British couple Kate and Gerry McCann's £550,000 libel award over false newspaper allegations that they were responsible for the death of their daughter Madeleine will be used to help fund the search to find her, they said today.
They were not present at London's High Court for the settlement of their action against Express Newspapers when a judge heard of the "untold distress" they had suffered as the result of publication of more than 100 defamatory articles.
In a statement read out on their behalf after a hearing before Mr Justice Eady, the couple, whose four-year-old daughter went missing from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3rd last year while her parents dined at a nearby tapas bar with friends, described the allegations against them as "grotesque".
They said: "As part of our settlement, Express Newspapers have also agreed to pay damages, by way of a donation of £550,000 to the fund that was established to help find Madeleine.
"We feel it is entirely appropriate that the search for Madeleine will now benefit directly out of the wrongs committed against us as her parents. We hope that the Portuguese authorities lift our arguido[suspect] status in the very near future so that everyone can focus on finding our beautiful little girl, Madeleine."
The couple said: "Express Newspapers rightly acknowledge that we are innocent of all allegations that we may have been involved in Madeleine's abduction and we would like to reiterate that there is absolutely no evidence that Madeleine is dead or has been seriously harmed.
"We embarked on this course of action reluctantly, indeed with a heavy heart, as we did not wish the pursuit of it to become a distraction from our sole aim - finding Madeleine."
Earlier, the couple's solicitor-advocate, Adam Tudor, told the judge that from the late summer of last year until February this year, the Daily Express, the Sunday Express, the Daily Starand the Daily Star Sunday, which have a combined circulation of several million copies as well as a substantial online readership, published more than 100 articles which were seriously defamatory of the couple.
He said: "The general theme of the articles was to suggest that Mr and Mrs McCann were responsible for the death of Madeleine or that there were strong or reasonable grounds for so suspecting and that they had then disposed of her body; and that they had then conspired to cover up their actions, including by creating 'diversions' to divert the police's attention away from evidence which would expose their guilt.
"Many of these articles were published on the front pages of the newspapers and on their websites, accompanied by sensational headlines."
Mr Tudor said that, as Express Newspapers now acknowledged, all of these allegations "were, and remain, entirely untrue".
"In particular, there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Mr and Mrs McCann were responsible for the death of their daughter or that they were involved in any sort of cover-up, and there was no basis for Express Newspapers to allege otherwise.
"Naturally, the repeated publication of these utterly false and defamatory allegations has caused untold distress to Mr and Mrs McCann. Indeed it is difficult to conceive of a more serious allegation than to be falsely accused of being responsible for the death of one's own daughter."
He added that in recognition of the falsity of the allegations made against the McCanns, Express Newspapers had agreed to publish full apologies on the front pages and websites of the relevant newspapers.
Express Newspaper's counsel Stephen Bacon said: "Express Newspapers regrets publishing these extremely serious, yet baseless, allegations concerning Mr and Mrs McCann over a sustained period of what will already have been an enormously distressing time for them, and at a time when they have been trying to focus on finding their daughter.
"As an expression of its regret, Express Newspapers has agreed to publish front-page apologies, acknowledging the falsity of the allegations and reflecting the fact that they should never have been made.
"Through me, Express Newspapers wholeheartedly repeats that apology before the court today. They profoundly regret the distress which these publications will have caused to Mr and Mrs McCann. I confirm that Express Newspaper has agreed to make a substantial contribution to the Madeleine Fund, which we hope will assist in continuing the search for her."
The McCanns' lawyers complained several weeks ago over the articles, which appeared after Portuguese detectives last September named the couple as "arguidos", or official suspects, in their daughter's disappearance.
The McCanns are reserving the right to sue other papers for libel.
Last August they launched a defamation action against the Portuguese newspaper Tal & Qualover a front-page story which claimed police believed they killed their daughter.
The August 24th article alleged the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) - Portugal's CID - were certain the couple accidentally caused Madeleine's death.
It is understood that Tal & Qualhas since folded.
PA
