Madeleine suspect in
damages win BBC News
Page last updated at 12:58 GMT, Tuesday, 15 July
2008 13:58 UK
Expat Robert Murat has
settled a claim for damages over allegations in 11 UK newspapers that he was involved in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Briton Mr Murat is still an official suspect - or arguido - in Portugal.
He was questioned by police but denied any involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine, who vanished
aged three from an Algarve apartment in May last year.
The libel settlement - which was due to be heard in court on Thursday - is for about £550,000 and
includes an apology.
In April Mr Murat's lawyers, Simons Muirhead & Burton, said they were pursuing 11 leading British
newspapers and Sky TV over allegedly libellous stories.
On Tuesday a spokeswoman for Mr Murat said the settlement and written apology had been agreed with
the 11 newspapers.
In their April statement, his lawyers named the Sun, Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star,
Daily Mail, London Evening Standard, Metro, Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, News of the World and the Scotsman.
In March Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann reached a similar libel settlement and got an
apology from Express Newspapers for suggesting they were responsible for her death.
Media commentator and journalism professor Roy Greenslade said the case showed newspapers had "lost
their heads" over the Madeleine story.
He said newspapers needed to be more aware that when crimes happened abroad it did not "relieve
them of the normal rules that they should apply".
He added that competition had driven them to "bid each other up" in terms of what they thought they
could get away with in their reporting.
"Profits and sales ruled, rather than principles and ethics," he said.
Villa searched
Mr Murat, 34, was questioned by police 11 days after Madeleine went missing from the Praia da Luz
resort on 3 May 2007, before being made a formal suspect.
Police searched the nearby villa where he lived with his mother after Sunday Mirror journalist Lori
Campbell spoke to the British Embassy and the police about Mr Murat.
The expatriate, who described himself as half-Portuguese, had become known to journalists and told
them he had been helping police with translation work during the search.
Last month Mr Murat said he hoped the return of computers seized from him by police signalled they
were to drop his status as a formal suspect soon.
His mother, Jenny Murat, has always maintained she was with her son at home on the night of Madeleine's
disappearance.
Under Portuguese law someone can remain an official suspect without charge for as long as the investigation
is continuing.
Kate and Gerry McCann also remain official suspects in the inquiry.
In their libel settlement the Express Newspapers group paid £550,000 to the Find Madeleine campaign,
and the Daily Express and Daily Star issued front-page apologies admitting the stories were inaccurate.
Madeleine suspect in damages win BBC News (update)
Page last updated at 16:57 GMT, Tuesday,
15 July 2008 17:57 UK
In this update the following text is inserted between the 4th and 3rd last
paragraphs:
Legal editor for the Daily Telegraph Joshua Rozenberg told the BBC the newspapers were now clearly
admitting they could not defend their allegations.
"They realise that this is one of the most damaging things you
could say about anybody, and it appears that they have all clubbed together and agreed to settle the libel claim out of court."
He said the fact Mr Murat was still an official suspect did not affect the libel case.
"The only way in which the newspapers could defend this case would be if they could prove the truth
of what they alleged. And simply saying this is the status he happens to have under Portuguese law, goes nowhere near that
particular demand.
"As far as English law is concerned, he is being vindicated and the newspapers are very clearly
saying that they cannot justify what they alleged."
Page last updated at 14:05 GMT, Tuesday,
15 July 2008 15:05 UK
Robert Murat - the first person to be
named as an official suspect - or arguido - in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has agreed an out of court settlement
with a number of UK newspapers.
Madeleine McCann went missing in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on 3 May 2007. She was three at the time.
During the police search Robert Murat, 34, a former property developer who lived close to the holiday
apartment where she disappeared, became well known to journalists and told them he had been helping police with translation
work.
Mr Murat, who previously lived in Hockering, Norfolk, had been living with his mother Jenny, 71,
in Praia da Luz.
Police searched the villa where they lived after Sunday Mirror journalist Lori Campbell spoke to
the British Embassy and the police about Mr Murat.
Mr Murat was questioned by police 11 days after Madeleine went missing, before being made a formal
suspect - or arguido.
A subsequent two-day search of his home was carried out by police in August 2007.
The British expatriate, who described himself as half-Portuguese, has consistently stated his innocence.
His mother, Jenny Murat, has always maintained she was with her son at home on the night of Madeleine's
disappearance.
And, when he was first identified as a suspect, Mr Murat said he was "a scapegoat" for something
he did not do.
Shortly after being named as an arguido he told Sky News this status had "ruined" his life.
And, last October, he expressed similar sentiments when he told the BBC his situation had become
"very, very difficult".
Mr Murat's campaign to clear his name stepped up in January when his mother said it was time for
her son's status to be reviewed.
In a BBC interview, Jenny Murat said police had not contacted him for six months and they wanted
to get back on with their lives.
Asked whether her son believed his suspect status would be removed, she said: "I don't think Robert
thinks about that, obviously he hopes it's going to be, but we just don't have a clue."
In March it emerged that the Briton had computers and other possessions seized by Portuguese police
returned to him.
Legal action
At the time he said the move was a "very positive sign" for him.
Mr Murat said: "Why would they return something if it was in the middle of being investigated in
any way, shape or form?
"We are very happy to have the computers back, and I hope I will have my arguido status dropped
very shortly."
The following month his lawyers, Simons Muirhead & Burton, revealed that their client planned
to sue 11 leading British newspapers and Sky TV over allegedly libellous stories.
In a statement they named the Sun, Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star, Daily Mail, London
Evening Standard, Metro, Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, News of the World and the Scotsman.
The out of court libel settlement, for about £550,000 and an apology, was reached just days before
the case was due to be heard in court.
Mr Murat remains an official suspect in Portugal.
Under Portuguese law someone can remain an official suspect without charge for as long as the investigation
is continuing.
In March, Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann, who also remain suspects, won a libel settlement
and apology from Express Newspapers for suggesting they were involved in their daughter's disappearance.
The newspaper group paid the couple £550,000 in damages.
Early in July 2008, Portugal's attorney-general confirmed that prosecutors had received the final
report from police investigating Madeleine's disappearance, but said the case was still "the subject of careful assessment
and consideration".
Local media said detectives have concluded there was not sufficient evidence to charge anyone in
connection with the little girl's disappearance in May last year, and that the case should be closed.
But lawyers for the McCanns and Mr Murat said they had received no word of a development that would
mean the lifting of their suspect status.
Page last updated at 14:33 GMT, Tuesday, 15 July 2008
15:33 UK
Expat Robert Murat has settled a claim for damages over allegations in 11 UK newspapers that he was involved
in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Richard Bilton reports.
Page last updated at 16:12 GMT, Tuesday, 15 July 2008
17:12 UK
Robert Murat has settled a claim for damages over allegations in 11 UK newspapers that he was involved
in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Niri Shan, a media partner at law firm Taylor Wessing, who specialises in defamation, spoke to the
BBC about the settlement.
Page last updated at 20:25 GMT, Tuesday, 15 July 2008
21:25 UK
Robert Murat has settled a claim for damages over allegations in 11 UK newspapers that
he was involved in Madeleine McCann's disappearance.
Publicist Max Clifford gives his view on the settlement.
