BBC in four-letter 'foul-up'

15 January 2010
Daily Star

BUNGLING BBC bosses sparked a row after accusing Goncalo Amaral of a four-letter tirade against Kate and Gerry McCann.

They insisted the ex-detective said " f    the McCanns " when asked by a BBC reporter if he felt his allegations were hurting the couple.

But last night it was claimed he had actually uttered the Portuguese phrase "fala com McCanns" - which means simply "speak to the McCanns".

Asked if he had sworn, Mr Amaral replied: "Never. I don't know what you are talking about."

And his lawyer, Antonio Cabrita, said: "He never said it. He does not use that kind of language."

Rival TV companies refused to broadcast the footage after their translators studied it.

But it was broadcast, with the key word bleeped out by the BBC in the East Midlands.

A BBC spokesman said last night: "The entire exchange was recorded on camera.

"The swear word was bleeped out for transmission as it was clearly unacceptable to broadcast such language at 6.30pm."

Sources last night said Mr Amaral is now considering legal action against the BBC.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, BBC, Gonçalo Amaral, Madeleine McCann, Mike O'Sullivan

Kate McCann 'confident' of winning Madeleine libel case

15 January 2010
Guardian Unlimited
John Stevens

'It's difficult to hear something incorrect and inaccurate,' she says of ex-detective's claim that McCanns faked daughter's abduction

Kate McCann said today she was confident of winning the libel action over claims that her daughter Madeleine is dead.

As she arrived at court in Lisbon she admitted that listening to claims that she faked Madeleine's abduction was difficult, but said nothing could be as bad as losing her child.

It is the third day of the trial in Portugal, where the McCanns are seeking permanently to ban a book written by former policeman Goncalo Amaral and £1.1m in compensation for defamation.

Entering the court, Mrs McCann said: "If I'm honest, our daughter's been taken and nothing's ever going to be as bad as that. It's still been difficult, it's been emotive, because I know what's in the case files, I know what the conclusions are. So it's difficult to hear something that's incorrect and inaccurate. At the bottom of all this is a little girl and I think it's important that we don't forget that."

Asked if she believed the McCanns would win their case against Amaral, she said: "I am confident, yes."

McCann and her husband, Gerry, have sat through two days of hearings in which Amaral, who initially led the investigation into their daughter's death, has called a series of senior Portuguese officials to support his allegation that Madeleine, who was three when she disappeared, died in her family's holiday flat in May 2007.

Chief Inspector Tavares de Almeida told the court on Tuesday he believed the McCanns invented a kidnapping to cover up the death of their daughter. Yesterday former detective Francisco Moita Flores also dismissed the couple's claim that Madeleine was abducted, saying the McCanns' challenge to claims Madeleine was dead was "pathetic".

Mr McCann flew back to Britain last night to return to work. His wife was accompanied to court today by Fiona Payne, one of the "Tapas Seven" group of friends who were on holiday with the McCanns in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz when their daughter disappeared.

Amaral's lawyer, Antonio Cabrita, has denied that the former detective said "fuck the McCanns" in response to a question from a BBC reporter about whether his book was hurting the couple. A BBC spokesman said the reply was clear in the exchange, which was entirely recorded on camera.

Today the court is hearing evidence from producers of a TV documentary based on Amaral's book. The case will then be adjourned until 10 February, when the judge will hear from two witnesses not available this week.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, BBC, Gonçalo Amaral, Madeleine McCann, Mike O'Sullivan

The British Media versus the Portuguese police / Dr. Goncalo Amaral

These are the first 100 Headlines of Articles archived in the Factiva database regarding Goncalo Amaral. I'll add the rest as time allows; there are over 1000 articles to review.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, Gonçalo Amaral, Madeleine McCann, Robert Murat

There's no evidence Maddie is dead.. We will keep looking

14 January 2010
Scottish Daily Record
Janice Burns

DAD'S OUTBURST AT COURT HEARING

GERRY McCann yesterday angrily accused a Portuguese ex-cop of endangering the hunt for his missing daughter Madeleine.

