German court scraps round-the-clock police surveillance of Madeleine McCann prime suspect after experts rule he is 'not high risk'

Christian Brueckner, the convicted rapist and paedophile who remains the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance, will no longer be followed by German officers after the Schleswig-Holstein Higher Regional Court ruled constant surveillance was hindering his rehabilitation. A new psychiatric assessment found he poses only an average — not high — risk of reoffending, overturning an earlier finding. Brueckner's lawyer Philipp Marquort said his client repeatedly said "thank you" and is "very happy" with the ruling.

Brueckner will still wear an electronic ankle tag and comply with other supervision conditions despite losing his police shadow.

He has never been charged over Madeleine's disappearance and refused to speak to Metropolitan Police investigators after his release from jail last September.

Private investigator Julian Peribañez, hired by the McCanns, says he believes Madeleine was kidnapped by an Eastern European trafficking gang and will not stop searching.