The man suspected of abducting Madeleine McCann won’t face any charges in the foreseeable future, a prosecutor has told Sky News.
German drifter Christian B, who cannot be fully identified under his country’s privacy law, is expected to be freed from an unrelated jail sentence this year while police in three countries continue to search for evidence against him.
Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said: “There is currently no prospect of an indictment in the Maddie case.
“As things stand, the accused Christian B’s imprisonment will end in early September.”
Madeleine, aged three, was asleep with her younger twin siblings in the family’s Portuguese rented holiday apartment before mother Kate discovered her missing at around 10pm on 3 May, 2007.
Her parents were dining nearby on the complex with friends and taking turns to check on all their sleeping children every half an hour.
Image: Christian B at his trial on unrelated sexual assault charges in Germany last year. Pic: Reuters
Madeleine’s disappearance has become the world’s most mysterious missing child case.
Philipp Marquort, one of Christian B’s defence lawyers, welcomed the prosecutor’s pessimism about bringing charges.
He said: “This confirms the suspicions that we have repeatedly expressed, namely that there is no reliable evidence against our client.
“We regret that we have not yet been granted access to the investigation files. We have not yet been able to effectively counter the public prejudice arising from statements made by the prosecutor’s office.”
Christian B, 47, is in jail and coming to the end of his sentence for the rape of an elderly American woman in Praia da Luz, the Portuguese resort where Madeleine disappeared.
In October, he was acquitted on a series of rape and indecent assault charges after a non-jury trial in Germany, in which several references were made to his status as the main suspect in the Madeleine case.
The prosecutor said he was awaiting the court’s written judgment before launching an appeal against the acquittal. He believes the trial judges were biased against the prosecution.
If successful, he could apply for a new arrest warrant for Christian B to keep him in custody until a retrial with new judges.
He said: “We hope that the Federal Court of Justice will decide before the end of the accused’s imprisonment. If the Federal Court follows our legal opinion, we could apply for a new arrest warrant for the accused’s offences, so that the accused would then remain in custody beyond September 2025.
Mr Marquort said the defence team would oppose the prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal.
Prosecutor Mr Wolters has said in the past that he believes Madeleine is dead and that Christian B was responsible for her death. The suspect denies any involvement.
The case against Christian B is purely circumstantial; he’s alleged to have confessed to a friend that he abducted Madeleine, he has convictions for sex crimes against children, he was living in the area at the time, his mobile phone was close by when the young girl vanished and he re-registered one of his vehicles the next day.
The prosecutor won’t say what evidence he has to convince him Madeleine is dead, but he admitted he is still trying to find forensic evidence to link Christian B to the girl.
Image: Christian B coming to the end of his sentence for the rape of an elderly woman
Jim Gamble, former head of the UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre, said he had expected the prosecutor to charge Christian B soon.
“He’s implied the whole way through that he has something more than the public are aware of,” he said.
“He’s made fairly definitive statements about whether Madeleine is alive or dead so you would expect their strategy to have been to charge him sooner rather than later.
“From what he’s said today I wonder if we’re witnessing the re-positioning of something to manage the disappointment that’ll come.”
Mr Wolters, who is based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, is investigating the case with the help of Portuguese police and detectives from Scotland Yard.
A British couple who have been detained in Iran have been named by their family as Craig and Lindsay Foreman.
The family said they are “significantly concerned” by the “distressing situation”.
According to Ms Foreman’s social media, the couple were on a motorbiking trip across the globe to Australia as part of a positive psychology mission.
On 30 December, she posted about how they were about to face “one of the most challenging” parts of their trip, Iran and Pakistan.
Image: Lindsay Foreman. Pic: Family handout via FCDO
Image: Craig Foreman. Pic: Family handout via FCDO
The post reads: “Despite the advice of friends, family, and the FCDO (which strongly advises against travel to Iran for British nationals), we’ve chosen to keep moving forward.
“Why? Because we believe that, no matter where you are in the world, most people are good, kind humans striving for a meaningful life.
“Yes, we’re aware of the risks. But we also know the rewards of meeting incredible people, hearing their stories, and seeing the breathtaking landscapes of these regions could far outweigh the fear.”
Image: A screenshot from Ms Foreman’s post in Armenia, from where they crossed into Iran. Pic: Instagram/Lindsay Foreman
Image: Ms Foreman appears in her post from Armenia. Pic: Instagram/Lindsay Foreman
In a statement, the couple’s family expressed their concern and said they were engaging with the UK government.
“We would like to take this opportunity to address the distressing situation concerning Craig and Lindsay Foreman who are currently being detained in Kerman, Iran,” they said.
“This unexpected turn of events has caused significant concern for our entire family, and we are deeply focused on ensuring their safety and wellbeing during this trying time.
“We are actively engaging with the British government and relevant authorities, working diligently to navigate the complexities of this matter. The family are united in our determination to secure their safe return.
