Maddie suspect could be freed before probe ends

New blow to case against paedo

- PATRICK HILL

THE paedophile suspected of kidnapping Madeleine McCann could be freed before the police finish their investigation, the man in charge of the case has admitted.

Hans Christian Wolters spoke three years after he publicly named jailed German drifter Christian Brueckner as the prime suspect in the British child’s disappearance.

Brueckner is serving a seven-year sentence for the 2005 rape of a pensioner in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz.

And Mr Wolters’ team have been trying to get enough evidence to charge him over the disappearance of Madeleine at the same resort 18 months later. But he has admitted the probe could carry on beyond 2026 – when Brueckner is due to be released.