The Scots doctor twice addressed reporters directly outside Lisbon's main civil court - after sitting through two days of accusations that he and wife Kate faked Madeleine's abduction in 2007.

Meanwhile, the former detective whose book and TV documentary led to the trial provoked outrage by telling a British TV crew at the court: " F   the McCanns ."

Goncalo Amaral, who was thrown off the McCann case only months into the hunt, made the foul-mouthed outburst when asked:"Is your book hurting the McCanns?"

He then appeared to laugh as he walked away.

A McCann family friend said:"It's disgraceful and gives a true measure of the man."

In the trial, Amaral is attempting to overturn an injunction banning further publication of his book and stopping him repeating his claims about the McCanns.

Glasgow-born heart consultant Gerry and his GP wife Kate are suing him for more than £1million for defamation but no date has yet been set for that case.

Yesterday, a visibly frustrated Gerry, 41, said the main motive for challenging Amaral is their fear that people will stop looking for Madeleine if they think she is dead.

He insisted there was no evidence to support Amaral's claims that Madeleine died in her family's Algarve holiday flat on the night she vanished, just before her fourth birthday.

"Over the last two days, we've heard a lot about Mr Amaral's thesis that Madeleine is dead," he said.

"And I also hope you've heard that there is absolutely no evidence to support that thesis.

"A thesis without evidence is meaningless. It's evidence we're interested in. There is no evidence that Madeleine is dead, that's what you heard yesterday."

Gerry was asked by a reporter whether it was worth the emotional cost for the couple to attend the court.

He replied: "Do you have children? Anyone who has children would go through the same process."

He added: "We're looking for new information to help the search."

A former senior detective called as a witness by Amaral yesterday dismissed the theory that Madeleine was abducted.

Francisco Moita Flores, a criminologist and a writer, told the court it would be impossible to pass a child through the window of the McCanns' holiday flat.

Prejudice

He also defended the way that the Portuguese police investigated the case, praised Amaral as a "good professional" and said his book did not prejudice the inquiry.

Isabel Duarte, the McCanns' lawyer, argued that the police files reached no conclusion about the window and said there were other ways Madeleine could have been taken from the apartment.

The case will continue today and the judge, Maria Gabriela Cunha Rodrigues, could order further hearings.

The McCanns say any damages awarded to them would go towards funding the hunt for Madeleine.

Gerry was last night returning to his home in Rothley,Leicestershire, because of work commitments.

Fiona Payne, one of the friends who was on holiday with the McCanns when Madeleine disappeared on May 3 2007, is flying out to support Kate.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, BBC, Find Madeleine Fund, Gonçalo Amaral, Madeleine McCann, Mike O'Sullivan

Madeleine claims 'difficult to listen to' says Kate McCann

14 January 2010
The Irish Examiner

Kate McCann admitted today that listening to claims that she faked her daughter Madeleine's abduction was difficult - but said nothing could be as bad as losing her child.

She and her husband Gerry have sat through two days of court hearings in which former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral has called witnesses to support his allegation that the little girl died in her family's holiday flat.

Mrs McCann insisted that the couple were right to take legal action against Mr Amaral and said she was confident they would win.

Speaking as she arrived for a third day of hearings at the main civil court in Lisbon, she acknowledged that this week had taken its toll.

"If I'm honest, our daughter's been taken and nothing's ever going to be as bad as that," she said.

"It's still been difficult, it's been emotive, because I know what's in the case files, I know what the conclusions are.

"So it's difficult to hear something that's incorrect and inaccurate.

"At the bottom of all this is a little girl, and I think it's important that we don't forget that."

Mr McCann flew back to Britain last night to return to work and his wife was accompanied to court today by Fiona Payne, one of the friends on holiday with the couple when Madeleine disappeared.

Mr Amaral was the first head of the Portuguese police investigation into Madeleine's disappearance from Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007.

