Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, will no longer be under round-the-clock police surveillance from midnight tonight after German judges rejected a police appeal against the decision.
The 49-year-old convicted paedophile had been under constant police watch since his release from prison in September last year, after serving a rape sentence. He has been living in a portable cabin in the northern city of Kiel, having been forced to move from various locations by concerned local parents.
Court rejects police appeal
Under his police guard, Brueckner was still able to cycle around the city but reportedly tried to lose his minders by taking routes their vehicles could not follow. There have also been reports of violent incidents as Brueckner clashed with at least two local men, and with his police protection.
A regional German court has now ruled that police are no longer permitted to trail the paedophile from midnight on October 30, although the ruling added that he must continue to wear his electronic tag. Despite having repeatedly extended the watch on Brueckner, judges decided on Thursday that an earlier assessment suggesting he posed a very high risk of committing further crimes was not backed up by fresh expert evidence.
Police rushed to challenge the ruling, but the Schleswig-Holstein Higher Regional Court — one of Germany's senior courts — threw out this appeal on Friday, triggering an end to the round-the-clock watch on Brueckner.
Legal assessment revised
The court concluded that the evidence established "only an increased abstract risk," according to a statement from Brueckner's lawyer, Philipp Marquort, who added: "Two courts have now ruled consistently: the legal requirements for round-the-clock surveillance are not met."
He added: "The Higher Regional Court has expressly abandoned its earlier assessment on the basis of the new expert report. That deserves respect."
German police have spent more than a year keeping Brueckner under constant observation following his release from a German jail in September 2025. The decision to allow the sex predator to roam free comes after a previous hearing in June ruled he should be kept under constant guard because of concerns over the dangers he may pose.
Ongoing legal battles
Brueckner remains the suspect German investigators believe kidnapped and murdered Madeleine McCann. The public prosecution office in Braunschweig, and the Met Police, believe that he snatched and killed the three-year-old from her parent's holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007. He has never been charged over her disappearance and denies any involvement.
The lifting of the watch on Brueckner comes after he appeared in court earlier this month and was fined £2,500 for insulting prison officers during his rape sentence, calling one "the son of a whore." In a bizarre stunt to protest his police surveillance, Brueckner cycled 160 miles to court for the case. In a statement to this newspaper, he moaned that the "oppressive persecution" was driving him "insane."
Last night's bombshell decision to let the paedophile roam free also comes as Brueckner faces another court decision in January, as prosecutors seek to challenge a previous acquittal on a string of alleged sex offences in Portugal, including the rape of a woman in her holiday apartment and the sexual abuse of children. Prosecutors are now fighting to have that verdict overturned, and Germany's highest criminal court has announced the appeal will be heard in Leipzig on January 11. Two women involved in the original case have also launched their own appeals against the verdict, which was handed down by the Braunschweig Regional Court following a lengthy trial.
