Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner is being probed after 'police officers attacked' in Germany

Get your news delivered straight to you by 7am - sign up to our new Morning mail newsletter for FREE See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 14:22 EDT, 23 July 2026 | Updated: 14:23 EDT, 23 July 2026 The top suspect in the 2007 disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann is under investigation after an altercation with police officers in northern Germany.Christian Brueckner, named as a suspect in the Madeleine case but never charged, was involved in a 'physical attack' on law enforcement officers in the city of Kiel on June 6, police confirmed.The magazine Der Spiegel reported that Brueckner, 49, got into a tussle with police outside a supermarket after taking photos of the officers with his mobile phone.The officers objected to being photographed and Brueckner, who has multiple previous convictions for sexual offences as well as other crimes including theft, drug trafficking, assault and child abuse, refused their demand that he hand over his phone, according to Der Spiegel.A Kiel police spokeswoman declined to provide further details of the alleged incident, citing the ongoing investigation, but clarified that 'an officer sustained injuries during the incident'.Brueckner was also investigated by Kiel police over a brawl with another man in April.The paedophile was named the top suspect in the Madeleine case by German prosecutors in 2020, who said they had 'concrete evidence' against him but not enough to secure a conviction.Three-year-old Madeleine, known as 'Maddie', vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal in May 2007 while her parents dined nearby.Christian Brueckner, named as a suspect in the Madeleine McCann disappearance but never charged, is under investigation after an altercation with police officers in northern Germany (pictured September 5 2024) Madeleine disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, at the age of threeAt the time, Brueckner was regularly spending time in that area of Portugal and a mobile phone registered to his name pinged near the McCanns' accommodation on the evening of the girl's disappearance.His name was also given to both the German and British police by an informer in 2008 who told detectives Brueckner had said a year after Madeleine vanished she 'didn't scream' when she was taken. In September, Brueckner was released from prison in Germany for a seven-year jail sentence for rape, a crime committed in the Algarve close to Praia da Luz, where Madeleine disappeared.Brueckner was acquitted by a court in Germany in late 2024 after being charged with rapes and two counts of child sex abuse over alleged crimes between 2000 and 2017 unrelated to the Madeleine disappearance.Last month, Scotland Yard investigators were handed a crucial dossier of police files said to contain 'bombshell evidence' on Brueckner, including pictures and stories linked to the case.A source told The Sun: 'These developments are huge – it shows the Met's interest in Brueckner is real. They are after him – like the Germans.' Last year the Metropolitan Police stepped up their enquiries, flying to Portugal to re-interview witnesses.Scotland Yard has also attempted to get Brueckner into the UK to have him stand trial at the Old Bailey and have contacted him to ask for his co-operation, but he has always refused to speak. Next year will mark 20 years since Madeleine's disappearance - and she is still yet to be found (Search teams are pictured in southern Portugal in June 2025)But a representative of the German government said it could not extradite criminal suspects to non-EU countries because of strict rules put in place after the end of the Second World War. Since his release, Brueckner has been in hiding and living rough, with locals hounding him out from various locations he has moved to try and start a new life. In letters sent to the Daily Mail, Brueckner always denied any involvement in the disappearance, insisting he was being made a scapegoat by German authorities.