German prosecutors are reportedly seeking to charge the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case before he is released early from jail for raping a pensioner at the resort where she disappeared. 

Christian Brueckner, 48, is suspected of killing the three-year-old while she holidayed with her family in the Portuguese resort of Praia de Luz in 2007. 

He is seeking early release from a seven-year jail term for raping a 72-year-old woman at the same resort in 2005, according to The Sun. 

In October, a German court cleared Brueckner of unrelated rape and sex abuse offences in Portugal between 2000 and 2017, but he could still face a retrial if an appeal is successful.