that's what you heard yesterday.'
His wife added: 'There's nothing new.'
Mr Amaral's lawyers argue that the material in his book - Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie - is contained in the official Portuguese police files for the case, many of which were made public in August 2008.
Arriving for today's hearing, Mr Amaral said he was 'very happy' that his police colleagues had repeated in court what was in the files and in his book.
 
Missing: Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007
The McCanns, both 41, from Rothley, Leicestershire, say their main motive for challenging the former policeman is the fear that people will stop looking for their daughter if they think she is dead.
Explaining why the couple launched legal action against Mr Amaral, Mr McCann said today: 'This is a legal process that we're going through to protect our daughter and our family.
'We're looking for new information to help the search.

 More...Court agony for McCanns: Couple listen in disbelief as Portuguese police say Maddie is dead and abduction was faked

'The question of course is who is looking for Madeleine and who has been looking for Madeleine over the last two years, and that is us and our investigators.'
Mr McCann will return to Britain this afternoon because of work commitments, a spokeswoman for the couple said.
Fiona Payne, one of the friends who was on holiday with the McCanns when Madeleine disappeared on May 3 2007, is flying out to support Mrs McCann.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1242736/Anyone-children-Angry-Gerry-McCann-dismisses-claims-Madeleine-dead-libel-case-continues.html#ixzz0cVLyHa99

[Edward]

"Senior officers involved in the case told a hearing in Lisbon yesterday of their belief that the little girl died in her family's holiday flat and that her parents faked her abduction."


Maddie is still missing  and another mother of a missing daughter sits in prison Still today even after after it was reveled police had beaten her with pictures to prove it. Still the judicial system leaves her in prison.
Police who accuse her of the exact same thing as they do Maddie's parents.

I am astounded how corrupted the police as well as judicial system and government are in Portugal.
The world should hate them.
I do.

[Toler]

 Maddie snatch story was a fairytale that saved McCanns from being charged with neglect, libel trial told

By Vanessa Allen
Last updated at 12:48 PM on 14th January 2010


The 'fairytale' of Madeleine McCann's abduction saved her parents from being charged with neglecting their children, it was claimed yesterday.

Kate and Gerry McCann did not face negligence charges because police were too 'distracted' by claims their daughter had been snatched, a former policeman said.
Francisco Moita Flores told the second day of the McCann libel case how police hadn't believed three-year-old Madeleine was abducted from her parents' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.
 'Nothing's harder than losing Madeleine': With a tag featuring a picture of her missing daughter and the phrase 'Don't forget about me' attached to her purse, Kate McCann arrives at Tribunal Civil de Lisboa in Lisbon today
They were forced to investigate the theory because of the 'media circus' surrounding the case and the political pressure it created, the Portuguese court heard.
He suggested the couple should face neglect charges because they left their children sleeping while they went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Today Kate McCann admitted that listening to claims that she faked her daughter Madeleine's abduction was difficult - but said nothing could be as bad as losing her child.
Speaking as she arrived for a third day of hearings at the main civil court in Lisbon, she acknowledged that this week had taken its toll.
'If I'm honest, our daughter's been taken and nothing's ever going to be as bad as that,' she said.
'It's still been difficult, it's been emotive, because I know what's in the case files, I know what the conclusions are.
 
'So it's difficult to hear something that's incorrect and inaccurate.
'At the bottom of all this is a little girl, and I think it's important that we don't forget that.'
Mr McCann flew back to Britain last night to return to work and his wife was accompanied to court today by Fiona Payne, one of the friends on holiday with the couple when Madeleine disappeared.

After yesterday's hearing a clearly angry Mr McCann conceded that he and his wife had been wrong to leave their children, but said mistakes had been made by all involved.
He said: 'We're not harking over mistakes which were made, and particularly mistakes that were made early on and cannot be redeemed.
'What is done cannot be righted... in hindsight we made a mistake by leaving Madeleine and we have to live with the consequences of that. We can't change it.'
Earlier, Mr Moita Flores had told the court: 'No one believed it was an abduction. It was a fairytale, a fable. If the police only worked on that theory then they would be a bunch of idiots.'

He said he believed it would have been impossible for an abductor to break into the McCanns' apartment and carry away Madeleine.
'The McCanns should be judged for the neglect of their children. In Portugal this is huge negligence,' he said.
'The accusation was not made. Justice was distracted. How could they not be accused?'

