Newspapers make front page apologies to McCanns

Mar 19 2008

TWO newspapers today published front page apologies for a series of articles about the parents of missing Madeleine McCann.

The Daily Express and Daily Star, which are both published by Express Newspapers, have also agreed to pay a "very substantial" sum to the Find Madeleine fund.

The apology is understood to relate to articles published about Kate and Gerry McCann in the two daily newspapers and their sister titles, the Sunday Express and the Star on Sunday.

The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "An agreement has been reached with the Express Newspapers but I cannot go into detail before a hearing at the High Court."

The McCanns are understood to be "pleased" that an agreement has been reached.

A friend of the couple said: "It will not bring Madeleine back but if the resolution of this case helps to find her then all well and good."

The apology in today’s Daily Express says the newspaper takes the "unprecedented step" of making the apology on its front page.

It reads: "We do so because we accept that a number of articles in the newspaper have suggested that the couple caused the death of their missing daughter Madeleine and then covered it up.

"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.

"We trust that the suspicion that has clouded their lives for many months will soon be lifted.

"As an expression of its regret, the Daily Express has now paid a very substantial sum into the Madeleine Fund and we promise to do all in our power to help efforts to find her.

"Kate and Gerry, we are truly sorry to have added to your distress.

"We assure you that we hope Madeleine will one day be found alive and well and will be restored to her loving family."

The Daily Star publishes a similarly-worded apology.

A spokesman for the Daily Express said: "We have nothing to add to what will be said in court and in our titles."

Madeleine, who turned four shortly after she disappeared, went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 last year while her parents ate dinner at a nearby tapas bar with friends.

Kate and Gerry remain officially suspects, or arguidos, in the Portuguese police investigation but they strenuously protest their innocence.