Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

by **Tony Bennett** 07.12.15 11:30

On 2 May this year I made a complaint against a headline in the Daily Express which ran:

'MADDY DETECTIVE DID LIE ABOUT DEATH COVER-UP CLAIM'.

As my colleagues in Mods & Admin are aware, to extract this correction, published on page 21 of today's Daily Express, has taken 7 months of letters and negotiation back and forth with the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and with the Express Head of Legal Affairs, Barbara Ludlow.

I understand that I am not allowed to publish any of the correspondence, but I am told that a formal report on my complaint will be published on the IPSO website next week.

In the end, I accepted the wording you see below. Had I not done so, this would have gone to formal adjudication, and I personally doubt if I would have got a different result.

The result is a correction in the bottom left-hand corner of the page - see below.

Was it worth it?

Goncal Amaral was publicly accused in the Express's headline of having 'Lied about death cover-up claim'.

That has now been publicly corrected.

He did not lie.

I am personally content that I have not wasted my time and effort:

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by kaz 07.12.15 11:50

A small gesture of solidarity I know but I won't be buying the Express again. I only ever bought it for the cryptic crossword and its stand against the EU anyway!
Well done.

bravo

by pennylane 07.12.15 12:08

Yes it most certainly was worth it Tony, because it makes it clear Mr Amaral was not accused of lying by the courts in any way shape or form, and that information is the McCanns worst nightmare!

Jolly well done, and thank you for working so hard for so long on this important retraction. clapping

by **Tony Bennett** 07.12.15 12:23

For those of you on Twitter, if you can find my tweet (below), you can now vote in a Twitter poll on the question

Should [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] now publish a more prominent apology for calling [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] a liar?

Anthony Bennett‏@zampos [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Should [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] now publish a more prominent apology for calling [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] a liar? [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]jillhavern.forumotion.net/t12218-goncalo-amaral-did-not-lie-about-madeleine-today-7-dec-2015-daily-express-publishes-on-page-21-an-offical-correction-to-its-29-apr-2015-headline …

by MRNOODLES 07.12.15 12:28

Good effort TB clapping

Just think if it was the other way around. The McCs would be in for several £1000s payout.

by Sophiebubbles 07.12.15 13:07

Well done Tony Bennett, thanks again for all the dedication you put into delivering justice for other people. I am sure Mr Amaral will be informed of your work on behalf of him......the newspaper has retracted that he lied. One step in the the correct direction for you Tony Bennett, I do not take part in twitter, but agree the apology should be given more coverage. Maybe one day Mr Amaral will get honest coverage and perhaps compensation for himself. Again my dear wishful thinking for him. I would like to think this news today is the start of the tide turning.......gut feeling and all that. Great work, you are an inspirational man and work tirelessly.

edited to add .......I joined twitter as I feel very strongly about where apology is placed...hope your 'pole' attracts many Tony Bennett

by **Jill Havern** 07.12.15 13:22

Sophiebubbles wrote:Well done Tony Bennett, thanks again for all the dedication you put into delivering justice for other people. I am sure Mr Amaral will be informed of your work on behalf of him......the newspaper has retracted that he lied. One step in the the correct direction for you Tony Bennett, I do not take part in twitter, but agree the apology should be given more coverage. Maybe one day Mr Amaral will get honest coverage and perhaps compensation for himself. Again my dear wishful thinking for him. I would like to think this news today is the start of the tide turning.......gut feeling and all that. Great work, you are an inspirational man and work tirelessly.

Yes, he most certainly does work tirelessly for other people yes

whilst coming under such bitter attacks himself.

How many other people on the internet submitted a complaint to the Express on behalf of Dr Amaral?

Or uncovered the massive hoaxes surrounding the deaths of Lee Balkwell and Stuart Lubbock to get justice for both men's families?

Great work, Tony!

bravo

by **HiDeHo** 07.12.15 13:32

Thank you Tony for your dedication and perseverance.

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by Sophiebubbles 07.12.15 13:39

Get'emGonçalo wrote:
Sophiebubbles wrote:Well done Tony Bennett, thanks again for all the dedication you put into delivering justice for other people. I am sure Mr Amaral will be informed of your work on behalf of him......the newspaper has retracted that he lied. One step in the the correct direction for you Tony Bennett, I do not take part in twitter, but agree the apology should be given more coverage. Maybe one day Mr Amaral will get honest coverage and perhaps compensation for himself. Again my dear wishful thinking for him. I would like to think this news today is the start of the tide turning.......gut feeling and all that. Great work, you are an inspirational man and work tirelessly.

