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Parents Of Madeleine McCann Owe Legal Fines Following Libel Court Battle

Parents Of Madeleine McCann Owe Legal Fines Following Libel Court Battle

The court battle was with ex-police chief Gonçalo Amaral, who claimed that the McCanns put their daughter's life at risk

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann are still being chased for hefty legal fees nearly a decade after the start of their court battle against the ex-police chief who has attacked them again in a new documentary.

Kate and Gerry McCann are about to be told by a court in Lisbon, Portugal, that they still owe thousands of pounds from their libel fight against Gonçalo Amaral.

And the cop, who has just accused the couple of putting their daughter's life at risk in a new Netflix series about Madeleine's 2007 disappearance, is set to hit them with a fresh four-figure demand for cash.

Amaral, 59, is waiting on a soon-to-come judgement from the European Court of Human Rights over the lengthy legal battle with the McCanns, sparked by his 2008 book The Truth of The Lie, before deciding whether to launch a compensation claim.

Goncalo Amaral.
PA

But legal papers at a Lisbon court show Madeleine's parents are already nearly £24,000 ($31,700) out of pocket after accusing Amaral of defaming them by cruelly claiming in the book that their daughter had died in an accident at their Algarve apartment and they covered it up.

Another bill totalling £5,346 (€6,196 / $7,065) to cover leftover court costs - half of what they were being asked for before a successful appeal recently - is about to be sent to their lawyer Isabel Duarte.

And that is likely to pave the way for a fresh claim by Amaral to get Madeleine's parents to compensate him for another £5,148 (€5,967 / $6,803) in remaining fees, incurred in persuading his country's top court to back him over the book fight.

Gerry and Kate McCann, the parents of Madeleine McCann, after attending the libel case against former Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral.
PA

Thirteen volumes of court files charting the ongoing battle the McCanns started after Amaral published his book in July 2008 - just three days after they were told they were no longer suspects - detail the cash settlements they have been forced into after their initial 2015 libel win was overturned by two higher Portuguese courts.

The 2,958 pages show Madeleine's parents had to pay £5,548 (€6,403 / $7,332) in costs to Truth of The Lie publisher Guerra e Paz, despite the firm's lawyer admitting to a miscalculation of nearly £1,800 ($2,370) in her initial estimate.

The files also show an error by Amaral's lawyer, Miguel Cruz Rodriguez, which almost led to the McCanns paying Amaral around £1,800 more in costs than they had to.

The McCanns' lawyer Isabel Duarte paid the extra before complaining in writing to a judge to get the cash refunded.

The couple's total bill so far from their Amaral libel fight comes to just under £24,500 (28,595€/$32,380)

That includes their own legal fees and court costs, but also four-figure payouts to the former detective and Guerra e Paz.

The figure - which does not include costs they have incurred taking the case to Europe - will rise to nearly £35,000 (€40,759 / £46,257) once the McCanns are sent their new bill and Amaral demands they compensate him for his final payment linked to the Portuguese court fight.

An appendix to the files - kept on a shelf in a seventh-floor office at the same Lisbon Civil Court which ordered Amaral to pay the McCanns £430,000 ($568,309) in 2015 before its first-round libel decision was overturned on appeal - also lays bare the ex-cop's dire financial position when he penned his controversial book.

If she is still alive, Maddie will be 15 now.
PA

Isabel Duarte applied to have his assets seized in June 2009 after lodging a claim for £1 million (€1.2m / $1.3m) in damages on behalf of the McCanns and their children.

But a financial probe revealed the £60,000, 2700cc Jaguar car he drove was owned by a firm he set up four months after his book about Madeleine's death was published.

It also showed an Algarve home - registered in his then-wife Sofia's name - had liens totalling nearly £400,000 ($528,659) after the bank moved to repossess it following missed mortgage payments and Portuguese tax chiefs tried to recover a five-figure debt.

Amaral, now living in Lisbon, went on the attack again in a Netflix documentary series released earlier this month by claiming the McCanns put their toddler's life at risk by publicising her distinctive eye marking.

A spokesman for the couple said the claims were 'unfounded'. A source close to the McCanns was quoted as saying: "Mr Amaral doesn't seem to have any compassion for Kate and Gerry and is only interested in publicising himself."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: TV and Film, Kate McCann, News, Gerry McCann, Netflix, Madeleine McCann