THE SUN - WHO IS GONCALO AMARAL

MCCANN COURT BATTLE Who is Goncalo Amaral? Ex-Madeleine McCann cop whose claimed Gerry and Kate faked her abduction


Amaral claimed Maddie had died in the McCann's holiday flat and her parents faked her abduction to cover up the tragedy



By Hannah Crouch

16th February 2017, 11:39 pm

THE PARENTS of Maddie McCann lost their court appeal to silence an ex-cop who claims they covered up their daughter’s death.

Portuguese Supreme Court judges agreed with a lower court’s decision last April to reverse Kate and Gerry McCann’s 2015 libel win against Goncalo Amaral.

Following his appeal win, Amaral was reportedly seeking a British publisher as he completed the closing chapters of a second book about the little girl’s disappearance.

Maddie’s parents faced fresh turmoil with the emergence on YouTube of a controversial TV documentary based on Amaral’s accusations.

A close pal of the McCanns branded the film a “lunatic conspiracy theory” and revealed the parents are considering legal action.

But who is Amaral and what claims did he make about the McCann’s?

Who is Goncalo Amaral?

Amaral is an ex-police officer who led the initial hunt when three-year-old Maddie went missing from the Algarve in 2007.

The now retired detective was removed as head of the investigation after criticising British detectives.

In July 2008, Amaral released a book called “The Truth of the Lie” which claims the McCanns faked the abduction.

What did Amaral claim in his book?

In the book, it is claimed that Maddie had died in their holiday flat and her parents faked her abduction to cover up the tragedy.

The book was released just three days after Gerry and Kate were told their status as formal suspects had been lifted on July 21 2008.

Amaral is understood to have earned £344,000 from his book before it was banned and a subsequent TV documentary.

Why is there a legal battle?

The McCanns claimed the book was hurtful and launched a libel battle against Amaral in April 2015.

Amaral was ordered to pay Kate and Gerry £430,000 plus interest in damages after losing round one.

However this decision was reversed by appeal judges in April last year, siding with the former police chief and overturning a ban on his book.

The decision sparked a fresh appeal by the McCanns to the country’s highest law court.

The McCanns’ Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte lodged the couple’s new appeal last May after vowing to fight the U-turn by judges over Amaral’s book.

Criticising the ruling in favour of the ex-police chief, which a friend of the McCanns said had left them “seething,” she said: “This decision was an appreciation of the law and not the facts.

“We can appeal to the Supreme Court which we will do as we have instructions from our clients.”

However the Supreme Court voted in favour of Amaral.

What happens now?

Kate and Gerry could now face a huge legal bill which has which had been frozen until the outcome of the final appeal.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2751442/goncalo-amaral-madeleine-mccann-cop-book/

Thanks "cherry1" - Odd that the article is dated Feb. 16 - 11:39pm but two of the four comments are dated Feb. 2 and the other two are dated Jan.3l.