One of the formal suspects in the Madeleine McCann case is to sue 12 media outlets in what may be one of the largest libel claims in the history of the British media.
Robert Murat is demanding damages from 11 newspapers and one TV station. It is the largest number of claims ever made against different British media outlets on the same issue.
Simons Muirhead and Burton, a London-based law firm, confirmed it was “representing Robert Murat in respect of a number of libel actions.”
The case is being brought against Sky, the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, Metro, Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, News of the World, Sun and the Scotsman.
Murat, who lived close to the Praia da Luz apartment in Portugal where Madeleine went missing, was the first formal suspect, or arguido, named in the McCann case and has denied any involvement in her disappearance last May.
He has been the subject of relentless media scrutiny since a journalist from the Sunday Mirror expressed concerns about the 34-year-old property developer to Portuguese police shortly after Madeleine went missing.
Francisco Pagarete, Murat’s lawyer in Portugal, said that he could not comment on the British legal case but that Murat’s decision to pursue damages was understandable.
“After what was reported, it is very easy to understand this decision,” he said.
Last month Express Newspapers was forced to run a front page apology to Gerry and Kate McCann as part of a libel settlement, over suggestions that they were involved in her disappearance. The group paid £550,000 (US$1.1 million) in damages to the Find Madeleine fund.
Media lawyer and litigation expert Dan Tench, a partner at Olswang solicitors, described allegations made in the Portuguese press and repeated in British outlets as “a media feeding frenzy that at times paid little regard to the legal niceties.”
The case was likely to center on whether the media alleged that Murat was somehow implicated in Madeleine’s disappearance or simply provided a fair and accurate report of proceedings in a foreign court, he said.
Tench added that the maximum recovery for a normal libel claim is thought to be about £200,000.
Given the repetition of the claims and the nature of the allegations, a total payout could top £1 million.
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