Resident of city where Christian Brueckner is living say 'we have to be afraid'

Residents of a quiet German town have said they are 'afraid' after Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner moved in after being released from jail.

The convicted paedophile, who denies involvement in the disappearance of the three-year-old, wasmoved to emergency accommodation this week after declaring himself homeless upon his release. Brueckner, 49, has been identified by German authorities as a prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, but prosecutors failed to gather enough direct evidence to charge him before he finished his seven-year term for raping an elderly womanon Wednesday.

Now, local people have slammed the decision to allow him to live in their town - and say they are worried he could offend again.

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The Mirror has chosen not to name the town in which he is currently living.

One resident wrote on social media: "How can you even let this beast out? Our justice has been ringing the bell for too long."

While another said: "It doesn’t matter that the police can track all his steps. They don’t have a live camera, do they? He can hurt the children for life within two minutes. This man belongs in prison.

"We don’t just have to be careful, we have to be afraid of him. He is capable of anything."

The town's press secretary told the Mirror that Brueckner had registered as homeless, and local authorities had "accommodated him for safety reasons".

Brueckner was seen being driven out of Sehnde prison, near Hanover, on Wednesday, and was later snapped heading straight for a McDonald's. His lawyer, Friedrich Fuelscher, whose offices are in Kiel, was driving him.

Brueckner was identified as the main suspect by German prosecutors in June 2020. He finished his sentence this week for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz - the same resort where Madeleine vanished two years later.

Bruckner also has more than a dozen previous convictions for burglary, theft and sex offences, including serving an 18-month sentence in Germany for a sex attack on a youth when he was a teenager.

He is required to wear an ankle monitor for five years and could be sent back to prison if he violates any conditions of his release, including moving house without informing probation staff.

Brueckner is due to appear in court next month in Oldenburg where he faces charges of insulting a prison officer, and could be ordered to pay a fine.