German court throws out charges against Madeleine McCann suspect

Despite court's decision, prosecutors will continue investigations related to the case

Three-year-old Madeleine McCann, a British girl who went missing in 2007 while on holiday with her parents in Praia da Luz, Portugal. EPA

A case of unrelated sex offences against the prime suspect in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann was dismissed by a German court on Thursday because it did not have jurisdiction to try him.

Prosecutors at the regional tribunal in Brunswick, north Germany, said they were “not competent” to hear the case against the man, because his “last known address” in Germany was in another state, Saxony-Anhalt.

The suspect, identified only as Christian B, is already serving a prison sentence on another conviction and will stay behind bars despite the lifting of the Brunswick arrest warrant, the court said.

Despite the court's decision, the Brunswick prosecutor's office said it would continue investigations related to the McCann case.

Prosecutors would also “carefully examine the reasons” given by the court and “probably” make the decision to appeal, spokesman Christian Wolters added.

The Brunswick prosecutor's office would otherwise continue to assume the McCann case fell under its jurisdiction “until a decision is made” on an appeal, Mr Wolters said.

But defence lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher argued that “on the basis of the court's decision, the Brunswick justice system is also not competent in the 'Maddie' case”.

Prosecutors in Brunswick had charged Christian B in October last year with three counts of rape and two sexual offences against children — unrelated to Madeleine — between December 28, 2000, and June 11, 2017, in Portugal.

The Madeleine McCann case — in pictures

Prosecutors in other regions of Germany where the suspect lived must now decide whether to pursue the charges and stake a claim to jurisdiction.

Christian B is seen as the main suspect in the disappearance of the then three-year-old Madeleine from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007.

Madeleine went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz a few days before her fourth birthday, as her parents dined with friends at a nearby tapas bar.

Despite a huge international manhunt, no trace of her has been found and no one has been charged over her disappearance.

In June 2020, German prosecutors made the stunning revelation that they were investigating Christian B in connection with the case, saying they had “concrete evidence” that he killed Madeleine.

According to German police, Christian B lived in the Algarve region of Portugal between 1995 and 2007.

He is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Oldenburg, northern Germany, for raping a 72-year-old US tourist in Praia da Luz in 2005.