Search: Madeleine book ban
Kate and Gerry McCann were said to be delighted after a Portuguese court upheld a ban on a book claiming their daughter Madeleine is dead.
A judge in Lisbon rejected an attempt by former senior detective Goncalo Amaral to overturn an injunction halting the sale and publication of his book, Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie.
The McCanns welcomed the ruling and said they hoped it would bring a fresh impetus to the search for Madeleine who has been missing for nearly three years.
Outside court, Mr Amaral said he would appeal against the judgment and repeated his intention to fight the case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.
McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "They are delighted. This was absolutely the right decision as far as they are concerned. They are grateful to the judge for righting an injustice as they see it. Kate sees this as a start to getting the focus back onto finding Madeleine."
Mr Amaral was the first head of the police investigation into the little girl's disappearance from Praia da Luz in Portugal in May 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday.
In July 2008 he published his book, which alleges that Madeleine died in her family's holiday flat and that her parents faked her abduction - something they strongly deny.
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A judge granted the McCanns a temporary injunction last September stopping Mr Amaral from selling his book and a TV documentary he made about the case.
The ex-policeman launched an appeal against the ban last month calling a series of witnesses to support his claims. But Judge Maria Gabriela Cunha Rodrigues rejected his challenge in a ruling delivered at Lisbon's main civil court.
Mr and Mrs McCann, both 41 and from Rothley, Leicestershire, said they were "very pleased and relieved" at the decision.