Yes, he most certainly does work tirelessly for other people whilst coming under such bitter attacks himself.

How many other people on the internet submitted a complaint to the Express on behalf of Dr Amaral?

Or uncovered the massive hoaxes surrounding the deaths of Lee Balkwell and Stuart Lubbock to get justice for both men's families?

Great work, Tony!

@Get'emGoncalo........The very reason I respect Tony Bennett is as you have outlined above, the bitter attacks I read, in particular, makes me horrified that people will nitpick on Tony Bennett's idiosyncracies.....which everyone has..everyone but miss out on the good that he does, sorry if I embarrass you Tony Bennett, I know you neither look for praise nor thanks.....just saying it as I see it.

by Angelique 07.12.15 13:40

I would also like to add my congratulations to Tony for his efforts resulting in apology from The Express, albeit hidden on page 21!

Also for all the hard and tireless effort put in on behalf of not only Goncalo Amaral but for others, some of whom have no voice.

Well done Tony.

bravo

by **Jill Havern** 07.12.15 14:02

Sophiebubbles wrote:
Get'emGonçalo wrote:
Sophiebubbles wrote:Well done Tony Bennett, thanks again for all the dedication you put into delivering justice for other people. I am sure Mr Amaral will be informed of your work on behalf of him......the newspaper has retracted that he lied. One step in the the correct direction for you Tony Bennett, I do not take part in twitter, but agree the apology should be given more coverage. Maybe one day Mr Amaral will get honest coverage and perhaps compensation for himself. Again my dear wishful thinking for him. I would like to think this news today is the start of the tide turning.......gut feeling and all that. Great work, you are an inspirational man and work tirelessly.

Yes, he most certainly does work tirelessly for other people whilst coming under such bitter attacks himself.

How many other people on the internet submitted a complaint to the Express on behalf of Dr Amaral?

Or uncovered the massive hoaxes surrounding the deaths of Lee Balkwell and Stuart Lubbock to get justice for both men's families?

Great work, Tony!

@Get'emGoncalo........The very reason I respect Tony Bennett is as you have outlined above, the bitter attacks I read, in particular, makes me horrified that people will nitpick on Tony Bennett's idiosyncracies.....which everyone has..everyone but miss out on the good that he does, sorry if I embarrass you Tony Bennett, I know you neither look for praise nor thanks.....just saying it as I see it.

Yes, even now despite this good news, people on twitter are still not taking a moment off from attacking Tony. They prefer to keep on bashing him and rehashing his errors than to even re-tweet this excellent news which can only help Dr Amaral.

by Gaggzy 07.12.15 14:07

Angelique wrote:I would also like to add my congratulations to Tony for his efforts resulting in apology from The Express, albeit hidden on page 21!

Also for all the hard and tireless effort put in on behalf of not only Goncalo Amaral but for others, some of whom have no voice.

Well done Tony.

That's typical of the press when they have to apologise. They print front page lies, and hide grovelling apologies in the ads section!!!!

by **HiDeHo** 07.12.15 14:10

I have added the original article to page 1 of this thread.

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by **Jill Havern** 07.12.15 14:11

Thank you very much Lizzy...I was just looking for that!

by **HiDeHo** 07.12.15 15:04

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by Guest 07.12.15 15:12

I thought there was supposed to be equal page space for these things?

by Amy Dean 07.12.15 15:31

I think that only applies when apologies are being made to the McCanns.

by **Tony Bennett** 07.12.15 17:32

BlueBag wrote:I thought there was supposed to be equal page space for these things?

This is a very important point.

Most people who have been the victim of an inaccuracy in a newspaper demand an equally prominent retraction or correction.

I believe that Leveson recommended that there should be equal prominence given to corrections and apologies.

Of course, I asked for equal prominence, for two main reasons:

1. The Express's original falsehood was prominent on the front page, and
2. The seriousness of the inaccuracy - calling him a liar when the court never said that he had lied.

