A man under investigation over the 2007 disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann has been acquitted of unrelated sexual offences in Germany, according to reports.

Christian Brueckner was cleared at the court in Brunswick of three charges of aggravated rape and two of sexual abuse of children.

Prosecutors had argued for the German national to be handed a 15-year sentence and are expected to appeal against the decision.

Brueckner, 47, is already serving a seven-year prison term in Germany for raping a woman in 2005 in the part of Portugal’s Algarve region where three-year-old Madeleine went missing.

He had been on trial since February over the offences he was alleged to have committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

Defence lawyers said there was a lack of evidence, with witnesses who were not credible.

Friedrich Fulscher, defending Brueckner, told the court that “there was never a sufficient suspicion” against his client.

Mr Fulscher also suggested Brueckner might not have been charged if he had not been a suspect in the McCann case.

Brueckner has not been charged in the McCann case, in which he is under investigation on suspicion of murder.

He spent many years in Portugal, including in the resort of Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance in May 2007. He has denied any involvement in her disappearance.

Brueckner will remain in prison for another year to complete his seven-year sentence for the previous rape case.

The Brunswick state court had jurisdiction for the most recent case because Brueckner had his last German residence in that city in Lower Saxony.