A Portuguese judge has banned further sales and publications of Gonçalo Amaral’s book, The Truth of the Lie, that claimed Madeleine McCann was dead.
The former Portuguese police investigator had worked on the investigation of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment in May 2007 in Praia da Luz, but was later removed from the case after he criticised British police.
Gonçalo Amaral will face a 1,000 euro -a-day fine unless he ensures all unsold copies of the book are removed from shops and warehouses across Europe.
The McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell yesterday said that Kate and Gerry McCann were “absolutely delighted” with the result at the Civil Court in Lisbon.
He also stated that the publication of the book had hampered their search for Madeleine and had added to the parents’ distress.
Clarence Mitchell said: “Mr Amaral’s poison was not only damaging in the search for Madeleine by him telling people she was dead, but it was also grossly defamatory to Kate and Gerry themselves.
“Kate and Gerry McCann are absolutely delighted that the judge in Portugal has done the right thing by granting this injunction.”
In the book, Gonçalo Amaral stated that he did not believe the McCanns’ account that Madeleine was taken while they were eating dinner with friends.
The injunction also bans him from repeating the claims about Madeleine or her parents.
Gonçalo Amaral had produced a TV programme about the disappearance of Madeleine but this will also be banned from being broadcast.
Kate and Gerry McCann released a statement stating that they hoped the injunction will go towards reducing further unnecessary and unjust distress and will allow people to concentrate on finding Madeleine.
The copyright for the film and book will now be passed onto the McCanns’ lawyers.