Mr Moita Flores did not work on the investigation and had already left the Portuguese police when Madeleine disappeared in May 2007.
But he was giving evidence on behalf of Goncalo Amaral, the detective accused of libelling the McCanns in his bestselling book, Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie.
 Accused of libel: Goncalo Amaral, former coordinator of the Portuguese Judicial Police, arrives at the court
Madeleine's parents took legal action against Mr Amaral over accusations they faked their daughter's abduction to cover up her death while on a family holiday.
They won a court injunction banning the sale of the book worldwide and preventing him from repeating the allegations.
But the injunction did not stop him from publishing a second book in December, called The English Gag.
The libel case has provided the police officers who investigated the McCanns with a public platform on which to air their suspicions.
Unlike a criminal trial, the detectives have not had to provide evidence to support their allegations.


 More...Court agony for McCanns: Couple listen in disbelief as Portuguese police say Maddie is dead and abduction was faked

Mr McCann, 41, left Portugal last night to return to his job as a hospital heart consultant.
His wife, also 41, a former GP who has not returned to work since Madeleine's disappearance, is expected to stay in Lisbon until the end of the court hearing.
The latest courtroom accusations came as Mr Amaral was forced to deny claims he had launched a foul-mouthed attack on the McCanns.
The 50-year-old was caught on camera as he was asked if his book had hurt the couple, and appeared to snarl: 'No, **** the McCanns.'
His outburst was shown by the BBC's regional news programme in the East Midlands, which bleeped out the offending word.
A source said producers were convinced he had sworn, but lawyers for the detective denied he had spoken in English.
 Missing: Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007
His lawyer Antonio Cabrita said: 'I have never heard him use that kind of language.' Asked if he had made the comment, Mr Amaral, 50, replied: 'Never.'
The detective is believed to face financial ruin if the McCanns succeed in their £1million libel action.
Gerry McCann in courthouse clashGerry McCann yesterday lashed out at accusations that the couple had faked their daughter's abduction.
Sickened by police slurs that he and wife Kate were involved in Madeleine's disappearance, the grim-faced father confronted journalists on his way into court.
Asked why they had taken legal action over the claims, Mr McCann turned on a Portuguese television reporter and demanded to know if she was a mother. 'Do you have children?' he snapped. 'Anyone who has children would go through the same process.'
Mr McCann appeared to struggle to control his anger as he returned to hear a second day of allegations.
He said: 'There is absolutely no evidence that Madeleine is dead. Let me finish please.
'There's absolutely no evidence that Madeleine's dead, and there's absolutely no evidence that we are involved.'



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1242736/Madeleine-McCann-snatch-story-fairytale-libel-trial-told.html#ixzz0cbQrOPQW

[Toler]

StoriesMcCanns Face Years Of Fighting Madeleine Book
6:32pm UK, Thursday January 14, 2010

Jon di Paolo, Sky News Online, in Lisbon

An emotional Kate McCann has left court in Lisbon facing the prospect of hearing allegations that she and her husband covered up their daughter's death repeated in courtrooms across Europe for years to come.
Speaking in a low voice, Mrs McCann told waiting reporters she believed in the Portuguese justice system and that bringing the libel action against former policeman Goncalo Amaral was the right thing to do.

However, Mr Amaral has now declared that if he loses his bid to overturn their injunction on his book, Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie, he will appeal all the way through the country's courts and on to the European Court of Human Rights - a process that could take years.

The book, which was also made into a documentary on Portuguese TV, claims that Madeleine McCann died in the holiday apartment from which she vanished in May 2007.

In it, Mr Amaral - the lead detective on the investigation into the three-year-old's disappearance until being removed from the post five months later - goes on to say that the McCanns covered up the death.


 
Madeleine: missing since 2007

Mr and Mrs McCann, who have always strongly denied the claims, launched a defamation case - saying they feared that if people believed their daughter was dead they would stop searching for her.

The past three days has seen a court in Lisbon debate whether an injunction obtained by the McCanns suspending further publication of the book and documentary should be allowed to stand.

Mr Amaral's lawyers have called a series of witnesses who have backed up the claims he made in the book, saying they believed them to be based on the facts of the investigation.

They have also tried to characterise the legal action as an attack on the Portuguese constitution and freedom of speech, a charge the McCanns deny.

The witnesses made many references to the hostile treatment of Portuguese detectives in general and Mr Amaral in particular at the hands of certain sections of the British media.

During the second day of the trial it was reported by the BBC that Mr Amaral had said "F*** the McCanns" - a claim he strongly denies, saying it was a misinterpretation of his Portuguese.


 
Mr Amaral was taken off case

Earlier Isabel Duarte, the McCanns' lawyer, accused Mr Amaral of trying to put the couple on trial in this week's hearings.

She said: "They are trying to judge in a civil court what they could not judge in a criminal court."

Ms Duarte said the McCanns were not surprised by the witnesses called by Mr Amaral.

