The Metropolitan Police announced they want to push ahead with plans to put Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner on trial.
Shortly after the news came out, Brueckner, 48, a convicted rapist, issued a sinister response: ‘I have good lawyers.’
If the Met can convince the Crown Prosecution Service to authorise charges against one of the most high-profile suspects in the disappearance of Madeleine, he could stand trial.
‘Next year marks 20 years since Madeleine McCann went missing. If the evidence is strong enough to extradite the prime suspect and try him here, that is what we would seek to do,’ a Met insider told the Telegraph.
Brueckner backed down, however, adding: ‘I suspect this is just hot air again. Extradition would require an arrest warrant. But there certainly isn’t one.
‘Like all countries, Germany only extradites individuals if there is an arrest warrant against them. And I actually think it’s out of the question that there is an arrest warrant against CB in the Maddie case. I am not in a position to say whether the British police can obtain an arrest warrant from a British court.’
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The German national was named as the prime suspect in the disappearance of the British tot in 2022 by German authorities.
The Met’s announcement comes days after the 19th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.
On the anniversary, Kate and Gerry McCann shared a new message on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page.
’19 years. The search goes on… to find our Madeleine, to achieve some justice, to make the world that bit safer,’ they wrote.
‘We remain very grateful for all our support from friends and family, people we know and those we don’t, and from the police and authorities for their continued determination and effort. Thank you.
‘For Madeleine, whom we love and miss every day, we will never give up. Kate, Gerry and family.’
Madeleine was three when she vanished from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on the Algarve while on a break with her siblings and parents.
Where is Christian Brueckner now?
Prime suspect and convicted rapist Brueckner was released after serving a prison sentence in his native Germany last September.
He had been serving a seven-year sentence for an unrelated sex crime. In addition to his conviction for the rape of the woman in the Algarve, he also has convictions for child abuse and drug trafficking.
State prosecutors in Germany have said there is circumstantial evidence suggesting Brueckner was involved in Maddie’s disappearance, including three witnesses who said he had confessed to them.
He lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, with a period spent working as a pool maintenance assistant at the Praia da Luz resort, where the McCanns were staying when their daughter vanished.
But extensive searches for more direct evidence have ended without success.
He has never been charged with any crimes in connection with Madeleine.
In March, it was announced that more funding had been granted to continue to investigate the disappearance.
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