When will the McCanns' tormentor in chief stop adding to their misery?

by Keitei 11.02.17 1:02

When will the McCanns' tormentor in chief stop adding to their misery? The Portuguese detective whose book pointed the finger at Maddie's parents is now writing a second volume
By Neil Tweedie for the Daily Mail
PUBLISHED: 00:09, 11 February 2017 | UPDATED: 00:13, 11 February 2017

Goncalo Amaral is relaxing with an old friend at a brasserie in the Portuguese town of Portimao around midnight when he takes the call.
A three-year-old British girl is missing from a holiday apartment in the quiet resort of Praia da Luz, a short drive westward along the coast of the Algarve, and Amaral, a senior police detective, is being asked to issue instructions.
‘All precautions [must be] taken to preserve possible clues and elements of evidence,’ he tells the caller. ‘I demand to be informed of developments regularly.’
An inspector, and a forensics man are dispatched to Praia da Luz, and a watch put in place at Faro airport and at the border crossings between Portugal and Spain.
‘That evening, on arriving home, I see Ines, my younger daughter, who is sleeping close to my wife, Sofia,’ remembers Amaral. ‘In silence, in the dim light of the bedroom, I sit on the edge of the bed. Outside, far from her mother’s warmth, a child of the same age is lost.’
Aged 47, Goncalo Amaral is a veteran of Portugal’s Policia Judiciaria, the country’s serious crimes agency, with the rank of coordinator — equivalent to superintendent. During his quarter century on the force, this man from a working-class background in Lisbon has dealt with everything from drug trafficking to child murder. But this case will eclipse all others in notoriety — and in its impact on his life.
In his 2008 book, Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie, Amaral uses evidence garnered in the police investigation to question the kidnap theory and pin suspicion squarely on the McCanns
In his 2008 book, Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie, Amaral uses evidence garnered in the police investigation to question the kidnap theory and pin suspicion squarely on the McCanns
It is the night of May 3, 2007, and Madeleine McCann has just vanished from Apartment 5A at the Ocean Club, snatched from her bed by person or persons unknown as her younger twin siblings sleep within feet of her and while her parents, Kate, a general practitioner, and Gerry, a cardiologist, from Leicester, dine with friends at a nearby poolside tapas restaurant. For Goncalo Amaral, the mystery of Madeleine McCann — one that continues to fascinate and appal as it approaches its tenth anniversary — is no mystery at all.
Amaral alleged that Madeleine (pictured) had died in an accident in the apartment and the McCanns had faked the abduction
Amaral alleged that Madeleine (pictured) had died in an accident in the apartment and the McCanns had faked the abduction
He made that clear in his book, Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie, written soon after he was hauled off the case in 2008 and took early retirement. He uses evidence garnered in the police investigation to question the kidnap theory and pin suspicion squarely on the McCanns.
He alleged that Madeleine had died in an accident in the apartment and the McCanns had faked the abduction. He was sued by Gerry and Kate McCann who told the trial of their ‘devastation, desperation, anxiety and pain’ at being accused by Amaral of hiding their daughter’s body.
Last week, after a nine-year legal battle, the McCanns finally failed in their attempt to have the book banned from sale in Portugal. They have always maintained that their aim was to stop Amaral spreading wicked and false lies which they felt hampered the search for Madeleine.
The Portuguese supreme court decision upholds the finding of a lower court last year, which overturned a previous libel win by the McCanns against Amaral when he was ordered to pay them £385,000 in damages.
Last week, after a nine-year legal battle, the McCanns finally failed in their attempt to have the book banned from sale in Portugal
Last week, after a nine-year legal battle, the McCanns finally failed in their attempt to have the book banned from sale in Portugal
Their initial victory in 2015 allowed them to block formal publication of the book, but could not stop its circulation on the internet. Now the supreme court has concluded that freedom of expression, in the shape of the Amaral book, must trump the right to protect the reputation of individuals (the McCanns).
What is perhaps worse for the McCanns, who have endured so much already, is that in its full judgment published this week the supreme court, though not a criminal law body, has signally refused to clear them of involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
The court states that the decision in July 2008 to shelve — ‘archive’ — the initial police investigation and remove the couple’s ‘arguido’ (formal suspect) status does not mean they are innocent.
There is continuing widespread and bitter resentment towards the McCanns in Portugal because of the case¿s impact on tourism in the Algarve
There is continuing widespread and bitter resentment towards the McCanns in Portugal because of the case’s impact on tourism in the Algarve
‘The archiving of the case was determined by the fact that public prosecutors hadn’t managed to obtain sufficient evidence of the practice of crimes by the appellants (the McCanns),’ says the ruling. ‘It doesn’t therefore seem acceptable that the ruling, based on the insufficiency of evidence, should be equated to proof of innocence.’
It also ruled that there were ‘serious concerns relating to the truth of the allegation that Madeleine was kidnapped’.
Now, the McCanns face a huge legal bill — as well as the agony caused by the book’s continued availability. Their feud with Amaral has become a running sore that may yet empty the much-depleted Madeleine’s Fund.
The ruling also raises questions about the impartiality of the Portuguese courts in a highly politicised case that saw prime ministers from Tony Blair onwards intervening at one level or another to assist in the investigation.
There is continuing widespread and bitter resentment towards the McCanns in Portugal because of the case’s impact on tourism in the Algarve.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4213890/Detective-blamed-Maddie-s-parents-writes-second-book.html