"I am sorry my clients had to be submitted to this pain and this distress," she said.

"This is awful, but we knew that Pandora's Box was open. We are prepared to hear what they say."

A ruling in the current series of hearings, which will determine whether the temporary injunction on Mr Amaral's book will stand, will be made following further statements from two further witnesses on February 10.

However, the McCanns must then go back to court to make the ban permanent at a date yet to be confirmed.

They are also fighting a separate case claiming more than £1m in damages from Mr Amaral.



http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Madeleine-McCann-Kate-And-Gerry-McCann-Could-Face-Years-Of-Court-Hearings-Over-Goncalo-Amaral-Book/Article/201001215523017?f=rss

[Toler]

Kate McCann made a suspect in Maddy disappearance after a nightmare  By Martin Fricker in Lisbon 13/01/2010

 
Kate McCann was made a suspect over daughter Madeleine’s disappearance simply because she had a nightmare, it was revealed yesterday.

A court in Portugal heard how Kate rang a detective in tears just weeks after Madeleine went missing to tell of a dream in which she saw the little girl’s body lying on a hillside in Praia da Luz.

Inspector Ricardo Paiva said: “It gave the impression she thought Madeleine was dead – it was a turning point for us.” The astonishing revelation came during the McCanns’ libel action against disgraced detective Goncalo Amaral.

He has written a book cruelly accusing them of faking Madeleine’s abduction after she died in a tragic accident in their flat.

The McCanns were in court yesterday and had to endure shameful claims from Amaral’s cronies.

A spokeswoman said afterwards: “It is hurting them, these things repeated again and again.”

‘I dreamed I saw body on hillside’

 
Just weeks after Madeleine McCann vanished, sobbing mum Kate rang the Portuguese detective appointed to look after her to tell of a horrific dream in which she had seen her daughter’s dead body.

Distraught Kate said Madeleine had been lying on a hillside overlooking the beach at Praia da Luz. She begged Inspector Ricardo Paiva to search the spot.

Astonishingly, rather than inspiring pity at a desperate mother’s plight, the incident sparked only suspicion in the minds of the officers who were supposed to be hunting Madeleine and her abductor.

And yesterday Paiva told a Portuguese court the frantic phone call was the crucial episode that led to both Kate and Gerry becoming suspects. Kate and Gerry sat just yards from Paiva as he gave evidence in their libel trial against disgraced ex-detective Goncalo Amaral.

He said: “The turning point of the investigation came after I received a phone call from Kate. She was alone as Gerry was away and she was crying.

“She said she had had a nightmare and saw Madeleine's body lying on a hillside and we should search for her there. She gave the impression that she thought she was dead.”

Paiva, a family liaison officer, said he took the call at the end of July 2007. Madeleine had vanished on May 3.

Police duly searched the hillside but found no clues.

But Paiva said the call was the catalyst that persuaded Portuguese police to ask their British counterparts to bring in sniffer dogs to examine the McCanns’ flat.

He told the Lisbon court: “We decided to send the specialist dogs in. British police informed us about how they could detect the scent of death.”

But the detective admitted the police had been suspicious of the McCanns from the start  – simply because they had tried to give the stalled hunt for Madeleine some much-needed momentum.

He added: “They disobeyed our request to keep quiet about the details of their daughter’s disappearance while we conducted our investigation. Instead, they turned it into a media circus.”

Paiva cruelly even insisted the McCanns should have faced prosecution for leaving their three children alone in the holiday flat while they dined with friends.

He added: “They should have been pursued for neglect. People have been arrested for far less, even in the UK.”

Kate and Gerry are suing Amaral, who led the early stages of the Madeleine inquiry until he was sacked for criticising British police. They have a worldwide injunction stopping publication of his book Maddie: The Truth of the Lie, which accuses them of faking their daughter’s abduction after she died in their Praia da Luz holiday flat in a tragic accident.

The couple, from Rothley, Leics, listened intently yesterday as more Portuguese officers gave evidence in support of the disgraced ex-policeman.

Kate regularly shook her head in frustration. Gerry remained grim-faced.

But at times it was hard to avoid the feeling that the hearing was more like a trial of the couple than an examination of Amaral’s vicious claims.

At one stage during one outrageous allegation, Gerry put a comforting arm around Kate’s shoulders.

Inspector Tavares De Almeida, who worked under Amaral, bluntly accused the couple of covering up Madeleine’s death. He said: “The conclusion arrived at was Madeleine died in the apartment.

“The McCann couple simulated the abduction to hide the fact they had not taken care of their children.

“They were suspected of concealing the body and simulating the kidnap.

“We have always spoken of a tragic accidental death. There was no homicide.

