Prosecutors call for 15-year sentence for Madeleine McCann suspect in unrelated trial

2 October 2024, 15:34 | Updated: 2 October 2024, 15:55

German prosecutors are calling for a 15-year sentence for a man who is separately under investigation in connection with the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann.

The 47-year-old, identified by local media as Christian Brueckner, faces five sexual offence charges at the Braunschweig state court in northern Germany.

The offences allegedly took place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017 but are unrelated to the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine in Portugal’s Algarve region in 2007.

The German national, who is contesting the latest charges, is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for a rape he committed in Portugal in 2005.

Madeleine, who would now be aged 21, has never been found.

German investigators identified 47-year-old Brueckner as a prime suspect in what they have classed as a murder inquiry, but he has denied involvement and has never been charged.

Brueckner spent many years in Portugal, including in the resort of Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance there in 2007.

Read more: Madeleine McCann suspect ‘confessed to abducting girl from Portuguese apartment,’ court hears

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Closing arguments in the current trial that opened in February started on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Ute Lindemann argued that Brueckner should be convicted of two counts of rape and two of sexual abuse and should be kept in preventive detention after he has served a 15-year sentence, German news agency dpa reported.

Lindemann said he should be acquitted of a third count of rape.

The defence is expected to make its case on Monday, and a verdict could follow on Tuesday.

Brueckner’s lawyer said in February that his client wouldn’t respond to the charges, but that he expected an acquittal.

There are no formal pleas in the German legal system and there is no obligation for defendants to respond.

In July, the court lifted an arrest warrant in the cases at stake in the current trial, citing a lack of “urgent suspicion” against the defendant.

But he has remained behind bars because of the sentence he is currently serving.