Alexandra Snow
October 31, 2026 — 2:32pm
London: The prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann abduction investigation will no longer be surveilled by police.
Christian Brueckner, a convicted rapist and paedophile, has been closely monitored by German police because of his suspected involvement in the 2007 disappearance of the three-year-old British girl in Portugal.
Brueckner, 49, was released from prison in September last year after serving a seven-year sentence for raping an elderly woman, and has since passed through homeless shelters, motels and state accommodation.
Police kept him under close surveillance because a court-appointed expert had determined there was a high risk that he might commit further crimes.
However, the courts have since ruled, citing a new expert assessment and other evidence, that he should no longer be considered in the “high-risk” group, which is subject to constant police observation.
A regional court in Kiel, Germany, this week rejected an appeal by the police, who had sought to extend the surveillance.
The court, however, said that other measures – such as a requirement that he wear an ankle monitor – could remain in place.
Police in Kiel reacted to the decision by saying they would “continue to closely monitor Christian B within the scope of existing legal possibilities”.
In 2020, German prosecutors named him the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine, saying they had “concrete evidence” against him but not enough to secure a conviction.
Madeleine vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007 while her parents dined nearby.
A mobile phone registered in Brueckner’s name was traced close to the McCanns’ accommodation on the evening she vanished.
Brueckner denies any involvement in the girl’s disappearance, and claims he was 150m from her apartment because he was “selling drugs” on a beach nearby.
“I was on the beach, not far from Maddie’s hotel, selling drugs,” Brueckner told the Mail on Sunday. “I’d been in Spain and smuggled weed into Portugal.
“I was even stopped by police three times on the street while they were looking for Maddie.
“Luckily, they didn’t find the drugs. My van was full of them. I was making a quick getaway; there were flashing blue lights and checkpoints everywhere. I just thought, ‘Get me out of here’.”
He claimed he had feared the police would “frame me for the Maddie thing”.
Brueckner is reportedly in talks to publish a tell-all memoir to financially support himself.
The Telegraph, London
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Source: The Age · Alexandra Snow
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