24 September 2023 , 22:22
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The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has failed to have investigators thrown off his case and now cannot delay his trial, it has been reported.
Paedophile and violent sex offender Christian Brueckner, who is currently in a German prison on drugs charges, tried to put his court date back but has lost his legal bid, it has been claimed. His lawyers attempted to play for time by getting the probe switched to another region.
But now it appears have been knocked back, and that means police can push forward with their bid to take the 46-year-old to trial. Had his team been able to gain support, it could have set the case back years. It comes as police and prosecutors said this summer they are "electrified" by new evidence against him.
Christian Brueckner's lawyers hoped to delay a trial and buy him time (REX/Shutterstock)
Madeleine McCann has been missing since May 2007 since vanishing in Portugal (PA)He is said to have boasted about owning the tools for breaking into people's homes to a pal, which could derail the long-held theory that little Madeleine's abductor clambered through a window before snatching her from her room in Praia da Luz, Portugal.
Investigator Hans-Christian Wolters told The Sun: “This is a relief for us. It is always nice when you get an affirmation of the way you had seen things. The Regional Court here had said Christian B’s last residence has been in Saxony-Anhalt, and therefore we were not the correct investigative jurisdiction for this case. "We appealed to the Higher Regional Court.”
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Brueckner's lawyer Friedrich Fülscher said: “The decision must be accepted at this point. What now needs to happen is the Regional Court must decide whether the degree of suspicion we have against Christian B is sufficient to hold a trial. If yes, they need to set the date for a hearing.”
Brueckner can be charged over alleged sex offences carried out in Portugal, a court ruled last week. He is being probed by a team of prosecutors and detectives over the British youngster’s 2007 disappearance in Portugal. He was already awaiting trial for a string of rapes and child sexual assaults allegedly committed in the country. Those charges were dramatically dropped in April after a German court ruling over who had jurisdiction in the case.
The charges had been filed by prosecutors in the city of Braunschweig because he previously lived there in 2016. But Mr Fuelscher argued that he was actually living in Neuwegersleben, Lower-Saxony. Braunschweig Regional Court ruled in favour of Brueckner, 46, saying it had no jurisdiction over the case.
Mr Fuelscher claimed the probe into Madeleine’s disappearance also needed to be shelved as a result of the judges’ decision. The decision was a devastating blow for Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry and raised fears Brueckner could walk free. But yesterday the Higher Regional Court overturned the ruling, saying Braunschweig prosecutors have jurisdiction after all.
It means he will now have to answer five Portuguese charges, which were first filed last October, and could stand trial. The sex crimes were all allegedly carried out in the Algarve between 2000 and 2017. They include the alleged rape of an Irish tour rep, who was attacked in her apartment Praia da Rocha in 2004.
Brueckner is also accused with raping a teenage girl in his Praia da Luz home and raping an elderly woman in her holiday apartment. He also faces two child sex charges for allegedly exposing himself to girls in separate incidents in the Algarve ten years apart. The German has not been charged in the Madeleine case - which is ongoing - but remains the only suspect.