Advertisement

Madeleine McCann: Suspect Christian B's lawyer says main witness against him is not reliable

<p>Friedrich Fulscher said the informant who claimed suspect Christian B confessed his guilt to him may have done so purely to get help.</p><p>The witness is thought to have told detectives that Christian B, a German drifter, told him in a bar that he knew what had happened to <strong><a href="https://news.sky.com/topic/madeleine-mccann-6236" target="_blank">Madeleine</a></strong>, who vanished from a Portuguese holiday apartment in 2007.</p><p>Mr Fulscher believes the informant may later, in return, have got early release from a sentence he was serving in a foreign country.</p><p>Mr Fulscher told Sky News: "If this is the same person, I think it's the worst witness you can get. A human who has spent his whole life cheating people for his own benefit is never a reliable witness."</p><p>Christian B, who cannot be fully identified under German privacy law, is the target of a German prosecutor who has said he believes he abducted and killed Madeleine, but he has not got enough evidence to charge him.</p><p>The prosecutor, Hans Christian Wolters, said this week he would not let the investigation drift on and would announce any decision to drop it.</p><p>Mr Fulscher said such a development would be too late to restore Christian B's reputation, as many people would always consider him responsible for Madeleine's disappearance.</p><p>He said: "If you pee in the same place long enough it will stink. And that's definitely what's happening in the Christian B case. He won't be able to lead a normal life at any point, without being recognised and facing hostility.</p><p>"A prosecutor who goes public (during an investigation) knows that. He can destroy a reputation and it was taken very lightly in this case."</p><p>Christian B, 43, has previous convictions for rape, child sex offences, theft and dishonesty - a variety of offences committed in Germany and Portugal as he flitted between the two countries.</p><p>Mr Fulscher said: "Of course, he is no 'innocent lamb', he has made many mistakes in his past which have been punished by the law - and that is completely right.</p><p>"It is a basic principle of our system that someone who has served his sentence can claim his right to be part of society again.</p><p>"I don't think he is someone who has done everything right in his life, but that doesn't mean that you can suddenly condemn him for things he hasn't done."</p> <p><strong>:: Listen to the Daily podcast on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/sky-news-daily/id951048357?mt=2" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL3Nob3cvMzI4NzI0Ni9lcGlzb2Rlcy9mZWVk" target="_blank">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3RdXZrbbG3NydLsPYmRSJy" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.spreaker.com/show/sky-news-daily" target="_blank">Spreaker</a></strong></p><p>Christian B is in jail in Kiel, northern Germany, serving sentences for rape, which he is appealing, and drug trafficking.</p><p>His lawyer, speaking in his office almost two miles from the prison, said: "He is isolated 23 hours a day in a 7sqm cell. He is allowed out to exercise for one hour a day.</p><p>"That is because a prisoner accused of these kind of crimes, and who is known in the jail, is in danger of being attacked by other inmates.</p><p>"In the time since I am his lawyer, I have noticed that he has getting slimmer because of the lack of movement."</p><p>Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said this week he was still looking for vital evidence against Christian B, but has not questioned his suspect.</p>