Madeleine McCann cops wary of charging prime suspect because of Germanys strict double jeopardy law

pa data-content-type=section-topic data-link-tracking=InArticle|Link href=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/all-about/madeleine-mccannMadeleine McCann/a prosecutors admit they are wary of charging the prime suspect in their investigation because of Germany#x2019;s strict double jeopardy law./p pSpeaking exclusively to our sister paper a data-link-tracking=InArticle|Link href=https://www.mirror.co.uk/The Mirror/a, chief prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said: #x201C;If we file charges and he is acquitted, then the case is dead forever./p p#x201C;In Germany, once you have been a data-content-type=section-topic data-link-tracking=InArticle|Link href=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/all-about/courtsacquitted/a, you cannot be charged again, at least only in very exceptional cases./p img src=https://i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article23033165.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/2_FILES-GERMANY-BRITAIN-PORTUGAL-CRIME-MISSING.jpg title=Brueckner is the prime suspect in Madeleineapos;s disappearance data-portal-copyright=Getty/ p/ p/ p#x201C;If we now are hasty and he was acquitted because the court said, #x2018;Ah, we still have a few doubts#x2019; then we would not be able to get him later.#x201D;/p pSpeaking from the public prosecution office in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Wolters added: #x201C;Therefore we want to collect as much evidence as possible.#x201D;/p pPaedophile Brueckner, 43, was named as the prosecution#x2019;s prime suspect in the Madeleine case, which Germany is treating as a murder investigation./p pMobile phone records place him in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine vanished in May 2007, a few days before her fourth birthday./p pA case in Bremen illustrated how rigid the German double jeopardy law can be./p pA taxi driver was acquitted of raping and killing a child but years later advances in forensic technology meant his DNA could be matched to a sperm sample found at the crime scene./p pWolters said: #x201C;It was not possible to charge him again, he will never be held accountable again... and that is so tragic.#x201D;/p pBrueckner is currently in jail serving a 21-month sentence for drug-running./p pHe was due for release in January but has already been sentenced to seven years for raping a pensioner in Praia da Luz./p pHe is appealing this conviction./p pBrueckner#x2019;s defence lawyer, Friedrich Fuelscher, declined to comment./p pThe UK had a double jeopardy law until 2005./p