Madeleine: A destiny begun

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Friends who were with the parents of Madeleine McCann when she disappeared in Portugal are to be paid £375,000 in libel damages by Express Newspapers.

Sky's Crime correspondent Martin Brunt said: "The Tapas 7, friends of Kate and Gerry McCann - those who were on holiday with them in Portugal last year - are to receive apologies tomorrow morning in the High Court from Express Newspapers, and they will share a payout of £375,000.

"I'm told an apology will be read out in the court and then there'll be statements from the McCanns and the 'Tapas 7' lawyers.

"There will also be apologies in the Daily Express and Daily Star newspapers and we can expect something similar in the Sunday Express."

"The friends had complained about around two dozen articles in which they claimed they were libelled; accusations that they had covered up the truth of what had happened to Madeleine, allegations that they had obstructed the authorities and even allegations that one of them had been involved in Madeleine's disappearance," said Brunt.

"This is the third time this year newspapers have agreed a settlement.

"The first settlement was against Express Newspapers - they were forced to pay out just over £500,000 to Kate and Gerry McCann for more than 100 defamatory articles.

"In July, a number of newspaper groups were involved in an even bigger payout - around £600,000 - to Robert Mural, the first suspect in the case, who was subsequently cleared of suspicion by the Portuguese authorities.