by Okeydokey 11.02.17 1:21

A classic "passive-aggressive" piece by a major UK media outlet! :) If they felt they could say more, they would. :)

by MayMuse 11.02.17 1:38

Poor journalism in my opinion, nothing about the second book just rehashing the SC ruling... the McCanns have added to their own misery and unfortunately that of their other children , let alone the misery of Madeleine.

by ChippyM 11.02.17 1:40

Y
They quoted a tiny bit of the book!

Just a detail about Goncalo Amaral at home.....next up full serialisation big grin

by MayMuse 11.02.17 1:43

ChippyM wrote:Y
They quoted a tiny bit of the book!

Just a detail about Goncalo Amaral at home.....next up full serialisation

The first book yes,
Would any paper be that brave?

by ChippyM 11.02.17 1:48

MayMuse wrote:
ChippyM wrote:Y
They quoted a tiny bit of the book!

Just a detail about Goncalo Amaral at home.....next up full serialisation
The first book yes,
Would any paper be that brave?

I doubt it, we can hope.

by suzyjohnson 11.02.17 1:53

As if the newspapers aren't currently 'adding to the misery' by printing articles relating to the McCanns.

by Mirage 11.02.17 8:10

British press, eh! Ten years on and still not able to spit out the words, 'cadaver', 'blood', 'dog', or 'alerts', anywhere in their supine articles. Are they STILL under orders?

Its such a careful dip of the toes, this one. Hark, do I hear a little squeal as a wave laps in? Moderated comments as per usual (just 8 at the moment). Meanwhile people can vent their unmoderated spleen on anyone else, from Bercow to Trump.

by springer 11.02.17 8:36

The full article goes on to mention the dogs and depleted fund amongst other things. I am unable to post it myself but worth reading to see how times are changing.

by Doug D 11.02.17 9:06

What a strange article.

Headline says one thing, then the article runs with bits of information from ‘The Truth of the Lie’, and this weeks judgement, then all of a sudden springs up with:

‘Few will weep tears for Amaral, seeing an angry man locked up in his own bitter and baseless theories.’

Was this really written by one person or is it a badly concocted mish-mash?

by Doug D 11.02.17 9:26

This is the second half of the article which may have been added since Keitei posted the first part above, (update timed at 01.19).

Don’t know if Keitei can confirm if she posted what was the full article at that time.

.........................................

Last year, Rui Pereira, a former Portuguese minister of internal affairs, condemned his own police force for not making Kate and Gerry McCann suspects for child abandonment.
He accused his countrymen of a sense of inferiority to the British that allowed the latter to push the kidnap hypothesis at the expense of something nearer to home.
‘At the beginning, there was an extraordinary and ridiculous theory that said the English have very peculiar cultural customs,’ said Pereira. ‘And, therefore, it was natural for them to leave the [children] alone in a bedroom for the parents to go out a few hundred metres away to socialise with their friends.’

