Solicitor given suspended jail term for contempt over McCanns slur

Mr Justice Tugendhat said Tony Bennett, 65, deliberately flouted legal undertakings, given in November 2009, not to repeat allegations about the couple.

He said his conduct was so serious that nothing less than a custodial sentence of three months suspended for one year would reflect the harm that he had done.

Madeleine went missing in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.

Finding Bennett guilty of contempt of court, the judge added: “I am sure that he intended to allege that the claimants are to be suspected of causing the death of their daughter, and did in fact dispose of her body, lie about what happened and covered up what they had done.”

The judge, at London’s High Court, said he was satisfied that Bennett, of Harlow, Essex, was in breach of the undertakings in each of the 13 representative instances before the court – out of 153 publications complained of.

He was not asked to make findings in relation to the other alleged breaches.

The judge commented: “It is essential for the rule of law that injunctions and court orders be obeyed. It can’t be an answer that the person who is giving an undertaking or subject to an injunction can ignore it with impunity while it is in force.”

Bennett, who was ordered to pay the costs of the litigation, apologised to the court.

He added: “I recognise the distress I have caused on a number of occasions to the claimants. I would like to apologise to them for that distress.”

The judge said that Gerry and Kate McCann, who have not attended court, had suffered injury to their reputations and feelings and resorted to legal action not to punish Mr Bennett – but to put a stop to his repeated  conduct.