He has called a series of top Portuguese law enforcement officials as witnesses in his attempt to overturn the McCanns' injunction on his book about the case, Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie.

Chief Inspector Tavares de Almeida told the court on Tuesday he believed that Madeleine died in her family's holiday apartment and her parents covered up the death by inventing a kidnapping.

Former detective Francisco Moita Flores also dismissed the theory that the child was abducted and said the McCanns' legal challenge was "pathetic" when he gave evidence yesterday.

Mrs McCann was asked today whether she now felt it was a misjudgment to bring legal action against Mr Amaral.

She replied: "This is definitely the right course of action. I truly believe we are doing this to help the search for Madeleine.

"I believe in the Portuguese judicial system and that we will get justice, and that we can take the search for Madeleine forward."

Asked if she believed the McCanns would win their case against Mr Amaral, she said: "I am confident, yes."

Mr Amaral's lawyer, Antonio Cabrita, has denied that the former policeman said " f    the McCanns " in response to a question from a BBC reporter about whether his book was hurting the couple.

Regional news programme East Midlands Today broadcast the exchange with the allegedly offending word bleeped out.

A BBC spokesman said: "The reply was clearly ' f    the McCanns '.

"The entire exchange was recorded on camera, and the swear word was bleeped out for transmission as it was clearly unacceptable to broadcast such language at 6.30pm."


But Mr Cabrita said his client had not said anything in English and Portuguese journalists suggested that he said "I'm not talking about the McCanns" in Portuguese.

A judge granted the McCanns an injunction last September banning further sale or publication of Mr Amaral's book and a TV documentary he made about the case.

The ex-policeman's lawyers argue that the material in his book is contained in the official Portuguese police files for the investigation, many of which were made public in August 2008.

The McCanns, both 41, from Rothley, Leicestershire, say their main motive for challenging the former policeman is the fear that people will stop looking for their daughter if they think she is dead.

The court is hearing evidence about Mr Amaral's documentary from TV producers today.

The case will then be adjourned until a further session on February 10, when the judge, Maria Gabriela Cunha Rodrigues, will hear from two witnesses who were not available this week.

The McCanns are also seeking €1.2m in compensation for defamation in separate proceedings against Mr Amaral in Portugal.

They have said any damages awarded by the courts would go towards paying for private investigators to look for Madeleine.

No date has been set for a trial in the compensation case.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, BBC, Gonçalo Amaral, Madeleine McCann, Mike O'Sullivan

Maddie cop rant

BLOGGER NOTE:

THE ARTICLE "TEASER" APPEARED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE SUN - THE FULL TEXT ARTICLE (SEE BELOW) WAS ON PAGE 11

News; Front Page
Maddie cop rant
14 January 2010
The Sun
Tom Wells

THE cop who led the Maddie McCann probe yesterday launched a tirade against her parents.

Goncalo Amaral spat "*F*** the McCanns*" when asked if he felt his wild claims were hurting them.

Full Story — Page 11

***

FULL ARTICLE:

Vile cop: f *** the McCanns ; New attack on parents
The Sun
Tom Wells and Antonella Lazzeri

The ex-cop who led the Madeleine McCann probe sparked new outrage last night after launching a four-letter tirade against the missing child's parents. Brazen Goncalo Amaral spat, " F    the McCanns " when asked by a BBC TV reporter if he felt his wild claims about their daughter were hurting them. Producers bleeped out the slur when a report was broadcast in the East Midlands region where Kate and Gerry McCann live.

Amaral, axed after leading the abortive early investigation into Maddie's disappearance in 2007, flipped before entering a court in Portugal's capital, Lisbon.

Concern

Yesterday he denied making the outburst, claiming he had not even spoken to a British TV crew.

But the BBC insisted he had used "inappropriate language".

And a source said: "It would not have been bleeped out had there not been sufficient cause for concern."

