Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley has announced that British authorities will examine the possibility of extraditing Christian Brückner, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, to the UK to face trial. Rowley said there were 'hundreds of questions' and that detectives were liaising with German and Portuguese police.
Brückner, 49, was released from a German prison on Wednesday after completing a seven-year sentence for the rape of an elderly woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2005 – the same town where three-year-old Madeleine vanished while on holiday with her family two years later. British police have been formally involved in the investigation since 2011, and both UK and European authorities regard Brückner as their main suspect.
The German investigation did not yield sufficient evidence to charge Brückner over Madeleine's disappearance under German law. However, Rowley noted that murder is in many situations extraterritorial and could potentially be charged in the UK if a British subject is involved. 'We're now at a stage where he remains a suspect for us,' Rowley said. 'We're taking stock.'
Nick Vamos, former head of extradition at the Crown Prosecution Service, confirmed that extraditing Brückner is feasible, though the main obstacle is gathering enough evidence to charge him before extradition can proceed. Brückner denies any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance and has refused a request from the Metropolitan Police to be interviewed.
Rowley, marking his third anniversary as commissioner, also highlighted the force's efforts to root out corruption, stating that it had carried out the biggest purge of corrupt and failing officers in British policing history, removing 1,400 people. He acknowledged that corrupt cliques still exist and promised further action.