Amaral is said to have made some £300,000 from his book and an accompanying documentary, but the money appears to be long gone and, now 57, he attempts to make a living writing books from his father’s home in Lisbon

For Amaral, however, the judgment represents a rare success following a decade of vilification by those who accuse him of cashing in on an innocent family’s suffering. The past nine years have seen his reputation as an investigator trashed, his career terminated, his assets frozen, his finances ruined and his marriage to Sofia, mother to two of his three daughters, dissolved.
He is said to have made some £300,000 from his book and an accompanying documentary, but the money appears to be long gone and, now 57, he attempts to make a living writing books from his father’s home in Lisbon. Counter-suing the McCanns, as he has threatened, may be the only way to restore his finances.

Few will weep tears for Amaral, seeing an angry man locked up in his own bitter and baseless theories

That, and writing a second book on the case — which is just what he is planning.
Few will weep tears for Amaral, seeing an angry man locked up in his own bitter and baseless theories. He continues to insist the long-running, high-profile campaign to find Madeleine, the vast fund accumulated for that purpose, the marathon inquiries into her disappearance conducted by first Portuguese police and then Scotland Yard are constructed on nothing but a lie.

Amaral points in his book to what he claims are inconsistencies in the McCanns’ account of events that night, when the meal at the tapas bar was interrupted by a distraught Kate returning from a check on her sleeping children to announce that Madeleine was missing.

In an interview he claimed the witness statements and depositions of the McCanns ‘reveal a major level of imprecision, of incoherence and contradiction . . . the existence of blood traces behind the sofa in the apartment, which was confirmed by preliminary analyses.

‘One can presume that the little girl fell behind that piece of furniture . . . The same for the finding of odours and traces of blood in the vehicle that was rented by the McCanns, three weeks after Madeleine’s disappearance. It was the only vehicle among 11 that retained the dogs’ attention. There is equally the witness statement of an Irish couple that states they saw Gerry McCann carrying a child on the evening of the events.

‘Finally, there’s Kate McCann’s fingerprint on the window of Madeleine’s bedroom, which clearly indicates that she opened that window, undoubtedly to make us believe in the abduction theory, while stating that the window was already open when she arrived on the spot at 10pm, the time at which she noticed Madeleine’s disappearance and raised the alarm.’

For their part, the McCanns have made their frustration at the court’s decision clear in comments made to the media last week by ‘friends’
These allegations were aired during the 2015 libel case in Portugal and it is important to point out that the blood traces were never identified as human, nor are fingerprints on a window evidence of any wrong doing on the part of Kate McCann.

As for the Irish couple Amaral cites, the man who was in his 70s admitted he was not wearing his glasses at the time, while dozens of witnesses confirmed Gerry McCann was at the holiday complex at 10pm when the man and his wife ‘thought’ they saw him.

Goncalo Amaral insists he is not obsessed by the case but frustrated that lines of inquiry were not properly followed through because of what he claims were political pressures emanating from Lisbon via the British government.

Some £4.2 million has been raised since 2007 to go towards the 'Maddie Fund'

An associate of Amaral’s said this week the detective has been motivated in his legal battles purely by a desire to ensure evidence relevant to the case is available to the public, and not locked away in official archives.

‘He is a man with a strong feeling of justice,’ says the source. And that is the enduring theme of his personality. He has the right to have an opinion about what happened to Madeleine McCann, and the right to justice.’ But his many critics believe Amaral’s fury at his own treatment, both in Portugal and by the media worldwide, is a more likely driving force in his apparent refusal to allow the McCanns some sort of peace.

He was singled out for criticism — many would say justifiably — from the start over the faltering investigation and had his career and private life raked over.
In a recent interview, Amaral said he wrote this book partly to answer criticism against him in the British media.

‘They called me — the British press — 418 times “shameful”, 440 times “outrageous”, 140 times “torturer”, 45 times “disabled”, 37 times ‘incompetent’, 23 times “libertine cop”, 20 times “sacked”.’

For their part, the McCanns have made their frustration at the court’s decision clear in comments made to the media last week by ‘friends’. ‘It was never about winning big libel damages, but all about them silencing him to stop him spouting his untruthful and malicious lies,’ said one. ‘Any award made would have gone into Madeleine’s Fund to help find their daughter, and would never have been used for Kate and Gerry’s own use.’

Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie appears destined to remain on the shelves, in Portugal at least, for years to come. And despite fresh legal warnings from the McCann camp, Amaral is hoping to have his second tome published in English and possibly by a British publisher.

One book could be interpreted as a genuine attempt to air one’s views on aspects of the investigation, but a second looks like cashing in.

Meanwhile, the McCanns — now both 48 — must assess the damage inflicted on the Madeleine Fund. Some £4.2 million has been raised since 2007, be it donations from celebrities and ordinary well-wishers, earnings from Kate’s book Madeleine, or in the form of libel settlements by British newspapers that questioned the couple’s innocence.

Despite fresh legal warnings from the McCann camp, Amaral is hoping to have his second tome published in English and possibly by a British publisher

Only a fraction remains, the rest consumed by private detectives, campaign material and travel. Now, that dwindling rump sum, £700,000 or less, may be threatened by yet more legal bills not to mention the possibility of a counter lawsuit from Amaral.

Whether donors are happy that some of their money has been used to fight libel actions in foreign jurisdictions is unknown, but accounts show the fund has always allowed this kind of expenditure.

‘Goncalo can argue that he is entitled to sue Mr and Mrs McCann for both material and emotional loss as the result of their campaign to stop his book,’ a close associate told the Mail this week.

‘There is material loss because publication of his book was suspended for a prolonged period, and emotional loss because of the stress he endured . . .’
As Madeleine’s Fund declines, so too does the Home Office grant sustaining Operation Grange, the Scotland Yard investigation into the disappearance launched in 2011. Once occupying 30 full-time detectives, it has now dwindled to just four, its budget due to run out in April.

After the fruitless pursuit of numerous theories and leads, the team is now investigating just one: that Madeleine was abducted by a European human trafficking ring.
What happened to Madeleine Beth McCann appears destined to remain one of the great unanswered questions in the annals of crime

No one is holding their breath after so many false dawns.

What happened to Madeleine Beth McCann appears destined to remain one of the great unanswered questions in the annals of crime.

Two hundred miles south of Lisbon, Praia da Luz is in semi-hibernation. The annual influx of families who still favour this small resort despite its notoriety is months away.

This place is dead — except for the cameramen scouting locations. Television journalists have been spotted again in the resort after years of absence. Crews from Britain, the U.S. and Australia are preparing items for that sad tenth anniversary in May.

The Ocean Club is now called the Garden Club, but its layout is the same. Apartment 5A is shuttered and empty, like most of the holiday lets in this white-painted ghost resort. It looks unloved, the small back garden slightly overgrown, history lending it a brooding, melancholy air.

Come May 3, the people who own homes and businesses in Praia da Luz will grit their teeth and wait for the media hurricane to abate. Why endlessly rake over a case beyond solution, they argue?

‘People feel they are victims of this case,’ says Paul Luckman, a British resident of the Algarve and editor of the English-language Portugal News. ‘Their home has been tarnished for years by this. They just wish it would all go away.’

That is something Goncalo Amaral will not allow.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4213890/Detective-blamed-Maddie-s-parents-writes-second-book.html

……………………………

Comes out with the ‘baseless theories’ bit near the top and then goes into the detail showing why they were not baseless.

Curioser and curioser.

by Keitei 11.02.17 9:42

@ DougD - The article was uodated after I posted. My post was UPDATED: 00:13 on
11 February 2017 as can be seen.

by Mirage 11.02.17 9:43

Have now read full article. As Doug says, a strange article.

The overall flavour is a grudging tip of the cap to the inescapable fact of the Supreme Court finding. NO MENTION of cadaver dog alerts. Only those in the know would realise the partial quote by Amaral, towit "The same for ODOURS and traces of blood in the vehicle" is an oblique reference to cadaver dog alerts.

Where we have most detail is Amaral's list of abusive names the British press have coined for him and the precise number of times recorded by him. This was the single most fact-driven area of the article and, for me, it indicates a certain nervousness as to what quote, "a bitter man locked up in his own BITTER AND BASELESS!!! THEORIES" might do about it.

