Kate and Gerry McCann Secure “Unprecedented” Libel Success

 

In what is acknowledged to have been one of the most high-profile libel complaints in living memory, Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine was abducted from their holiday apartment in Portugal in May 2007, have received unprecedented front-page apologies from four national newspapers, together with £550,000 in libel damages.

The Daily Express and Daily Star, together with their Sunday sister papers, had between them published over a hundred articles which suggested – entirely falsely – that Mr and Mrs McCann were responsible, or at least strongly to be suspected of being responsible, for the death of Madeleine and had then disposed of her body; and that they had then conspired to cover up their actions, including by creating “diversions” to distract the police away from evidence which would expose their guilt.

Following the publication of a number of libellous articles by the newspapers in question in the early autumn of 2007, representatives of the McCanns had contacted the editors to send a ‘shot across the bows’, in the hope that they would adopt a more responsible attitude to their reporting. Indeed, the newspaper coverage of Madeleine’s disappearance became the subject of such concern that Leicestershire police themselves contacted a number of media outlets requesting that they show greater restraint. Notwithstanding this, the Daily Express, Daily Star, Sunday Express and Daily Star Sunday continued to publish numerous grossly libellous articles, many on the front pages of the newspapers and accompanied by lurid headlines.

Mr and Mrs McCann approached Carter-Ruck to bring complaints to the editors of the newspapers, who were forced to acknowledge that the allegations they had published were utterly baseless. In recognition of that, each title agreed to publish a prominent front-page apology, to repeat those apologies before Mr Justice Eady in the High Court in London, and to pay £550,000 in damages, which at the request of the McCanns was paid in full to the trust established to try to find their daughter. The newspapers also agreed to pay the McCanns’ legal fees.

In response to the result, Kate and Gerry McCann said: “We are pleased that Express Newspapers have today admitted the utter falsity of the numerous grotesque and grossly defamatory allegations that their titles published about us on a sustained basis over many months...

Express Newspapers, rightly, acknowledge that we are innocent of all allegations that we may have been involved in Madeleine’s abduction and we would like to reiterate that there is absolutely no evidence that Madeleine is dead or has been seriously harmed. The distress all this has caused members of our wider family, at a time of great emotional turmoil for them, was also a major factor in our action. Their pain over the loss of Madeleine has been compounded by having to witness the irresponsible and libellous reporting that we have successfully challenged today.

As a part of our settlement, Express Newspapers have also agreed to donate £550,000 to the Fund that was established to help find Madeleine. We feel it is entirely appropriate that the search for Madeleine will now benefit directly out of the wrongs committed against us as her parents.

We hope that the Portuguese authorities lift our arguido status in the very near future so that everyone can focus on finding our beautiful little girl, Madeleine.”

Mr and Mrs McCann are represented by Adam Tudor and Isabel Hudson of Carter-Ruck.

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Summer 2008