Bid to oust Maddie suspect trial judge

Brueckner may walk free fear prosecutors

- MARTIN FRICKER

PROSECUTORS want "biased" judges thrown off the sex crimes trial of Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner.

He is thought to have abducted and killed three-year-old Madeleine in May 2007 but is currently being tried on unconnected crimes he allegedly carried out in the Algarve.

The prosecution team were left fuming after Judge Ute Inse Engelmann issued a ruling which opened the way for Brueckner, 47, to be freed from custody.

Currently, he is nearing the end of a seven-year jail term for raping an American pensioner in the Portuguese resort.

In a shock move on Wednesday, Judge Engelmann overturned an arrest warrant for Brueckner.

She ruled the court had not heard strong enough evidence from witnesses to keep him behind bars.