Disgraced cop to be key speaker at Madeleine McCann conference

Sep 13 2009 by Vicky Farncombe, Sunday Mercury

THE disgraced cop who led the search for missing Madeleine McCann before pointing the finger at her parents is to be the key speaker at a Midland conference about her disappearance.

Chief Inspector Gonçalo Amaral was booted off the case after blasting the British police’s handling of the inquiry.

But he made a reported £1 million from a book claiming Maddie was dead, and that Kate and Gerry McCann had concealed her body.

Last week a Portuguese judge banned Maddie: The Truth About The Lie from bookshelves because of its unfounded allegations. The fallen cop also faces a lawsuit from the McCanns.

But the Sunday Mercury can reveal that Amaral will not be silenced.

He has agreed to give the keynote speech at a conference organised by the Madeleine McCann Foundation, a group also claiming that the Rothley, Leicestershire girl’s death was covered up.

As many as 150 people are expected to attend the conference in Castle Donington, just 16 miles from Maddy’s home.

Organisers are refusing to divulge the exact whereabouts of the venue until three days before it begins.

Last night they said it was for “confirmed McCann-sceptics who do not believe that Madeleine McCann was abducted”.

Secretary Anthony Bennett said: “We have a venue for the conference, booked and arranged.

“We dare not give out the venue publicly because of threats of disruption we have had from supporters of the McCann family.