MADELEINE MCCANN PRIME SUSPECT GIVEN FLAT YARDS AWAY FROM SCHOOL - LOCALS 'AFRAID'

The main suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has sparked fury in his home town by moving into a flat just yards away from a primary school.

There are two more primary schools and three nurseries near convicted paedo Christian Brueckner's new gaff in Braunschweig, Germany, where locals say: "We're all afraid." The two-bed flat on the second floor of the ageing building is said to be owned by a pal.

Brueckner ran a kiosk in the same neighbourhood before his most recent prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old woman. Since his release last September, he has been under 24 hour police surveillance and two cops sit in a car behind the house around the clock.

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One neighbour told The Sun: "We were surprised to see two plainclothes police officers always waiting in front of the house. Then someone saw him leave the house and recognised him straight away.

"Everyone here in Braunschweig knows him. I know neighbours who no longer send their children to the supermarket. We're all afraid.

"There are three daycare centres and three elementary schools right nearby. Why is someone like that allowed to settle here?"

Brueckner has reportedly struggled to settle in a string of different neighbourhoods across northern Germany, with families regularly demanding he be moved on.

Madeleine, from Leicesetershire, vanished aged three while on a family holiday in Portugal in 2007, sparking a a major international search and a decades-long investigation.

Brueckner was named by German police as the prime suspect in the disappearance of the tot in 2020.

They said his mobile phone had pinged in the area on the night Madeleine disappeared. However Investigators say there is no forensic proof tying Brueckner to the case .

Last year, a team of German cops spent three days scouring scrubland near where she was went missing and searching various abandoned structures, but couldn't find anything of note.

A documentary claimed police are in possession of image files that make them suspect Madeleine is dead. They are also said to have seized child abduction stories by Brueckner where he daydreams about snatching and abusing young girls.

Investigators have been reluctant to charge over the case, fearing the lack of forensic evidence would harm their chances.

Brueckner has refused to answer police questions over the case but has insisted he is innocent in letters. His lawyers continue to protest his innocence on all matters.

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2026-03-03T11:52:10Z