'A lot of maybes': Could Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner face UK charges?
Metropolitan Police wanting to work with Crown Prosecution Service to bring charges against German sex offender in relation to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann
The Metropolitan Police is seeking its prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann disappearance case to stand trial in the UK.
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The force has confirmed it is working with the Crown Prosecution Service to extradite and charge Christian Brueckner, a German prisoner, as the case nears its 20th anniversary.
Detectives from the force are reportedly pressing ahead for an Old Bailey trial in 2027, but there are several obstacles that may prevent it from going ahead.
Here are some of the key questions answered.
What happened to Madeleine McCann?
Madeleine McCann disappeared while on holiday with her family in Portugal in 2007 when she was just three-years-old.
The Leicestershire-born youngster had gone to Praia da Luz with her parents Kate and Gerry as well as her two-year-old twin siblings.
The three children fell asleep on May 3, 2007, in their holiday apartment and their parents went for dinner with friends but came back to check on them throughout the evening.
Kate discovered that Madeleine was missing at 10pm and a police investigation began.
Madeleine has never been found.
Sean and Amelie McCann, her brother and sister, are now in their 20s.
Who is Christian Brueckner?
Christian Brückner (his surname is spelled as Brueckner by the English speaking press) aged 49 or 50, is a German convicted sex offender and rapist.
He was jailed in Germany in 2019 for raping a 72-year-old woman and is currently serving a prison sentence that is due to end in September - although he faces further accusations which may keep him in custody for longer.
He was convicted for raping the 72-year-old victim in Praia da Luz, the same place where Madeliene went missing. Brueckner has previously been convicted of sex crimes relating to young girls.
He had worked in Portugal from 1995 to 2007 in the country’s food industry. He was identified as a prime suspect by German authorities in 2020 as he had been living in Praia da Luz at the time Madeleine vanished. Brueckner was said to have received a phone call nearby Madeleine’s disappearance on the night she vanished.
A search was conducted in 2023 at a plot of land, where Brueckner buried children’s toys and clothing around the site of his dog’s grave, although new evidence came to light.
He has never been charged with any crimes in connection with Madeleine's disappearance and has always denied any involvement.
Why is there now talk of a trial?
The Metropolitan Police has told the press this week that it will extradite Brueckner “if the evidence is strong enough”.
A statement read: “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.“
Clearly, there are numerous hurdles but our priority at the moment is to amass the strongest evidence we can against that prime suspect.”
A small team of detectives is now reportedly gathering a file of evidence for the CPS to consider bringing charges on suspicion of abduction and murder.
This is despite Madeleine remaining a missing persons case rather than a murder inquiry."
He remains a suspect for us. We are taking stock of where we are, and the German investigation and the Portuguese investigation," Met chief Sir Mark Rowley has said.
Is a trial a possibility?
It could break down as the Met will require the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to authorise charges.
And even if it can, it will still then require German authorities to allow extradition as it currently does not allow this for non-European Union countries.
Brueckner has said previously that he would seek, upon release, to live in a country where he cannot be extradited to Portugal, Germany, or the UK. The Met still wants fresh charges brought against him in Germany or in Portugal if it is unable to land a UK trial, according to The Telegraph.
Sir Mark added: “One of the reasons we are involved is that murder is in many situations extraterritorial and potentially a murder of a British subject can in certain circumstances, be charged in the UK.
“There’s lots of maybes, so at the moment we are taking stock with the Germans and Portuguese.”