Daily Express

Madeleine suspect ‘won’t be charged in foreseeabl­e future’

- By John Twomey

THE prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann mystery will not face any related charges for the “foreseeabl­e future”, it was revealed yesterday.

Speculatio­n that convicted rapist Christian Brueckner would soon be formally accused over the three-yearold’s kidnap had grown after reports that new evidence had been found.

Prosecutor­s in

Germany, where Brueckner is serving a jail sentence for rape, remain convinced he murdered Madeleine.

But senior prosecutor HansChrist­ianWolters said they still did not have irrefutabl­e proof – and that there were no plans “in sight” to try him.

He spoke as Brueckner faces being charged with several other offences, including the rape of an Irish holiday rep in a town near to where the British youngster was snatched.

Brueckner, 45, has consistent­ly denied being involved in Madeleine’s disappeara­nce from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve, in May 2007.

Mr Wolters said: “I can’t say when it will be wrapped up.

“Over the past two years, we have absolutely made progress in this investigat­ion.We have new findings and new evidence. But there’s nothing that could prove in scientific terms… that Madeleine is dead, such as traces of DNA or bone fragments.”

Brueckner is in prison in Oldenburg, north-west Germany, for raping a pensioner in Praia da Luz in 2005.

He is known to have been in the tourist hotspot at the same time as Madeleine, not far from her lodgings.

On the 15th anniversar­y of her disappeara­nce this week, it was reported that fibres from her pyjamas were found in Brueckner’s Volkswagen campervan. But Mr Wolters has dismissed this claim as “absolute rubbish”. Brueckner’s lawyer is about to be presented with files of evidence in five new cases, including the alleged rape of an Irish woman in 2004 while she was working as a tour rep in southern Portugal.

Another case stems from claims he exposed himself to a group of children in the same region.

Mr Wolters added: “We will have to hear what his lawyer says.

“We need to wait and see the extent of the charges we will bring.”

 ?? Pictures: PA AND REX/SHUTTERSTO­CK ?? No answer… Madeleine vanished in Portugal 15 years ago
Pictures: PA AND REX/SHUTTERSTO­CK No answer… Madeleine vanished in Portugal 15 years ago
 ?? ?? In jail…Christian Brueckner
In jail…Christian Brueckner

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