Detective who criticized Madeleine McCann's parents for leaving her alone jailed for involvement in two violent break-ins
The detective who had clashed with the parents of missing toddler Madeleine McCann in the Netflix documentary about her disappearance has been sentenced to prison for seven and a half years on Friday, December 6.
Paula Pereira Cristovao, who had been a long-time critic of Madeleine's parents, was convicted of his involvement in the planning of two violent break-ins at properties in Lisbon and Cascais, according to Daily Mail.
The state prosecutors had accused him of being an important member of an organized gang by giving his accomplices information about the victims and the target homes.
The former cop who had left the Policia Judiciaria will remain a free man while an appeal is pending.
It has now been discovered that Cristovao was facing trial in March when he had played a prominent role in Netflix's 'The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann'.
He had admitted to his involvement in the break-ins before the trial at a court in Cascais.
However, he denied prosecutors' claims that he was a gang ringleader. Cristovao denied the claims after the guilty verdict on Friday and said that he had been convicted of crimes like kidnapping which he had not committed.
His defense lawyer told the court how his client had returned £8,500 commission he had received from one of the raids to a victim. All except one were convicted over the 2014 raids. During one robbery, a couple and their daughter were kidnapped and the accused took more than £100,000.
The alleged leader of the group nicknamed Mustafa is already behind bars and is awaiting trial over a brutal attack on Sporting Lisbon players. The leader received an additional six years and four months in prison.
The 51-year-old has always been a critic of Kate and Gerry McCann and called for them to be arrested for leaving their children alone in their Algarve holiday apartment before Madeleine disappeared in 2007.
In a 2008 book titled 'The Star of Madeleine', Cristovao had claimed that the toddler was dead and her body had been dumped into the sea. His novel was based on the real police investigation which he claimed had been hampered by interference from British authorities.