Detectives from the Metropolitan Police are reportedly pushing for Christian Brueckner to stand trial in Britain for the abduction and murder of Madeleine McCann.
Brueckner, 48, was named as the prime suspect in the toddler’s disappearance by German police while serving a sentence for the rape of a pensioner.
However charges were never brought – and he was released last year.
Now, one of Scotland Yard’s most senior detectives is leading a push to charge Brueckner by the end of the year.
The Met Police wants to see him stand trial at the Old Bailey and is understood to be gathering evidence to send to the Crown Prosecution Service.
But the German constitution does not allow the extradition of its citizens to countries not in the European Union – meaning the alleged suspect’s transfer to the United Kingdom could cause a diplomatic row.
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police are reportedly pushing for Christian Brueckner to stand trial in Britain for the abduction and murder of Madeleine McCann
It comes just a day after Kate and Gerry McCann were warmly welcomed by supporters and well-wishers for the informal outdoor gathering in their home village of Rothley, Leicestershire
At the time of Madeleine’s disappearance, Brueckner was living just a mile away from the Praia da Luz hotel where she had been staying with her family in 2007.
An insider at Scotland Yard told the Telegraph: ‘Next year marks 20 years since Madeleine McCann went missing. If the evidence is strong enough to extradite the prime suspect and try him here, that is what we would seek to do.
‘Clearly, there are numerous hurdles but our priority at the moment is to amass the strongest evidence we can against that prime suspect.’
The news comes just hours after Kate and Gerry McCann, Maddy’s parents, joined a prayer vigil in Leicestershire to mark the 19th anniversary of her disappearance.
It marked the first time that the parents had been accompanied by their twins – Sean and Amelie – as well-wishers gathered outside their family home.
Kate and Gerry vowed in a statement posted online: ‘The search goes on to find her, to achieve some justice, to make the world that bit safer.’
Madeleine had been sleeping alone with her younger twin siblings on the night of her disappearance in May 2007 while Gerry, 57, and Kate, 58, were out dining at a tapas restaurant.
The 15-year investigation in Britain since she vanished has so far cost the taxpayer around £13.5million – with the Government approving a fresh request from Scotland Yard for a cash boost recently.
This is a breaking news story, more to follow.