“They did not kill but they concealed the body.” De Almeida insisted Amaral’s book was “a true history.”

Asked if he believed Madeleine had died on the night she vanished, he replied: “Yes, she is dead.”

He claimed British police agreed. He added: “We all believe she died. It was the conclusion of both Portuguese and British police.”

District attorney Jose Menezes, who gave the go-ahead for the McCanns to be made official suspects, said his officers eventually reached the conclusion Kate and Gerry concealed Madeleine’s body.

He also accused the McCanns of lying about checking on Madeleine and her twin brother and sister every 30 minutes the night she vanished.

Mr Menezes added: “It was longer, like every 45 or 50 minutes. It seems there was a lie in the investigation.” But he also admitted there was no evidence to charge the McCanns conceded it was “Fifty-fifty” whether Madeleine was still alive.

Luis Neves, ex-head of Portugal’s serious crime squad, said a British profiler employed by Portuguese police had given him impression the McCanns were involved in the disappearance.

Another investigator claimed police had evidence of text messages between the couple following Madeleine's disappearance. But they were denied permission to read the contents of the messages by the judge under privacy law.

After yesterday’s session the McCann’s spokeswoman Claudia Nogueira said hearing the allegations had been painful.

She added: “I think it is hurting them. They can feel hurt by these things being repeated again and again and again.

“However, they know what really happened so they are confident. They just want to find their daughter.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/01/13/kate-mccann-made-a-suspect-in-maddy-disappearance-after-a-nightmare-115875-21962594/

[Toler]

UK NEWSMCCANNS' FURY AT DEATH CLAIM 
 
Thursday January 14 2010 byNick Fagge
DEFIANT Gerry McCann yesterday hit back at courtroom claims that his daughter Madeleine is dead and that he and wife Kate concealed her body.

In an emotional outburst, Mr McCann blasted Portuguese police for their blinkered theory that is harming the search for the missing youngster.

His patience snapped on the second day of a hearing in Lisbon at which ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral is seeking to overturn a ban on his book questioning the McCanns’ account of what happened to Madeleine. Mr McCann, 41, was asked if it was worth the emotional cost for the couple to attend the court case.

He replied: “Do you have children? Anyone who has children would go through the same process.” Dismissing suggestions that Madeleine was dead, he said: “I think if you’re rational, objective and interested in proof of burden and law then there is none.

“The key thing for me was the prosecutor. He had all the evidence and he said there was no evidence that Madeleine was dead. We’re confident that the law is on our side.”

Yesterday Gerry and wife Kate were forced to listen to allegations that Madeleine’s abduction was a “fairy tale” made up by the McCanns to cover up for their neglect of their daughter.

On the courtroom steps, Mr McCann said: “I’d like to remind everyone that it’s the book that’s on trial and not Kate and I.

“As you all know, the trial over the last two days and tomorrow is really about Mr Amaral’s book and DVD and how we feel that relates to the ongoing search for Madeleine. There is a little girl missing who still needs to be found and we will keep going until Madeleine is found and also until whoever has taken her is brought to justice.”

Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished from the McCanns’ holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve, in May 2007 while her parents were having dinner at a nearby restaurant.
     

The McCanns were later named as suspects in the case only to be cleared when the Portuguese authorities said there was no evidence against them.

Mr Amaral led the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance until he was sacked for criticising British detectives. He later resigned from the police after he was found guilty of professional misconduct in relation to a separate child abduction case.

The McCanns, from Rothley, Leics, are determined to pursue their bid to silence Mr Amaral – part of a £1million libel claim against the former detective.

The couple say their main motive is the fear that people will stop looking for their daughter if they think she is dead.

Mr McCann yesterday stressed there was no evidence to back up claims from Portuguese detectives that Madeleine died in their holiday flat after a tragic accident and that he and Kate then faked her abduction.

He said: “Over the last two days I think you’ve heard a lot about Mr Amaral’s thesis that Madeleine is dead and I hope you’ve also heard that there is absolutely no evidence to support that thesis.

“A thesis without evidence is meaningless and that is what we are challenging.”

Mr McCann singled out for criticism former family liaison officer Dr Ricardo Paiva who told the court Kate believed Madeleine was dead. He said: “He [Dr Paiva] believes that Madeleine is dead.How can he investigate thoroughly if he believes that?”

He then went on to contradict Dr Paiva’s evidence that Kate had seen Madeleine on a hillside in a dream. He said: “I’d like to make it absolutely clear that Kate has never had a dream that Maddie has been buried somewhere, and I don’t know if something’s been lost in interpretation, but that didn’t happen – not with those words, that’s for sure.”

