Christian Brueckner lawyer says Madeleine McCann suspect 'will never be charged'

A lawyer representing the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCanncase says he does not believe his client will ever be charged with the youngster's disappearance and must be allowed to live a “normal life” on his release from jail.

Convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner is to be freed from a German prison by September 17 after serving a seven-year sentence for raping and beating a US pensioner in 2005. The attack, in Portugal, took place in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, where three-year-old Madeleine was last seen in May 2007.

But in a fresh blow to Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, Brueckner'slawyer Friedrich Fuelscher said: “I do not expect any indictment in the Maddie case. I do not expect an indictment at all.

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"If the investigating authorities have not applied for an arrest warrant despite his impending release, then I do not expect, given the time that has passed, that a sufficient level of suspicion required for an indictment can still be established against him.”

Brueckner, 48, was named as the prime suspect in the Madeleine case five years ago by German prosecutor Hans-Christian Wolters. Mr Wolters has said he remains optimistic that his team will be able to charge Brueckner and last week urged anyone with information to contact the BKA, the German Federal Criminal Police, which has photographs of Brueckner’s old house.

He told how his team are still trying to trace the person who made a 30-minute call to Brueckner, causing his mobile to be ‘pinged’ by a cell tower in Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine vanished. And he added they are still working on the case "every single day".

Mr Wolters claims his team "have strong evidence" against Brueckner "which suggests very strongly to us he is definitely responsible for both the disappearance and death of Maddie McCann". In comments published in the Sunday Mirror at the weekend, he said: "The truth is, we do actually have news, we have found things, but it is not strong enough for us to make it public in the form of pressing for an indictment or arrest warrant.

"And the state of affairs now is that we are still investigative, our evidence is stronger than it was five years ago, although we have not been able to disclose the details for strategic investigative reasons."

Mr Wolters added: "We want to stress that over all this time, we have found nothing to contradict this evidence. On the contrary, we have found evidence that simply strengthens our opinion that he is involved. He is not just the top suspect, he is our one and our only suspect, and nothing at all has been uncovered by us that could exonerate him of this suspicion."

Speaking about the claims, Mr Fuelscher said: “I hope for my client that he will be able, despite the media’s campaign of pre-judgement, to live a reasonably normal life. He has served his sentence, and in the Maddie case the presumption of innocence applies. He has the right to live a normal life as a member of our society."

Brueckner, who was living on the outskirts of Praia da Luz at the time Madeleine vanished, vehemently denies any role in Madeleine’s disappearance. He is now preparing to be released from Sehnde prison, near Hanover.

Another of his lawyers, Philipp Marquort, previously told the Mirror his client may flee to a country without extradition to the UK or Germany and have surgery to change his appearance. However, Mr Fuelscher claims: “Mr B. has already stated several times that he wants to remain in Germany…as long as he does not commit another offence, for example by breaching the conditions of supervision after release.”