Amaral, 50, is trying to have a ban overturned on his book The Truth of the Lie. In it, he makes lurid claims that Kate and Gerry faked an abduction and hid Maddie's body after the three-year-old died in an accident at their holiday flat in Praia da Luz.

Yesterday he appeared to deliberately provoke the McCanns before the second day of the hearing began.

He sauntered into court brandishing a copy of his SECOND book on the case, The English Gag, in which he claims the parents tried to "silence" him. He sat yards from Kate, 41, and began leafing through its pages. Upset Kate shook her head in disbelief.

But then she steeled herself and told a friend: "He's just promoting it."

She and Gerry, also 41, were forced to endure more insulting evidence as former Portuguese police chief Francisco Moita Flores backed Amaral's view and branded the abduction a "fairytale".

Outside court heart specialist Gerry, who is heading back to Britain to fulfil work commitments, cracked when asked by a female Portuguese reporter if the ordeal of the hearing was "worth it".

He barked: "Do you have children? Anyone who has children would go through this."

He added: "I'd like to remind everyone it's the book that's on trial and not Kate and I." Gerry claimed the Portuguese cops' blinkered view that Maddie was dead — for which there was NO evidence, making it "meaningless" — was damaging the search for her.

And he said they were STILL ignoring leads passed on to them by the family's private investigators.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, BBC, Gonçalo Amaral, Madeleine McCann, Mike O'Sullivan

The British Media versus Amaral - OCTOBER 2007

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST
October 2007 Headlines re: Goncalo Amaral

Continue Reading... Labels: Clarence Mitchell, Gonçalo Amaral, Leicestershire Police, Madeleine McCann

McCanns shouldn't have left the children alone, say police

14 January 2010
Daily Mail
Vanessa Allen

THE 'fairytale' of Madeleine McCann's abduction saved her parents from being charged with neglecting their children, it was claimed yesterday.

Kate and Gerry McCann did not face negligence charges because police were too 'distracted' by claims their daughter had been snatched, a former policeman said.

Francisco Moita Flores told the second day of the McCann libel case how police hadn't believed three-year-old Madeleine was abducted from her parents' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.

They were forced to investigate the theory because of the 'media circus' surrounding the case and the political pressure it created, the Portuguese court heard.

He suggested the couple should face neglect charges because they left their children sleeping while they went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant.

After yesterday's hearing a clearly angry Mr McCann conceded that he and his wife had been wrong to leave their children, but said mistakes had been made by all involved.

He said: 'We're not harking over mistakes which were made, and particularly mistakes that were made early on and cannot be redeemed.

'What is done cannot be righted;  in hindsight we made a mistake by leaving Madeleine and we have to live with the consequences of that. We can't change it.'

Earlier, Mr Moita Flores had told the court: 'No one believed it was an abduction. It was a fairytale, a fable. If the police only worked on that theory then they would be a bunch of idiots.'

He said he believed it would have been impossible for an abductor to break into the McCanns' apartment and carry away Madeleine.

'The McCanns should be judged for the neglect of their children. In Portugal this is huge negligence,' he said.

'The accusation was not made. Justice was distracted. How could they not be accused?'

Mr Moita Flores did not work on the investigation and had already left the Portuguese police when Madeleine, right, disappeared in May 2007.

But he was giving evidence on behalf of Goncalo Amaral, the detective accused of libelling the McCanns in his bestselling book, Maddie: The Truth of the Lie.

Madeleine's parents took legal action against Mr Amaral over accusations they faked their daughter's abduction to cover up her death while on a family holiday.

They won a court injunction banning the sale of the book worldwide and preventing him from repeating the allegations.

But the injunction did not stop him from publishing a second book in December, called The English Gag.

The libel case has provided the police officers who investigatedthe McCanns with a public platform on which to air their suspicions.

Unlike a criminal trial, the detectives have not had to provide evidence to support their allegations.

Mr McCann, 41, left Portugal last night to return to his job as a hospital heart consultant.

His wife, also 41, a former GP who has not returned to work since Madeleine's disappearance, is expected to stay in Lisbon until the end of the court hearing.

