Madeleine McCann suspect release date pushed back

The chief suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance, who is currently serving a sentence for a rape conviction, will be released from prison in Germany later than originally scheduled, his lawyer has said.

Christian Brückner, 48, was convicted of raping a 72-year-old American tourist in Portugal in 2005 and had been scheduled for release in September, but this has now been pushed back to early next year.

He has never been charged in the McCann case and denies any involvement in her disappearance in 2007.

As he left court in Lower Saxony, Germany, he was asked by BBC News if he kidnapped and killed the three-year-old. He declined to comment.

Madeleine's disappearance during a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, is one of the most widely-reported missing child cases and remains unsolved.

Brückner's lawyer told the BBC the delayed release date was due to an unpaid fine – which he does not believe Brückner will be able to pay.

"He will probably be released round about February," said Philipp Marquort.

A prosecutor involved in the McCann case against Brückner told the BBC that a "substitute custodial sentence" due to an unpaid fine of €1446 would result in imprisonment until early January.

A prison official also understood Brückner's release to be at a later date.

It is understood Brückner will be released in September if the fine is paid.

Brückner was at court in Lehrte to face an accusation of insulting a female prison staff member at Sehnde jail during a meeting in March 2024.

For that, a judge sentenced him to one month's probation - meaning if he breaches probation conditions upon any future release he could be made to serve another month in jail.

Any further time in prison potentially gives German prosecutors more time to pursue an appeal in a separate case that saw Brückner cleared of three counts of rape and two counts of child sex abuse – charges dating back to between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal.

BBC News has been told that there are still no current plans to charge Brückner over Madeleine's disappearance – in which he has denied any involvement.

A convicted child sex offender, Brückner is a German national who has a history of sex, forgery, drug, and theft offences.

A drifter, he lived in Portugal's Algarve region, on and off, for years.

The meeting at Sehnde prison last March was about re-socialising Brückner, who was in solitary confinement at the time but no longer is.

He was accused of calling a female officer a "Witzfigur", or laughing stock.

Witnesses who were at the meeting say Brückner was "hostile" and "aggressive."

The court heard that Brückner claimed, at the time, that he was being "tortured" and treated in an "inhumane" way.

On Thursday, his lawyer also argued it was matter of freedom of speech and that the phrase "Witzfigur" could also be "positive" – if you address it to a comedian.

Brückner did later pen a letter of apology, saying he must have got up on the wrong side of the bed, the court heard.

However, the officer involved said she did not believe the apology was sincere.