'There are a lot of people who think the parents were involved in the Maddie case': Christian Brueckner lawyer's cruel jibe at Gerry and Kate McCann as chief suspect is cleared of rape charges

Christian Breuckner's lawyer made cruel dig at Madeleine McCann's parents as the chief suspect in her disappearance was yesterday cleared of rape charges. 

Speaking after the German paedophile's not guilty verdict, Philipp Marquardt, a member of the German's defence team claimed the outcome of the trial will be interesting for those who believe the toddler's parents were involved in her disappearance.

'I think in the UK there are still quite a lot of people who think that the parents were involved in the Maddie case so from this point of view I think today's verdict will be very interesting for them,' he said in court, according to The Times.

In September 2007, four months after Madeleine vanished, the McCann parents were named as suspects by Portuguese police.

The focus on the parents came after forensic examinations revealed traces of the three-year-old's blood in a car they rented 25 days after their daughter's disappearance.

But mother Kate McCann told detectives there was 'no way' Madeleine's blood could have been found inside the car and continued to protest her innocence.

The distraught couple were questioned by detectives, who believed they could have staged an abduction and concealed Madeleine's body.

Mother Kate McCann said she was offered a deal to admit covering up her daughter's death in exchange for a shorter sentence.

In an interview with ITV News at the time, Madeleine's aunt, Philomena McCann said: 'They tried to get her to confess to having accidentally killed Madeleine by offering her a deal through her lawyer - 'if you say you killed Madeleine by accident and then hid her and disposed of the body, then we can guarantee you a two-year jail sentence or even less'.' 

The couple's suspect status was lifted in 2008. 'Whoever took Madeleine is still at large,' father Gerry said at the time.

Goncalo Amaral, the senior detective who led the case, was later removed from the investigation but went on to write a book accusing the McCanns of being involved in their daughter's disappearance.

The McCann's libel case against the former detective over the claims he made about them in his book was thrown out by the Portuguese supreme court. 

The couple then appealed to the European Court of Human Rights but lost that challenge in September 2022.

Brueckner, 47, was then sensationally named as the prime suspect in the 2007 disappearance of Madeleine in June 2020 by German police but no charges relating to the case have been brought.  

German prosecutors have said they have evidence on the convicted rapist - but admitted the clock is now ticking to bring charges after he was found not guilty on five different counts of sex crimes yesterday. 

Speaking to MailOnline, prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters - who announced Brueckner as the chief suspect in the Madeleine case - said: 'We believe that the ruling is wrong, so we will appeal to the German Supreme Court,' adding that the 'earliest we can expect any ruling (on the appeal) is next summer'.

Brueckner is still serving a sentence for a previous rape conviction but is set to be released in September next year, at which point prosecutors fear he could flee his native Germany. 

Mr Wolters said: 'If no decision is made then, we will need to see how much evidence we have in the Maddie case and then issue an arrest warrant to keep him in custody.

'We are still adamant that Christian Brueckner is our only main suspect. But yes, the clock is ticking for us, we need to move fast because if he is free and he leaves the country and goes somewhere with no extradition then there is nothing we can do.'

When pressed by MailOnline why prosecutors were so convinced of Brueckner's involvement in the Madeleine case, prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said: 'Because we have evidence... it's not forensic evidence but I cannot go into the details - nobody knows it.

'We are convinced that Madeleine is dead and that Christian Brueckner is responsible. He went to the hotel, took her and killed her but we have no body.'

Three-year-old Madeleine went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal's Algarve region in May 2007 while her parents dined at a nearby tapas bar.

Despite a huge international manhunt and global media attention, no trace of her has been found, but investigations are continuing in the 'Maddie' case, prosecutor Wolters has declared.

'At present, I am unable to say when we will be able to conclude these investigations and with what result,' he said.

Brueckner had been accused of three rapes and two child sex abuse cases between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal, close to the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz from where Madeleine vanished while on holiday with parents Kate and Gerry McCann.

Prosecutors had called for a 15-year sentence in the long-running case, but Judge Ute Engemann yesterday morning acquitted Brueckner of all the charges. 

Brueckner, a tall man with blond hair, blue eyes and sporting the same grey coat he has worn throughout the hearings, showed no visible reaction to the not-guitly verdict as it was read out yesterday morning.

The ruling could have devastating consequences for German prosecutors who want to pin Madeleine's disappearance on him but fear he could attempt to leave the country in a bid to avoid further prosecution.

Brueckner is currently serving a sentence for raping a 72-year-old American tourist in Praia da Luz in 2005.

That jail term runs until September 2025, according to Wolters, though his lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher has said the defendant could be free as soon as the spring. 

Cops fear they may not be able to charge Brueckner in connection with Madeleine's disappearance before he once again disappears off the grid upon his release. 

