KATE and Gerry McCann are the subjects of a vile whispering campaign, which has led to them suffering a daily torrent of smears.

As they still try to come to terms with the loss of four-year-old Madeleine they continually face new accusations, including that they were responsible for her death.

And despite the couple’s swift, strenuous and increasingly exasperated denials to every one of the allegations, they have failed to dampen the appetite of the Portuguese media for new smears. The lies include:

Kate’s guilt
Portuguese TV reporter Sandra Felguiras is said to have implied during one live broadcast recently that Mrs McCann could have murdered her daughter. A source close to the couple’s family described the comments as “outrageous”.

Drugging their children
The McCanns, both doctors, have been accused of “drugging” their children to make them sleep so they could go out. The claim came from unnamed police sources who doubted Madeleine’s two-year-old twin brother and sister could have slept through her abduction. Last week magazine Tal&Qual suggested they accidentally killed her with an overdose. The couple say they have never used sedatives on their children and never would.

Wife-swapping holidays
A retired detective claimed, without foundation on a TV programme, that Kate and Gerry were “swingers” who enjoyed wife-swapping with the friends who were their dinner party companions. Despite a lack of evidence, the claim was picked up by local newspapers.

Excessive drinking
Rumours that the couple and their friends were drunk when they should have been looking after their children began among holidaymakers in Praia da Luz and were picked up by local journalists. The McCanns deny they drank on May 3, when Madeleine went missing.

Children left to cry
Neighbours at the Ocean Club are said to have told of the McCanns leaving their children while they went out to enjoy themselves, including once in a town 15 minutes’ drive away. Kate and Gerry insist they ate every night at a restaurant less than a minute from the flat.

Killed in the apartment
Various newspapers and television stations have discounted the abduction theory, and claim Madeleine died in the apartment, through the negligence of her parents or murder. Journalists who made the claim cannot explain why detectives might think this.

A body in the hire car
Other newspapers have reported the existence of forensic evidence that Madeleine’s body had been in the family’s rental car. This claim re-emerged at the weekend with reports that the scent of a corpse had been discovered by a sniffer dog on the hire car’s key. The couple rented the car five weeks after their daughter disappeared.

Emergency call delay
Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias cited an unnamed holiday resort worker who falsely claimed the McCanns opted to contact the media and a priest before police. The McCanns issued a denial to a baseless story.

Intercepted phone calls and emails
Diario de Noticias also said police had “intercepted” communications between the McCanns and their friends which were said to provide “decisive proof” that Madeleine was not kidnapped. The McCanns handed police all their phone and computer records soon after the crime.

Friends under suspicion
The newspaper 24 Horas claimed members of the holiday party were “under surveillance” in Britain as part of the investigation. This is strenuously denied by British and Portuguese police.

Forged birth certificate
Local media has even claimed Gerry was not Madeleine’s real father and had used his position as a doctor to alter details on her birth certificate illegally. This is said to have caused the couple particular hurt because all three of their children were conceived by IVF.