Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner probed by police on suspicion 'of fight with British man'

Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner could face up to five years in jail after being accused of assaulting a man during a fight. The convicted paedophile and rapist , 49, and the unnamed man, were both arrested on suspicion of "mutual assault" after the altercation in Kiel, northern Germany. Under the country's law the offence is brought where the suspect is both a perpetrator and a victim. A source close to Brueckner told the Mirror : "He got attacked by a British person. The guy appeared in front of him together with two other people and a big dog. He yelled at Brueckner and hit him in the face twice and that's it and then the police came and arrested him. Brueckner called the police. He was injured." Details of the investigation emerged today, a day after it was reported one of Scotland Yard’s most senior officers is leading a push to charge the German suspect before the 20th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance next year and would like to see him stand trial in London. Contacted by the Mirror on Tuesday, Brueckner, who is living in the Schleswig-Holstein region of Germany, said he was aware of the reports but did not know what would happen next. When asked how he was feeling, he replied: “No comment – I have good lawyers.” German prosecutor Hans Wolters, who named him in connection with Madeleine six years ago next month, said: “I suspect this is just hot air again. Extradition would require an arrest warrant. But there certainly isn’t one. “It’s out of the question there is an arrest warrant against CB in the Maddie case. I am not in a position to say whether the British police can obtain one from a British court.” Since Brexit , Germany and Britain have negotiated a reciprocal extradition agreement. But the German constitution prevents the extradition of its citizens to non-EU countries. The Mirror understands Scotland Yard detectives have been working on a case against Brueckner for six months and have requested evidence from the German police since Brueckner, who denies any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, was released from prison last September. They are said to believe they can build a strong enough case for the Crown Prosecution Service to authorise charges before the 20th anniversary of the disappearance next year. Our source said the case is being led by a deputy assistant commissioner and added: “It appears they are trying to corroborate what has already been discovered by the German police. It’s understood they have formally requested material from the German authorities and are working their way through it.” Brueckner is German prosecutors' prime suspect in the disappearance of then three-year-old Madeleine, in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007. He was jailed for seven years for raping a US pensioner in the same Algarve resort where the youngster went missing before being released from jail last September. He has been under 24-hour police surveillance since his release and has been accused of playing "a game of cat and mouse" with German police. At the end of April he moved areas for at least the fourth time since his release, leaving the city of Branschweig to move further north to the Schleswig-Holstein region. According to reports, Brueckner has repeatedly tested police officers’ patience – especially when drinking alcohol. During one incident, he is said to have briefly managed to escape officers on a bicycle before dialling the German emergency number and asking them where his escort had gone. The Mirror has also been told Brueckner, who is living on benefits and has to wear a monitoring tag for five years, boasted of being able to repeatedly sneak out of his bolthole under the cover of darkness without watching police spotting him. The fiend had been living in a two-room flat in Braunschweig, close to a kiosk he previously owned before being named in connection with the infamous case in 2020. But he faced a furious backlash from his new neighbours, including a petition to drive him out. After being let out of jail he initially registered himself as homeless in Neumünster and was given an apartment. But after residents discovered where he was staying and threats were made against him, police moved him north to the city of Kiel, where he spent months living in a tent in a forest. Authorities later provided him with a container in the area, but he only remained there for a few days before moving back to Branschweig. Circumstantial evidence linking Brueckner to the crime includes that his mobile phone was recorded close to the McCanns’ apartment. He has previous convictions for child abuse, and his name was given to both the German and British police by a witness in 2008. They told detectives that Brueckner had told them a year after Madeleine vanished that she didn’t scream when taken. But it is understood police have so far not found any forensic evidence. At the weekend, Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry and their other children Sean and Amelie joined a vigil on the 19th anniversary of the three-year-old girl’s disappearance in Praia da Luz, Portugal. In a statement, Kate and Gerry said: “The search goes on... to find our Madeleine, to achieve some justice, to make the world that bit safer. "We remain very grateful for all our support from friends and family, people we know and those we don't, and from the police and authorities for their continued determination and effort. For Madeleine, who we love and miss every day, we will never give up. Kate, Gerry and family." Last year, Brueckner was tried in Braunschweig on three further rape charges and two counts of child abuse, but was acquitted. During that trial, a psychological expert described him as belonging to the “absolute top league of dangerous offenders.” The expert warned that if he were set free, his probability of committing another serious offence within two years could be between 30 and 50 per cent. The acquittal is not yet final. Prosecutors in Braunschweig have appealed the verdict and the case is now being reviewed by Germany’s Federal Court of Justice in Leipzig. Brueckner has previously said: “There will be no charges against me in the Maddie case. That is because I am innocent.”