The former Judicial Police inspector from Portimão who wrote a book in which he suggested that Madeleine McCann’s parents could be involved in her disappearance has been order to pay half a million euros to the couple.
The amount is for emotional and psychological damages to the McCann family caused by the publication of Gonçalo Amaral's book ‘The Truth of the Lie’ and may mark the end of five years of legal wrangling.
The civil court in Lisbon ruled that Gonçalo Amaral (pictured below) must pay Kate and Gerry McCann compensation each of €250,000 plus interest at the statutory rate, from 5 January 2010 until full payment is received.
The punishing amount of interest accumulated is around €106,000 for ‘late payment’ despite the case only now being settled.
In addition to these payments, the court banned the sale of the book, the accompanying DVD, as well as the sale of the copyright of both.
The ruling is not good news for Valentim de Carvalho who produced a television documentary that was inspired by the book.
The defence mounted by the McCanns was that the book claimed that they were involved in the disappearance and concealment of Madeleine’s body and had faked their daughter’s abduction after Madeleine had died accidentally in the holiday apartment.
The McCanns initially were under suspicion in the case but were officially cleared in July 2008 when the Portuguese investigation was shelved for lack of evidence.
The next month, Gonçalo Amaral was sacked from the investigation and later published the book accusing the couple of involvement.
In 2010, the McCanns won a court action in Lisbon to ban sales of "The truth of the Lie," a ruling that was overturned later that year. The McCanns then sought damages for themselves and their twin sons, plus further damages for the disruption caused to the search for Madeleine.
In a 36-page petition lodged in June 2009, the McCanns described Amaral as a "self-obsessed, manipulative money-grabber" and accused him of libel and of breaching their human rights
The five year delay was due to trial date postponements and a court sponsored attempted for the parties to reach an out of court settlement, which failed.
Madeleine McCann disappeared seven years, 361 days ago when she was four-years-old from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, where the family was on vacation.
Madeline’s parents have faced fierce criticism from the Portuguese for leaving their children unattended in the apartment while they dined at a nearby restaurant with friends, making visits to check on the childrens’ welfare.
Kate Mcann (main picture) and Gerry McCann have maintained their belief that Madeleine was abducted and despite Portuguese and British police investigations into her disappearance there have been no breakthroughs and certainly nobody has ever been charged with Madeline’s disappearance making this high-profile case one of the decade’s most enduring mysteries.
On leaving the court today, Gerry McCann accompanied by Kate, spoke to the media and expressed his joy at the verdict.
"We hope to have been able to do justice for Madeleine and for the rest of the family....We do not know if Madeleine is alive or dead, but there is no evidence that she is dead. She is a missing child."
Amaral, who is broke, has leave to appeal this decision. He has much support in local social media which generally views the verdict as deeply suspect and the sum of money Amaral must pay as being beyond the means of 99.99% of the population.