The original Express falsehood might have been read by a million or two.

If I'm lucky, mere tens of thousands will see the correction - and it's a 'correction', not an apology.

Without disclosing details of the correspondence, which I don't think I'm allowed to do, the Daily Express maintained that if they agreed to any correction, it would only be tucked away in their 'corrections corner', as per their policy 'for over 20 years'.

I dare say that if I had pursued the matter to an adjudication hearing IPSO might have agreed to a more prominent correction.

But after seven months - and having succeeded in extracting the admission that their headline was false, and that Amaral did not lie, I didn't want to face weeks and months more of correspondence to and fro, so accepted a compromise offer.

by Mike 07.12.15 17:43

It also sounds like an admission of libel to me, so maybe it will help Amaral when he starts to sue the msm.

Well done Tony.

by Guest 07.12.15 18:13

@TB, thank you. I agree with others that it should be displayed more prominently, however a small victory for truth. drinks

by **HiDeHo** 07.12.15 18:15

I have corrected the graphic after putting apology, Tony :)

I have several graphics regarding the court claiming the book is based on the investigation...

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by **Tony Bennett** 07.12.15 22:31

A message to 'candyfloss' and members of MMM:

Thank you to all of you who posted kind messages of support today over the Daily Express admission that they lied with their front-page headline - which falsely claimed that Goncalo Amaral had lied about his 'cover-up' claim. I've now read them all and I really appreciate the trouble you took to post them.

And of course thank you to all those members on this thread here who have done likewise thumbup

Tony

by cbeagle 08.12.15 4:41

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on the image with the newspaper clippings on the left and the minuscule apology on the right can I suggest putting red strike-through on the original incorrect headlines.

by HelenMeg 08.12.15 10:04

Admiration for Tony who not only talks but acts and carries through too. thumbup

(Also good to see such goodwill across the CMOMM and MMM sites. I'm a member of both although latterly have only been posting here and
both are great for different reasons. ) exalt

by sallypelt 08.12.15 11:53

Wow! Well done, Tony. Your search for truth and justice is second to none. Dr Amaral must be so proud of you, as we all are on this forum and other forums, as the posts are showing.

Now that the Express has admitted it lied when it published that Dr Amaral had lied, is it now going to compensate Dr A to the tune of a few hundred thousand pounds? Can you imagine how this would boost the “fighting fund”? We can live in hope.

spin

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. – Winston Churchill

by sallypelt 08.12.15 12:00

HelenMeg wrote:Admiration for Tony who not only talks but acts and carries through too.

(Also good to see such goodwill across the CMOMM and MMM sites. I'm a member of both although latterly have only been posting here and
both are great for different reasons. )

I totally agree with you, HelenMeg. We all want the same thing, and that's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, whatever it may be. There can't be a better time than right now for us ALL to pull together in search of that truth. After all, it is the season of Goodwill and Peace.

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by Carrry On Doctor 08.12.15 12:21

Congratulations Tony, and great to see recognition from further afield.
Here's hoping 2016 will bring much bigger and better news.
Much much bigger hopefully.

by **Jill Havern** 08.12.15 12:25

sallypelt wrote:
HelenMeg wrote:Admiration for Tony who not only talks but acts and carries through too.

(Also good to see such goodwill across the CMOMM and MMM sites. I'm a member of both although latterly have only been posting here and
both are great for different reasons. )

I totally agree with you, HelenMeg. We all want the same thing, and that's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, whatever it may be. There can't be a better time than right now for us ALL to pull together in search of that truth. After all, it is the season of Goodwill and Peace.

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I agree with the sentiments of both of you.

friends

by Guest 08.12.15 12:34

Pity they couldn't be so bold as to offer a front page 'APOLOGY' - as they did for the McCanns following the out of court settlement. Still, better than nothing.

Well done that man thumbsup

! Onwards and upwards...

by Google.Gaspar.Statements 08.12.15 14:31

Great work, Tony!

thanks

Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

"Why wasn't the Express's correction given equal prominence?" - ANSWER

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Amelie McCann (aged 2): "Maddie's jammies!".

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

Re: Goncalo Amaral DID NOT LIE about Madeleine: Today (7 Dec 2015) Daily Express publishes, on page 21, an offical correction to its 29 Apr 2015 headline

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