MADELEINE McCann prime suspect has bragged he can’t wait to be freed – so he can have a steak and a beer.

In his first interview, convicted paedo Christian Brueckner, 48, told a German broadcaster he was fed-up of being in prison – just as a fresh search for Maddie’s body kicks off.

a man in a suit and striped shirt looks at the camera
Brueckner whinged about his life in prison and bragged he can’t wait to be free to have a steak and a beer
Credit: Dan Charity

Photo of Madeleine McCann.
Madeleine McCann disappeared aged three from the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz where her family were staying in May 2007
Credit: Handout

Police officers moving a barrier on a road.
Police officers move a barrier blocking a road as they resume the search for Maddie’s body
Credit: Reuters

Illustration of ground-penetrating radar locating a skeleton underground.
German cops are equipped with ground-penetrating radar that can scan 15ft below the surface
Credit: Alamy
The rapist – who has refused to answer police questions over Maddie – whinged that staying tight lipped means he speaks less than ten words a day.

He even claimed he had forgotten how to use his facial expressions.

Brueckner told RTL he did not kill Maddie.

He also denied the 2005 rape he was convicted of in 2019 and which keeps him behind bars.

He said: “As I told you, of course, the fact that I have been in prison for many years for something that I cannot have committed and that therefore, through the participation of the media, half the world considers me a cruel rapist.”

Brueckner was sentenced to seven years behind bars for raping an elderly woman in the Algarve – and is due to be released in September.

He is seeing out his sentence in voluntary solitary confinement after being attacked by another inmate, who broke one of his ribs.

German prosecutors have been clear they believe he killed Madeleine – but it’s now a race against time for them to pin him to the crime.

New Madeleine McCann search launches TOMORROW near villa where she vanished & suspect’s house as UK cops issue statement
The lawyer also told The Mirror: “I would get a face operation if I were him. I mentioned to him it would be nice for him to change his face or how he looks so that nobody can recognise him anymore.”

That means that even if evidence linking Brueckner to Maddie’s death surfaces further down the line, it may be impossible to haul him back to Germany to face justice.

Prosecutors have been scrambling to buy time in this knowledge.

Their last attempt involved charging Brueckner with insulting a prison guard – a crime in Germany – for which he was found guilty, but only received a suspended sentence, meaning his jail term was not extended.

The paedo flashed a chilling smirk on his way out of court when journalists asked whether he killed Maddie.

Illustration of a map highlighting three search areas related to a missing person investigation.

Police vans at a roadblock.
German cops pull up to the new search site, where they began scouring on Tuesday
Credit: Reuters
On Monday, German cops announced they would be launching a fresh dig for Madeleine’s body today in Praia da Luz, Portugal, where she vanished from a holiday flat in 2007 aged three.

The area has been searched before, but this time the teams are armed with radar technology which can scan 15ft down into the ground.

The new search for ­Madeleine will focus on extensive groundworks that took place at the time she vanished, and last until Friday.

A source said: “It’s now or never.”

This bombshell new search is most important yet

By Rob Pattinson, Senior District Reporter

AFTER the airing of our exclusive investigation it quickly became clear – very few people had any idea over the extent of what the convicted paedophile and rapist might be capable of.

Despite denying any involvement in Maddie’s disappearance, we need to remind ourselves, he is currently on course to walk free in September – in a matter of some 15 weeks.

And THAT is why the development of this new search in Portugal must be welcomed.

No dig for the remains of a child should ever be greeted with happiness. Of course not.

The plight of Maddie is heartbreaking for us all – nevermind how impossible it must be for her dedicated family to consider.

But justice must be done in such appalling circumstances, mustn’t it?

Click here to find out why this search is the most important so far.

A police theory is the three-year-old or her pyjamas might have been dumped in trenches near the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz where her family were staying in May 2007.

At least 30 agents from Germany’s FBI — the BKA — acting on a tip-off arrived in the Portuguese resort on Monday.

The search area will include a cottage half a mile away used by Brueckner and nearby scrubland.

A Sun investigation released last month uncovered a raft of evidence found at Brueckner’s lair found by the German police.

A range of disturbing items show Brueckner’s obsession with young kids.

Children's toys and bicycle found in a box factory.

Children’s toys and bikes were found at the suspect’s lair
Credit: Dan Charity

Laptop computer found at a box factory.
Hidden hard drive with photos taken in Portugal, which convinced police Madeleine died soon after vanishing
Credit: Dan Charity

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Two children's swimsuits laid out on a surface with measuring tapes, Image 2 shows Two children's swimsuits laid out on a surface with measuring tapes
Cops found 75 youngsters’ swimming costumes at childless Brueckner’s bolthole in Neuwegersleben
Children’s clothes and toys were found at the paedophile rapist’s abandoned den, plus masks, chemicals and guns.

There was also a hard-drive of pictures, which German investigators continue to keep secret, that is believed to indicate why they are sure Madeleine is dead. 

Much of the newly uncovered evidence was found by chance at a disused factory Brueckner bought for £20,000 in 2008, a year after Madeleine vanished.

In 2016 a dog ran on to the property and appeared to find a grave.