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British tabloids apologize to missing girl's parents

Two British newspapers published front page apologies yesterday to the parents of missing toddler Madeleine McCann for suggesting the couple were responsible for the child's disappearance last year.

The apologies in the Daily Express and the Daily Star were, along with "very substantial" damages paid, the result of complaints filed by the McCanns over coverage of the missing child in the two newspapers and their Sunday sister editions.

"We accept that a number of articles in the [Daily Express] newspaper have suggested that the couple caused the death of their missing daughter Madeleine and then covered it up," the Express's apology read.

"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," the Express said.

The newspaper went on to say that it hoped that "the suspicion that has clouded their lives" would be lifted, and added that to express its regret, it had "paid a very substantial sum into the Madeleine Fund and we promise to do all in our power to help efforts to find her."

A similar statement appeared on the front page of the Daily Star, which along with the Sunday Star, is also owned by Express Newspapers.

The Daily Express sells around 700,000 copies each day in Britain, while the Daily Star has approximately 610,000 readers, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the independent verifier of newspaper circulation.

Their Sunday editions sell approximately 630,000 copies and 300,000 copies respectively.

A spokeswoman for the Find Madeleine Fund, which was set up in the wake of the girl's disappearance in May last year, confirmed the money paid for damages would be donated to the fund.

"All the money is going to the fund, none of it is going to the family," fund spokeswoman Sonia Beldom said, but declined to give details on how much the damages were worth.

The complaints made by the McCann family were in relation to more than 100 articles published in the past year by the four Express Newspapers titles, Beldom said.

According to the BBC, as part of the terms of the settlement, a lawyer for Express Newspapers would also read out an apology before a High Court judge yesterday, though Beldom could not confirm those details.

Madeleine's disappearance from the family's holiday room in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, shortly before her fourth birthday, triggered a worldwide publicity campaign by her parents.
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