Met seeks UK trial for Madeleine McCann suspect – Portugal Resident
Metropolitan Police detectives are trying to bring Christian Brückner to Britain to stand trial for the abduction and murder of Madeleine McCann, the UK Telegraph newspaper has revealed – on the 19th anniversary of the child’s disappearance from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.
One of Scotland Yard’s most senior officers is leading a push to charge the man who is the final suspect in this case before the 20th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance next year.
The force would like to see Brückner, 48, stand trial at the Old Bailey and believes it can gather a strong enough case for the Crown Prosecution Service to authorise charges.
However, the German constitution prevents the extradition of its citizens to non-EU countries, which could lead Berlin to reject the request. “This would be likely to provoke a diplomatic and legal row”, says the paper.
“If Germany still refuses to hand over the rapist and paedophile, the Met is committed to ensuring that he still faces charges in Germany or in Portugal, where the alleged crime took place.”
None of this so far suggests the Met has the proof that has eluded two previous police inquiries (the initial one in Portugal and the subsequent one in Germany).
Indeed, the Telegraph’s story admits the “Met investigation is (still) a missing person case”, but “a small team of specialist detectives has been building a file of evidence for the CPS on suspected abduction and murder.
“A police source said the team was determined to explore every avenue available to achieve justice” – as indeed, the German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters was determined.
“Clearly, there are numerous hurdles,” the Scotland Yard insider told the Telegraph, “but our priority at the moment is to amass the strongest evidence we can against that prime suspect.”
In other words, the Met’s intention is the same as that expressed by German police which failed to persuade any court that Brückner abducted and murdered Madeleine McCann, in spite of repeated claims that there is concrete evidence against the convicted sex offender.
Comments following this article on the Telegraph’s website have variously described the ‘exclusive’ as “the ultimate dead cat story”, “ridiculous”, “yawn” and much else in between. But perhaps one of the most apt was: “The police force “believes it can gather a strong enough case” but hasn’t got one yet? What’s the point of making this kind of statement if they don’t have a strong enough case yet?”
Yesterday, Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann marked the 19th anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance with a statement, speaking of their need to find “some justice”.
Source: Telegraph
