The Daily Express and Daily Star carried unprecedented front page apologies to Gerry and Kate McCann today for publishing more than 100 articles on the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine, some of which suggested the couple were involved in her death .
After being threatened with legal action over the articles dating back almost 11 months to when their daughter first went missing, the newspapers, owned by Richard Desmond, also agreed to pay out what it called "a very substantial sum".
The apology is expected to be repeated in the Sunday Express and the Daily Star Sunday this weekend, following a statement due to be read out in front of Mr Justice Eady at the high court today.
The Daily Star said it was making a "wholehearted apology" to the couple for "stories suggesting the couple were responsible for, or may be responsible for, the death of their daughter Madeleine and covering it up".
It recognised "that such a suggestion is absolutely untrue and that Kate and Gerry are completely innocent of any involvement in their daughter's disappearance".
Under the headline Kate and Gerry McCann: Sorry, the Express said it had apologised because "we accept that a number of articles in the newspaper have suggested that the couple caused the death of their missing daughter Madeleine and then covered it up", before acknowledging "there is no evidence whatsoever to support this theory".
Earlier this month the McCanns instructed libel specialists Carter Ruck to write to Express Newspapers over dozens of articles believed to contain defamatory statements. Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, refused to comment last night but has previously said the couple were "grievously wronged" by much of the coverage of their daughter's disappearance. The "substantial sum" that Express Newspapers will pay in damages would go to the Find Madeleine fund.
Since Madeleine went missing last May while the family were on holiday in the Portugese resort of Praia da Luz, she has been the focus of intense press speculation.
The family initially courted the media in order to keep the case in the public eye but the coverage changed in tone when the pair were named as official suspects by the Portuguese police in September, shortly before they flew back to the UK.
Noting the spike in sales and web traffic that typically accompanied stories about the McCanns, many newspapers have published thousands of often contradictory stories. The Express titles were judged to be by far the worst offenders.
Often referring to speculative stories from the Spanish or Portuguese press, the titles have repeatedly used the device of reproducing their allegations in quotation marks. But legal experts say that is no defence in the eyes of the law.
"If you are repeating a rumour, you are liable for that rumour," said Caroline Kean, head of media litigation at media lawyers Wiggin. "There is nothing that has been said about the McCanns that could not have been published in a balanced way. It's when you move into over the top headlines and unbalanced reporting that you go beyond the protection that the libel laws give."
The McCanns hope their action will help draw a line under some of the more salacious coverage that has flourished in the absence of new developments.
Edgar Forbes, a media law consultant, said last week: "While much of the media coverage over the past 10 months has been as unhelpful as it has been inaccurate, some of it has been downright outrageous."
Last week, the Express removed all references to the McCanns from its online archive. In addition to sensational newspaper headlines, the online speculation provoked by their speculative articles is also believed to have angered the couple.
The titles have a habit of following a particular front page story for weeks on end - recent obsessions have also included Princess Diana - but Madeleine's case has featured more than any other in the past year.
The only comparable case in recent newspaper history involved the Sun in 1987 when it settled a libel case brought by Elton John for £1m and published the front page headline Sorry Elton for falsely alleging the singer had paid rent boys.
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