The latest courtroom accusations came as Mr Amaral was forced to deny claims he had launched a foul-mouthed attack on the McCanns.

The 50-year-old was caught on camera as he was asked if his book had hurt the couple, and appeared to snarl: 'No, **** the McCanns.'

His outburst was shown by the BBC's regional news programme in the East Midlands, which bleeped out the offending word.

A source said producers were convinced he had sworn, but lawyers for the detective denied he had spoken in English.

His lawyer Antonio Cabrita said: 'I have never heard him use that kind of language.' Asked if he had made the comment, Mr Amaral, 50, replied: 'Never.'

The detective is believed to face financial ruin if the McCanns succeed in their £1million libel action.

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, BBC, Gonçalo Amaral, Madeleine McCann, Mike O'Sullivan

Ranting Rat

14 January 2010
Mirror
Martin Fricker

 As Kate suffers unimaginable agony, the police chief who should've been finding missing Maddy spits out vile four-letter abuse at the McCanns..

DISGRACED detective Goncalo Amaral yesterday let rip at Kate and Gerry McCann with a foul-mouthed outburst.

The former policeman - asked if his book about their daughter Madeleine was hurting the couple - barked: "No, f*** the McCanns."

Amaral then laughed as he walked off, despite being caught on camera insulting the couple who have suffered so much anguish in recent years.

The disgusting slur came as Kate and Gerry had to listen to yet more accusations by Portuguese officers that they were involved in the youngster's 2007 disappearance.

It was made to BBC East Midlands Today reporter Mike O'Sullivan who confronted smirking Amaral outside the Lisbon court where the McCanns are suing him for libel over his book.

Mike said:

"I was astonished, and so was my cameraman, that a former senior police officer could use a term like that against the McCanns. It really was crude."

A friend of Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, added:

"It's disgraceful and gives a true measure of the man."

After Amaral's tirade, Gerry, 41, laid into Portuguese detectives over their claims he and his wife killed three-year-old Madeleine and dumped her body to cover their tracks.

He said:

"The prosecutor had all the evidence and he said there was no evidence Madeleine was dead. If there was evidence of our involvement in Madeleine's disappearance then the prosecutor would have charged us.

"Officers who considered us as involved in Madeleine's disappearance have not been able to change their mind, despite a lack of evidence."

And the heart specialist insisted the blinkered theory by former police liaison officer Ricardo Paiva that their daughter has been killed was hindering the ongoing search for her.

Gerry added:

"How could he investigate thoroughly if he believes that? We've also heard Mr Amaral's thesis that Madeleine is dead.

There is absolutely no evidence to support that. We are not harking on over mistakes that were made and cannot be redeemed.


"What is done cannot be righted. We made a mistake, in hindsight, by leaving Madeleine and we have to live with the consequences of that."

Gerry vowed to keep up the search for their little girl, who vanished from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz as they ate nearby with friends.

He said:

"There is a little girl missing who still needs to be found.

"We will keep going until Madeleine is found and until whoever has taken her is brought to justice. It's not good enough that the search stops."

Gerry revealed three new pieces of information had been sent to investigators in Portugal from their team. But the McCanns faced more accusations yesterday. The court was told Madeleine's abduction was a "fairytale" concocted by the couple.

Criminologist Francisco Moita Flores, a friend of Amaral, said:

"No one believed Madeleine was kidnapped. I saw that window. It was impossible.

"The McCanns should be on trial for not guarding their children."

Continue Reading... Labels: 2010, BBC, Gonçalo Amaral, Madeleine McCann, Mike O'Sullivan

Another example of Really Superb investigative reporting by the British press

14 October 2007
Maddie was still alive: Exclusive
Ross Hall
The News of the World
New evidence gives fresh hope to McCanns

TODAY the News of the World reveals key new evidence that PROVES Maddie McCann was abducted ALIVE.

Continue Reading... Labels: Gonçalo Amaral, Madeleine McCann