“We truly appreciate the outpouring of support from friends, family, and the community, which has provided us with strength and encouragement as we face this ordeal.”
They added: “Thank you for your understanding, compassion, and continued support.”
Instagram
This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Instagram cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Instagram cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Instagram cookies for this session only.
A Foreign Office spokesperson earlier said: “We are providing consular assistance to two British nationals detained in Iran and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Iranian state media said on Wednesday that a man and woman were in custody in Iran’s southeastern city of Kerman on security-related charges.
The Foreign Office warns that people are at risk of “arrest, detention and a death sentence” if they travel to Iran.
Iran has previously arrested and held British citizens for extended periods of time.
“We are trying to piece together Julie’s movements before she disappeared so I would appeal for anyone who has seen her in the past few weeks to get in touch,” said Detective Inspector Richard Stott from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit.
“We know she has links to places in the surrounding area including March, Manea, and Chatteris so I would urge people who live in those areas to consider if they have information that could be of use to our inquiry.
More on Cambridgeshire
Related Topics:
“We are in touch with family of Julie and specially trained officers are keeping them up to date on the police inquiry at this very difficult time.
“Although we have always wanted to find Julie alive, the circumstances suggest she is likely to have come to serious harm, so we continue to treat her disappearance as murder.”
Anyone with information can contact the police online or call 101 and quote Operation Dragonfish.
Idris Elba hopes providing more access to football in communities will deter youngsters from knife crime and he urged other industries to follow the Premier League’s lead.
The actor dropped in on a session run by the West Ham Foundation – part of the league’s Kicks programme supporting youngsters at risk of anti-social behaviour and youth violence by providing free weekly football.
While it could offer pathways in the sport – including coaching the next generation – Elba sees how it provides the toolset for personal development in life more broadly.
“Football has an amazing aggregated power,” Elba told Sky News. “I think that is a really good sort of example for other industries to think about mentorship programmes.
“Apprenticeship programmes that can just give young people (opportunities) because not every kid wants to play football.
“But at least we’re seeing the Premier League do something. The big tech companies, motor industry companies should say, ‘Hey, what can we do with the young people? What are their interests?'”
The Premier League has invested more than £90m in the Kicks programme across two decades with a particular focus on reducing violent behaviour.
The need for such a scheme was reinforced by the fatal stabbings of 10 teenagers in London last year being followed by a 14-year-old’s killing in the first week of 2025.
Image: Elba speaking about the Premier League’s work to tackle knife crime
It is a year since Elba launched his own campaign, Don’t Stop Your Future, to call for greater urgency in addressing the knife crime crisis.
“Where there are young people aggregating around football, around teams, should we be messaging that knife crime is no good? Absolutely. Yes,” Elba said. “We should be messaging that wherever you can.
“Just listen to a young person once. If you’ve never asked them what their feelings are about knife crime, about what they want to do with their lives, do it. That’s one thing… The answer is up to you, but ultimately, you’re beginning the conversation.”
It was a conversation Elba had earlier this week in Dagenham with young players and coaches alongside a roundtable with community leaders impacted by knife crime.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:25
From September 2024: ‘Talk is good, action is more important’
“I absolutely feel that the more we talk, we can do about this, the better,” Elba said.
“Are there mechanisms where football can play a part in a larger scale? Absolutely. Let’s hope that we can all put our thinking caps on.”
That is working – as the Premier League does – with police to confront the knife crime epidemic.
“It feels probably to many that not enough is being done,” Met Police Commander Stephen Clayman, the national policing lead for knife crime, told Sky News pitchside at the Kicks programme.
“But actually, you see things like this. You only need to change the direction of a number of people. You’ve already made a huge difference.
“What you need is more of this, more investment in youth services, in these types of things, and then you start making the difference.”
Image: Met Commander Stephen Clayman
But can football really make communities safer by providing access to football? Or is it for authorities to search for more impactful interventions – by increasing the number of officers on the beat?
“Having more cops can make a difference in some areas for enforcement, but it’s not just about enforcement,” Commander Clayman said.
“You’re only going to really tackle this if you get to the root cause of why someone feels they have to pick up a knife in the first place.
“That’s not going to be the police solving that. That’s going to be people with some of the sort of coaches and mentors here that will do that and all the other services around. That’s what will make the real difference over time. It’s never going to be a quick fix.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:55
From January: Britain’s knife crime epidemic
But football is trying to help in any way it can to prevent the tragedies that trouble West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen.
“Things like this really help people get off the streets and really do something with their life and make a real powerful change – I think it’s such a really important thing,” he said in an interview.
“It teaches them good habits and it teaches them a lot of different things as well. They spoke about the mental side of football and the technical side also.
“I think it also teaches about social skills. You have to play as a team, people making friendships here as well. So, I think it’s a really powerful positive thing.”