McCanns drop libel case against Portuguese tabloid

GERRY and Kate McCann have dropped a libel case against the Portuguese newspaper which first linked them to the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.

The couple were suing weekly tabloid Tal & Qual over an August 2007 article headlined “Police believe the parents killed Maddie”.

The front page story caused a sensation around the world, as it was the first suggestion detectives were treating the McCanns as suspects.

This week the McCanns withdrew their defamation action after being advised the paper had a strong defence under Portuguese law.

It could argue the story was published in good faith, as senior police officers did at the time believe the McCanns may have been implicated.

A source close to the couple confirmed the defamation action against the newspaper and two journalists had been dropped.

The source said the McCanns want to concentrate instead on their €1.16 million case against Goncalo Amaral, the disgraced former head of the Madeleine investigation.