This IMO is why the article is ambivalent and appears to have more than one voice. Namely lawyers!

After all, Amaral did say he would sue the McCanns and "OTHER ENTITIES".

by worriedmum 11.02.17 9:59

A really spiteful title, with some nasty things to say about Snr Amaral, but is it in fact a Trojan horse? I don't recall ever reading anything as explicit as ''For their part, the McCanns have made their frustration at the court’s decision clear in comments made to the media last week by ‘friends’' before...
And what about THIS? ''These allegations were aired during the 2015 libel case in Portugal and it is important to point out that the blood traces were never identified as human''

by jeanmonroe 11.02.17 10:57

FINALLY! (the 'truth'?)

".......that saw prime ministers from Tony Blair onwards intervening at one level or another to assist in the investigation."

So, it IS 'true' GB erm, ' intervened' to get GA 'removed'' from the case?

by ChippyM 11.02.17 11:05

Why do they insist on repeating this load of carp? S.Y. have not said what they are doing!

"After the fruitless pursuit of numerous theories and leads, the team is now investigating just one: that Madeleine was abducted by a European human trafficking ring.'

by ChippyM 11.02.17 11:07

jeanmonroe wrote:FINALLY! (the 'truth'?)

".......that saw prime ministers from Tony Blair onwards intervening at one level or another to assist in the investigation."

So, it IS 'true' GB erm, ' intervened' to get GA 'removed'' from the case?

I thought that bit was interesting Jean Monroe. There's a lot of 'on the fence' type people that dismiss anything like this as the babblings of conspiraloons!

by Doug D 11.02.17 11:21

Thank you for confirming that Keitei.

So we have the original article, albeit with a slightly ambiguous title, basically running with snips from ‘The Truth of the Lie’ and last weeks court declaration, just throwing in:

‘The ruling also raises questions about the impartiality of the Portuguese courts in a highly politicised case that saw prime ministers from Tony Blair onwards intervening at one level or another to assist in the investigation.’

at the end.

An ambivalent way of questioning the UK’s involvement, rather than the stated ‘impartiality of the Portuguese courts’ maybe?

The Mail appear to have then been ‘got at’ and look to have reluctantly cobbled together some sort of leveler, which, whilst throwing out the ‘bitter and baseless theories’ bit, then expands out to show they were not in fact baseless.

Comments seem to have been closed, but the original eight have been left up, which don’t make good reading for TM.

Lady Leonora, Whitley Bay, United Kingdom, about 8 hours ago
A second book isn't cashing in. More evidence has come to light since the first book was written.

186

1566

Shelleymc, Liverpool, United Kingdom, about 8 hours ago
Took it to court, and gave him material for volume 2! Hahahaha Karma!!

152

1405

Shelleymc, Liverpool, United Kingdom, about 8 hours ago
Good! I can't wait to read about what's happened since!

146

1262

Lady Leonara
, Whitley Bay, United Kingdom, about 8 hours ago
Read his book then judge for yourself.

124

1474

Shelleymc
, Liverpool, United Kingdom, about 8 hours ago
Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing!!

116

1328

Fiona999
, Plymouth, United Kingdom, about 8 hours ago
I am glad he is writing a second book. He probably knows as much about this case as anyone else. Good for him I say.

154

1386

littlebear
, Cheshire, United Kingdom, about 8 hours ago
When will the UK media, especially the DM, end the propaganda?

114

1231

newyorkbrit
, port jefferson station, United States, about 8 hours ago
good, cant wait to read it

by suzyjohnson 11.02.17 11:59

The irony (of this article) of course is that the McCanns were suing Amaral precisely because they did not want anyone else to know what he thinks, especially in the Uk. They don't want anyone to know of any discrepancies in the case, or evidence which points in their direction.

All that work (and money) to silence him, and now the Daily Mail are bringing it all to everyone's attention.

by Verdi 11.02.17 12:06

The Mail headline..

"When will the McCanns tormentor in chief stop adding to their misery"

The Kate McCann headline..

