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Chilling New Madeleine McCann Doc, 'Madeleine McCann: The Hunt For The Prime Suspect' Airs Tonight

Lucy Devine

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Chilling New Madeleine McCann Doc, 'Madeleine McCann: The Hunt For The Prime Suspect' Airs Tonight

Featured Image Credit: PA

A harrowing new documentary about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will air on ITV tonight.

Madeleine McCann: The Hunt For The Prime Suspect will explore the mistakes made by police after Madeleine went missing, 13 years ago in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

Dr Graham Hill, a former detective for Surrey Police, who flew to Portugal in 2007 to help find the three-year-old, claims lessons from the case have still not been learned, 13 years on.

The documentary will air tonight on ITV (Credit: PA)
The documentary will air tonight on ITV (Credit: PA)
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Earlier this year, convicted sex offender, Christian Brückner, was named as the prime suspect in the case and prosecutors have now issued appeals for more information.

The doc will shine a light on the mistakes that were made earlier on in the case, which could have stopped Brückner from being identified as a suspect.

"What are we going to learn? How are we going to stop this happening again?" Asks Dr Hill. "If a child went missing on a beach in Europe, this summer in 2020, what would be done differently?

Madeleine went missing in 2007 (Credit: PA)
Madeleine went missing in 2007 (Credit: PA)
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"You can abduct a child in one European country. And in 24 hours drive right across Europe. And I'm not so sure that much or anything different will be done because I'm not so sure we've learned the lessons."

According to Rogério Alves - family lawyer for Kate and Gerry McCann - competition between international police forces is said to be one of the key issues holding investigations back.

"The lesson is that we have to make the international judiciary cooperation stronger and faster. Basically, DNA profiles about this cooperation, the supplying of information, and to stop this kind of competition, with this kind of 'Champions League between police forces, we have to cooperate to protect against the evil, to protect against the crime. I think it's the main lesson," he said.

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The documentary will also delve into one piece of evidence that a phone allegedly belonging to Brückner was 'pinged' by a cell phone tower in Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine went missing.

However, Portuguese police were not able to connect Brückner and his pre-paid phone to the cell data. They declined to comment on the claims made in the ITV documentary, but previously said their investigation continues in conjunction with UK and German authorities.

"It's a difficult position for the German police and British police and the Portuguese police, all of them have got questions to answer," continued Dr Hill.

"All of them have at some point potentially made some kind of mistake. But then again, there's no such thing as a perfect investigation, there are going to be mistakes."

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The programme will explore what could have been done differently (Credit: PA)
The programme will explore what could have been done differently (Credit: PA)

The programme will also explore claims made by Brückner's lawyer, Friedrich Fülscher, who says he feels - in the absence of any criminal charges - the German authorities are trying to use the media to convict him in the court of public opinion.

"I think the statement made by the State Prosecutor's Office was very audacious," he said.

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"It has clearly zeroed in on our client and is now trying to get around its lack of evidence by hook or by crook. The Braunschweig Prosecutors have not yet officially called him in for questioning."

This certainly seems like it will be a gripping and insightful watch. You can catch Madeleine McCann: The Hunt For The Prime Suspect on ITV tonight at 9pm.

Topics: Documentaries, TV News, TV and Film

Lucy Devine
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