The parents of missing Madeleine McCann said they were disappointed after Portugal's highest court threw out their libel case against an ex-detective who implicated them in their daughter's disappearance.
Goncalo Amaral was ordered to pay 500,000 euro (£429,000) in compensation to Kate and Gerry McCann in 2015 by a Lisbon court over claims he made in his book and documentary about Madeleine, who vanished on the Algarve in 2007.
The decision was overturned following an appeal last year but the McCanns took the case to Portugal's Supreme Court, which has now found against them.
While the judges' official ruling is yet to be published, lawyers for Mr and Mrs McCann have been informed of their decision.
"What we have been told by our lawyers is obviously extremely disappointing," the couple said in a statement.
"It is eight years since we brought the action and in that time the landscape has dramatically changed, namely there is now a joint Metropolitan Police-Policia Judiciaria investigation which is what we've always wanted.
"The police in both countries continue to work on the basis that there is no evidence that Madeleine has come to physical harm.
"We will, of course, be discussing the implications of the Supreme Court ruling with our lawyers in due course."
Madeleine was three when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 2007 as her parents dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.
Mr Amaral, who led the initial investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, released the book three days after the case was closed in 2008.
He later took part in a documentary for Portuguese television in which he claimed that Madeleine was dead, there had been no abduction and the McCanns had hidden her body.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel