Madeleine McCann suspect 'is plotting way to get an early release'

Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner is said to be fighting to be released early from prison and for £200,000 in damages.

The paedophile was cleared this week of his 2019 conviction for raping an American woman in the Algarve, Portugal.

Prosecutors for Madeleine have said they have evidence on the convicted rapist - but admitted the clock is now ticking to bring charges after he was found not guilty on five different counts of sex crimes on Tuesday.

Brueckner is currently scheduled to be released in September 2025, but the German is planning an appeal against the conviction keeping him behind bars.

A legal source reportedly told the Sun that although an appeal would take time, there was a possibility that Brueckner would be released sooner.

'Brueckner’s lawyer said in court he did not believe the 2019 conviction was safe and after a witness was discredited', the insider said.

They added that an early end to his sentence would give Brueckner ammunition to apply for compensation.

Brueckner had been accused of three rapes and two child sex abuse cases between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal, close to the resort where Madeleine vanished.

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He has denied any involvement in the 2007 disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine in Praia da Luz, Portugal and has yet to be charged in relation to the incident, despite being identified as a key suspect in 2020.

In one of the rape cases, Brueckner of entering the holiday apartment of a woman aged between 70 and 80, tying her up and beating and sexually assaulting her.

He was also charged with entering a young Irish woman's apartment via her balcony while she was sleeping, threatening her with a knife and raping her several times.

In another case he was alleged to have exposed himself in front of a 10-year-old German girl on a beach and to an 11-year-old Portuguese girl at a playground.

But Brueckner's legal team raised concerns that cases against him were based on testimony rather than forensic evidence.

His main lawyer, Friedrich Fuelscher, suggested the German was only on trial because of his links to the Madeleine case, during his closing remarks at the courthouse in Braunschweig on Tuesday.

Wrongly imprisoned inmates in Germany can be awarded as much as £63 per day in jail.

It comes as Brueckner's lawyers also took a cruel dig at Madeleine's parents as a member of his defence team suggested the outcome of the trial would be 'very interesting' for those who believe the toddler's parents were involved in her abduction. 

Philipp Marquardt said: 'I think in the UK there are still quite a lot of people who think that the parents were involved in the Maddie case so from this point of view I think today's verdict will be very interesting for them.'

The focus on Madeleine's parents came after forensic examinations revealed traces of the three-year-old's blood in a car they rented 25 days after their daughter's disappearance. 

Mother Kate McCann told detectives there was 'no way' Madeleine's blood could have been found inside the car and continued to protest her innocence. 

The parents were named as suspects in 2007 - four months after Madeleine disappeared. Their suspect status was lifted in 2008.