Kate and Gerry McCann instituted legal proceedings in 2010, seeking damages of one million pounds against Amaral who oversaw the first six months of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

During Thursday’s ruling, which the McCanns did not attend, Judge Emília Melo e Castro revealed that emotional damage had been caused by Amaral’s book, The Truth of the Lie.

A source close to case had originally been quoted by Lusa News Agency as stating that " it was proven that damage was caused as direct result by the book's publication", who also confirmed that the judge ruled that the book "contains information from the actual case", which could constitute a breach of Portugal’s strict secrecy laws. But according to the court ruling, these are nonetheless facts contained in the investigation conducted by Portuguese police in the wake of Madeleine's disappearance.

The judge also found that "it had not been proven that Kate and Gerry McCann were affected from a moral, social and ethical point of view", but said that the publication of the book by Amaral resulted in the couple "feeling anger, despair, anxious, worried and suffered sleepless nights and experienced a lack of apetite."

Newspaper reports have also since stated the couple's reputation had already been damaged prior to the book's release, which might be seen as factor which could substantially reduce any pay-outs should the court decide in favour of the McCanns.

But Miguel Cruz Rodrigues, lawyer for the former PJ detective, told newspaper Público that he did not expect "anything but for his client to be cleared" of the charges made against him.

The lawyer for the McCann family, Isabel Duarte, was not immediately available for comment.

The couple had alleged that the book had resulted in people giving up in their search for Madeleine, but the judge was said to be satisfied with police testimony that the book did not stop detectives from obtaining information or to investigate her disappearance.

According to Público, the court also reportedly stated that for the "majority of people" who read the book, they would find that the McCanns are not held responsible for the death of their daughter, but rather "that they had responsibilities in the concealment of her body."

The case was closed in September 2008, resulting in the arguido status on the McCanns being lifted. The case was re-opened in the autumn of 2013 by the Attorney-General's office after new evidence was presented by PJ detectives.

A final ruling is expected to take at least 60 days before being read out.

* The story was updated at 15:30 on 22/01/2015 having been initially based on an article filed by the Lusa News Agency