Reacting to the charges, Christian Brueckner’s lawyer Philipp Marquort told the Mirror: ‘Give me a break. Nobody else would have been accused in this way other than Mr Brueckner’
The prime suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance is facing yet another court case that could keep him locked up in jail for another year.
Christian Brueckner, 48, has been ordered to appear before judges in the German city of Oldenburg on October 27 on charges of verbally abusing prison guards. The case comes just weeks after he was convicted of similar charges committed at another jail as prosecutors desperately continue to fight to keep him behind bars.
Commenting ahead of the newly scheduled hearing, Brueckner’s lawyer Philipp Marquort told the Mirror: “They’re clearly just trying to get him charged and to make sure he stays in jail. They’re trying to do everything to get more time. It’s basically the same as the recent court case in Lehrte, but in this case with the prison staff in Oldenburg. He’s just accused of calling a member of the prison staff some names.
“I mean, give me a break. Nobody else would have been accused in this way other than Mr Brueckner. With any other prisoner, they would just lock them up for two weeks in solitary confinement.”
Brueckner is due to be released from Sehnde prison in September when his seven-year term for raping an American pensioner in Praia da Luz ends. Prosecutors suspect him of snatching and killing Madeleine, from Rothley, Leicestershire, in the same Portuguese resort two years later on May 3, 2007, just days before her fourth birthday.
But despite first publicly naming him as the prime suspect in June 2020 and coming under pressure to charge him over the case, they appear no closer to doing so and he denies any involvement. They are also awaiting the outcome of an appeal against verdicts on a string of sex crimes, including the alleged rape of Irish woman Hazel Behan, which Brueckner was acquitted of last year.
Mr Marquort believes his client is being targeted by prosecutors desperate for more time to find evidence in the McCann case. And he described the new case as “questionable” as he claims witnesses in this case and the previous jail case, for which Brueckner was given a suspended 30-day sentence earlier this month, are married.
He last night claimed: “I think they don’t have anything in the Maddie case.” Earlier this month Brueckner appeared to smirk as he was led to a prison van, when a Mirror reporter asked him: “Do you know what happened to Madeleine McCann?”.
The earliest date the convicted paedo, who has more than a dozen convictions for burglary, theft and sex offences, can be released from jail is September. But his lawyer says a more realistic date, due to his inability to pay fines he still owes, is February next year.
They include an unpaid €1,350 (£1,133) fine following an offence near Braunschweig in 2015 when Brueckner was caught drink driving, as well as driving with fake plates and no insurance. Mr Marquort admits: “Well, who wants to pay the fine for Mr Brueckner?
“Even some British I people I am in touch with, who think that Mr Brueckner is innocent. They are willing to pay for the defence and pay for him later on too, but even they don’t want to pay for the fine.”