Robert Murat Damages, McCanns Cleared And Bungling Cops
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
ROBERT Murat has been awarded damages for being libelled by 11 British publications in the matter of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
When they were libelled, Kate and Gerry McCann got a front-page “wholehearted apology” from the Daily Star and a “donation”. The Express did similar.
Today the papers treat the matter as follows:
DAILY EXPRESS (Page 5 side column): “Robert Murat, Micahela Walczuch and Sergey Malinka”
Yesterday the Daily Express and other newspapers apologised in court for having wrongly suggested in a number of articles that Mr Murat, Ms Walczuch and Mr Malinka were involved in the abduction of Madeleine McCann and had told lies about their involvement and/or obstruction [in] the police investigation”
DAILY STAR (page 2): “Robert Murat, Micahela Walczuch and Sergey Malinka”
DAILY MAIL (page 6, side column): “Murat wins Madeleine court action.”
“In recognition of the distress caused, we have agreed to pay substantial damages to the claimants, plus their legal costs”.
Legal costs kept low thank to an out-of-court settlement.
DAILY MIRROR (Page 6, side column): “ROBERT MURAT, MICHAELA WALCZUCH & SERGEY MALINKA”
We had wrongly suggested in a number of articles that Mr Murat and Ms Walczuch were involved in the abduction of Madeleine McCann; that Mr Murat and Ms Walczuch had lied to the police and obstructed their investigation; that Mr Murat was a paedophile who used his computer to access depraved sexual material; that Mr Murat and Ms Walczuch might be part of a paedophile ring; and that Mr Malinka had convictions for sex offences and had lied about his acquaintance with Mr Murat.
SKY NEWS: “Murat Accepts £600,000 Damages”
Says Murat:
“The newspapers in this case brought about the total and utter devastation of mine and my family’s life and caused immense distress. I’m pleased they have admitted the falsity of their allegations and I can start to rebuild my life. I can emerge from this action vindicated with the recognition and acknowledgement that what was said against me was wholly untrue.”
Mr Murat, whose action was against 10 newspaper titles for more than 100 articles, has repeatedly denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
Wasn’t Sky challenged as well?
THE SUN (page six, side column): “ROBERT MURAT – MICHAEL WALCZUCH”
“In various articles we wrongly suggested that they were involved in the abduction of Madeleine McCann, that they had lied about their involvement, that they might have been part of a paedophile ring and that Mr Murat had used his computer to access depraved sexual material”
There is no word from Murat in any of the papers.
But compare that to this:
THE SUN (front page): “THE HUNT FOR MADDIE – McCANNS IN CLEAR. Suspect status lifted this Monday”
Says a “source”.
Page11: “McCanns cleared, but after 441 days…IT’S BACK TO SQUARE ONE”
The Sun gets rent-a-copper John O’Connor to say that the McCanns were “VICTIMS OF THE COPS”.
The Portuguese police took Madeleine?
O’Connor says the “response of the Portuguese police was to make them [McCanns] arguidos and conduct a vicious sniping campaign by leaking apocryphal stories to the Portuguese media”.
You know, those stories that were taken up by the British media and passed off as news.
“How completely wrong they were,” says O’Connor.
Tsk! A pox on those “bungling” coppers.
It’s not like a newspaper would get it so wrong and point the finger at an innocent man and woman. As if. (See above).
Posted: 18th, July 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (119) | TrackBack | Permalink
