Madeleine McCann prosecutors vow to fight ‘tooth and nail’ to convict Christian B after Portuguese cops rubbished probe
GERMAN police have vowed to fight “tooth and nail” to convict the prime suspect linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Their pledge comes after a leaked memo revealed Portuguese cops had openly criticised the lack of progress their German counterparts had made in the investigation into Christian B.
Now a source close to the case said of the German team: “They still believe that the evidence is out there they will bring the facts to the surface.
“They know they must uncover new evidence quickly – but they are convinced they will and will fight tooth and nail to ensure they get to the truth.”
And we can also disclose the German investigators effectively have a blank chequebook on which to fund their case.
“There is no fixed budget in Germany for this case,” prosecutor Christian Wolters told the Sun Online exclusively.
“We can determine what and how we want regardless of the costs involved. We will make any updates on the case when they are available.”
That situation is at odds with the UK’s long-running Operation Grange probe which has to work within a budget set by the Home Office.
The Sun Online previously revealed how Portuguese cops have been privately sneering at the way the German team has been investigating the case.
Officers in Praia Da Luz, where Madeleine went missing in 2007, say they ruled him out years ago.
And relations between German and Portuguese police are now at an all time low, say insiders.
A source said: “In an ideal world they’d be working together to try and find Maddie which is the only thing that matters.
“In reality the case has become a vanity contest with each side trying to score points against one another.
“If the Germans were to prove that Christian B took Maddie it would be a massive indictment on the Portuguese investigation and that’s why officers on the Algarve have been so keen to downplay the links.”
Madeleine disappeared from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on Portugal’s Algarve coast.
Three wells near the resort are known to have been searched in July but police and firefighters failed to find any trace of Madeleine.
The abandoned wells are a 15-minute drive from Christian B’s rented cottage on the outskirts of Praia de Luz, on a narrow road leading down to a beach where the paedophile used to park his VW camper van.
The suspect is also being probed in Germany over a 2004 Algarve rape and a sex attack on a beach near Praia da Luz a month before Madeleine vanished.
In Portugal, prosecutors have reopened their investigation into a sex crime in a playground he was arrested over in 2017.
He was held on suspicion of exposing himself to young children at a playground in Sao Bartolomeu de Messines a 40-minute drive from Praia de Luz.
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Police discovered after his detention that he was wanted by Germany on an international arrest warrant for child sex abuse and possession of child pornography.
He was extradited to his homeland and was never prosecuted in Portugal following his Algarve arrest.
The criminal probe was mothballed despite protests from the youngsters’ angry parents but reopened in September.