A German man suspected but never charged in the high-profile disappearance of a seven-year-old British girl in 2007 cannot be kept under continuous police surveillance, a German court ruled on Friday.
Christian Brueckner has been under close scrutiny as the top suspect in disappearance of Madeleine “Maddie” McCann in Portugal, a case that drew intense press coverage in Britain.
Brueckner has several prior criminal convictions, including for sexual offences, and has spent a number of years in prison.
Most recently, he served a seven-year prison sentence for a rape committed in Portugal and has been living in the northern German city of Kiel since his release in September 2025.
Police had kept him under close surveillance because a court-appointed expert had determined there was a high risk that Brueckner might commit further crimes.
But the courts have since ruled, citing a new expert assessment and other evidence, that he should no longer be considered in the “high-risk” group subject to constant police observation.
On Friday, a regional appeals court in Kiel rejected an appeal by the police, who had sought to extend the surveillance.
The court, however, said that other measures -- such as a requirement that he wear an ankle monitor -- could remain in place.
Police in Kiel reacted to the decision by saying they would “continue to closely monitor Christian B. within the scope of existing legal possibilities”.
German prosecutors publicly named Brueckner as a top suspect in the British toddler’s disappearance in 2020, citing “concrete evidence”, but have never brought criminal charges against the man.
Three-year-old Maddie vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal in May 2007 while her parents dined nearby.
No trace of her has ever been found.
At the time, Brueckner was regularly spending time in that area of Portugal and a mobile phone registered to his name pinged nearby on the evening of her disappearance.
