Madeleine McCann: Police tried to quiz suspect in 2007 ‘but he wasn’t at home’

Portuguese detectives visited home of Christian Brueckner in Praia da Luz, says disgraced former official Goncalo Amaral

Portuguese police missed the opportunity to question the German man suspected of being responsible for the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, according to the former official who led the initial investigation in 2007.

Disgraced ex-detective Goncalo Amaral, who was sacked for publicly attacking his British counterparts during the first probe and claimed the McCanns faked their daughter’s abduction, claims his former colleagues attempted to visit Christian Brueckner’s house in Praia da Luz.

“I have been told by colleagues, who are retired like me, that they had come knocking on the door. That person was not at home,” Mr Amaral said in an interview on Portuguese TV on Sunday night.

Mr Amaral, who is being sued by Kate and Gerry McCann over his unproven allegations, said he did not know if further inquiries were made after the first visit.

Mr Brueckner, a convicted paedophile and sex offender, was identified by police in Germany earlier this month as the lead suspect in the more than decade-long investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine from a Portuguese hotel.

He is currently in prison for drug dealing, and is appealing a 2005 conviction for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz which earned him a seven-year prison sentence.

Across Europe he has picked up 17 convictions including sex offences against children, theft and forgery.

Mr Amaral said the 43-year-old was a “scapegoat”.

“He’s an almost perfect suspect,” he added. ”All that’s lacking for him to become the perfect suspect is for him to be dead.”

German police are treating the case as a murder investigation.

Lawyers for Mr Brueckner have said he denies any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance, which triggered an international search effort that has made headlines for more than a decade now.