Mr McCann stressed that the couple were still devastated by the mistake they made in leaving their children unattended for up to half an hour on the night Madeleine went missing.

He said: “What is done cannot be righted. We made a mistake, in hindsight we made a mistake, by leaving Madeleine and we have to live with the consequences of that.”

Mr McCann was expected to leave Portugal last night to return to work in Britain, leaving Kate, 41, to attend the third day of the hearing today.

Earlier the court heard from Portugal’s leading criminologist who said the McCanns should have been prosecuted for leaving their children alone on the night Madeleine disappeared.

Francisco Moita Flores said: “How could the McCanns not be accused? We must never forget that at the beginning of all this children had been left alone.”

Mr Moita Flores, who hosts a Crimewatch-style TV show in Portugal, also claimed it would have been “impossible” to carry a sleeping child out of the holiday apartment window.

He said: “No one believed it was a kidnap. The theory was a fairy tale. I spoke with my colleagues, all criminal experts, and no one believed it was a kidnapping.

“From the first day I believed she was dead, although we all wished she was alive.

“But the McCanns have been trying to convince police since the beginning that abduction was the only line of inquiry worth pursuing.”

The hearing continues.

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/151642
 

[Toler]

 Vile cop: F***
the McCannsFrom TOM WELLS and ANTONELLA LAZZERI, in Lisbon

Published: 14 Jan 2010
THE ex-cop who led the Madeleine McCann probe sparked new outrage last night after launching a four-letter tirade against the missing child's parents.
Brazen Goncalo Amaral spat, "F*** the McCanns" when asked by a BBC TV reporter if he felt his wild claims about their daughter were hurting them.

Producers bleeped out the slur when a report was broadcast in the East Midlands region where Kate and Gerry McCann live.

Amaral, axed after leading the abortive early investigation into Maddie's disappearance in 2007, flipped before entering a court in Portugal's capital, Lisbon.

Yesterday he denied making the outburst, claiming he had not even spoken to a British TV crew.


But the BBC insisted he had used "inappropriate language". And a source said: "It would not have been bleeped out had there not been sufficient cause for concern."

Amaral, 50, is trying to have a ban overturned on his book The Truth of the Lie.


In it, he makes lurid claims that Kate and Gerry faked an abduction and hid Maddie's body after the three-year-old died in an accident at their holiday flat in Praia da Luz.

And today he vowed to appeal to Europe if he loses the legal battle — saying his case is about "fundamental rights" for all Portuguese citizens.

Maddie's parents are tonight facing the prospect of years of court hearings if Amaral takes his case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Yesterday he appeared to deliberately provoke the McCanns before the second day of the hearing began.

He sauntered into court brandishing a copy of his SECOND book on the case, The English Gag, in which he claims the parents tried to "silence" him.

He sat yards from Kate, 41, and began leafing through its pages. Upset Kate shook her head in disbelief.

But then she steeled herself and told a friend: "He's just promoting it."
She and Gerry, also 41, were forced to endure more insulting evidence as former Portuguese police chief Francisco Moita Flores backed Amaral's view and branded the abduction a "fairytale".

Outside court heart specialist Gerry, who is heading back to Britain to fulfil work commitments, cracked when asked by a female Portuguese reporter if the ordeal of the hearing was "worth it".


He barked: "Do you have children? Anyone who has children would go through this."

He added: "I'd like to remind everyone it's the book that's on trial and not Kate and I."

Gerry claimed the Portuguese cops' blinkered view that Maddie was dead - for which there was NO evidence, making it "meaningless" - was damaging the search for her.

And he said they were STILL ignoring leads passed on to them by the family's private investigators.

Speaking outside the civil court in Lisbon this morning, Kate said the case was "taking its toll".

She said: "If I'm honest, our daughter's been taken and nothing's ever going to be as bad as that.
 
"But it's still been difficult, it's been emotive, because I know what's in the case files, I know what the conclusions are.

"So it's difficult to hear something that's incorrect and inaccurate.

"At the bottom of all this is a little girl, and I think it's important that we don't forget that."

Last night, a visibly frustrated Gerry told reporters: "Over the last two days, we've heard a lot about Mr Amaral's thesis that Madeleine is dead.

"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."



Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2807324/Madeleine-McCann-probe-cop-in-new-attack-on-parents.html#ixzz0ce1ydHFt

[Toler]

She's terrifyingly thin, he's boiling with rage: So why HAVE the McCanns put themselves on trial?
By David Jones
Last updated at 8:16 PM on 15th January 2010

 
During the first few weeks after Madeleine McCann's disappearance, Goncalo Amaral came to symbolise all that was wrong with the abysmally mishandled Portuguese police investigation into the case.
A portly provincial CID chief who was plainly out of his depth and had a penchant for long, wine-fuelled lunches and leaking favourable stories about himself to the Press, he was removed as head of the investigation after six months.
And when he was later revealed to have perjured himself to cover up a brutal interrogation by members of his team, detractors scoffed that his name ought to have been spelt with an 'o', as in 'amoral'.
In an extraordinary transformation of fortunes, however, he is now a Portuguese national icon, 'courageously' fighting for the right to express his bombshell theory: that Madeleine was not abducted, but died accidentally, and her parents, Gerry and Kate, covered up her death.
As Amaral arrived at a Lisbon court this week for the cause celebre case that has turned him into an unlikely hero, he clearly revelled in his new-found popularity.
Mobbed by cheering, flag and banner-waving supporters (mainly women of a certain age), he smiled and signed autographs before a barrage of cameras.
Though he is 50 and a father of three daughters, Amaral sported a faux diamond ear-stud recently given to him by his (much younger) second wife, Sofia Leal: surely a ludicrous accessory for a balding, middle-aged man in a gumshoe's mac and trilby.
Yet for Gerry and Kate, who froze with contempt as the star witness sashayed past them to take his seat in court, this unedifying spectacle was just the start of a week that has once again tested their powers of resolve to the limit.

 Goncalo Amaral, who is accusing the McCanns of covering up their daughter Maddie's death
For three long days, the couple were forced to listen as a procession of witnesses supported the distressing central assertions in the controversial memoir Amaral has written about the hunt for their daughter.
Melodramatically titled Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie, the book had become a best-seller in Portugal by September, when the McCanns won an injunction ordering it to be removed from the shelves.
Up to 330,000 copies of the £10 paperback are said to have been sold in Portugal and Europe before it was withdrawn, reportedly netting Amaral more than £1 million.
In the book, which has been turned into a TV documentary and DVD, the former police chief states with absolute conviction his belief that three-year-old Madeleine was not abducted from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, as her parents have always claimed.
Instead, he claims she died by accident, after falling from the sofa and hitting her head on the floor while the McCanns dined with friends in a nearby tapas bar.
 Madeleine McCann went missing in May 2007, just days before her fourth birthday
When they realised what had happened, according to his shocking theory, they panicked and concealed her body, thus precipitating the biggest and most perplexing missing person inquiry of modern times.
Regardless of whether they believe these unsubstantiated views, the majority of the Portuguese people insist that Amaral has every right to express them.
For in a country that threw off the shackles of dictatorship only 35 years ago and where state censorship is still remembered by the older generation, freedom of speech is sacrosanct.
Having been pilloried for leaving their three children alone on the night their elder daughter vanished, Kate and Gerry find themselves under vitriolic attack from the Portuguese media yet again.
This week's court case was brought by Amaral, who is seeking to have the injunction lifted so he can sell thousands more copies of his book, which his publishers hope to launch on the huge U.S. and British markets.
But the hearing would never have come about had the McCanns not sought the ban in the first place and instead allowed the public to make up their own minds about the unsubstantiated theories of a failed police chief with many axes to grind.
This week's skirmish is not the end of the McCanns' battle to silence Amaral.
Win or lose, they are intent on suing him for libel damages to recoup every penny he has earned from the book, promising to donate the money to the fund they set up to find Madeleine.

Amaral claims Madeleine died by accident, after falling from the sofa and hitting her head on the floor while the McCanns dined with friends in a nearby tapas barFor his part, should the Lisbon courts find against him, Amaral has pledged to fight on, all the way to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.
Though this case will be decided within two months, the McCanns seem certain to be trekking back and forth between their home in Leicestershire and Lisbon for many months - or even years - to come.
Watching the couple suffer more attacks on their reputations this week - Kate painfully thin and close to breaking point; Gerry pugnacious, as always - you have to ask why they have chosen to put themselves in the firing line yet again.
Why have they embarked on a course of action that has effectively placed them - rather than the man who bungled the police investigation - on trial?

 A terrifyingly thin Kate and stressed Gerry are clearly not coping well with the trial
And worse, in a court where they can be subjected to the most damaging and baseless slurs without recourse to rigorous cross-examination.
Many PR experts would have advised them to simply ignore Amaral and his unproven 'theory', so depriving his book of the global publicity the case has received this week.

