A FORMER cop who repeatedly blasted missing Madeleine McCann’s parents has been jailed for kidnap and burglary.

       Paulo Pereira Cristovao had been fighting to overturn the convictions for kidnap and burglary for more than four years.

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       Paulo Pereira Cristovao has been jailed for kidnap and burglary Credit: TVI 2

       Cristovao has been a constant critic of Madeleine McCann's parents Kate and Gerry Credit: Getty

       He has been a constant critic of Kate and Gerry McCann and called for them to be arrested for leaving their children alone in their Algarve holiday apartment after Madeleine vanished on May 3 2007.

       He claimed in a 2008 book called The Star of Madeleine the toddler was dead and her body had been dumped at sea.

       His novel, based on the real police investigation which he claimed was hampered by interference from British authorities, ended with two fictional officers gazing out at the Atlantic Ocean following a huge land search.

       He mysteriously claimed two of the McCanns’ holiday pals - the so-called Tapas Seven - were “fundamental” to discovering the truth about Madeleine.

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       The couple’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell called his comments at the time ‘hurtful and distressing’ and accused him of trying to profit from the McCanns’ misfortune.

       Cristovao also played a big part in a Netflix documentary about Madeleine which streamed in 2019.

       The disgraced cop has now been jailed for 7？ years for burglary and the kidnap of a couple and their daughter.

       He faces a new trial in an unrelated fraud case.

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