Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley has stated that British police will explore the possibility of extraditing Christian Brückner, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, to stand trial in the UK. Brückner, a German national, was released from a German prison on Wednesday after serving a seven-year sentence for the rape of an elderly woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2005.
Rowley confirmed that Brückner remains a suspect in the UK investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, which occurred in the same Portuguese town in 2007. He noted that the German prosecutor has not gathered enough evidence to charge Brückner under German law, but that UK law may allow for a murder charge to be brought extraterritorially, as Madeleine was a British subject.
“There are hundreds of questions,” Rowley said, adding that the Met is liaising with German and Portuguese authorities. He acknowledged that extradition would require sufficient evidence to charge Brückner first, a challenge that former CPS extradition head Nick Vamos described as feasible but difficult.
Brückner has denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance and has refused a request from the Met to be interviewed. The Met says it will continue to pursue any viable lines of inquiry.