Why have the McCanns embarked on a course of action that has effectively placed them - rather than the man who bungled the police investigation - on trial?Before answering the questions about the McCanns, it is worth recounting the former police chief's part in the flawed inquiry and how his book came to be written.
On May 3, 2007, when Madeleine vanished from Apartment 5A of the Ocean Club, Amaral was in charge of CID at the nearest big town, Portimao.
As he recalls in the memoir, he was informed about her disappearance just after midnight.
 The McCanns are attempting to prevent the publication of Amaral's book Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie
The McCanns were adamant that Madeleine - who had been left alone with her twin brother and sister, Sean and Amelie, then 18 months old - must have been snatched. But he quickly became sceptical.
When I spoke to him at length this week, he claimed to have approached the case with professional dispassion, but his opinion appears to have been influenced at least partly by deep cultural differences between him and the McCanns.
As a traditional Portuguese father with three daughters, he was appalled to discover these British parents had left their three small children alone while they enjoyed dinner with friends, even though the restaurant was only yards away.
As the hours and days passed, however, other factors coloured his views, not least the McCanns' apparent determination to whip up publicity via what one witness this week described disdainfully as a 'media circus'.
Though Amaral insists he has no time for conspiracy theories, it seems he began to see them everywhere.
For example, why had the couple's holiday friends trampled all over the apartment, tarnishing potentially vital evidence: was this ' contamination' deliberate?
Then there was the behaviour of the British authorities, including the police officers who arrived in Praia da Luz four days after Madeleine vanished. Why were they seemingly so unco-operative with the Portuguese police and protective of the McCanns?
He remains convinced that his team was systematically obstructed by the British in some arcane plot orchestrated from on high, and he has just published a second (not banned) book expounding this theory, titled The English Gag.

 
Former detective Goncalo Amaral poses with his book
According to the court testimony of the McCanns' liaison officer, Ricardo Paiva, the suspicions of Amaral and his team were hardened by what was seen as a turning point in the police investigation.
It came when a weeping Kate phoned Paiva, in late July 2007, to report a disturbing dream in which she had seen Madeleine lying on rocks overlooking a beach at Praia da Luz. The detectives took this to be a clear signal that the McCanns knew full well that their daughter was dead.
Soon afterwards, sniffer dogs were called in to the search, but though they were said to have detected 'the scent of death' in the couple's holiday apartment and Renault Scenic hire car, no forensic evidence was found to support this.
There are serious questions about the reliability of these dogs, which also seemed to sniff out human remains at a Jersey children's home, which has since been discounted.
Furthermore, Gerry McCann insists Kate never had the supposedly incriminating dream, let alone reported it.
'I don't know if something has been lost in translation, but that didn't happen,' said the 41-year-old heart specialist, struggling to maintain his composure during a break in the proceedings. 'These are Goncalo Amaral's witnesses.
'I think it is particularly disappointing that certain police officers who considered us as possibly involved have not been able to change their views, despite the lack of evidence.'

 Kate and Gerry McCann haven't given up hope on finding their missing daughter

Speaking to me during the court lunch-break on Thursday, however, Amaral remained defiantly on the offensive. With a female supporter acting as interpreter, he said he wrote his 200-page book in just two months, fuelled by endless cigarettes at his home on the Algarve.
He didn't work from police documents or diaries, but purely from memory, he told me, tapping his head for emphasis. And he used a personal computer kept disconnected from the internet for 'security' reasons.
But what possible justification did he have for writing the memoir, the profits from which have been frozen by the court (though not before he could acquire a new Jaguar), if it wasn't to get rich and settle scores in the process?

'I'd like to remind everyone that the book is on trial - not Kate and I'The decision was not taken lightly, he says, but came after he had discussed the likely fall-out with his wife, a civil servant who has suffered clinical depression attributed to the stress of the case. (However, Mrs Amaral had recovered sufficiently several months ago to pose on the beach for a Hello-style photo-shoot with her husband, for which they chose to wear matching white outfits).
'This case finished my career and the British newspapers just vilified me. I saw it was necessary to defend myself,' he told me, insisting that though he lost a third of his pension by resigning early, money was not a factor.
'If everything had gone properly, I wouldn't have needed to write the book. (But) it was a need for me to write a testimony of all that was done.
'That was my intention: to make public that part of the investigation that was unknown, and defend myself before all those who were saying the Policia Judiciaria (Portuguese police) were incompetent; that I was incompetent.'

 Loss: Kate and Gerry McCann in the days after Madeleine's disappearance
Mindful-of the injunction, he declined to elaborate on his theories about Madeleine's disappearance. Whatever her fate that night, though, didn't he have some degree of sympathy for a couple who had lost their daughter?
'As a policeman I can't have sympathy or empathy because I have to be objective and leave my feelings apart,' he said.
'As a father, I sympathise with them and their pain and loss. It's not about blame or recrimination.'
This response is hardly convincing. As the case goes on, he will doubtless set aside his 'fatherly' sentiments to renew his damaging accusations.
Yet for all the torment the McCanns have endured this week (at one point, Madeleine's abduction was described as a 'fairytale' that saved them from prosecution for child neglect) and the harrowing accusations to come, they maintain they are right to fight this case.

