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4 months ago
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THE prime Madeleine McCann suspect could be free as soon as next year – after a court sensationally threw out his arrest warrant.
Judges ruled there was no reason to keep him behind bars for his current trial – as their suspicion he committed the crimes he is accused of is now less.
PA
Dan Charity
Dan CharityIn a cruel blow to the McCann family it means when Brueckner’s existing rape sentence expires he will walk free – in a matter of just months, in early 2025.
Convicted paedophile Brueckner, 47, is on trial for a string of rapes and sex assaults unconnected to Maddie, who was snatched from her family’s apartment, in Portugal, in 2007.
A court had initially ruled he should be kept on remand over suspicion he committed the attacks – including a knife-point rape on Irish holiday rep Hazel Behan.
But after hearing all the trial witnesses, judges have now agreed they no longer see a high likelihood that he has committed the crimes he is currently accused of.
Braunschweig Regional Court overturned the arrest warrant at the request of the defence lawyer because it “denies an urgent suspicion regarding all charges”.
A statement added: “The chamber has revoked an arrest warrant in connection with five offences.”
If Brueckner is acquitted of the current cases in the autumn investigators have the option to appeal to try and keep the brute behind bars.
Failing that they could finally be forced into charging Brueckner with offences over Maddie.
Prosecutors were said to be expecting the decision after a trial when potentially key witnesses from the Maddie case have been grilled in court.
Spokesman for the Public Prosecutors Office Hans Christian Wolters told Bild: “We will examine the reasons for the decision and then decide how to proceed.”
Brueckner was previously said to have spent £7,500 having his jaw reset and four “rabbit” teeth straightened four months after Maddie vanished in 2007.
Soon after, a police sketch showed a man with buck teeth seen near the McCanns’ holiday flat.
Last month the suspect used data protection laws to try and stop birthmark pictures that tie him to a horror rape being shown in court.
The monster ‘had the mark removed’ from his left thigh to avoid being identified for the knifepoint attack on Hazel Behan.
Brueckner refused to let a health file that contains pictures of him with the mark be opened, claiming it breached strict German data laws.
It raises the prospect prosecutors will not be able to show the images in court – despite the importance in backing Hazel’s claims he was the attacker who whipped and filmed her.
Brueckner denies three counts of rape and two counts of sex abuse of children.
The trial continues.
Madeleine McCann's disappearance
MADELEINE McCann vanished on May 3, 2007 - and cops believe Brueckner could have been behind her disappearance.
Almost 17 years on, no one has been charged in connection. These are the key dates
May 3, 2007 – Kate McCann finds Madeleine missing at 10pm
May 14, 2007 – Property developer Robert Murat is named an “arguido” or formal suspect
August 31, 2007 – The McCanns launch libel action against Tal e Qual – a newspaper that claimed the couple killed Madeleine
September 7, 2007 – Kate and Gerry McCann are made “arguidos”
September 9, 2007– Madeleine’s parents return to England with their two-year-old twins
October 2, 2007– Lead detective Goncalo Amaral is taken off the case after criticising British police in a newspaper interview
July 21, 2009 – Portuguese police lift the “arguido” status of both Robert Murat and the McCanns
May 12, 2011 – On Madeleine’s eighth birthday, Scotland Yard launches a review into the case
April 25, 2012 – Scotland Yard officers say they believe Madeleine McCann is still alive
July 4, 2013 – Two years into a review of the case, Scotland Yard launched its own investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance
October 24, 2013– Portuguese police reopen their case after new lines of inquiry are found
November 27, 2013 – Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe called for British and Portuguese police to work together
October 28, 2015 – Scotland Yard reduces the number of officers working on Madeleine’s disappearance
March 11, 2017 – The Home Office grants Operation Grange an extra £85,000 to continue from April until September
September 28, 2017 – British police are granted £154,000 to keep the probe going until March 2018
November 2017 – Cops moved the search to Bulgaria
May 2018 – Another round of funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
September 2018 – An extra six months of funding is requested from the Home Office
November 2018 – More funding, thought to be in the region of £150,000 is granted
November 2018 – UK police re-examine a theory Madeleine left the apartment to look for her parents
June 2019 – Another round of funding, believed to be £300,000 of government cash is granted
June 2019 – Portuguese police are probing a “new clue and suspect” after talks with British officers
June 2020 – New prime suspect revealed as a German paedo Christian Brueckner
April 2022 – Brueckner formally made an “arguido”
May 2023 – Police search remote Algarve reservoir Brueckner called his “little paradise”
PA
Alamy
English (US)