Detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are trying to bring suspect Christian Brueckner to the UK to stand trial at the Old Bailey before the 20th anniversary of her disappearance next year, according to senior policing sources.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police believe there may now be enough evidence for the Crown Prosecution Service to consider charges over the alleged abduction and murder of Madeleine in Portugal in 2007.
The latest push centres on Christian Brueckner, a 48‑year‑old German national who lived near Praia da Luz at the time Madeleine disappeared. Detectives from the Met, working under the long‑running Operation Grange inquiry, are understood to want Brueckner extradited so that any trial can take place in London.
A senior Scotland Yard officer is said to be leading efforts to secure charges in time for the 20‑year mark. The hope, according to reports, is that the CPS will decide the available material is strong enough to proceed, allowing Brueckner to be brought before a British court.
Officially, the Met still classifies its case as a missing‑person investigation. Behind that label, however, a specialist team has spent years compiling evidence that points to suspected abduction and murder. One source said officers remain committed to pursuing justice.
'Next year marks 20 years since Madeleine McCann went missing,' the source said. 'If the evidence is strong enough to extradite the prime suspect and try him here, that is what we would seek to do.' They acknowledged 'numerous hurdles' but said the priority was to amass 'the strongest evidence we can against that prime suspect.'
The biggest of those hurdles is not investigative but constitutional. Germany's Basic Law prevents the extradition of its own citizens to non‑EU countries. That restriction applies regardless of the seriousness of the allegations and cannot be waived by ministerial decision, legal experts have noted.
In practice, this means any formal British request to have Brueckner handed over could be refused by Berlin on legal grounds alone, potentially creating an awkward stand‑off between two close European partners.
Extradition arrangements between the UK and Germany are now governed by post‑Brexit agreements, but those treaties sit beneath Germany's domestic 'nationality bar.'
If extradition proves impossible, British officers are not out of options. One route being discussed is for the Met and its German counterparts to share their full evidential files with Portuguese prosecutors. Because the alleged crime took place on Portuguese soil, authorities there could, in theory, bring charges and try Brueckner within the EU legal framework.
Source: International Business Times UK