'I'd like to remind everyone that the book is on trial - not Kate and I,' said Gerry.
While he believes in the principles of free speech, the rights of his family - including the daughter he and Kate steadfastly believe to be alive - have to be defended, too.
Though some will question the McCanns and their motives, according to the family's spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, the hope that Madeleine will be found alive is the main reason they dragged themselves back this week to a country that offers them scant welcome and has brought so much heartache.
'Obviously they were aware some of the old allegations and charges by certain police officers would be rehashed, but they feel this was a case that just had to be brought,' he says.

'People won't believe she is alive if they read this book and that could stop them coming forward with vital new leads' 'They believe it's important not only for their good name and reputation, and the damage Mr Amaral continues to do to it, but also because his allegations are damaging their continuing search for Madeleine.
'People won't believe she is alive if they read this book and that could stop them coming forward with vital new leads.
'One of the things that greatly worries Kate and Gerry is this: if, as we now know, the Portuguese police did not investigate her disappearance properly from the outset because they didn't believe it had happened, then what has happened to all the information they received?'
What indeed? And assuming it was retained and is gathering dust in a police archive, might it conceal that one little clue upon which Kate and Gerry's hopes rest?
The clue which, if meticulously examined, could bring back their little girl after so many false dawns?
Even if this is only a remote possibility, surely it should be explored - but not by a flashy detective who is so cocksure he knows all the answers he can't see beyond his own giant ego.
• Additional reporting by Vanessa Allen



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243596/Shes-terrifyingly-hes-boiling-rage-So-HAVE-McCanns-trial.html#ixzz0cmixOnHc

[Edward]

The book is on trial ??

The cop should be on trial and the judicial system of Portugal should be on trial. mo.
They supported this very corrupted detective and this woman is still in prison and her daughter never found.. There are LOTS of missing girls in Portugal and obviously a powerful group of pedofiles are in charge.



Published: 08 Sep 2007
 Add a comment (0)
THE husband of a Portuguese woman jailed for the murder of her child spoke last night of his fears for Kate McCann.
Leandro Silva said his wife had been set up and he believed police would do the same thing to four-year-old Madeleine’s mother.

He said: “I am worried Kate will be framed for a crime she did not commit, the way it happened to my wife.”



Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/multimedia/pa/article268226.ece#ixzz0cnmGiMWd

[Edward]

In ALL fairness
Here is a well written opposing opinion to my view on the detective and in reference to the mother who now resides in prison in Portugal.

 http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2008/04/smears-against-gonalo-amaral-portuguese.html

[Edward]

Missing five-year-old Mari Luz Cortes shouted: "Wait for me, wait for me" to two girls in a sweet shop - minutes before she vanished.

A woman neighbour yesterday told how she saw Mari Luz at about 5pm on Sunday chatting to two girls, of about seven and nine, in Huelva, southern Spain - just 120 miles from where four-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished.

The woman, who lives in the same square as the Cortes family, said she couldn't see Mari Luz's face but recognised the little girl by her lovely brown hair and distinctive voice.

Another female witness also said she saw and heard Mari Luz talking to someone at about the same time on Sunday - but could not see who she was chatting to because they were obscured by the corner of a building.

Mari Luz had only popped out to a shop to buy crisps 100 yards from her home when she vanished.

Her father, Juan Jose Cortes, 34, appealed for the mum of the two girls to come forward to help.

Police and the McCanns' private detective agency Metodo 3 are looking at similarities to the disappearance of Madeleine in May. Huelva is a 90-minute drive from Portugal's Praia da Luz where Madeleine went missing.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/01/17/final-words-of-missing-mari-luz-cortes-115875-20288182/

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/697090/Laterns-to-be-released-in-UK-Portugal-and-US-to-mark-disappearance.html
1,000 laterns to mark missing Maddie's 1,000 days
Laterns to be released in UK, Portugal and U.S. to mark disappearance.

24/01/2010
A THOUSAND lanterns will float into the sky this week to mark the number of days little Madeleine McCann has been missing.

Supporters will release the lights in Britain, Portugal and America at 7.30pm on Wednesday.

At the same time, the girl's parents Kate and Gerry will host a star-studded gala dinner in Kensington, West London, to raise funds for the search.

Maddie was three when she vanished on May 3, 2007. Her parents' spokesman said: "They never, ever thought they would reach 1,000 days without their daughter."

[trimmonthelake]

Parents mark somber anniversary
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/35044105#35044105