Christian Brueckner is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. He was jailed for seven years for raping a pensioner, but has never been charged over Madeleine’s disappearance
The prime suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance is facing a furious backlash from his new neighbours, including a petition to drive him out of his latest bolthole.
Christian Brueckner, 49, has sparked fury by moving back to the German city of Braunschweig, where he previously owned a kiosk before being publicly named in relation to the infamous case. One of those who has signed the petition includes a mum-of-two, who says she feels increasingly uneasy about the convicted rapist’s presence, as well as that of police officers, who are watching his property around the clock.
The woman, who did not want to be named, said: “My husband says the police presence reassures him. But for me it does the opposite. When I see the surveillance every day, it reminds me who is living nearby.”
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Brueckner had previously spent months drifting across other areas of northern Germany following his release from prison in September last year after serving a seven-year sentence for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old woman in the same resort where Madeleine vanished. He initially registered himself as homeless in Neumünster and was given an apartment.
But after residents discovered where he was staying and threats were made against him, police moved him north to the city of Kiel, where he spent months living in a tent in a forest. Authorities later provided him with a container in the area, but he only remained there for a few days before moving back to Branschweig.
It is understood he is now living in an apartment owned by a friend in the same neighbourhood. Braunschweig police spokesman Lars Dehnert has said officers have Brueckner under constant observation. He revealed: “The focus of our measures is to recognise and prevent any potential risks connected to Christian Brueckner at an early stage.”
Mr Dehnert said that the monitoring has so far revealed “no noteworthy incidents,” but admitted: “It cannot be excluded that dangerous events will occur.”
Each shift involves two officers monitoring the suspect for eight hours at a time. The operation has already consumed thousands of police hours and expert estimates suggest officers have spent more than 8,000 hours watching Brueckner since his release, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The deployment has also tied up experienced officers who might otherwise be working on other cases. Brueckner, who is living on benefits, also has to wear a monitoring tag for five years. He has claimed locals in his new home city want him dead.
Speaking about his plight, he said: “Sometimes it feels as though people would prefer me dead. I ask myself whether that is humanity, whether those are Christian values. I cannot understand this coldness – that when someone is already on the ground, people want to kick them.”
Brueckner is German prosecutors’ prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine, three, in Praia da Luz, Portugal in May 2007. He was jailed for seven years for raping a US pensioner in the Algarve resort in 2005, but he has never been charged over Madeleine’s disappearance.
He said: “There will be no charges against me in the Maddie case. That is because I am innocent.” Last year Brueckner was tried in Braunschweig on three further rape charges and two counts of child abuse, but was acquitted.
During that trial, a psychological expert described him as belonging to the “absolute top league of dangerous offenders.” The expert warned that if he were set free, his probability of committing another serious offence within two years could be between 30 and 50 per cent.
The acquittal is not yet final. Prosecutors in Braunschweig have appealed the verdict and the case is now being reviewed by Germany’s Federal Court of Justice in Leipzig.
