Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brückner: a timeline
1994
Convicted of sexual abuse of a child, attempted sexual abuse of a child, and carrying out sexual acts in front of a child.
1995
Flees to Portugal as an 18-year-old to escape a two-year youth custody sentence for the above offences.
1999
Returns to Germany to sit a youth custody sentence he had escaped.
2004-5
Dates an English woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal.
2005
Rapes a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz.
2006
Portuguese authorities drop the rape investigation due to lack of evidence.
2006
Arrested and convicted for stealing diesel fuel in Portugal.
2007
Madeleine McCann disappears from Praia da Luz.
2007
Buys marihuana and hashish and sells it to a middle-man on the northern German island of Sylt, where it is sold on.
2012
Opens a kiosk in Braunschweig, in north-west Germany.
2013
McCanns appeal to the German public on TV for evidence over Madeleine’s disappearance. Brückner’s name crops up in connection with the case.
2017
Convicted of sexual abuse of a child in Germany and sentenced to 15 months in prison.
2018
Arrested in Milan and returned to Germany.
2019
August – charged with the rape of a US citizen.
2019
December – convicted. Sentenced to seven years for the rape. Prison term not yet started pending an appeal that the conviction was unlawful but he is being held in police custody.