Exclusive: By Tracey Kandohla
11th July 2017, 6:46 pm Updated: 11th July 2017, 9:57 pm
MADELEINE McCann’s parents have failed in their latest battle to silence an ex-Portuguese cop over claims they faked their daughter’s kidnapping to cover up her death.
Pals of Kate and Gerry have said Goncalo Amaral “has won once and for all” because they don’t have the “time, energy or funding” to take him to the highest court in the land.
The parents have still taken no action to challenge the former cop in the highest court in the land despite vowing three months ago to continue the fight after a “terrible” ruling against them.
Mr Amaral claimed in a TV documentary and his bestselling 2008 book that the parents had killed Maddie and faked her kidnapping after she vanished in Praia da Luz in 2007 – but there is no truth in the claims.
A source close to the couple believe the lack of action by Maddie’s parents and their legal team indicates “the end of the road” in a bitter eight year fight against their tormentor.
The family pal said: “Realistically a European Court appeal was never going to succeed plus it would be too expensive to launch. It seems Mr Amaral, regrettably, has won once and for all. The fight is finally over.
“It means he can continue to spout his malicious lies about Kate and Gerry being involved in a cover up of their daughter’s death, which is almost laughable if it wasn’t so hurtful and damaging in the hunt for Madeleine.
“Kate and Gerry have always said they’ll keep no stone unturned in the global search and that’s what they want to concentrate on. I don’t think they have the time, energy or funding to lodge yet another appeal.”
The McCanns from Rothley, Leics, were left angry and disappointed after Portugal’s top court threw out their libel claim against Mr Amaral at the end of January.
The long-suffering couple pledged to take him to the European Court of Human Rights but have failed to do so.
Ex GP Kate, who has recently taken up a new medical job, said in an interview to mark the milestone 10th anniversary of Maddie’s disappearance in May that Mr Amaral’s poisonous words had been “very upsetting and incomprehensible.”
A trio of Supreme Court judges ruled that Mr Amaral’s claims in his book were protected by freedom of expression laws and also that the McCanns’ were not “formally in the clear” over Maddie’s disappearance.
The Policia Judiciaria inspector led the initial bungled hunt for Maddie but was later pulled off the case after criticising British police assistance.
In his once banned book “The Truth of the Lie”, he claimed Maddie accidentally died in an accident at the holiday flat or by being given an overdose of sedatives.
Maddie’s parents fiercely denied his allegations and accused described Mr Amaral as a self obsessed, manipulative money-grabber.
Three-year-old Maddie vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz in May 2007 while her parents were dining in a nearby tapas bar with pals.
Speaking ahead of the tenth anniversary in May, defiant Kate said her hope of finding missing daughter Madeleine alive will never fade – as she vowed to still buy her a present for her 14th birthday.
Kate and Gerry’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell today declined to comment on their failure to challenge Mr Amaral in the European Court, saying: “Anything on the legal side is up to their Portuguese lawyer to comment on.”
The Sun
