Madeleine McCann suspect Christian B could face ‘triple trial’ over string of sex attacks on woman and five children

MADELEINE McCann prime suspect Christian B could face a "triple trial" over a string of sex attacks he is being investigated for.

The 44-year-old German, who is a convicted rapist and paedophile, has been identified by police as the prime suspect responsible for the abduction of Madeleine.

Police officers are investigating Christian B's alleged involvement in three other cases.

Prosecutors have revealed they are now considering covering all three sex crimes in the one trial, the Mirror reports.

Chief prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told the outlet: “If there is sufficient suspicion in several cases, it must be examined whether a joint indictment would be appropriate.”

The first of the three offences is the rape of Irish woman Hazel Behan in Praia da Rocha on the Algarve in 2004.

The second offence is over the sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl in Portugal in 2007 and the third involves the abuse of four children at a festival in São Bartolomeu de Messines in 2017.

The trial would take place in the German city of Braunschweig where the inquiry is centred and where Christian B used to work.

On Monday, cops working on the Madeleine McCann case said that new key evidence was revealed to be the suspect's phone records, which may show his movements in Portugal.

“For a long time German officers have said many key pieces of the jigsaw were missing about Christian B's movements in the Algarve,” a source said.

“This new information may help provide one of those pieces.”

German police believe Madeleine was killed in Portugal and not taken to Germany by Christian B, it emerged on Monday.

There were fears he had allegedly moved the toddler to his home country after taking her from Praia da Luz.

Christian B’s lawyer Friedrich Fulscher had said his client “denies any involvement” in the McCann case.

Detectives from Germany, Portugal and the UK probing Christian B are due to meet within weeks to discuss the case. 

German police searched Christian B's former home in Hanover last July, but Mr Wolters said he wasn't living at the home at the time Madeleine disappeared.

Christian B was identified as the prime suspect in Madeleine's disappearance last June.

He is serving a seven-year sentence in prison for raping a 72-year-old American woman in the Algarve in 2005.

It comes as Madeleine's parents Gerry, 52, and Kate, 53, said they would "never give up" hope of finding their daughter.

The couple paid tribute to their daughter on what would have been her 18th birthday.

They wrote: "Happy 18th birthday Madeleine. We love you and we’re waiting for you and we’re never going to give up."