McCanns ‘exasperated’ over delay in libel case

The parents of Madeleine McCann have branded the latest delay in their libel case against former Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral as a "blatant and cynical" attempt to hold up the trial after he sacked his legal team.

Kate and Gerry McCann were left furious after the former detective delayed the case by making a last-minute application to remove powers from his lawyer on the day they were due to deliver personal statements about the effect allegations in his book had had on them.

Mr and Mrs McCann had travelled to Lisbon on what was due to be the last day in the trial at Lisbon’s Palace of Justice, but will now have to return on July 8 after Mr Amaral’s 11th-hour application prompted the latest delay in the long-running case.

The obviously angry and upset couple branded the delay — made by Mr Amaral at 9am yesterday — a “blatant and cynical attempt” to wear them down. Speaking outside the court in Lisbon, Mr McCann said: “We’re exasperated that the hearing has been cancelled once again at Mr Amaral’s request.

“This is the fourth time this has happened and we’ve travelled to Portugal.

“The legal case has been running now for over five years and we want to get justice for Madeleine.

“Today is a blatant and cynical attempt to wear us down and it’s Madeleine who is suffering.

“We’re not going to give up — we’re going to keep going.”

The McCanns are suing for libel over claims made in Mr Amaral’s 2008 book The Truth Of The Lie, including suggestions that they hid Madeleine’s body after she died in an accident and faked an abduction, saying they damaged the hunt for their daughter and exacerbated their anguish.

If successful, the family stand to gain around £1m (€1.2m) in damages.

Addressing a crowd of British and Portuguese journalists outside court, a visibly upset Mrs McCann said every delay to the libel case brought more “pain and distress” to the family.

She said: “We need to make it clear to people: we took on this case because of the pain and distress that Mr Amaral has brought to us and our children.

“And every time he postpones the case like this, it brings us more pain and distress.”

The McCanns’ return to Portugal comes after they said last week that the fact police found no evidence relating to their missing daughter during recent searches in Praia da Luz had reinforced their belief that she could still be alive.

Madeleine, who was nearly four at the time, disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007, as her parents dined at a nearby restaurant with friends.