McCanns ‘vilified’ after claims by Portuguese police chief

Gerry McCann’s sister Trish Cameron said he and wife Kate had been left in “purgatory” by the disappearance of Madeleine and claims that they were somehow involved.

Speaking at the libel trial of former police chief Goncalo Amaral, Mrs Cameron said the publication of his book in 2008 and a TV documentary based on it the following year caused the family to be “vilified” and “demonised”.

And she said Madeleine’s twin siblings Sean and Amelie, now eight, told their parents that comments were made by fellow pupils at their school.

She told the court: “My brother and sister-in-law live in purgatory because they have no end and they are looking for the truth.”

The McCanns say the former detective’s claims in the book The Truth Of The Lie, including suggestions that they hid their daughter’s body after she died in an accident and faked an abduction, damaged the hunt for Madeleine and exacerbated her family’s anguish.

If successful in the legal action, brought against him, his publisher, and the makers of the documentary, the family stands to gain around £1m in damages.

Mrs Cameron, whose voice cracked as she described the effect on her family by the publication of the book, said: “They were vilified in this book so their distress was multiplied 100 times.

“This pain was felt by all of their family because we still have a missing child and we knew that what is in there is not true.”

Mrs Cameron, from Glasgow, travelled to Lisbon with brother Gerry, who has applied to give evidence in the case. Mr McCann still does not know whether he will be able to give evidence at the trial, and no decision was taken yesterday. Other legal teams are thought to have until October 16 to make submissions on his application, ahead of the judge making her final decision. As Mr McCann left court at lunchtime, he said: “Obviously it’s disappointing, but we will just keep going.”

In her evidence, Mrs Cameron yesterday told the court that she thought she was the first person in the UK Gerry had called after Madeleine’s disappearance in May 2007. She spent three months in Portugal with Kate and Gerry, and continued to help the family in the aftermath of the tragedy.