McCanns Win Libel Suit, Apology, from British Newspapers

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Parents Gerry and Kate McCann have already suffered through a parent’s worst nightmare: the abduction of a child. But their particular pain was amplified time and time again as British newspapers continued to print "gross falsities" insinuating that they were involved in their daughter’s disappearance and possible murder.

This week the McCanns won an admittedly hollow victory, as a libel suit against the publisher of four British papers was decided in their favor. The couple was awarded 550,000 pounds (or 1.1 million U.S. dollars), and a front-page apology from all four of the newspapers involved.

The four papers, the Daily Express, the Sunday Express, the Daily Star, and the Daily Star Sunday, are all owned by the Express Newspapers company. Between the four newspapers, 100 articles between the summer of 2007 and February of 2008 were printed suggesting that the McCanns were in some way responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance, her supposed murder, and the disposal of her body.

Through their lawyer, the McCanns told reporters that they only decided to sue "reluctantly," and that the money won in the libel suit will be deposited in the Find Madeleine Fund. Said the couple in a statement released to the press, "We embarked on this course of action reluctantly, indeed with a heavy heart, as we did not wish the pursuit of it to become a distraction from our sole aim: finding Madeleine."

They had long tried to appeal to the papers to cease printing the stories, only to be ignored. "As long ago as last autumn our lawyers approached Express Newspapers and urged them to show greater restraint in their reporting—requests which went utterly unheeded," said the McCanns.

On the front page stories, printed this week, apologies were issued by all four newspapers, and all carried a version of the following statement: "We acknowledge that there is no evidence whatsoever to support this theory, and that Kate and Gerry are completely innocent of any involvement in their daughter's disappearance."

The couple was gratified, they said, by the court’s decision, saying, "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"

The McCann family was vacationing in Portugal in May of last year when four-year-old Madeleine disappeared from her bed while her parents were eating dinner at the hotel.

Countless leads and "sightings" of the little girl have surfaced, though none have resulted in her discovery.

The McCanns have been the target of relentless media attention ever since, much of it negative, especially because of the fact that they left their sleeping children unattended while dining nearby.

But the two have steadfastly maintained both their innocence and their determination to continue to search for their missing daughter.

On May 4th, Madeleine McCann will have been missing for a year.