"He deserves to be miserable and feel fear"

When will the McCanns' tormentor in chief stop adding to their misery? Fencing-83000

When will the McCanns' tormentor in chief stop adding to their misery? Fencing-83000

Goncalo Amaral was doing his job, working alongside his colleagues, until the UK authorities stepped in. I don't give a stuff what the UK media publish about this case - never have. It's been a roller coaster of conflicting reports from the very beginning and it's still going on today - sloppy inaccurate and misleading journalism at it's best.

It was Gerry and Kate McCann that took legal action against Goncalo Amaral - not the other way round. He didn't lose their child, they did. The McCanns alone are responsible for the situation they find themselves in, from 3rd May 2007 when they put themselves in the limelight, to present day.

End of!

by sallypelt 11.02.17 12:18

suzyjohnson wrote:The irony (of this article) of course is that the McCanns were suing Amaral precisely because they did not want anyone else to know what he thinks, especially in the Uk. They don't want anyone to know of any discrepancies in the case, or evidence which points in their direction.

All that work (and money) to silence him, and now the Daily Mail are bringing it all to everyone's attention.

Yes, and let us not forget that the McCanns who brought charges AGAINST Dr Amaral, then wanted to settle OUT OF COURT! It was said, at the time, that this was something out of the ordinary, where those who BRING charges, then try to settle OUT of court. But Dr Amaral was having none of it.

JUSTICE WORKS IN SILENCE!

by jeanmonroe 11.02.17 13:25

So, IF GA's 'theory' is 'baseless', perhaps the Mcs, or their 'supporters', (or even the Daily Fail!) could enlighten 'us' and explain what their 'base' IS, for stating that 'Madeleine WAS abducted' AS 'totally truthful'.

Even the Mcs OWN 'LAWYERS' will NOT say 'Madeleine WAS abducted'!

Even one of the Mcs most 'ardent' supporters, Jim G, will NOT say 'Madeleine WAS abducted'!

Even the ex, and present, SIO of OG will NOT say 'Madeleine WAS abducted'!

by plebgate 11.02.17 21:39

Tormentor in chief - oh please. Pathetic.

by MayMuse 12.02.17 0:09

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/maddy-mccann-cop-adds-insults-195133

Tony Parsons for the Mirror online, absolutely outrageous......is this journalistic license, I dont think so, not for one darn minute!

When will the McCanns' tormentor in chief stop adding to their misery? Madeleine-mccann-pic-pa-17855316

When will the McCanns' tormentor in chief stop adding to their misery? Madeleine-mccann-pic-pa-17855316

If, as has been suggested in Portugal, there was a “media circus” around the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, then it is the Portuguese police who are the clowns.
Cruel, stupid, spiteful clowns.

You would never guess it but Kate and Gerry McCann are not actually on trial in Lisbon.
Madeleine’s parents have brought legal action against detective Goncalo Amaral, who they accuse of libelling them in his book, Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie.
But the Portuguese plods have used the libel case to declare open season on the McCanns. One former policeman, Francisco Moita Flores, told the court that only the “distraction” of the “media circus” prevented the McCanns from being charged with negligence.
“No one believed it was an abduction,” he told the court. “It was a fairytale, a fable.”
But if Madeleine was not abducted, then what happened?
The Portuguese police were shown up as a bunch of clueless amateurs by the Madeleine case, and – shamed, embarrassed, infuriated – they turned their rage on the McCanns.
Even now, the Portuguese cops treat Kate and Gerry McCann with a grotesque lack of respect.
Asked if he cared that he had hurt the McCanns, Goncalo Amaral told a BBC reporter: “No, f*** the McCanns.”
A class act, that fat copper, who has sought to make money out of a stolen child – and the endless grief of her parents.
And what a shock to see the faces of Kate and Gerry McCann back in our newspapers.
The indelible pain is stamped on their faces for ever.

The greatest tragedy is, of course, that a little girl was stolen from her family.
But it is also genuinely tragic that the Portuguese police did not seriously look for the bastard who stole her.
And that’s because they have always been far too busy slandering that little girl’s parents.

by ChippyM 12.02.17 1:50

It's strange that so called professional 'journalists' can only hurl insults. Where's the balanced investigation into things......the only people that appear clown-like are them, throwing their toys out of the pram.