Maddie McCann prime suspect Christian B REFUSES to speak to UK police

Christian Brueckner - the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann - has refused to speak to British police following his release from prison.

The Metropolitan Police said it sent an international letter of request to German Brueckner, 49, urging him to speak with them. But it emerged Brueckner rejected the request.

The Met said Brueckner remains a suspect following the three-year-old's disappearance in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz back in 2007. He is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany over the rape of an elderly woman at her home in Praia da Luz in 2005 and could be released as early as Wednesday.

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He has previously denied any involvement with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, a senior investigating officer for the Met's investigation, said the force will "continue to pursue any viable lines of inquiry" in the absence of an interview with Brueckner.

He said: "For a number of years we have worked closely with our policing colleagues in Germany and Portugal to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and support Madeleine's family to understand what happened on the evening of 3 May 2007 in Praia da Luz.

"We are aware of the pending release from prison of a 49-year-old German man who has been the primary suspect in the German federal investigation into Madeleine's disappearance. We can confirm that this individual remains a suspect in the Metropolitan Police's own investigation.

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"We have requested an interview with this German suspect but, for legal reasons, this can only be done via an International Letter of Request which has been submitted. It was subsequently refused by the suspect. In the absence of an interview, we will nevertheless continue to pursue any viable lines of inquiry.

"We can provide no further information while the investigation is ongoing." Numerous searches have been carried out by German, Portuguese and British authorities since the toddler vanished with the latest taking place in Lagos, back in June.

Brueckner spent time in Praia da Luz between 2000 and 2017 and had photographs close to a reservoir that was searched by police. In October, last year, the suspect was cleared by a German court of unrelated sexual offences that were alleged to have happened in the same location in Portugal around the same time period.

The total funding given to the Met's investigation, titled Operation Grange, has been more than £13.2 million since 2011 after a further £108,000 was secured from the Government in April.