Brueckner previously fled from Germany to Portugal after his first sexual abuse conviction in 1994, when he was just 17. After being slapped with a two-year youth sentence for molesting a six-year-old girl in a park, he fled for five years before being arrested and sent back to his native home in 1999.

Prosecutors could apply for Brueckner to be held in 'preventative custody', giving them time to gather more proof in the Madeleine case, but there is no promise such a request would be granted. 

Upon delivering the ruling yesterday morning, Judge Engemann made a lengthy statement explaining why Brueckner was acquitted and slammed Wolters for naming him in relation to the Madeleine McCann saga.

'We as judges have sworn an oath, and it is to serve the truth only. We take this very seriously but we cannot wrap people in cotton wool.

'This oath means that we don't have to cater to the views of the media, the defence and the prosecution, or the table of regulars-in-a-pub.'

She went on: 'Everyone had heard about (Brueckner) in the Maddie McCann case and they all knew that Brueckner since 2020 was always named by the public prosecution office.

'When in the media, a person is here described as a sex monster and a pervert, then it influences the witness. When massive third-party suggestions are made in this way, then the testimonies in court are almost worthless for the legal chamber.'

Brueckner declined to speak when asked if he had anything to say after closing speeches yesterday, but he has protested his innocence in a series of extraordinary letters to MailOnline. 

The charges of which Brueckner was acquitted yesterday came about as a result of investigations into the 'Maddie' case, according to prosecutors.

In one of the cases, prosecutors had accused Brueckner of entering the holiday apartment of a woman aged between 70 and 80, tying her up and beating and sexually assaulting her.

In another case, he had been accused of entering a young Irish woman's apartment via her balcony while she was sleeping, threatening her with a knife and raping her several times.

He had also been accused of exposing himself in front of a 10-year-old German girl on a beach and to an 11-year-old Portuguese girl at a playground.

But the defence raised serious doubts about the cases against Brueckner, which were based on testimonies but not forensic evidence.

In his closing remarks at the courthouse in Braunschweig yesterday, Brueckner's main lawyer Fuelscher hinted that the convicted rapist and paedophile was only on trial because of his link with Madeleine's internationally recognised case.

Last week prosecutor Ute Lindemann argued Brueckner should be jailed for 15 years – labelling him a 'sadistic psychopath'.

But in July the prosecution was dealt a significant blow after the current trial judge ruled that evidence against him in the current trial was 'insufficient'. 

Illustrating his argument that Brueckner was innocent, Mr Fuelscher highlighted how Ms Behan said her attacker was 'left-handed' when Brueckner is the opposite and although she said her attacker had a 'German accent', this was 'purely circumstantial'.

He pointed out how Ms Behan's description of the height of her attacker 'was way off the mark'.

Mr Fuelscher also highlighted how his client had 'no abnormalities on his leg' despite Ms Behan saying the man who attacked her had a 'scar, birthmark or tattoo on his upper thigh'.

Notebooks seized from Brueckner detailing his sexual fantasies were used as evidence. But, despite their disturbing content, they provided no direct link to the alleged crimes. 

During the trial, Brueckner's former cellmate Laurentiu Codin told the court that he had 'confessed' to him he had once abducted a child in Portugal.

Codin told the hearing: 'He was looking for money. He said he didn't find any money but found a kid and took the child.

'He said that two hours later, there were police and dogs all over the place, so he then went away, out of the area.

'He said that he took the child in Portugal in his car, and in the time when the police and dogs were at the house, he drove away and he was gone.

'He asked me if the DNA from a child can be taken from bones under the ground.'

Also key to the case – and that of Madeleine's disappearance – were two super witnesses Helge Busching and Manfred Seyferth, former partners in crime with Brueckner.

They claimed to have found a video in Brueckner's home in Portugal showing him masked and raping two women. But the clip has never been discovered and defence lawyers questioned its existence.

Busching also claimed that Brueckner told him at a festival in Spain a year after Madeleine vanished that it was 'strange she didn't scream' which investigators also claim is vital to the case.

Met officer Mark Draycott testified to the court in May how Busching had contacted them and he had been quizzed in great secrecy in Athens about his claims after he was released from a Greek prison for people trafficking.

But Mr Fuelscher portrayed Busching and Seyferth as 'unbelievable' witnesses and said their sole aim was to put 'Brueckner in prison', describing their evidence as 'lies'.

Busching and Seyferth had also both testified in the 2019 trial which sent Brueckner to jail but Mr Fulscher said their testimony was 'now full of contradictions'.

He pointed out how witnesses they had said had seen 'the rape video' denied having ever set eyes on it and Mr Fuelscher said Busching's aim was 'solely to profit from the multi-million reward' in the Madeleine case.