Now Portugal Maddie cops hit out at ‘arrogant’ German probe
‘Undignified bun fight’
PORTUGUESE police have turned down an ‘arrogant’ German request to retest evidence in the Madeleine McCann case – in a fresh clash between the two forces.
Prosecutors in Germany have been told they cannot re-examine a saliva sample found early in the investigation in the Algarve holiday apartment from where she vanished in 2007.
An appeal to find out more about new suspect Christian Brueckner, in the hope of finally solving the mystery of the three-year-old’s disappearance, faces being derailed after a week of sniping on both sides.
Portuguese police sources branded the German request ‘typically arrogant’, adding that they had already carried out forensic tests on the sample and it was impossible to extract a DNA profile to compare against that of convicted paedophile and rapist Brueckner, 43. ‘We have already tried and it’s insulting to be asked to do this again,’ a source close to the Policia Judiciaria said.
‘This is a total waste of time. What’s even worse is they now want to do it in their labs, as if ours aren’t good enough. Why do they think their DNA testing centre is any better than ours?’
Peter Bleksley, a founder member of Scotland Yard’s undercover unit, said: ‘DNA science has galloped on a long way since 13 years ago when Madeleine first went missing, so there are far more complex tests that can be applied now but couldn’t have been done back in the day.’
After Madeleine, from Leicestershire, vanished, forensic tests were carried out on evidence in the apartment.
But police have never been able to extract a full DNA profile from a saliva sample, which reports yesterday said was on her pillow. After German police started probing Brueckner as a potential suspect in 2017, much of the evidence was tested again, without producing a match.
But the Germans are now anxious to carry out fresh tests on the ‘partial sample’ to establish if it came from Brueckner. Yesterday, a Portuguese newspaper said the two police forces had ‘reached an impasse’.
It is understood the Germans would apply the same forensic techniques as the Portuguese. There may also be legal restrictions barring the sample from being sent abroad for retesting.
In 2012, Scotland Yard detectives visited a Portuguese lab and asked them to retest hairs found in the apartment. Their application was turned down.
Last week, German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said working with police in Portugal was ‘cumbersome’ and admitted his team had not shared all their evidence with them. Portuguese detectives were ‘livid’ and accused the Germans of ‘pretending to know it all’.
Mr Bleksley said the probe was ‘descending into a very undignified bun fight’. Last night Mr Wolters said he was unaware of the request to have the DNA retested.