Shameless Portuguese cop who accused Madeleine's family speaks out on reservoir search

Former police detective Goncalo Amaral spoke out about the latest search for Madeleine McCann

A former police detective involved in the Madeleine McCann case has accused Portuguese and German authorities of using this latest investigation to “pin the blame” on their main suspect, Christian Brueckner.

Goncalo Amaral, who was kicked off the original investigation in 2008 after suggesting Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry were responsible for the then three-year-old’s disappearance, spoke for the first time since police this week began searching the Arade Dam, 35 miles from the resort of Praia da Luz where the young girl went missing in 2007.

The former detective accused the current investigators of “building the profile of a scapegoat” and engaging in “virtual blaming” by way of justifying the millions of pounds spent on the case over 16 years.

Mr Amaral told respected Portuguese news weekly Sabado: “The question should be how are the German police involved? How did the (Portuguese) Judicial Police agree to this and why?

“In simple analysis, I see that there is no new investigation, what is happening is an act of building the profile of a scapegoat and a virtual blaming.”

He suggested the search was aimed at justifying the considerable “time, money and human hours that have been invested” in the case by trying to show the public that “Brueckner must be guilty”.

German authorities have suggested they have evidence that Brueckner, who is currently in prison for raping an elderly woman, was involved in Madeleine’s disappearance but they have not provided anything publicly.

Convicted rapist Christian Brueckner is the main suspect in the Madeleine McCann case

When asked what would be found in what is the third search of the reservoir, he said: “If there was anything there, it would be possible to find bones, perhaps hair and even part of the missing girl’s pyjamas.

“On the other hand, finding the child’s remains would only be possible if she had not been cremated, as seems to have happened.”

In the interview, which came as a joint police team from Portugal, Germany and the Metropolitan Police concluded their search, Mr Amaral reiterated his theory that Brueckner was a “convenient scapegoat”.

He said: “When British police began to consider Christian Brueckner as a suspect, he was living in Portugal and walking freely around.

“The investigation should have focused on the individual through special techniques, namely telephone and computer interceptions, personal and electronic surveillance, undercover agents etc, in order to advance the investigation of the suspect’s possible responsibility and subsequent death of the child.

“But astonishingly, the German police put him in a German jail, isolating him from the outside world, making any kind of investigation centred on the suspect impossible.

“Little by little, the Germans built up the suspect’s profile as a rapist, paedophile and murderer, gathering similar Portuguese cases, accusing him of them, and then the great moment came and they named him to the world.

“In conclusion, they did not allow a professional and serious investigation and made this individual a scapegoat as a suspect without any evidence or proof.”

German police search a site in Hanover in connection with Christian Brueckner

Last year the McCanns lost a lengthy 13-year court battle against Mr Amaral for the claims he made in his two books which shamelessly suggested they had been involved in her disappearance.

Amaral’s 2008 book Maddie: The Truth About The Lie, implicated the McCanns in their daughter’s abduction and accused them of hiding her body.

Police in Portugal ended the latest search for clues regarding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann on Thursday.

Authorities gave no details about the results of the search. A statement by Portugal’s Judiciary Police said some material had been collected and would be handed over to German authorities for examination.

Former police detective Goncalo Amaral spoke out about the latest search for Madeleine McCann