A German court has rejected a possible rape trial for Christian B., the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.

According to lawyer Friedrich Fulscher, the decision means that the authorities in the city of Braunschweig will have no jurisdiction over the case of Madeleine, who went missing in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.

Mr Fulscher confirmed that an arrest warrant had been revoked against him.

Prosecutors announced last year that they had charged Christian B with three counts of aggravated rape and two counts of sexual abuse of children in Portugal between December 2000 and June 2011.

The charges were not directly linked to the McCann case, but having revoked the warrant for Christian B’s arrest, the court can no longer be expected to consider the case.

Christian B, a convicted child abuser and drug dealer, is currently serving time in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same Algarve region of Portugal where Madeleine went missing.

Last year, he was named as an official suspect in the case, but he has always denied any involvement in the disappearance.

In June 2020, German police stated that Madeleine was presumed dead and that Christian B was most likely responsible, but he has yet to face any charges in connection with her disappearance.