Just five hours in May

What really happened to Madeleine Beth McCann?

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Carter Ruck Lawyers

Some of the prominent McCann-Lawyers are from →Carter-Ruck (homepage: Our Clients): “Carter-Ruck's clients are drawn from all over the world. Many are high profile individuals, including heads of state, heads of government and other senior politicians and diplomats, leading business people and celebrities and other prominent figures in the fields of entertainment, media and sport. The firm also represents sovereign states, government ministries, regulatory bodies, academic institutions, charities, multinational corporations and companies of every size. Media clients encompass the whole industry, including newspaper, magazine and book publishers, broadcasting organisations and online publishers. Carter-Ruck has been at the forefront of efforts to pioneer creative solutions in relation to the funding of litigation and this has enabled the firm also to represent numerous individuals who might not otherwise have been able to obtain specialist advice and access to justice.”

Wikipedia: “The Libel Reform Campaign cite many instances where the application of the libel laws by Law Firms like Carter-Ruck is effectively gagging the freedom of expression and free speech in the England and Wales leaving only the wealthy anywhere in the world able to seek justice in the UK where it would be denied in their own country. See Also Libel tourism. However, these criticisms have been challenged by leading media law academics Prof. Alastair Mullis and Dr Andrew Scott. The most recent example of Carter-Ruck acting on behalf of a client to stifle criticism was reported in the Guardian newspaper on 19 January 2011. Carter-Ruck on behalf of Midland Pig Producers issued a warning letter to the Soil Association threatening libel proceedings after the SA objected to a MPP planning application. Threatening such proceedings, which are rarely followed through, is a typical modus operandi of Carter-Ruck (and other law firms) to minimise scrutiny and adverse publicity of their clients.”

As early as 21-May-2007 the McCann's where represented by Carter Ruck Lawyer Adam Tudor (see: LP 2007).


Carter Ruck mentions the Maddie-Case on its page →Recent Work (12.12.2014):

By its very nature, the majority of Carter-Ruck’s pre-publication and privacy-related work is confidential and must remain so. However, a selection of recent media and defamation work highlights which are in the public domain is set out below.

Kate and Gerry McCann secure £55,000 in libel damages and apology from the Sunday Times: The Sunday Times has published a full apology and agreed to pay Kate and Gerry McCann £55,000 in libel damages (all of which they will donate to charity), over completely false allegations that they had kept secret from the investigating authorities crucial evidence relating to their daughter’s abduction. The Sunday Times also agreed to pay the McCanns’ legal fees.

The McCanns were represented by Adam Tudor and Zoe Brocket.

Kate and Gerry McCann - Carter-Ruck brought a successful application for contempt of Court against an individual who had repeatedly published false and highly defamatory allegations about the couple, in breach of formal undertakings which he had given to the Court in 2009. Recognising the seriousness and persistency of the individual’s conduct, the Court imposed a three-month suspended prison sentence. The individual has subsequently agreed to withdraw an appeal of the committal order, to abide by his undertakings in future and to pay costs to the Claimants.

Kate and Gerry McCann were represented by Adam Tudor and Isabel Martorell.

Parliament Calls on Carter-Ruck - At Parliament's invitation, two Carter-Ruck partners have given evidence at the House of Commons before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee's inquiry into press standards, privacy and libel. Adam Tudor gave evidence on 10 March 2009 alongside Carter-Ruck client Gerry McCann and the McCanns' press spokesman, Clarence Mitchell.

Jane Tanner, Russell O’Brien, Fiona Payne, David Payne, Matthew Oldfield, Rachael Oldfield and Dianne Webster, the group of friends who were with Kate and Gerry McCann when their daughter Madeleine was abducted in Portugal in May 2007, have secured full apologies and £375,000 in damages from Express Newspapers. At the friends’ request, the damages are all to be donated to the Find Madeleine Fund.

The friends were represented by Adam Tudor and Stevie Loughrey.

Kate McCann - Kate McCann has received a full apology from The News of the World following the newspaper’s unauthorised publication of extracts from her diary. The News of the World has also agreed to make a financial donation, to be used by the McCanns in the search for their daughter Madeleine. At Mrs McCann’s request, Carter-Ruck has issued a press release making clear that Mrs McCann had not consented and does not consent to the publication of her diary or of any extracts from it.

Mrs McCann was represented in this matter by Adam Tudor and Stevie Loughrey.

Kate and Gerry McCann - Carter-Ruck secured unprecedented front-page apologies from the Daily Express, the Sunday Express, the Daily Star and the Daily Star Sunday for Gerry and Kate McCann, for having falsely alleged that they were responsible for the death of their daughter Madeleine and that they had conspired to cover up their actions. Express Newspapers (which publish the titles in question) also agreed to pay libel damages of £550,000, to be donated (at the McCanns’ request) to the fund set up to find their daughter Madeleine. Express Newspapers made a further unreserved apology in the High Court for publishing a series of over one hundred highly defamatory articles about Mr and Mrs McCann from the late summer of 2007 until February 2008.

Gerry and Kate McCann are represented by Adam Tudor and Isabel Martorell.

The Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press - Adam Tudor and Isabel Martorell are advising Kate and Gerry McCann in relation to their status as 'Core Participants' in the Leveson Inquiry