POLICE scrapped Christian Brueckner’s 24-hour police surveillance today sparking fears he might finally disappear.

The paedophile – suspected of snatching and murdering Madeleine McCann – has been followed non-stop by German officers since his release from prison last September.

A man in a black cap, sunglasses, and a beard, wearing a black jacket and a khaki backpack.
Christian Brueckner’s 24-hour police surveillance was scrapped todayCredit: Dan Charity / Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd
 

Christian Brueckner in court in Braunschweig, Germany.
Brueckner at a court hearing in 2024Credit: Dan Charity
Now the watch – intended for public safety and to guard the rapist from vigilantes – is set to be scrapped after a court ruled it was no longer required.

Brueckner is still expected to wear the electronic ankle monitoring tag he showed off in exclusive Sun CCTV.

But Maddie prosecutors are aware the tech has malfunctioned on a number of occasions and will fail to work as soon as he leaves Germany.

Sources said the worrying development looked set to see the suspect freed and to potentially vanish.

A source said: “The fear has always been that as soon as Brueckner got the opportunity he would disappear.

“He might have been let out of jail but he still hasn’t had that because he has been monitored by police all day every day.

“Once that surveillance stops who knows what will happen.

“He has a history of leaving the country when he faces suspicion so there is a very real danger he will disappear before the McCann case can ever get to court.”

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Toddler Madeleine McCann went missing in Portugal in 2007Credit: Reuters
 

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Maddie suspect Christian Bruckner pictured being led away from his new home in Neumunster, GermanyCredit: Dan Charity
Cops are understood to have appealed the ruling and the police guard will remain in place until a court makes a final decision.

A post online in Germany, confirmed by police, said: “A surveillance order for the German suspect in the case of British girl Madeleine “Maddie” McCann, who disappeared in 2007, has not been renewed, according to police in Kiel.

“The police headquarters in the Schleswig-Holstein state capital announced this on Wednesday. They have already filed an appeal with the district court, and a decision is still pending.”

Brueckner was expected to be behind bars now for verbally abusing a prison officer in 2023.

But the court case that would have seen him jailed was scrapped last week – leaving him free to cycle to his local garden centre.

Three-year-old Madeleine, of Rothley, Leics., vanished from the Ocean Club, in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3 2007 while on holiday with her family.

Brueckner was named as the prime suspect in the disappearance and murder of the tot in 2020 by German cops.

Police have been able to confirm his phone was near Ocean Club, where the McCanns were staying, around the time Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007.

Witness Helge Busching claims a year later Brueckner all-but-confessed to him at a music festival, in Spain, saying “she didn’t scream” as the pair discussed the McCann case.

Investigators say they have physical evidence Madeleine is dead but no forensic proof tying Brueckner to the case.

An exclusive Sun investigation – aired as a Channel 4 documentary in May – revealed cops are in possession of images that help contribute to their understanding Maddie is dead.

They also have appalling child abduction stories where Brueckner daydreams about snatching and abusing young girls – including one outside a kindergarten.

He even brags about his desperation to “take something small and use it for days” in online chats with another paedophile.

Despite the overwhelming circumstantial evidence investigators have been reluctant to charge over the case fearing the lack of forensic evidence would harm their chances.

They were also spooked by a court clearing Brueckner of rape and a string of sex assaults last year – the acquittal which put him on the path to freedom.

Since Brueckner’s release, the Met have significantly stepped up their activity on the case, including jetting to Portugal last year to re-interview witnesses, as revealed by The Sun.

Last week we told how UK cops had taken possession of bombshell files on Brueckner from Germany.

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.

He was released from prison on September 17 when his seven-year sentence for the 2005 rape of a woman, 72, in Praia expired, with German cops insisting their Maddie investigation would continue.